If you've got clients who have had a rough couple of years income-wise, now might be the time to dump that old, annoying spouse. According to Crain's New York Business, bankers and other financial types who suffered in 2008 and 2009, this is the time since their earnings are down and the alimony would therefore be less. “Unlike stocks, when it comes to divorce, you want to buy high and sell low,” says one lawyer. “These are the low-earning years.”
The article explains, “'For those high-wage earners who are in a marriage that they want to end, there has never been a better time to get divorced,' says Jason Marks, a partner with law firm Kluger Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine."
Since most financial executives earned less over the past year or two than at any point in a decade, filing for divorce now means a much lower income for calculating alimony. The end of hefty cash bonuses on Wall Street is also nudging unhappy couples into divorce, and the nearly 40% drop in investment portfolios since the 2007 peak means there's less to divide."