Today we’re excited to welcome Lori Lustberg, CFP®, CDFA™, JD In The Suite. Lori is a remarkable mix of legal insight and financial expertise with a deep appreciation for financial planning and divorce, having lived it herself. Today, Lori is fulfilling her life’s purpose as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® at Pathway Financial Advisors in South Burlington, Vermont.
What’s special about Lori is the fact that she and I met in high school and graduated in the same class, over 36-years ago. She was a brainiac then and still is now. Lori was one of the smartest girls in our class but she never flaunted it or really talked about it. Lori was just Lori. A big beautiful smile. A huge heart. Someone who would give you the quintessential shirt off their back if you needed it, or not.
Knowing Lori, I am not at all surprised that a series of life and career choices, mixed with mindfulness and gut instinct, led her down the road less traveled to where she is today. She’s one of the most caring, compassionate, and smart women you’ll ever meet in the financial planning profession and in the state of Vermont. In her words, she calls it a “healing profession” with the amazing power to transform lives.
To that I say, absolutely.
What Lori brings to the process of divorce is her extreme empathy and understanding. That’s because Lori has been through quite a journey herself, dealing with postpartum depression, divorce, and finances. Even someone as smart as Lori had to learn about money, the divorce process, and how to cope as a new mother given her circumstances. As she puts it, “I ended up having a business where I would help people going through divorce sort out their finances, and sort out their difficulties and their conflicts, because that’s what I had gone through myself.”
Today, Lori is a financial planner at Pathway Financial Advisors, a NAPFA-registered, independent, fee-only financial planning and wealth management firm serving high net worth clients, with offices in South Burlington, Vermont, and Atlanta, Georgia. As a financial planner and guide, Lori helps people clarify their goals and values and envision the life of their dreams. She loves seeing her clients become financially literate and empowered. But that’s just the beginning.
Lori specializes in long-term financial planning for couples, bringing a unique breadth and depth of experience as a financial mediator. She has seen first-hand how couples can work together to address and resolve financial conflicts as they arise so they can enjoy a happy, healthier partnership, and life. Having a financial planner who can skillfully help you navigate your disagreements is one of the best investments you can make in your long-term happiness as a couple.
If she wasn’t a rockstar already, Lori’s also the co-author and editor of Divorce and Separation: A Practical Guide to Making Smart Decisions (Vermont edition) and a contributing author to Living Together, Separating, Divorcing: Surviving During a Pandemic by Michael Lang and Peter Nicholson.
We are so appreciative that someone like Lori joined us In the Suite to give us tips relating to divorce and leading an empowered life. Listen to Lori’s episode and use these three steps to take charge of your own destiny.
- Allow yourself to be vulnerable. It’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to be broken. You can’t do it all. No one can. You can’t carry the world on your shoulders, so it’s completely acceptable to ask for help. People want to help and they can’t do anything unless you’re able to receive it.
- Finding the right attorney. There are different types of attorneys and all of them have their own personality. It might be a matter of Googling and asking your friends and then looking on maybe some mediation websites. Figure out what your circumstances are, and then really try to find the person who resonates with that.
- Find and make deeper connections. If you’re going through a divorce you might feel bouts of loneliness. It can be isolating. What kind of conversations and connections bring your life meaning? What makes you happy? Seek deeper relationships and conversations rather than short-term sessions.
Show Notes:
It’s an honor to welcome Lori Lustberg, CFP®, CDFA™, JD to In the Suite today. Lori shares her personal story about divorce and how she found her purpose in life as a financial planner working with women, and leading them through growth and transformation. Lori is an incredible inspiration, and a woman who embodies the gift of a beautiful mind and heart and I’ve seen it over the last 36 years.
Lori is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® at Pathway Financial Advisors. Lori knows how the power of financial planning can transform lives. She’s a co-author and editor of a book. Don’t forget she’s also a JD, Juris Doctor. Is there anything Lori can’t do?
In this podcast episode, Lori teaches us about life after divorce and the light at the end of the tunnel. There is hope, inspiration, and resilience in this podcast episode.
Join the conversation to hear about:
- What Lori has been up to since she and Tina graduated from high school (3:50)
- The psychological and emotional implications around finances (6:30)
- What brings Lori’s life meaning (10:00)
- How she navigated divorce and post-partum depression (13:00)
- Healing wounds and seeking meaningful relationships with people (18:30)
- What Lori recommends as a starting place if you’re thinking about divorce (26:25)
- The types of cases Lori prefers taking and why (31:00)
- How different court systems within a state varies (35:00)
- Lori explains what a collaborative divorce is (40:40)
- For anyone wondering “how much is this going to cost me?” (46:35)
- The true power of vulnerability and opening yourself up for help (50:00)
- Encouragement and feeling like you belong (54:20)
- Lori shares her special superpower! (58:30)
Referenced Materials
- Lori Lustberg, CFP®, CDFA™, JD – LinkedIn
- Lori Lustberg, CFP®, CDFA™, JD- Twitter
- Divorce and Separation Vermont: A practical guide to making smart decisions (Divorce Books America) – Amazon
- Divorce and Separation: A practical guide to making smart decisions (Vermont edition) – Website
- Association of Divorce Financial Planners
- Lori Lustberg, CFP®, CDFA™, JD- Pathway Financial Advisors Website
- Living Together, Separating, Divorcing: Surviving During a Pandemic by Michael Lang and Peter Nicholson – Amazon
