How I Rebuilt My Financial Future After Divorce at 26: From Selling My House to Buying a Duplex

A 26-year-old Reddit poster recently shared his progress on rebuilding his future after a divorce. He is part of the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement, so he was focused on investing and building wealth, but his divorce affected his plans.

Fortunately, he took a few key steps to improve his financial situation once his marriage had ended, and now he said he is back on track. Here’s what he did to recover his stable financial situation despite the end of his marriage. 

How a 26-year-old rebuilt after divorce

The poster explained that when he got a divorce, he was required to sell all of the investments in his taxable account, and he also had to sell the single-family home that he was living in with his wife. The couple then had to split the profits from the home sale. The end result of this is that the Redditor was starting over with a much lower net worth than he had built up when he was still married.

Once he got divorced, he decided to buy his first Duplex so that the tenants that he has living there could cover a portion of his housing cost. He said he pays $1,700 per month, and the tenants who live in the other unit pay $1,400 monthly. Because his unit came with $40,000 worth of solar panels that only connect to his unit, he is also paying only $50 a month for electricity.

With very low housing and utility bills, the poster said he is back on track in both rebuilding his investment portfolio and he is saving to buy his next rental property. He is happy to have complete control of how his money is spent and invested, which he did not have when he was married, and he feels like he is on a good path. 

When he posted, he said to others, “This is just a reminder that just because hard things happen, it doesn’t mean you can’t bounce back and land on two feet to live the life you want and dream of.”

Tips for recovering your finances after your marriage ends

The Reddit poster here has made smart choices, and many commentators praised him for the decisions he made. In particular, some posters commented on how smart it was that he is using income from his rental property to help cover his own housing costs, and another stressed the importance of financial resiliency during difficult times. 

The reality is that divorce is one of the single most disruptive things that can happen to your financial security, and for a whole host of reasons.

As the Redditor here experienced, ending a marriage means that you often lose a good portion of the assets that you have acquired since you have to split your marital property. You also have the costs of the divorce to cover, and you’ll now be supporting two households instead of one on your combined income, which is a cut for both of you. If you have to pay alimony or child support, then you also have that ongoing expense to deal with. 

Since your financial situation has changed dramatically, it’s important to make adjustments to your budget and, like this poster did, to find ways to cut your expenses significantly as you try to rebuild. Working wih a financial advisor can help you to determine how best to get back on track, and it’s worth getting this professional help as soon as possible after a divorce so you can make the right moves to create the secure future you deserve.

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