Welcome to the first installment of “Mara’s Minute”!
This segment of the YellowWood blog will be where I’ll share thoughts, ideas, and other commentary on various financial topics in a quick hitting, easy to digest format. My blog posts will be a bit different than the videos you’ve seen on our website, mainly because of the fact that being in front of a camera is not my favorite place to be. But I still will do my best to make the information in this blog easy to understand, and useful to not only our clients, but to others who find themselves on our website.
If you’re reading this blog, you probably already know who I am and my role at YellowWood, but for those who may have stumbled upon “Mara’s Minute,” my name is Mara Kossoff and I am a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst ® (CDFA®) at YellowWood Wealth Solutions in Charlotte, North Carolina. While I’ve been in the south for six years now, I am originally from Los Angeles, California and pursued my undergraduate degree at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, so I like to think I bring a unique and diverse perspective to the topics I’ll be writing about.
What’s a CDFA®?
About two years ago I was on the hunt for additional education to further my knowledge in a more niche area of financial planning and came across the CDFA® designation. For those who don’t know, CDFA® stands for Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®. In short, us CDFA®’s are able to help individuals going through divorce in various aspects of the divorce process in a multitude of ways:
- Working with clients and their attorneys from the very beginning of the divorce process toward the common goal of reaching a fair settlement by helping to locate and organize the household’s assets / liabilities / expenses
- Running various analyses and financial forecasting using the household’s assets / liabilities / expenses to actually create that fair division of assets
- Coming into the divorce process after there already has been a division of assets to assist the former spouse in reassessing their priorities and financial strategy now that their circumstances have changed
- Emotional coaching through one of the most difficult life events that one can experience, which, in my opinion, is arguably one of the most important services we can offer
As you can see, there’s an enormous amount of value that CFDA®’s provide. A lot of people just unfortunately don’t really know that this niche exists.
Financial Information for Before, During, and After Divorce
I share this information because my first series of “Mara’s Minute” is going to be centered around divorce. Not just what to do if you are currently going through a divorce, but also information for those who may not have even broached the subject with their spouse yet, but want to know how to prepare before entering the divorce process. If you are reading this and are already on the other side of divorce, I will also be blogging about life / finances after the divorce is finalized, which I believe is a topic that is discussed far too infrequently and really can make or break one’s financial future.
Whether you’ve gone through a divorce, are currently going through a divorce, are considering a divorce, or just planning to get married, this series will have helpful information to educate you about the divorce process.
