Are all single moms destined for poverty, loneliness and effed-up kids?
Quick answer: NO.
More details on how to build an amazing life, find love and raise happy kids:
It’s no one’s Plan A.
But being a single mom does not mean you’re destined for the welfare line, free school lunches for your kids, or living in your parents’ basement.
The first step is to convince yourself that your new life will be one that is full, joyous and financially rich.
For some people, it can take a long time to believe.
Maybe you’ll have to fake it till you make it (as they say).
But nothing is possible unless you can see the end goal.
Love it or hate it, your finances are one of the biggest parts of your life.
Sadly, there are millions and millions of single moms out there that are not giving their finances the attention that they deserve.
It can be difficult being a single mom, but not taking smart financial steps is going to make it a thousand times worse.
The good news is that, thanks to technology and lots of information from experts (like this blogger) it is easier than ever to get your financial act on track, and gain the confidence you need to build the foundation of an incredible, full life for yourself and your family.
Here are my steps to living a rich single life:
1. How to be a single mom — including with no help
I often get asked: “ how can I be a single mom?”
I'm pregnant and it looks like I'm doing this alone — how hard can I expect it to be??
I have to get out of this relationship — how hard is it to be a single mom after divorce?!! Please tell me now so I can decide?!!
I'm thinking of getting pregnant on my own. How hard will it be?
If this resonates with you, then let me help you out. What you are really, actually, truthfully asking me is:
How do I make sure my kids won't be messed up — and are even successful, productive adults?
How can I break the stereotype of the welfare, broke, angry single mom?
Will I ever find love? Romance? Where do I even start?
Can I even be a happy single mom?
WTF, this is hard and scary and I don't know where to start?!!!
The fact is that you can more than cope, or financially survive as a single mom — you can thrive.
Have emotional money blocks that you can't seem to get over on your own? Personal finance issues is a popular specialty for counselors. Try private, online therapy with BetterHelp >>
2. Embrace that you are now financially independent as a single mom.
Fights about money are one of the biggest reasons single moms are not romantically involved with their kids' dads in the first place.
The fact that you are now financially free to make good, sound money decisions is one of the most positive, powerful changes in your life.
So is your newly encumbered ability to work and earn more money. You don't have to play to anyone's ego anymore.
Embrace this independence, and all the freedom and power that comes with it.
Do not start to dream and strategize about how the next man will be your meal ticket to a better financial future.
Maybe one day you'll couple with a man who is at least if not more successful for you, and than you, which will bolster your financial security. Even then, you need to take care of yourself, and your finances, and build a life and wealth as an independent adult woman. Because you are, and you can.
Yes, you may receive child support and/or alimony. But remember this: That money could go away any time.
He could lose his job, skip town, become disabled or pass away at any moment.
You cannot control that. But you can control how much money you earn.
And you can earn far more than a judge may order you be paid.
Plus: It is critical to your ability to move on emotionally in this phase of life if you are not connected to your ex and your former life through bi-weekly payments.
3. Let go of assumptions about what is possible as a single mom
Your family, media, friends and colleagues likely give you messages — subtle and not-so-much — about your urge to get married “while you're still young and cute,” settle for a low-paying, but steady job, and how statistically, your kids are destined for juvie and a life of otherwise underperformance. Ignore those people, and contend with those messages in your own mind (I've had them, trust me! Worries about living out of a car that I didn't even own, visions of constantly struggling). Instead, surround yourself with successful, positive people. Identify successful single moms in your own life, or in the world. Cocoon in messages of what is possible. You absorb it by osmosis.
Single moms are statistically poorer and more stressed out with kids who don't do so great when compared with other families. That is not a sentence for your life. You can do whatever you want, but you have to do it through the lens of a person, a professional, a woman.
Were you offered a promotion of your dreams, but consider not taking it because the travel will permanently damage your kids? Has any man ever in the history of mankind ever had that thought?! Take the freaking promotion, hire a wonderful babysitter to help you out, get a housekeeper for crying out loud, and show your kids — and the world! — how shit is done.
