Your standard of living is going to change after a divorce. Lifestyle changes often accompany this. Money doesn’t seem to go as far, for many people. It could be because you are used to living on two incomes, but now you are just living on one.
Gender is important when considering what will happen to your standard of living. For men, for example, there is an average increase of about 10%. For women, however, there can be a decrease of around 30%.
Many of your costs double
Part of the reason for this isn’t just the reduction in income, but an increase in bill
For example, maybe you and your spouse had a mortgage and you paid $2,000 a month for your home. But you had to sell the home during the divorce, and you are now both renting apartments. Each of these apartments costs roughly the same, at around $2,000 per month. This means that the combined housing costs for both of you have doubled, to $4,000.
However, it’s not just housing that couples share. You now have to pay your own income taxes, property taxes and things of this nature. You may have to buy your own health insurance plan or pay your own utility bills. Everything that you would have shared with your spouse before is now a financial burden that you face alone, so you may feel like your money doesn’t go as far as it used to.
Of course, you can plan in advance by making a post-divorce budget and fighting for everything that you deserve during property division. Just be sure you know what legal steps to take.