Divorce left her broke, but this woman made a $20K comeback in 9 months
A few years ago, Jacqueline didn’t know how she’d get back on her feet.
She had been living in America, but after a divorce she decided to return to Australia. On the verge of turning 50, she returned with little more than her dog and $10,000 in debt.
“I wasn’t very involved in managing the money during the marriage. It looked like we were doing well, with the cars and the house, but I didn’t know how much debt we were in. So, in the end, there wasn’t much left,” Jacqueline said.
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To make matters worse, soon after returning to Australia, Jacqueline was diagnosed with cancer, which prompted her to move back in with her parents for support.
“It’s hard to imagine that, if I hadn’t had the love of my parents and my family home to return to, I might have been homeless,” she told Yahoo Finance.
Unfortunately, Jacqueline’s experience isn’t a unique one.
In recent years, women over the age of 55 have been the fastest growing demographic of homeless people in Australia.
And recent research shows that the financial impacts of separation are more negative for women than men, with many women at risk of entering poverty after separation.
Jacqueline feels fortunate she was able to get employment quickly upon her return. But, despite the challenging circumstances, she also blames her lack of financial capability or being a contributing factor to the situation she found herself in.
“I’d never been very good with money. Even when I was younger, I didn’t give my finances much attention. So, I never developed the skills around managing money. If I’d learned those skills earlier in my life I would be in a very different place. Being almost 50 with nothing was a wake up call. I couldn’t afford a financial advisor but I knew I needed help to change my situation,” she said.
This led her to enrol in Mastering Money, a financial education program run by SkilledSmart. Developed in collaboration with experienced financial professionals, the program teaches adults practical financial skills to save, invest and manage their money.
The program gave her the steps she needed to start making changes and within nine months of the program, Jacqueline not only achieved her first goal of becoming debt-free but had also saved over $10,000, making a total turnaround of over $20,000.
Since then, Jacqueline has continued to hit big goals. Another 18 months on, she bought a car, paid for a holiday, all while staying debt-free, improving her credit score, and continuing to build her savings.
