Retiring and Divorcing at the same time?

Thought your retirement would be like this?

But instead it turned out more like this?

The baby-boom generation is showing that it ‘s never too late to consider divorce.  As our life span extends,  people in their fifties and sixties with better health expectations figure they have a number of good years left. Why not live them to the fullest?  That may mean ending their long term marriage and going it alone.

The problem with getting divorced late in life, is that most people find it hard enough to save for retirement and don’t imagine living off of just half of their savings, whatever they may be.

If a couple had money in the marriage, there may be enough  money to go around after divorce.  The challenge is for normal middle-class couples who just scraped by.  Or those couples who lived beyond their means.  When they try to make their house and retirement assets cover two households instead of one, there’s simply not enough to go around.  And they’re not likely to go back to work.  They may be expecting to do the things they never allowed themselves to do while they were married like join a club, travel etc.

When people are relying on a pension or savings, there’s never going to be enough to duplicate the marital lifestyle.  If you’re divorcing at  55 or 60, it may be too late to go back to work or  too late to recover financially.

If you didn’t consider that divorce would be par t of your  retirement plan,  you may want to  work with a divorce team that consists of  both legal and financial professionals. They are there to help you navigate this difficult time, both in a legal and financial capacity.

Image courtesy of Ambro at FreeDigitalPhotos.net <http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

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Next Divorce Talks Topic – “Tips for Gathering Financial Information in Divorce”

It looks like you’re separating. One of the first steps you’ll be required to do is pull together your financial information … assets, debts, income, expenses.

Where to start? What is required? Where will it be used?

Join us for an information session that will have you learn:

What specific information you need t

o gather
Why this information is required and where it fits
Practical tools for making the information gathering easier
If you or someone you know is contemplating divorce, join us for a discussion about how to best deal with financial information in separation and divorce.

DATE: Wed. November 14th,  2012
TIME: 6:00 to 7:30 PM
LOCATION: 79 Shuter St. Suite 200 Toronto

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4029811274

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Boomer Divorce — Divorce Talks July 17th 2012

 

At 50 or 60, the kids may have left and  couples realize they have 30 or more years left to fully engage with, and enjoy life. If they can’t find a way to do it together, they are considering  taking the risk  of leaving the marriage.  If you or someone you know is part of this growing segment  of the “grey divorce” demographic, join us for this session.

Here are some of the  questions  we’ll be discussing :

•     What are the factors and pressures that are changing the futures of so many?
•     Do you worry about how dividing your wealth will affect your retirement?
•     Do you struggle with the question will leaving be worth it?
•     How can you access what is right for you in a professional confidential manner?
•     Where do you go to weigh your options and decide?
•     And should you decide to leave, how do you do it in a cost conscious way?

DATE: Tuesday July 17th, 2012

TIME: 6:30 to 8:00 PM

LOCATION: 79 Shuter St. Suite 200 Toronto

To Register go to: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3795921704

 

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Financial Homework in Grey Divorce

When you’re considering divorce in your 50’s,    a big concern is the financial impact for you and your spouse at this stage of your lives.  If you delayed having children, they may be young and child support payments may derail retirement plans/savings. You may still be faced with funding post secondary education. You may be supporting aging parents. One spouse may already be retired.

Part of divorce is dissolving your family’s joint financial relationship. This can’t be done unless you know the total financial picture. All the facts need to be on the table so you can determine how best to separate your finances allowing both of you to make the best choices of how you will move forward on your own.

This means doing some homework in advance.  As a start, you need to find and prepare the following documents:

• Tax returns from most recent tax years
• Recent paystubs that show payroll deductions
• List of personal property  such as cars, boats, valuable art, jewellery, antiques
• Recent statement from Assets:
  • Bank accounts
  • Investment accounts including open, RRSP, RRIF accounts
  • Education savings Accounts
  • Other assets such as Stock options, other Company awards
  • Company Pension
• Recent statements of Debts: Mortgage, Line of Credit both personal and joint, Car loans
• Miscellaneous Info: Life insurance, Medical benefit plans
• Business Ownership details

Doing your homework takes time.  Documents may be hard to locate. You may have to request copies from the bank or your employer. You may not have looked at some of these documents for a very long time.

You can hire a divorce financial professional to “tutor” you with your homework. They can help explain and organize it all so everyone is ready to start.

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Discussing “grey divorce” June 6th

Our popular “Divorce Talks” is coming up on June 6th… We’ll be discussing all the myths surrounding separation in the growing trend of “grey divorce”. If you or someone you know is contemplating divorce, have them join us. If you have clients that may find themselves in this situation, join in the conversation for more info, go to http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3496932419

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Canada Pension Plan Benefits and Grey Divorce

If you are facing divorce in your 50’s, it’s imperative that you have an understanding what you may be entitled to in Canada Pension Plan benefits.  You should review your latest statements regarding your projected CPP payments. You can request a current statement of Contributions from Service Canada.   The expected amount may not change significantly depending on how long you continue working and making further contributions.

