Posts by Vickie Adams
Looking Up From the Screen
Look up from your phone…. I’m right over here! Don’t worry. This is not another article about cell phone dependence. It’s about this author and my observations and decision-making process. This New Year’s eve I found myself in a beautiful restaurant surrounded by beautiful people. I looked over to the bar packed with men in…
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The Myth of Being Fair
Sometimes “even” isn’t really fair. I have a lovely client who came to me when her husband left the family home. After much delay, he finally served her with his self-prepared divorce documents. In learning about his personality and history, I believe he factored into his projection his wife’s innate sense of fairness and wanted…
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How Can You Sleep Well at Night?
Last Saturday, I took a workshop on sleep and well-being. I’ve always been nocturnal and have long considered those hours between 11 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. as bonus hours of “me time” to read for pleasure or watch TV that could not be fit in during the day because of work. I’ve also worked New…
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But I Have a Financial Planner… Why Do I Need a Divorce Financial Planner?
Do you know the difference between someone who says they’re a “financial planner” vs. a “CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®“ professional vs. “Divorce Financial Planner”? I am a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, (CFP®) who is also a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®). (Note: To adhere to compliance obligations, I must spell out CFP in all caps, etc.)…
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This Season on RHONJ…
It’s a simple concept but somehow it comes up over and over; the ramifications can’t be emphasized enough: Very few women (and men) fully understand the legal and financial implications that their partners’ actions have when married. Whether it’s purposeful denial of reality or that someone lacked the capacity to understand the math involved, you…
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Divorcing? How to Protect Your Child’s College Funds
Recently, I was quoted in a Reuters article which showcased various ways that families save funds for their children to attend college. Sometimes in my work as a Certified Financial Planner®, I use the example of divorce as a way to communicate one of the best reasons to hold funds in a 529 college savings…
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Take Control of Your Case. Take Control of Your Future.
Female clients who are the higher earning spouse are trending in my practice. These women are successful professionals who fear they have more to lose in a divorce than their spouses. They’re not only responsible for most of the financial obligations, they often retain the majority of household responsibilities including child rearing. They naturally trust their…
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Call Me Skeptical, But…
{3:30 minutes to read} In over 25 years as a Certified Financial Planner(™) professional, nobody’s ever called me and said, “I won the lottery.” A few have announced they’ve received “unexpected sudden wealth” and want to plan for the rest of their lives. More often, people call me to say “I’m afraid that ”…. and…
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How and Why to Modify Your Divorce Agreement
Sometimes after a divorce has been settled, circumstances change. Are you aware that there is recourse? You can make financial modifications to the original agreement. Is it better to come to me individually to make the changes, or mediate together? In a post-divorce matter, there are two ways I help: I can represent you as…
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6 Ways Lawyers & Mediators Ask Me To Assist In Divorce Cases
Last month, an attorney/mediator found me by doing a search that led him to members of the Association of Divorce Financial Planners. In our first meeting, he admitted to me that he “wasn’t great with highly complex financial issues.” What he meant was: he didn’t consider himself efficient or proficient in analyzing complex settlements or…
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