Dear Readers, I am thrilled to announce I am writing a book! Because of all your support and the rapidly growing number of you, I am taking the plunge to write a spin off book. The focus of the book will be to help women going through a tough and emotional time, such as divorce, loss of a spouse, career change, and such. My mission is to help the women get through their transition and come out stronger and more independent with their money. I am interviewing women to get more stories for the book, so if you would like to be interviewed for it, click below. I am also doing some case studies for the book with women, who feel stuck in their life and with their finances. And if you would like to be a part of a mentorship, please click below to get more information on it.
The focus of my interviews is around two main questions:
What helped you get through your rough time? And, what did you wish you had known?
Every women is different just as every situation is different, but I have found some common themes. And I’m talking about hundreds of women and hundreds of stories. And what I’d like to do as we get closer to the book release is spill some of the highlights to get you excited. I also think some of the information I’ve found is so beneficial, that I’d like to share it with you before the book is even out. And today’s posting is about those transitions in life when you need to take some time off from work. It can be to help with your ailing parent or parents, your spouse who is sick or disabled, or maybe a child who needs more time with you.
Because of a recent interview with a client, I found out about the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act. Her husband had lung cancer while at the same time her mother needed round the clock care. Her family was in New Jersey, but her mother and father were in Mississippi, so she was being pulled in a lot of different directions. Luckily, she had a great and very flexible employer, who let her work remotely when she needed to. However, there were still other times when she needed more time off from work. This is when she found out about the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Here is a summary of the act from the website: https://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/
The FMLA entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave. Eligible employees are entitled to:
- Twelve workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for:
- the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth;
- the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement;
- to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;
- a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job;
- any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty;” or
- Twenty-six workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for a covered service member with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin (military caregiver leave).
And it gets even better if you live in New Jersey! Sorry if you live in another state, but I’m sure they have something similar that is probably worth researching. New Jersey has a Family Leave Act very similar to the Federal, and there is also their Family Leave Insurance. The insurance is the New Jersey Temporary Disability Benefits Law, which will pay up to 6 weeks of maternity leave or when you adopt a child or to provide care to a seriously ill family member. For more information on the insurance or to apply online, click below:
http://lwd.dol.state.nj.us/labor/fli/fliindex.html
While this posting is a more serious one than normal, it covers a very important area for women. Women always fall back to being the caregiver, whether it is when we first have our own babies or to take care of our parents or spouses. It is nice to know there are laws and insurance to help protect our careers and jobs while we give back to our families. We don’t have to pick between the two, well at least not for a few weeks. The United States is still very far behind other countries with our family and maternity leaves, but it is a start.
o make sure you take advantage of what we do have if you are needed as a caregiver. And please schedule a call to make sure your money and finances are taken care of while you take some time off work too. Just because you take a leave from work, doesn’t mean you take a leave from your finances. Having a plan in place can help give you more comfort before you have to take time off from work. You can then put all of your focus on helping your loved ones and not worrying. Wouldn’t that be nice? I can’t stress it enough, your work may be placed on hold, but your goals don’t have to if you schedule a call.
What are you waiting for, schedule your call now!
Happy Caregiving!
Jessica Weaver, CFP®, CDFA™, CFS®
Wealth Advisor
Any opinions are those of Jessica Weaver and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but we do not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete.