6 Reasons Your Finances Are Better Than You Think

6 Reasons Your Finances Are Better Than You Think

Divorced women are already financially strapped and, with all the doomsday reporting lately, they may be financially scared too. However, it is not as bad as you think. In fact, in all recessions and depressions, there were many girls who managed to ride it out to their benefit.

And let’s face it, divorced women are resourceful. With that in mind, FWW asked Tyler Mathieson, CNBC’s managing editor for business news and all-around financial brainiac, to offer six reasons you can navigate this financial hiccup.

• Smart girls know that you should have money in the bank below the FDIC insurance limit of $100,000. or have money in several banks. The good news is that the limit will rise from $100,000 to $250,000 if the Senate bail out bill is passed. If you have just gotten a cash settlement on your divorce that exceeds $250,000, it would still be wise to split it between banks.

• If you have followed the basic tenet of smart investing, you have diversified among different asset classes – stocks, bonds, precious metals, T Bills, real estate. If so, you would have lost less in the stock market right now, since that is just one class of investments. And remember, it is never too late to get smart. You can diversify now too.

• If you have good credit, and depending on how much you are asking for, you should still be able to get a mortgage or a bank loan. Banks want to do business right now but will cater to clients with a good credit history. They may also add incentives for opening an account and making deposits.

• Your credit score is a composite of a lot of things – but the most important factor is whether you are late in paying bills. That will impact 35 percent of your score. So make sure you pay your bills on time.

• Unless you have to move soon, you really don’t need to worry about the decline in house values in your neighborhood – if you bought your house before 2004. Even if its value has gone down now, you’re lucky because you don’t have to sell. However, if you bought your house after 2006, and have to sell, you probably will have to take some loss. In general, patience is the key to long term security. Values really do go up and down.

• Last but not least, Tyler says that when the political and financial dust-up settles, and we are on the other side of this crisis, we will probably have a more “reasonable set of expectations” in how we spend and lend money and how banks and financial institutions operate.

A little belt tightening will make us slimmer and smarter and focused on “reasonable” expectations of profits and growth.

There are still businesses that flourish even in harder times, which we will address in another story this week. At FWW, we always see the opportunity in every crisis.