01:11 — One household becomes two
Nadav Nishri speaks with family-finance consultant and coach Eldad Rosenberg about rebuilding financial life after divorce. The original recording is in Hebrew. The same resources may now need to support two homes, and even people with substantial assets can feel frightened. At recording, Eldad describes eleven years in his field and his own divorce about eight months earlier. His focus grew from meeting divorced people whose needs, especially those previously less involved in money management, were not being adequately addressed. This is practical education, not an individual financial plan or a promise of growth.
Original episode audio in Hebrew
Watch the original episode (Hebrew)
04:12 — Money also involves feelings and habits
Eldad describes numbers and budgeting as about forty percent of his work, with beliefs, feelings and habits taking much of the rest. It is his explanatory estimate, not a research finding. Nadav recalls people selling a home, receiving several million shekels each and still fearing that the money will disappear while salary alone seems insufficient. This is an example, not advice that everyone should sell their home. Examine beliefs formed around money and seek suitable support; financial coaching does not automatically constitute clinical treatment.
07:07 — Map the starting point
Eldad compares planning to navigation: a route needs a destination and a known starting point. Map income, actual spending categories, property, liquid savings, pension savings, Israeli education funds and provident funds, loans and other commitments. Separate supermarket spending from eating out and clothing rather than use one vague total. A complete picture makes the possibilities clearer without making an insufficient income sufficient by itself. Each parent needs access to and understanding of their own information, not continued dependence on whoever previously handled the finances.
08:17 — Shared goals, then individual plans
Nadav describes New Partnership mediation: first establish where parents want to arrive together, then individual aims and the financial facts needed to build arrangements. Who pays, how much, when and how are part of that shared work. He recalls three or four meetings and about ten hours including an agreement in his office; these are historical practice examples, not a current quote or timetable. Mediation addresses arrangements between the parents. Separate financial coaching can help each person learn the ongoing skills that several mediation meetings cannot supply.
11:04 — A workable budget is more than permanent deprivation
Eldad favours avoiding unnecessary legal battles because he sees financial and emotional costs, including effects on children. This preference does not remove independent advice or necessary court protection. Build an individual budget around actual income, mortgage or rent, children’s activities and other commitments, then priorities and flexible spending. His starvation-diet analogy criticises unsustainable restriction, not every reduction in spending. There is no magical arithmetic: if income does not cover needs, examine realistic changes and help rather than assume positive thinking closes the gap.
13:27 — Plan for the unexpected
Eldad treats an unexpected-expense reserve as a regular budget item. His rule of thumb is roughly five percent of income, adjusted to circumstances and capacity—not a universal required amount or a guarantee against debt. He wants this money accessible when needed rather than focused on chasing returns. Examples are a car battery, broken air conditioner or spectacles, not only a major catastrophe. Keep this distinct from a holiday fund or other long-term goals. Nadav welcomes adding the category to his tables alongside personal spending and time with children.
15:33 — Give goals a cost and a date
Write down goals, rank them and decide what matters now, what can wait, when it should happen and how much to allocate monthly. Nadav imagines a shop or importing business five years ahead, study requiring the father’s parenting backup, or overseas work requiring the mother’s backup; roles can vary. Work backwards from the aim. A child’s bar mitzvah one, two or three years away is a shared goal, not a sudden surprise six months before it. Parents can support individual development without requiring friendship or sacrificing their own needs.
18:12 — Review during the month, not only afterwards
Eldad compares each household to a small enterprise with a monthly picture of income and outgoings. This is a management metaphor, not a legal or tax classification. A budget is only the first step; follow actual spending during the month and adjust in time instead of discovering everything after the balance is already spent. Avoidance can increase uncertainty. Neither the home nor the person needs to be perfect: notice differences and revise the next month instead of treating a deviation as personal failure.
19:31 — Choose a tool you will actually use
They discuss automatic account-data tools versus entering expenses manually; Eldad personally prefers active entry and seeing the remaining category balance. He names “Hachaim BePlus” (“החיים בפלוס”), then describes Android/iPhone access and separate home/business budgets. That is a recording-era example, not verification of today’s availability, price or features. Check current terms, privacy and permissions, and do not hand banking credentials to an unverified third party. A spreadsheet or another suitable tool can serve the same habit. Nadav says he finances the podcast himself rather than presenting the mention as a paid advertisement.