Depending on your separation agreement, you may need to consider applying for CPP benefits earlier than age 65. Recently, there have been significant changes to CPP pension amounts. Your monthly CPP retirement pension amount will decrease by a larger percentage if your take it before age 65. Before the changes, your CPP monthly pension was reduced by .5% for each monthly before age 65 that you began receiving it. From 2012 to 2016, the government will gradually change this early pension reduction from .5% to .6%.

What that means is if you start to take your CPP pension at age 60, your pension amount will be 36% less than it would have been if you had taken it at age 65.

In addition, the Canada Pension Plan credits which a couple built up during the time they lived together can be divided equally between them.

Knowing what your Canada Pension Plan income will be is key to understanding if you will be OK financially after a later life divorce.  Figuring it out is complex. You need the help of a financial divorce specialist to help you make sense of it all.

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Financial stability is top of mind in grey divorce

From Marion Korn’s blog http://marionkorn.com/index.php/financial-stability-is-top-of-mind-in-grey-divorce/

At the time in life when incomes start to shrink and retirement is approaching, divorce costs are likely not in the budget.  A lifetime of planning for the future can be deeply undermined if emotions get the better of good sense.

Divorce among couples in their 50’s and 60’s is on the rise.  Whatever the cause, the effect is that a new strategic financial plan is needed.  Additional living costs will be a certain result.  And postponed retirement may be another.

Luckily there are good options that can control the cost of settling all the details in a “late in life” divorce.  Gone are the days when divorce meant court and the delays and expense that entailed.

Collaborative Practice (also called Collaborative Law) is a popular choice among separating couples who want to work out their futures with respect for one another.  They also recognize that preservation of their assets is key in ensuring that they can both look forward to financial stability.

The collaborative process is about management.  The well trained lawyers manage the negotiations by making sure their clients are well informed and that they have the time they need to fully understand the effect of the choices they make.

The financial outcomes are also managed by the financial professionals who can translate the clients’ thoughts and choices about their futures into numbers that illustrate the realities.

Managing the costs of separation is the first step in re-establishing a plan for the future.

Call Marion Korn at  416-915-7000 for more information about Collaborative Practice and how this approach is well suited for late in life divorce.

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My interview on Divorce Source Radio

Listen to my interview on Divorce Source Radio where I speak with Deborah Moskovitch about the many concerns, considerations and consequences of financial planning for the older divorcee.

http://www.divorcesourceradio.com/im-divorced-now-how-am-i-going-to-retire/

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DIVORCE AFTER 50- THE BENEFITS OF MEDIATION

The closer retirement, the more important it is to manage resources.  It takes a lifetime of planning for the years when more monies will go out than will be earned.

For most couples, their plans for retirement are meshed.  When kids are young, there are often dreams about what an empty nest will feel like.  When it finally comes, thoughts often move ahead to the time when leisure will dominate.

No couple plans for a divorce.  They are too busy working, saving, managing the household and just living life.  But recent statistics show that separation and divorce is growing more quickly among mature couples.  There are many theories, including the one that says the “baby boomers” are a generation that feels a strong entitlement to their lifestyle choices.  This is the generation that is now spiking divorce rates.

The math is simple the closer you are to retirement.  There is less time to save and a longer time to spend.  Preserving the nest egg means splitting it up in a way that will bring the most benefit to each person.  And spending it on a fight means less for everyone.

Mediation is a very useful process when maintaining resources is paramount.  Here are some good reasons for engaging a good mediator to help you work out your separation agreement:

• It is better for your kids (imagine how hard it is for grown kids to see their family change)
• It is your process and you can control cost and timelines
• It is confidential
• It gives you the chance to leave the process with an ongoing relationship to maintain a healthy family
• The mediator along with a financial partner will make sure you understand what your financial future looks like and will offer you the opportunity to make market adjustments as necessary
• You will be given the opportunity to work on your future, not to fight about your past
• Mediation has been around for decades and has a proven track record of success
• It is something you can both agree on

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Grey Divorce

In 2009, people ages 50 and older were twice as likely to divorce as their counterparts in 1990. Researchers have just begun to explore why. They know that, for many boomer couples, the kids are out of the house and it’s time to face reality. Who gets to keep what is  even more stressful at this age when  you have to consider the financial impact  this will have on the rest  of your life.

If you or someone you know is facing divorce in their 50’s, this is a  reminder that we are hosting “Late in Life” Divorce Talks on Thurs Apr 12th. Join us to hear about the what the financial  effects might be depending on whether you’re the dumper or the dumpee.

To register click here  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2544127554

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