Page 43 - Women's Yellow Pages (2019)

12 DIVORCE FINANCIAL PLANNING MISTAKES
By Janet Bouma
Divorce Mediator and Divorce Financial Planner

1. Believing that a 50-50 division of property is the same as an equitable division of property.

2. Keeping the house when you can’t afford to pay the mortgage, taxes, utilities, and maintenance.

3. Deciding financial issues one at a time, instead of understanding how they all work together and af-
fect each other, short-term AND long-term.

4. Failing to guarantee alimony and/or child support payments with life insurance taken out on your
soon to be ex-spouse.

5. Failure to make sure that if you receive alimony and/or child support payments that you are the
OWNER and beneficiary of the life insurance policy on your ex-husband.

6. Believing that your settlement derived in mediation or negotiation must confirm to what a judge
would order if your case went to court.

7. Seeking financial advice from someone whose expertise is the law.

8. Failure to include the present value of a pension among marital assets.\

9. Using unrealistic assumptions about inflation and investment returns.

10. Failure to understand how spousal Social Security payments work.

11. Failure to consider creative financial solutions.

12. Failure to ask “Will I be OK now and 20-30 years in the future?

For 19 years, Janet Bouma, Divorce Financial Analyst and Divorce Mediator, has been educating and
empowering women…helping them to answer the questions, “Will I be financially OK after Divorce?”
and “How do I know what is financially fair?” Divorcing women need to understand the overall financial
impact of their decisions at a time when their emotions may impair good judgement. Janet and her associ-
ates help women and their husbands (in mediation or negotiation)) by addressing their financial concerns,
allowing the opportunity for a knowledgeable and fair financial divorce settlement.

Call 412-337-3217 and mention the Women’s Yellow Pages to receive your complementary consultation.
Office: Law & Finance Building, 429 Fourth Avenue, Suite 301, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219. Email: JanetBou-
ma@BoumaDivorceSolutions.net
Website: www.BoumaDivorceSolutions.net
See my ad on page 58

* - Women-Owned Business
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