Living your greatest potential is the best gift any mother can give her children, and the world.
4. Get a grip on how much money you’re spending.
I’m a big fan of Tiller's online budgeting tool where you plug in all your bank, credit card, brokerage and mortgage accounts to get a snapshot of all your finances.
Having a budget for your money is one of the most important things that you can do for your finances and jump-start your journey to a rich single life, but nobody wants to sit down with a spreadsheet.
Thanks to Tiller.com, making a budget has never been easier, and you can get started with just a few clicks.
One of the best advantages of Tiller is that it syncs with all of your bank accounts and credit cards and categorized all of your transactions.
Tiller will show how much you’re spending on transportation, entertainment, and much more.
This is one of the best ways to track all of your spending and identify any areas that you’re spending too much and places that you could cut back.
5. Get a grip on how much money is coming in.
Tiller is really helpful with this, and it's important because if you don’t know how much money you’re making, then you have no idea how much you have to spend.
If you have several streams of income, it’s vital that you know how much money that you can spend every month, how much money you can save, and then how much would be left over.
6. Understand your new tax situation.
There is a huge difference in filing your taxes single compared to filing as a married person.
I don’t expect you to understand all of the tax rules, but it’s also important you understand the consequences of filing your taxes properly.
7. Check on your credit score for free.
Let’s be honest, most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about their score, but that could be a huge mistake.
Your credit score plays a huge role in several areas of your life.
It can be the difference in getting approved for a loan or mortgage.
It is going to also to impact the rates that you get on loans.
If you’re a renter, there is a chance that a bad credit score will get you declined for an apartment.
Also, when you apply for a job, your employer might check your credit score when you apply.
Having a poor credit score could keep you from getting the dream job or that new apartment.
8. Set some short- and long-term financial goals.
According to one New York University study, on average single mothers possess only 4 percent of the wealth of single fathers: single moms have $1,000 saved compared to the $25,300 that single fathers have. The study found that black and Latino single mom have a median wealth of zero, while white single moms report $6,000.
Compare this to the 64 percent of successful retirees (those who claimed to be comfortable in their retirement) who saved and invested during their 20s and 30s — prime baby-making and raising years! A recent Allianz survey of professional families found that the average traditional, two-parent family has saved $264,000 for retirement while single-parent families had just $171,000 in savings.
This disparity does not have to be your story.
But you must set some goals to buck the single-mom trap.
Short-term goals might be to pay off a credit card bill, build an emergency savings account, or make more than you spend.
Long-term include buying a home, saving for your kids’ college, or investing for retirement.
I'm a big fan of investing for retirement using Ellevest, which make it SUPER easy to save and invest.
If you haven’t dipped your toes into the investment waters, you might be nervous about starting an investment portfolio.
Don’t worry, thanks to Ellevest and the other robo-advisor investing companies, it’s never been easier to reach your financial goal.
If you decide to use start retirement investing with Ellevest, you can get started investing in a matter of hours.
All that you have to do is create an account, set your financial goals, and answer a few simple questions.
After that, the robo-advisor (i.e. Ellevest) will handle the rest for you.
They automatically invest your contributions based on your risk tolerance and goals.
They continue to shift your investments around the closer that you get to your goals and automatically reinvest any money that you make.
Even if you can only start with a $5 investment or a $500 investment, getting started will help you build the momentum you want.
Related post: How to get started investing for women
9. Do not make decisions ‘as a single mom'
Single moms are statistically poorer and more stressed out with kids who don't do so great when compared with other families.
That is not a sentence for the rest of your life. You can do whatever you want, but you have to do it through the lens of a person, a professional, a woman.
Were you offered the promotion of your dreams, but consider not taking it because the travel will permanently damage your kids? Has any many ever in the history of mankind ever had that thought?! Go after that promotion, hire a wonderful babysitter to help you out, get someone to clean your house for crying out loud, and show your kids — and the world! — how shit is done. Living your greatest potential is the best gift any mother can give her children, and the world.
One of the biggest mistakes single moms make is they prioritize saving for their kids' college over their own financial futures.
