SUMMARY
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Alice Shikina is an international speaker, negotiation coach, and divorce mediator. She’s the author of the book, Negotiating with Your Kids. Alice is passionate about helping people out of conflict and moving forward with their lives.

Today, Jonathan and Alice talk all about marriage, divorce, and navigating the difficult topic of finances throughout the two. Alice talks about the importance of acknowledgement and communication, and provides insights on how to approach your marriage as a business partnership.

TAKEAWAYS
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00:48 – Jonathan introduces today’s guest, Alice Shikina, who joins the show to share her unique experience being shielded from money at an early age
08:33 – Alice’s career trajectory, from theatre to divorce mediation
13:01 – Statistics on divorce
17:07 – Why financial literacy is a critical skill to have in a relationship
20:38 – Joint vs. separate accounts
26:39 – How to prepare yourself for the ‘business partnership’ of a marriage
30:52 – Prenups, postnups, and other strategies for cultivating a healthy ‘business partnership’
34:34 – The power of acknowledgement
37:42 – Approaching money as a team
44:54 – Alice’s 8-week negotiating and communication course
48:24 – One piece of financial advice for couples to heed and one thing to completely ignore
51:07 – Alice’s latest course, Design Your Own Divorce
52:51 – The last thing Alice changed her mind about and the most impactful place Alice ever visited
55:08 – Jonathan thanks Alice for joining the show today and lets listeners know where to connect with her

QUOTES
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“For those people who don’t know the difference between arbitration and mediation, arbitration is basically a private trial. So, you don’t go into the public court system. You hire a private judge, who is the arbitrator, and you do everything privately.” (11:53) (Alice)

“It is very interesting to note that if I’m mediating alimony from a husband to a wife, usually they want to be fair and talk about it. Usually when I mediate alimony from a wife to a husband, everyone is bitter.” (15:18) (Alice)

“If there is a partner who is not as financially literate, it would be extremely beneficial for them to get a financial coach so that they can at least feel somewhat comfortable looking at a spreadsheet. And the other thing is budget! So many people do not create a family budget.” (19:37) (Alice)

“I have noticed that when people come from marriages where they only have a joint account and they only had a joint account for several decades, there’s a lot of fear about splitting it up and opening a brand new account. Of course they do it, but I can tell it feels very uncomfortable for people.” (22:17) (Alice)

“Communication is a huge reason why people get divorced. I see it all the time. And they come to me and say,” (34:02) (Alice)

ABOUT MINDFUL MONEY
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Do you struggle with money? You’re not alone.
Money is a means, not an end. It’s a necessity of life for sure, but more money does not always guarantee a “good life”. Money enables many aspects of modern life, but as a dominant consideration it becomes destructive.
The paradox is that more time and energy spent on personal finance does NOT create better outcomes. Unlike many other parts of life, we can’t create better outcomes by being smarter, spending more time, or putting in more effort.
Join Mindful Money author and experienced 40-year investor Jonathan DeYoe as he shares stories from artists, authors, entrepreneurs, and other advisors about how they mindfully minimize their need to think about money and get more out of life.
If you aren’t happy with your finances, feel like money takes more time that it should, or want to place your financial decisions into the broader context of your life, this show is for you.
Each episode will draw the line between the “enough” activities that the academics tell us are additive to family outcomes, and those “little bit more” efforts that take time and sap energy, but do NOT improve outcomes.

GUEST RESOURCES
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Alice’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceshikina/
Alice’s Website: https://www.shikinamediation.com/
Alice’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shikinamediation/
Alice’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdyJNi_Ake9bk2u1_dbVrhg
Design Your Own Divorce: https://www.shikinamediation.com/mediation-services/divorce-mediation/

MINDFUL MONEY RESOURCES
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Jonathan’s Book – https://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Money-Practices-Financial-Increasing/dp/1608684369
Website - https://mindful.money/
Jonathan DeYoe on LinkedIn - http://linkedin.com/in/jonathandeyoe
Mindful Money on Twitter - https://twitter.com/MindfulMoney_Ed
Mindful Money on Facebook - http://facebook.com/MindfulMoneyPlan
Mindful Money on Instagram - http://instagram.com/mindfulmoneyplan
Mindful Money on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/MindfulMoney🎙️
Podcast Production by FullCast: https://fullcast.co/sn