Your Divorce is an Investment, Not an Expense

The great life transitions sometimes come from choices you make, such as pursuing a college degree and getting married. Other transitions are not deliberate, such as when a parent passes away or getting a divorce.

All of these milestones above have a commonality: We invest time, money, and effort into them to make sure that the transition sets us up for the future. Consider: 

• College tuition and living expenses are expensive, yet the outcome makes us more money and gives us a better standing in the labor market.
• Getting married is not only a celebration – it’s a financial commitment to set the tone for our married lives. We embrace the support of our families and our public commitment to dedicate ourselves (hopefully) for decades to come. 
• When our parents pass away, we have expenses between a funeral, travel, paid time off, and flowers to make sure that we remember them well and come to peace with their passing.

Divorce is no different: here we also invest time, money & effort for a better future.

Yes, there are people that want to drop no more than a few hundred dollars to secure a divorce agreement. For them, divorce is an expense (and they are going to get exactly what they paid for, or rather, what they did not pay for). 

For you to go from married life, living as a family under one roof, having joint savings and common expenses to returning to once again being a single person, splitting your time with your children, and dividing all you have, including your income cash flow, will be a major life transition. It will be a bigger change than these other milestones.

You wouldn’t think of pursuing a college level education through a paid YouTube account because you know online videos won’t make you more money. You wouldn’t think about launching a successful marriage by doing a no-cost wedding. And you can hardly imagine incurring no expenses upon a parent dying as you would regret that disservice to them.  

Successful life requires not only an investment in these milestones but also recognizing that your divorce is an investment in the springboard of your next best life.

We all know people that are still wallowing in their flubbed divorces 10 years after. Perhaps their divorce was not negotiated well. Perhaps they didn’t bother to educate themselves so that they could make wise decisions. And other times they choose to retain a crappy mindset as they live in the past and continue to be triggered by their ex-spouse.

Your divorce is an investment; you know this because you know that you need:

• To have your head screwed on straight so that your mindset is a source of your divorce success and not a part of the problem,
• To be sufficiently informed to not only prudently resolve your divorce but also to thrive in all of the non-law parts of your new life ahead, and
• Successful terms in your divorce decree that serve your short- & long-term needs. 

The importance of being successful in your divorce transition to your next best life makes this one of the most important investments you will have for your children, yourself, and your future.