Understanding State Pension Division in Divorce: What is the Annuity Savings Account?
Dividing a state pension in divorce can be tricky. Not many divorce professionals fully understand what should be considered when dividing a state pension and major mistakes can be made that will affect both parties. In MA, state employees have an annuity savings account which is the account where the employee’s mandatory contributions go. This account is used to help fund their future pension benefit in retirement and cannot be accessed or divided while the employee is still employed by the state. Unfortunately, many mistakes are made with regards to this account when accounting for and dividing retirement assets in divorce. These mistakes can have devastating financial implications for the owner of the pension.
Honored to have Received The IDFA 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award
Recently, I was surprised to learn that I was one of two recipients of the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award that the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts® (IDFA) awarded at their 2023 annual conference held in Dallas this past September. The award honors distinguished Certified Divorce Financial Analysts® (CDFA®) across the country who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and have made significant contributions to the industry. The IDFA is the premier national organization dedicated to the certification, education and promotion of the CDFA professional.
It’s National Make-a-Will Month: Realize the Power of Estate Planning
Did you know August is National Make-a-Will Month? How prepared are you in protecting your family especially after a divorce…read more
Contemplating Divorce? Take an Asset Inventory Now!
Ask ten different people what’s the first thing you should do if you are contemplating a divorce and you will get ten different answers. But ask a CDFA™ (Certified Divorce Financial Analyst) what the first thing is you should do, and they should say, take an asset inventory. What is an Asset Inventory? An ‘inventory’ […]
Have You Read Your Divorce Agreement Lately?
The Most Important thing you need to do after your divorce is final – READ YOUR DIVORCE AGREEMENT! Sounds like a no-brainer right? But in my experience, I have found that many people never take the time to read their divorce agreement after the divorce. They come home from court, stick the agreement in a […]
My Divorce – How I Handled The Marital Home – Part 2
This is the second part of my previous blog post, Part 1. The suspense must be killing you…what did I do – buy, sell, rent or continue to live in the home? Our final Separation Agreement, known in Massachusetts as the Judgement Absolute, stated that we were to sell the marital home by a date […]
Options for the Marital Home – My Story
The best way to write an article about something, is to actually experience what you are writing about. I firmly believe that one cannot possibly understand what it is like to go through a divorce, unless you have experienced it yourself. This is true about all major life events that we experience throughout our lives. So, when […]
