Episode 351: Protecting Your Financial Future During Divorce with Jamie Lima, CDFA®

Jan 8, 2026

Jamie Lima, CDFA® and founder of Allegiant Divorce Solutions, is a divorce financial specialist who helps people navigate retirement, pensions and tax issues. The conversation covers why divorce financial planning differs from traditional advice. Topics include QDROs, pension division mechanics, after-tax value of assets, common costly blind spots, and the importance of assembling a financial team.

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ADVICE

Bring In A Divorce Financial Specialist

Hire a CDFA when divorce raises tax, retirement, or support questions beyond a typical financial planner's training.
CDFA specialists coordinate with your existing planner and reduce costly mistakes from inexperience.

INSIGHT

Compare After‑Tax Value, Not Face Value

After-tax value can make equal-looking assets highly unequal once taxes are considered.
Compare net, not gross, values when dividing retirement accounts versus housing or taxable investments.

ADVICE

Prepare QDROs At Settlement

Draft QDROs (qualified domestic relations orders) concurrent with your settlement to avoid long delays and processing issues.
Send the signed order to the plan sponsor promptly and follow their approval steps to secure your divided retirement assets.

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If you're going through divorce and feeling overwhelmed by the financial decisions in front of you, you are not imagining it. There is far more to divorce financial planning than most people are ever told. Divorce creates financial challenges that most traditional financial advisors simply are not trained to handle, which is why I invited Jamie Lima, a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and the founder of Allegiant Divorce Solutions, to the show to help demystify the financial realities of divorce.

Jamie explains why dividing assets during divorce is rarely as straightforward as it seems, especially once taxes, retirement accounts, and long-term consequences are factored in. We talk about some of the most common and costly blind spots women face, including critical documents like QDROs, along with who actually carries the tax burden when assets are divided.

Throughout the conversation, we come back to one essential truth. You should not be navigating this alone. Divorce requires a team, and having the right financial expertise can protect your future long after the paperwork is signed.

What you'll hear about in this episode:

What a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst does and why divorce financial planning is different from traditional financial planning (2:02)
What a QDRO is, how it works, and why it is essential when retirement accounts and pensions are involved (7:38)
How after tax value changes the true worth of assets in a divorce settlement (17:43)
The most common financial mistakes people make during divorce and what Jamie wishes everyone knew before signing an agreement (31:28)

Learn more about Jamie Lima, CDFA®: After watching her parents go through a divorce at a young age, and experiencing a tremendously expensive and emotionally draining divorce herself in 2017, she launched Allegiant Divorce Solutions as a sister company to her traditional financial planning firm.

She recognizes the challenges people face as they decide how to handle their finances during divorce. Her parents struggled, and it was challenging for her as well. Looking back, there were mistakes she made during her own divorce that could have been avoided had she had the support of a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst ®.

At present, armed with this ever growing knowledge and almost 20 years of financial planning experience, she is dedicated to helping her clients navigate the complex aspects of divorce and gain a fair settlement, with much less stress.

Resources & Links:

Get Your Curated Podcast Playlist Focused Strategy Sessions with Kate The Divorce Survival Guide Resource Bundle Phoenix Rising: A Divorce Empowerment Collective Kate on Instagram Kate on Facebook Kate's Substack Newsletter: Divorce Coaching Dispatch The Divorce Survival Guide Podcast Episodes are also available YouTube! Jamie's website Jamie on LinkedIn Jamie on Instagram Jamie on TikTok Jamie on Facebook

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DISCLAIMER: THE COMMENTARY AND OPINIONS AVAILABLE ON THIS PODCAST ARE FOR INFORMATIONAL AND ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY AND NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROVIDING LEGAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD CONTACT AN ATTORNEY, COACH, OR THERAPIST IN YOUR STATE TO OBTAIN ADVICE WITH RESPECT TO ANY PARTICULAR ISSUE OR PROBLEM.

=================== Episode link: https://kateanthony.com/podcast/episode-351-protecting-your-financial-future-during-divorce-with-jamie-lima-cdfa/