Nearly half (47 percent) of single moms say that saving for their children’s education is their No. 1 greatest motivation for developing a long-term financial plan — above saving for retirement. Compare that with just 26 percent of other modern families who say the same, according to this Allianz survey.
I suspect that single moms feel guilty for being a “broken family” and attempt to make up for any pain a breakup caused their children by financing their educations. The reason may also be that the moms themselves have struggled financially, and hope to lessen that struggle for their kids.
No matter how benevolent the reasons, don't do this.
Your kid can get loans for school, you can't get loans for retirement. Financial pros will tell you that retirement savings trump college on all fronts: more tax benefits, longer vestment periods and a higher priority overall. Plus, your kids will be super irritated if they have to support you when you're old and you could have made better decisions.
10. Protect your family.
Life insurance is insanely affordable, easy to get, and just plain smart.
Read more about single moms and life insurance in this post.
Life insurance is one of the most important investments that you’ll ever make for your loved ones, especially as a single mom.
Nobody wants to think about tragedy striking their family, but not planning for the worst is one of the worst mistakes that you could make.
One reason that people don’t buy life insurance is because they assume that it’s going to be too expensive, but in most cases, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Regardless of your health or any pre-existing conditions that you have, it’s possible to get affordable life insurance to protect your family.
HavenLife, a MassMutual product, has a quick and simple quote process. You can read more in this HavenLife review.
Not sure how much life insurance you need?
Nationwide, one of the oldest insurance companies in the country, is also one of the highest-rated. A key perk is the ability to speak on the phone with an insurance specialist, who will make sure you have the right coverage. Get a quote from Nationwide in under a minute.
If you are aged 50 or older, you should also look into long-term care insurance, which I explain in this post.
11. Set quality of life goals.
There is no point in paying off a credit card bill if it means you work so much that you never see your kids or have time to exercise.
Consider free time, quality time, the health and wellbeing of your family.
Think about how your money and life can work together.
Every person and family is different. I can't tell you what your quality of life goals should be.
That requires some deep digging. Take some time to sit down and decide how you want to balance your money and family.
Other people want to spend extra time or can’t take on that additional work.
12. Make more money.
You can cut costs like Netflix and restaurants, raise the thermostat, cut coupons, and negotiate your insurance, and other tasks that do help your bottom line, but keep you focused on surviving financially as a single mom, and how to afford to live.
But there is only so much you can slash.
And super-budget thinking is small thinking.
However, if you focus on earning more, growing wealth, and thriving, the sky is the limit!
Decide today to increase your income, your credit, your bottom line. Recalibrate your energy into a wealth zone.
Some ideas:
Take a mentor out for lunch to learn about opportunities in your profession.
Research going back to school.
Consider starting your own business.
Join a local or national networking group.
Hell, attend just one networking event!
Talk to your boss about telecommuting and other life-balance arrangements.
Thanks to the Internet, it’s never been easier to make some extra money on the side.
There are hundreds of ways single moms can make money from home, in your spare-time without having to wait tables on the weekend.
Here is my list of top career-level, work-at-home jobs that can earn you in the six-figures or more. These include bookkeeper, grant writer, coder / programmer, virtual assistant, and blogger.
13. Go on a shopping diet.
If you are broke, shopping is not a hobby you can afford!
Make a strict list before stepping foot in Target and do not stray into the cosmetics departments for a “treat” – and I don’t care how great of a deal you find!
By making each purchase a conscious one, you will feel empowered and confident about your money.
14. Spend money in ways that will make you money.
Pay for yard service, and use that time saved to build a business.
Invest in a dishwasher and spend that extra time studying for a degree that will earn you more money.
Send out your laundry and devote those hours to fun family time.
Put money into advancing your career, learning a new skill or building your business.
15. Successful single moms are grateful.
It is easy to compare yourself to who you were when you were married, all the ‘perfect' nuclear families populating your Facebook and Instagram feeds (fun fact: most people live in debt, half those families will divorce, and a whole lot of them are not as happy as their Disney-going, recently-remodeled kitchen, Invisalign smiles suggest).