21:12 — A children’s joint account is optional
Eldad proposes a dedicated joint account for agreed children’s expenses: schooling, activities, health insurance and similar costs, funded by regular monthly transfers. Nadav discusses clear rules on deposits, authorisation, borrowing, overdrafts, collateral and ending the arrangement. Both stress that distrust can make a joint account another conflict; separate arrangements may fit better. Confirm signing rights, liabilities and any change or closure process with the bank. A parenting agreement alone is not a substitute for the bank’s operating terms, and transparency is not protection against every financial risk.
22:59 — Transparency matters more than the payment brand
Nadav raises a PayBox group as a possible alternative. Eldad agrees that the underlying goal is a simple mechanism where both can see money coming in, going out and paying children’s expenses. The brand does not make every group equivalent to a jointly owned bank account; check current access, custody, limits and fees. Define what is shared, how exceptional expenses are approved, when transfers occur, how receipts are recorded, what happens if funds run out and how disagreements are handled. Technology supports an agreed process rather than replacing it.
23:45 — Distinguish three kinds of expenses
They distinguish fixed commitments such as mortgage or rent, building charges and municipal charges; recurring variable spending such as groceries and fuel; and periodic expenses such as clothing, school starts and presents. Nadav’s small purchases—twenty shekels here, thirty, forty or fifty there, or a hundred for a celebration—illustrate accumulation, not recommended gift prices. Keep genuinely unexpected costs covered by the separate reserve. Categories and reasonable personal spending should make the budget usable, without requiring one parent to justify every haircut or nail appointment to the other.
25:19 — Use an annual view for periodic spending
Changing seasons and a school year are predictable even if the exact bill varies. Eldad illustrates a monthly clothing average of 500 shekels, with 200 spent one month and 700 another; track the period as a whole rather than call each uneven month a failure. A class of thirty children means up to thirty birthdays, with not everyone necessarily celebrating. They discuss planning modest gifts or a collective class present. Nadav’s bulk-purchase story is illustrative, not a current five-year price promise. Plan according to family resources and actual local customs.
27:32 — Build a family information folder
A printed or digital folder can list each person’s insurance, children’s cover, pensions, provident and education funds, savings and commitments, plus agents’ names and telephone numbers. Its purpose is knowing where information is and whom to contact if something happens. Work together where appropriate, while protecting personal data and respecting each adult’s access rights. The person who previously managed less money needs an understandable handover, not an overwhelming bundle of unexplained numbers. Specialist pension, tax or legal questions need an appropriately qualified professional.
28:43 — Correctly identify the pension clearing service
They discuss getting a consolidated picture through Israel’s pension clearinghouse. Contrary to the recording, it is operated by Swiftness Ltd; a gov.il suffix is not its identifying test. Verify the current service and entry route through reliable official guidance before sharing personal information. The discussion of twenty-five shekels or under twenty, and costly intermediaries, is historical rather than a current fee comparison. Locating information is different from choosing investments, withdrawing savings or deciding how rights are divided; those decisions require their own assessment.
29:42 — Information needs interpretation
Both speakers distinguish plentiful online information and AI from the human work of interpreting figures, choosing a realistic path and sustaining habits during a crisis. They value a supportive professional and community rather than someone deciding for the parents. Eldad describes fear of opening bank or card statements; his “bankophobia” language is not a clinical diagnosis, and no verified population figures are supplied here. Make checking manageable and seek suitable help when distress interferes with life. Coaching does not guarantee financial security or replace specialist advice.
32:48 — Pocket money as a small practice field
Eldad suggests age-appropriate pocket money, roughly from seven to eighteen in his approach, with weekly rather than long planning horizons for children. His example is a fifteen-year-old given fifty shekels a week after deciding what the parent pays and what the child pays. The child records spending by hand: forty spent leaves ten. A possible twenty-shekel bonus rewards responsible recording and keeping to the plan, not merely saving or spending nothing. These are his illustrative amounts and method, not universal rates or a guarantee that every child quickly learns the habit.
35:47 — Teach choices without making children carry adult worries
Eldad discourages advancing next week’s or month’s pocket money so the child can practise waiting and planning. His warning against unnecessary borrowing is not proof that every adult loan is inherently bad; affordability, costs and purposes differ. Children should not carry responsibility for family debt or the divorce budget, and age, needs and resources matter. Nadav closes by thanking Eldad Rosenberg, inviting listeners to use and share the knowledge and ask for help where needed. The aspiration is clearer, more independent management, not promised wealth after divorce.
Read the original Hebrew episode page
CFPB: an individual emergency reserve