Jacki Roessler, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®️

Biography

My parents divorced when I was six and as a result, my sister and I grew up in a house with challenging financial circumstances. Looking back, it’s easy for me to see why I gravitated toward a career that incorporated finance and divorce. It combines so many of my passions. I’ve always had what many consider an unusual combination of interests. I love number crunching and anything finance related. But I also get a lot of satisfaction from being creative and thinking outside the box. I’m a problem-solver.

My passion for my work has always been fueled by a desire to help people avoid the post-divorce lifestyle I had as a child. The numbers don’t lie. I help my clients create a budget, analyze potential settlement offers and determine what they can and can’t afford. I also help them understand and evaluate their retirement assets and their tax situation. Bringing clarity to a situation filled with chaos is always my goal. I don’t make decisions for my clients; I give them the tools and support to make their own.

Three Favorite Words

Passion | Seek | Empower

Childhood Collection

I fell in love with Disney’s Cinderella movie when I was young. Visually, it’s a stunner; filled with shades of blue, gothic scale, sparkling palaces and of course, an awesome magical dress. I have a cool vintage collection that includes View_Master reels, books, artwork and even a Super8 movie version. I still love everything Cinderella, even though, as an adult, I must admit that the story could use some tweaking.

You might bump into me…

Hiking with my camera…eating at my favorite vegan restaurant in Royal Oak…at the bookstore…traveling locally and to places far away with my husband and kids.

Background

Before joining Pearl, I worked in the divorce financial planning field for nearly 25 years. I started my career at a boutique planning firm as a financial planner in the 1990s. My first few clients were recently divorced women and I very quickly recognized that although they received 50% of their marital estate, often it was the wrong 50%. They received the house when they couldn’t afford the maintenance and upkeep. They were forced to liquidate their retirement assets early in order to pay their bills. I started talking to every divorce attorney who would let me in their office to explain why their clients needed financial advice DURING their divorce, not just after. A few listened to me and then introduced me to their friends, who were also divorce attorneys. It didn’t take too long for my practice to take off.

Fast forward to today and I have 25 years of experience helping women and men navigate the financial issues in their divorce. Along the way I developed an interest in the division of pensions and retirement accounts and have written and lectured extensively on this topic along with other financial issues in divorce not only in Michigan but across the country to other financial professionals, lawyers and judges.

People often ask me how I can stand working in such a “depressing” field. Actually, my work can be challenging but it’s incredibly uplifting. I get to help people through one of the most difficult times in their life and see them through to the other side. The best reward is bumping into clients in the office, long after their divorce is over when they’re happily living their life and thriving.

I live in Bloomfield Hills with my amazing husband Mark and my children, Kevyn and Ava. When I’m not spending time with my family and my three dogs, I love taking photos, art history, travel, hiking outdoors and collecting Conder tokens (don’t ask; it will take me too long to explain). My pandemic guilty pleasure is watching every episode of the Great British Baking Show (at least once).