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.
How I Reduced My Post Divorce Monthly Expenses…Again
After my divorce, I went on a rampage to reduce my monthly living expenses… read on to see how you can play the divorce card and take back control…
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 […]
College and Divorce -Take the Right Write-Off
If you have a child in college and the child receives a Form 1098-T, you may be able to take advantage of one of three different education tax benefits. What is even better is, if someone else is paying the tuition (per a Separation Agreement) but you are claiming the child as your dependent by […]
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 […]
The Biggest Financial Mistake Women Make in Divorce
Home is where the heart is. We all know that saying and most of us ‘take it to heart’. Your home is the place that you love the most, it is the place filled with your family and your memories and where you feel loved and most comfortable. The marital home – the place where […]
