Divorce & Dollars: How to Protect Your Financial Future w/ Randi Engelbrecht, CDFA)

And I think let's just be honest in our society.

A lot of times, I mean, I know you worked in finance, but a lot of women get this message that we're not good at numbers.

We're not good at money.

Let the man handle it.

Right.

And as we've seen, that can lead to some disastrous consequences.

So you really have to start educating yourself if you haven't been right.

Yeah, and I don't think it's something to be scared of, right? I think that that's the message for today, if not anything else, is the more you know, the better off you are, right? And even if you can understand something at a very surface level, you're better off than you were yesterday, right? Of gaining knowledge around finances.

And it is, it is true.

We see in most cases, one spouse handles the finances, right? One spouse controls the investment accounts.

One spouse knows where all the things are.

And that's not abnormal.

That's just people have different roles in their relationships.

And it's very easy to say, I'm really scared, so I don't want to deal with it.

But I think if you don't, it doesn't put you in a good position to understand what's being negotiated in front of you, right? Because I think, again, as much as your divorce lawyer is in your corner and will fight for you, he or she may not understand the implications, the tax implications of those investments that you're getting in division or the implications of keeping the house versus not keeping the house.

So I do think that that's where, and I love this CDFA work for just that reason, because I do think that there's this place for CDFAs to work alongside your divorce attorneys to really understand the implications of this settlement, right? So I think it's really important all around.

Absolutely.

And as I always say, you need a team and you may think, well, that seems expensive to have a therapist, a divorce coach, a certified divorce financial analyst like you and an attorney.

But the reality is we're actually going to save you thousands, tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars, heartache, time.

you know, emotional duress and stress.

And, you know, these are decisions that you're living with for the rest of your life.

So it's really important.

You know, I want to ask, what would you say is the very first financial step a woman should take if she's thinking about divorce? Because I know I tell women who consult with me even before they're my client, I'm going to help you get your ducks in a row before you even say, for example, you want a divorce because I've seen those documents disappear once divorce is on.

Right.

Yes, for sure.