Jennifer Garner recently addressed financial concerns that arose following her 2015 divorce from Ben Affleck, detailing her efforts to re-establish herself as a primary earner for her family. Garner, 54, was recently seen running errands in Los Angeles with her 17-year-old son, Fin.
Garner, who shares three children with Affleck—Violet, 20, Fin, and Samuel, 14—spoke on Emma Grede's Aspire podcast about the realization that she needed to become a consistent earner after stepping back from her acting career to focus on motherhood. "I panicked when I was first out of my marriage and realized I had taken such a step back in my work," Garner admitted on the podcast. She expressed concern about the traditional career trajectory for actresses her age, noting that roles do not always offer increasing financial rewards later in one's career.
"Suddenly I realized, like, I don't know how long I'll be able to work," she said. "This isn't a career that's like, 'Hey, you're 60, you're 55, you're 43, come on, let's pay you more than you've ever made.' That's not been traditionally the role."
This period prompted Garner and her manager to strategically plan her next career chapter, with a key requirement being the ability to stay close to home for her children. "She was like, how can you work? And I said, I can work in Los Angeles. I can't leave these kids for six months at a time," she recalled. This led to a focused approach on projects that allowed her to remain in Los Angeles.
One significant outcome of this strategic planning was Garner's involvement with Once Upon a Farm, an organic children's food company she co-founded in 2017.
The company's successful debut on the New York Stock Exchange in February, at $18 per share, valued it at approximately $724 million. Garner is reportedly the largest individual shareholder, owning about seven percent of the business, which Forbes estimated this month to be worth around $50 million.
Reflecting on her past financial anxieties, Garner emphasized that public recognition does not guarantee financial security. "It's not like you can just unfamous yourself. Life is expensive and you still have to kind of figure out how you're going to live," she stated. "And just because you're well known by people does not mean that there is some great living being provided for you."
Garner also shared a lighthearted anecdote about her business manager, admitting that a simple glance from him can make her feel as though she is financially strained, partly due to her charitable giving. "All he has to do is look at me funny and I convince myself that I am broke. My problem is... I give a lot of money away," she said. "So every now and then he's like, can you pump the brakes? So that is something that I had to cool my jets on."
Her acting career has also seen renewed activity, with recent roles including the Peacock drama The Five-Star Weekend, alongside her ongoing commitment to Once Upon a Farm.
Garner and Affleck were married for approximately 10 years before their separation in 2015, with their divorce finalized in 2018.
