Michelle Cortés-Harkins Earns Certified Divorce Financial Analyst Designation (CDFA™)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - March 23, 2014 - PRLog -- PROVIDENCE, RI – Harkins Wealth Management, LLC has announced that Michelle Cortés-Harkins, MSW, CDFA™, CRPC®, recently completed a specialized educational program in professional divorce financial analysis and is now a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA™). Harkins Wealth Management is dedicated to serving individuals, families, business owners, and non-profits by offering advice, retirement income planning and comprehensive financial services that seeks to address individual goals and objectives.

The Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts (IDFA) issues the CDFA™certification. IDFA™ trains professional financial planners, accountants, and lawyers to help determine the financial needs and possible outcomes for couples going through or after a divorce.

Among people ages 50 and older, the divorce rate has doubled over the past two decades, according to research by sociologists Susan Brown and I-Fen Lin of Bowling Green State University, whose paper, "The Gray Divorce Revolution,"[1] details this phenomenon. In Rhode Island, the divorce rate for the general population is around 3.2%, which is lower than the national average of 3.6%[2].

As a CDFA, Michelle is trained to provide financial information and assistance to those going through divorce to include evaluating the implications of dividing property and the settlement options for dividing pensions, retirement plans, marital property, and awarding of child and spousal support. Michelle also has access to specialized software to develop informational reports to better communicate the financial information to the divorcing couples, attorneys, courts, and mediators. “We are using financial planning tools to ensure that individuals are reaching more equitable divorce settlements. We assist lawyers in building a strong case that’s in the client’s best interest.”

At Harkins Wealth Management, Michelle is a partner and a Wealth Management Advisor.  She has worked in the financial services industry for over 9 years. Michelle holds a Master of Social Work from Rhode Island College and focuses her practice on women in transition.

Harkins Wealth Management is a firm that offers wealth management and financial services.  Our mission is to be your most trusted advisor through our professional knowledge, a close working relationship that builds on-going trust, and our personalized service based on your needs. Our firm was founded on core values: trust, loyalty, hard work and communication. When we manage your finances, you receive all this and more. We call it True Balance: Life. Money. Balance Both.

[1]J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23052366?dopt=Abstract) 2012 Nov;67(6):731-41. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbs089. Epub 2012 Oct 9.

[2]From 2011, Rates are per 1,000 total population residing in area. CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System

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