Last week was the Institute for Divorce Financial Analyst’s Annual Conference for CDFA™ professionals in New Orleans. It was a great opportunity to sharpen my skills, and become aware of even MORE information that I didn’t know I didn’t know!  No matter how much experience you might have or how long you’ve been in this business, the change and evolution is constant.  Just in case you missed it, here’s a recap of four great sessions from the conference.

The first session was with one of my favorites, Judge Kathleen McCarthy from Chicago, to provide some perspective from the bench. It’s always fascinating to me to understand that they DO NOT CARE what the stories of the parties are or who is more deserving than the other, they look at one thing and one thing only – how do the state statutes dictate that they must rule given the evidence.  I think this is one of the biggest misconceptions of people going through the process. They think that they will have an opportunity to “tell their story” and it’s just not the case.

Next was a local friend of mine, David Horowitz, to give us an update on same-sex union and we had a great discussion on the current cases in the Supreme Court and how it may impact our work in the future. One thing is for sure, the lawsuits will be around for several years to come.

Probably the most overwhelming session was the one on pension strategies. Boy, talk about a ton of information that NEVER gets addressed for most clients. Incredibly eye-opening.

My favorite session of all was the one on dissipation and fraud. Peggy Tracy was just about the most adorable presenter I had ever seen and holy funny!!! Boy the stories she’s racked up over the years! Again, we had no idea how clever folks can be when they’re trying to hide money! Wow!

As you can see, it was an event PACKED with content both enlightening and educating! If you are a CDFA™ professional, I’d highly recommend that at least one conference a year is part of your plan. Things change very quickly and we all need to stay at the top of our game!

Are you ready to turn your credential into an actual profitable business? Want to do it quickly and not take 18 months like I did? If so, a CDFA mentoring program is the way to go for sure. It will be the best money you ever spent.