How to start living your best life after divorce

Even the most amicable of divorces will leave you feeling a little broken and less whole. You should expect a mix of emotions, from anger, heartbreak, and anxiety through to relief and joy. You’ll almost certainly need to treat yourself kindly and allow time to heal.

In the aftermath of divorce, you may find yourself questioning aspects of your life and the choices you’ve made. But post-divorce presents a perfect opportunity to take stock and re-examine your values, wants, needs, dreams, and desires.

Eventually, your emotions will begin to settle, and you’ll feel ready to start making plans again. Instead of feeling daunted, get ready to embrace a life of freedom, filled with fresh opportunities.

Start living your best life after divorce with these five practical steps.

1. Know what you want from life

While you may have children to consider, when you get divorced you can make your own decisions and live the way you wish. The first step towards embracing your newfound freedom is to think about your life goals.

What do you want from this next chapter in life? Do your ambitions centre around finding independent stability following a difficult relationship? Perhaps your main concern is to create a calm and loving environment for your children?

Or maybe you’re ready for a new adventure and want to start a new business or travel the world.

Whatever you want from life, setting goals can help keep you grounded. Having a focus and concentrating your efforts on making concrete plans to turn your dreams into a reality can also help reinvigorate you.

Finally, being productive and making progress towards fulfilling your dreams will keep you motivated.

2. Get a clear picture of your financial situation

Planning for your financial future following divorce is vital. Your financial plan will form the bedrock of making your dreams a reality.

A financial plan should begin with a clear understanding of all the assets that make up your wealth. This should include cash savings, investments, property, pensions, and any other assets you hold.

Starting here is a useful way to get a firm grasp on your current financial situation and will help you understand where your financial strengths – or weaknesses – may lie.

Your plan will depend on what stage of life you’re at. As professional financial planners, we can help you look at your life goals, your objectives, your responsibilities and future lifestyle aspirations and devise a plan to help you achieve them.

3. Plot your financial future with cashflow modelling

Cashflow planning can help you plot and visualise your route towards achieving your life goals and financial objectives.

To make the most of your financial potential, it’s important to be specific and think realistically about how much you will need. The more specific you are, the easier it will be to draw up a plan to achieve your goals.

This is why making plans and dreaming big should be the first step.

As well as helping you to understand how you can achieve your lifetime goals, cashflow modelling can help you:

Gain extreme clarity of your financial situation
Get organised and remain on top of your finances
Work towards financial independence
Plan to minimise your tax liabilities
Develop an investment strategy that aligns with your long-term objectives and appetite for risk.

4. Find your place and make it your own

If you’re still living in the marital home, you might want to make some changes and put your own stamp on things. This could be as simple as redecorating with a fresh lick of paint, or you may want to go all in and splash out on a new kitchen, bathroom, or buy brand-new furniture.

Whatever changes you wish to make, ensure you make a plan and get quotes for the big jobs. This way you’ll know how much it’s going to cost before you start ripping down walls.

On the other hand, if you’re moving house, take some time to understand what you need from your new home before you start scrolling property sites and getting carried away.

Once you know what you need from your home and where you want to live, find an estate agent (or two) that you can trust, and get a better understanding of how much you’ll need to spend to secure your new home.

5. Plan for your long-term future with a financial planner by your side

Your divorce settlement may mark the start of your new life, but sensible planning should last long into the future.

A financial plan will help you set out to achieve your short and medium-term objectives, but it’s also important to consider the long term.

With a solid understanding of where you’re at now and where you hope to be in the coming years, you can look at how to allocate your assets to ensure you maintain sufficient capital to live your best life for the rest of your lifetime.

You may be many years away from retiring, but planning ahead for the retirement of your dreams means you’re more likely to be able to enjoy the lifestyle you desire.

Going through a divorce can leave you feeling numb, and your confidence may have taken a knock. Working with a financial planner and getting expert financial advice can help you regain control of your finances and give you the reassurance you need that you can cope financially and gain money independence on your terms.

To get the maximum benefit from expert financial advice, you should expect to form a long-term relationship with your financial planner. A lasting relationship with your financial planner will help give you more confidence in your financial plans and leave you feeling more in control of your life and your future.

Get in touch

To learn more about how we can help you plan your financial future following divorce and help you live your best life, get in touch. Email hello@firstwealth.co.uk or call 020 7467 2700.

This document is marketing material for a retail audience and does not constitute advice or recommendations. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.