In many cases, even if the wife doesn’t work in the business itself, she still collects a salary from it; this way, she has an income that can go toward a 401(k) retirement plan. So at the end of the year, the husband’s business funds the wife’s 401(k), typically with a matching contribution.
In a lot of cases which I—and you—work, the husband is a business owner. The wife, financially, is the out-spouse/not the main earner.
Timing is everything. You really need a financial expert like me—after all, I’m a CPA, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® professional—to look at that proposed settlement before you go to mediation.
I recently worked on a divorce case that went to mediation. As a CPA, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® professional, I had done my best to prepare the attorney and the woman for the big day.
You get a new client. You ask her to complete the AFI. And just like that, your case grinds to a halt.
What I’d like to discuss here is how you can—with, humbly, my help—bring more optimism to your clients. Sure, it’s great for them. But, arguably, it’s even better for you.
In my wealth-management practice (Bridge Financial Strategies), I work with a lot of “G2s.” As a CPA, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® professional who helps women with the financial side of divorce, I periodically work with them as well. And so might you.
Let me start by stating the obvious: Aside from a few, super-aggressive, spotlight-loving, confrontation-seeking family-law attorneys (and you know who you are), nobody wants a divorce case to go to trial. As you’ll tell your clients, it’s the court, literally, of last resort.
Not every divorcing couple has millions of dollars in assets to divide. It’s called “the one percent” for a reason.
