Divorce is one of the worst destroyers of wealth. May you never have to go through one. Love birds beware. The following is a guest post from FS reader and medical doctor, Xrayvsn.

Divorce.

Few words in the English language can elicit as negative a visceral response as that of divorce.

Despite its increasing prevalence in society, stories of divorce and the subsequent impact on one’s finances are rarely discussed in the personal finance community.

Like the subject of money, there seems to be an unspoken rule that divorce is a taboo subject and should not be discussed by members of polite society.

I think that by keeping stories of divorce, along with the financial and emotional tolls that accompany it, private, we are losing a wonderful opportunity to benefit the greater good.

Years and years of savings and investing can disappear in a blink of an eye, leaving a divorcee reeling and in a financial tailspin.

Because it is often not talked about publicly, many individuals feel isolated and have the daunting task of rebuilding their lives without guidance.

In a hope to break this cycle of silence and isolation, I share the story of my divorce and the emotional and financial roller coaster I was put on so that someone in a similar predicament can gain solace there is indeed light at the end of a seemingly endless dark tunnel.

Want to gain financial independence sooner rather than later? Then read on!

When I graduated from college in 1999, a bunch of my fellow first-year classmates at GS proudly proclaimed they had either found a great one bedroom to rent or had purchased a condo somewhere in Manhattan.

At the time, I always scratched my head and wondered how they could afford to pay $2,000+/month for rent or $500,000 for a condo when our base salary was only $40,000 at the time.

As I got to know my classmates better, however, I learned many of them came from very wealthy families. There was a disproportionately large number of classmates who went to private universities. One classmate’s dad had been the Prime Minister of Canada. Another classmate’s parents were GS Private Wealth Management clients. To become a private client, the minimum to be a client was having $25 million in investable assets.

Here I was, sharing a studio with my high school buddy for a total of $1,800 a month because neither of us wanted to spend over $1,000 a month on rent. A year later, my roommate abandoned me because his parents bought him a one-bedroom condo near the United Nations building for $260,000. Now that was a good buy.

Over time, I’ve come to realize there is no one specific way to achieve financial independence. Many people actually view having their parents buy them cars and homes after graduating from college as perfectly normal. As the bull market rages on, there will probably be even more support for adult children.

Although it feels GREAT to make your own money, the slog is often extremely difficult to sustain. Relying on your parents to get ahead is a much easier way to go.

When my wife was in her third trimester, we began to brainstorm about all the things we needed before our daughter was born:

• Name for birth certificate and Social Security #
• Sleeping arrangement
• The type of crib, bassinet, and sleeping devices to use
• The various size diapers, bottles, nipples, swaddles, hats, nose aspirators, clothes, socks
• The safest car seat
• New tires and recently performed car maintenance
• Childcare help

Once we got done with the basics, we moved onto education and finances. Because we already have a son in preschool, if our family remains in good standing, his school policy is siblings automatically have a spot when it’s time to enroll. I think this policy is pretty standard across all schools.

With preschool concerns out of the way, we focused on paying for our daughter’s education through a 529 plan. To keep things simple, my initial thought was to add my daughter to my son’s 529 plan. Alas, after doing some research, it’s probably better to have a separate 529 plan for each child.

If you are faced with the same dilemma, here are the reasons why a separate 529 plan for each child makes more sense.