After working through a divorce it is important to take a look at your financial plan to ensure it is working for you and not your ex-spouse! Here are a few key things you should review.
Divorce Financial Checklist
| Author: Jaclyn Weitzberg | Posted: 08/03/08 | ||
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After working through a divorce it is important to take a look at your financial plan to ensure it is working for you and not your ex-spouse! Here are a few key things you should review.
1. Update Your Beneficiary Designations
While you may have updated your living will or living trust, there are some assets that required you to directly appoint a beneficiary. These assets are transferred outside of your will and trust. Be sure to update the beneficiary on your 401k plan, Roth IRA, Life insurance etc.
2. Retirement Accounts
During your marriage you may have been relying on both of your retirement accounts to reach your future goals. In order to ensure your divorce doesn’t get you off track, you should reevaluate your retirement goals and ensure that you are on track to meet them.
Click here to use our Retirement Calculator
3. Credit Cards
Have you pulled your credit lately? It is important to review your credit report to ensure that your ex-spouse is no longer authorized on your cards. This is an important step for home and car loans as well.
4. Health Insurance
Whether your insurance in offered through work or your own business you will want to be sure it is sufficient to cover your needs but isn’t too expensive. If it is through your work, don’t forget to remove your ex from the plan. If you have individual coverage, there are a variety of low cost plans that will cover you and your children. Many plans have maternity exclusions that can reduce your monthly premiums by a few hundred dollars a month. Check the rate on the Smart Sense PPO plan. You will be pleasantly surprised by your savings!
5. Budgeting
It is important to put together and follow a budget. Now that you are living off one income, instead of two, understanding where your income is going is extremely important. You may need to cut back or you may have more money to save! Either way, it is important to know for sure.
Click here to view a budgeting worksheet
6. College Planning
With college costs increasing at an exponential rate it is important to plan for your child’s education costs. Fortunately there are a variety of tax beneficial plans available to help you meet your goals.
Click here to read more about college savings programs
7. Life Insurance
In order to be sure your children are well provided for and your debts will not effect those you love, having adequate life insurance coverage is important.
Click here to use our life insurance needs calculator
Jaclyn Weitzberg, Financial Advisor. As a Financial Advisor and Retirement Specialist with Retirement Strategies Group, Inc., Jaclyn is responsible for providing investment and retirement planning advice for business owners and individuals. Jaclyn began her career in the field of finance in order to assist individuals and corporate personnel to understand and reach their individual financial growth goals and retirement objectives. Jaclyn has over 5 years of experience in the financial services industry with an extensive background in retirement planning, management, finance, sales and accounting. Contact
Jaclyn
Weitzberg at (800) 423-4891 x 110 or email at jweitzberg@rsgfis.com.