Instead, focus on the realities of your own life, which include a WHOLE lot of abundance: that you live in a time and place of untold opportunities and rights for women, that you have many successful single mom peers in the world, that you have access to technology which empowers you with information on how to do anything at all — including making a ton of money.
16. Give yourself a break.
Getting back on your feet after a divorce can be a long process full of setbacks.
But this can also be one of the most exciting and empowering times of your life.
Going through a divorce can turn your whole life upside down, and it can take a long time to recover from the emotional and financial stress, but it can be done.
The tips above are just a few of the simple ways that you can take control of your finances and ensure that your own your way to a rich life as a single mom.
If you have any questions about any of the tips that I listed, or you want to share your own, please feel free to add them in the comment section below.
17. Dream really, scary big.
Single moms might get out of rock-bottom poverty mode, but they often fail to truly break free from mindsets that hold them back from their true potential. I often see single moms who blame their exes for their financial limits, complaining that failure to pay child support means they can't go back to school to earn a higher degree, and therefore make more money.
Others say that the lack of their ex's involvement means that they work the hours required to qualify for a promotion. Others blame their family status for not taking on big risks like starting a new business, taking a demanding new job, or otherwise stretching their professional or financial comfort zone, citing needing to be home more, or lack of support as the reason.
I get all of these, and have felt them myself. But when I am about to kill my ex for not honoring his visitation schedule, which means I have to scramble to find a sitter last-minute, or cancel a media opportunity, I have learned to pause, reach out to my network of sitters, family and friends, and hire that child care, work after the kids are asleep, or otherwise do whatever it takes to make it work. Otherwise, I am giving my power to others — my ex, my family status, or society who I may fear judges me and my parenting.
Do not give your power to others. Do not live in fear, anger or otherwise mute your brilliance. Instead, put the petal to the metal. Set giant, scary, ridiculous goals. Hire the child care you need, and make parenting about quantity over quality time. After all, if you are stressed over money, resentful over unfulfilled dreams and goals, you are a far, far lesser mom and woman than one who spends a few less hours with her kids, but is living her full potential, and serving as a far poorer role model for her children.
Go for it. You got this.
Kickass Single Mom money manifesto
This is my mission statement for this platform, myself, and for single moms everywhere. It is from my #1 Bestselling book, The Kickass Single Mom (Penguin), which the New York Post called a “Smart, must read” and was featured on The Doctors, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Jenny McCarthy Show, O, Oprah Magazine, MONEY magazine and more than 150 other outlets:
I will set big, giant scary goals for myself and family, regardless of what my family looks like, or what other people think I am capable of.
I appreciate every single day that I live in a time of unprecedented wealth and opportunity for women, and it is my duty to achieve both to honor the people who fought for me to have these opportunities, as well as for those who come after me.
I might not have it all figured out right now, but I am taking steps to be debt free, financially independent, and with a financial plan for the future.
I will never chose to under-earn in order to maximize receipt of child support, alimony or public benefits.
I will never under-earn to minimize paying child support or alimony.
I will take steps to minimize working mom guilt, instead deferring to extensive research that finds that after age 3, the number of hours moms spend with their kids does not impact their development, and actively thwart peer pressure that assumes that the stay-at-home mom is the better mom, because all science finds to the contrary.
I will take big and calculated (and some not-so-calculated) risk. Because that is the only way to grow and change — financially, professionally and personally.
I will seek without guilt or shame work that is exciting, creative and fulfilling.
I will never minimize my professional success — in actuality or perception — in order to appear attractive to men.
I relish that I am role model of earning and professional success for my children. Also, for other women and moms.
I give back. Even — especially — when I feel like I don't have any more to give, I remember that I can give to others, and that gives me strength.
I accept help. I'm just one woman, I am vulnerable, and I can't do everything on my own (that would be insane).
I will stumble, fail, eff stuff up in the worst way. Then get back up and go for it again.
I'm never, ever, ever, ever, ever entitled. Ever!
I am capable of so, so much more than I limit myself to. I open myself up to the amazing and impossible.
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