Healing, Growing and Thriving Through Divorce and Separation with Lori Lustberg, CFP?, CDFA?, JD, at Pathway Financial Advisors

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: Over 70 Leading Mediators help you deal with the loss of income, lack of ... together if you can, and if you can't...) by Michael Lang and Peter Nicholson on Amazon.

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. 

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

In The Suite podcast shares amazing stories of women in business in the financial services and wealth management industry. The podcast features interviews with inspiring, top women leaders in business and some of the biggest names in the wealth management industry. In The Suite is where you’ll discover their best secrets and top strategies to grow a great business, build a strong brand, and lead teams in the 21st century. In The Suite podcast is hosted by Tina Powell, TEDx Speaker, former NYU Professor, Marketing Consultant and CEO of C-Suite Social Media.

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