Financial Services
We are glad you are here. Wise financial planning during your divorce process is one of the most important investments you can make in yourself and your future. We provide an array of services to meet the specific needs of you and your family, whether you have chosen mediation, a collaborative process, or one-party support.
What Sets Us Apart?
We understand finances. Our divorce professionals have earned top designations and certifications. Amy Wolff and Chad Olson are CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals and Amy Wolff, Chad Olson, Brett Jensen, and Kari McGuire are Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® practitioners.
Most of the decisions that you will make in your divorce process may be financial decisions. As divorce financial professionals, we bring experience and unique perspective to help you and your family work through the financial issues of your divorce.
What is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® or CDFA® and How Can We Help?
A Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® or CDFA® is a divorce financial professional. We are a valuable asset during the divorce process, both for clients and other professionals involved the case, because we have a thorough understanding of the financial obstacles that arise during divorce.
We attained this certification to ensure that your needs now and after divorce are heard, assessed properly, and explained to achieve a fair and worry-free outcome.
Most of the decisions that you will make in your divorce process may be financial decisions. As divorce financial professionals, we bring experience and unique perspective to help you and your family work through the financial issues of your divorce.
As CDFA®S, we help with the following:
Data Gathering
We help to collect and organize all your financial information. As a starting point to the divorce process, we need a thorough understanding of your financial situation, which is accomplished by collecting all your financial information. Once everything is gathered, we can start making sense of it.
Data Organization
After this information is collected, we help make sense of it by organizing and entering the data into our reports. The three main reports that are generated as part of the divorce process are a budget, tax report (to show the impact of taxes and net income), and a balance sheet (used for the division of assets).
Managing Expectations
Many couples can’t afford their standard of living with one household, let alone support two households following divorce. Without the counsel of a CDFA®, divorced individuals can easily end up with unmanageable expenses and debt. We help you manage expectations about lifestyle following divorce to avoid this. It is often more advantageous to work with us to help set realistic expectations than it is to evaluate options alone.
Tax and Cash Flow Projections
We help families understand the unique tax considerations surrounding divorce, including modeling change of filing status, exemptions, and tax credits. By incorporating these factors into tax and cash flow projections, families can make educated and financially sound decisions regarding future housing and cash flow.
Financial Strategies and Settlement Scenarios
This is usually the area that people need the most guidance. We help to illustrate different cash flow and property division scenarios and provide education so that you understand the pros and cons of the various options available. Detailed financial analysis of possible settlement outcomes is a powerful tool for you and attorneys when evaluating financial options. This is where our experience sets us apart.
Specific examples of how we can help you:
- Understand the tax impact of spousal maintenance
- Evaluate higher spousal maintenance payments over a shorter period versus lower payments over a longer period of time
- Consider a lump sum buyout of spousal maintenance
- Change ownership of real estate and mortgages
- Transfer retirement accounts without triggering a taxable event
- Avoid the 10% penalty when distributing retirement dollars pursuant to the divorce
- Understand the present value of a pension plan (TRA, PERA, etc.)
- Transfer investment (non-retirement) accounts without triggering a taxable event
- Evaluate reduced standards of living after the divorce
- Calculate the basis of investments
- Review tax implications on the sale of investments
- Consider the long-term effect of inflation and how it may affect retirement needs
- Evaluate risk
- Evaluate different settlement options
These are some of the many financial issues we help our clients with as they work through the divorce process. (Please note that we do not provide individual investment advice.)
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