Queercents

I know a lot of people are struggling to find employment (or keep it), establish a budget, pay off debt, amass an emergency fund and put aside money for retirement. I also know how challenging this is because I’ve been there and done that. Today I’d like to write about a concept that might be of interest to those who have accomplished most of these basic planning goals or as further incentive to those en route. There is enormous value in building a solid financial basis and it is rewarding in its own right on so many levels. Much has been written on this site alone about the psychological and physical health benefits of taking control of your financial life, establishing goals and achieving them.

But then what? How do you maintain a solid financial base and start to incorporate perhaps a bit more fun? We are very fortunate to have met our basic financial goals (though continued income is an ongoing challenge) and we’ve been experimenting with a concept we call the “slush fund”. Our income is variable while our budget is fairly strict and represents, for the most part, “needs” versus “wants”. At the end of each month, we total up income and subtract actual expenses. The remainder (hopefully positive) is “deposited” in our slush fund. For us, this is not actually a separate account though it could be. Rather it lives in our checking account. Out of the slush fund comes an allocation for a trip we have planned in Summer 2011 but otherwise it just sits there as a tantalizing fun pot. Read the rest of this entry »

When I first heard about the financial woes of Annie Leibovitz, the gay media had latched on to erroneous reports that it was somehow related to the “gay tax” incurred from inheriting the estate of the late Susan Sontag. That theory took about three seconds to dismiss, but I’ve been hooked on the unfolding drama ever since.

Then an article in The New York Times pointed the finger at the root cause and I posted about how Jean Chatsky used Leibovitz’s story to deconstruct the behavior of creative types. Even then, I was amazed at how someone who had achieved her commercial success could be so utterly challenged with the financial aspects of day to day life.

But now I’m a believer. The New York Magazine has a fascinating read with its recent study by Andrew Goldman in How Could This Happen to Annie Leibovitz? It’s several pages long, but basically explains how she had spent her way into a $24 million hole through the pretense of unlimited means:

Leibovitz had also built a life that had become extraordinarily expensive to maintain. It wasn’t just the mortgages on the homes. It was the Range Rover, the trips to Paris, the chef and housekeeper, the handyman, the personal yoga instructor, the terrace gardener, and the live-in nanny… Read the rest of this entry »

Plenty has been written about Annie Leibovitz and her financial woes, but after the latest exposé ran in The New York Times, Jean Chatsky used it to deconstruct the behavior of creative types and I thought her analysis was interesting.

She likens it to a couple of findings in her latest book, The Difference, where she looked at factors that held people back from financial success. Two of the traits were stubbornness and creativity:

People who defined themselves as completely creative — not just very creative, or somewhat creative — but completely creative, were not likely to attain great wealth.  Why is that?

… Sometimes very creative people seem to feel they are above all that.  Above all the minutia of bill-paying and record-keeping.  Above the tedious tasks like checkbook balancing that are necessary to get through life with ones credit score in tact.  They– not all but some of them —  think they should be given a free pass as if they’ve given their art to the world and the world should be grateful and not bug them above the little things. Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I helped a friend establish a budget. We did what most people do and set up categories that were meaningful to him and filled in either known or estimated monthly amounts. Few were known. Most were estimated. The end result gave him a much clearer view of his financial picture but I also emphasized to him that budgets are a work-in-progress. Some changes one way or another in his life could considerably affect his bottom line (read amount he can save!).

It is the work-in-progress aspect that I believe gets lost if the well-intentioned budgeter does not track actual expenses. I do not expect my friend to track expenses. The whole concept of budgeting is new to him and it would overwhelm his artistic sensibilities to take on this next step too soon. But for the rest of us who already budget conscious, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to track real expenses against projected (or target) expenses.

Like most financial coaches/planners/advisers, I spend a lot of time talking about budgeting. Naturally, I have one of my own and thought pretty highly of my estimating skills. Then I started actually tracking expenses. So much for my skills! I was absolutely astonished at the actual versus the projected. This doesn’t render a projected budget useless. It just means that it’s a starting point. Here’s what I’ve learned over the past 5 months or so: Read the rest of this entry »

Are you able to spot a bargain when you see it?  Can you look at a sales flyer or a coupon and know that it’s a good deal?

I can’t.  Or, at least, I couldn’t until fairly recently.  What helped was putting together my own – perfect – price list.

The concept of a price list is old and simple: it’s a list of grocery items (or items purchased regularly from any store) and how much they cost.  The idea is that you take your list with you when you’re shopping and, if you find that the price has gone down, you can stock up.

The old way of doing it is rather tedious and potentially a waste of time.  To get started, there are lists of “standard” items you should track so you print out a list, grab a pen and clipboard, and then head to the store for a fun-filled afternoon of writing down prices.  By the end of your trip, you have a hand-scrawled page of numbers (for items you may never purchase), and you’re supposed to remember to bring it with you every time you go shopping.  Oh yeah, and if you lose that list, you can start over! Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t wait to walk down the aisle with my fiance. Since we’ve been together almost four years now, it’s only natural that we’d love to show the world we want to commit to each other for the rest of our lives. Unfortunately, since we’re gay, such an event would only be ceremonial: the federal government doesn’t recognize same-sex relationships and who’s knows when they will.

In the absence of a political miracle that sees gay U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) succeed President Obama and legislate same-sex marriage, I figured I’d talk to some people and see what my options are.

What I found out – to be brief – is that the more patience I have, the more options I have. Just like old folks planning for their retirement, I too can make sure my fiance gets money from my 401(k) should I pass away. I can own an apartment 50/50 with a partner and even share the mortgage tax benefit. And if we have kids, we can both have legal rights guaranteeing our children can’t be taken away by the state or another family member – even if we separate.

The key? Document everything.

“If it’s not documented, then you can’t rely on any formal structure to help you or to prove your case,” says Debra Neiman, a certified financial planner in Massachusetts who helped start the PridePlanners Association, a group of financial planners serving the gay and lesbian community. “If it’s not on paper, there are no guarantees for anything.” Read the rest of this entry »

You can tell by the title of this post that the story isn’t going to have a happy ending, right?  Well, as you probably already know the major personal finance software packages (Quicken, Microsoft Money) tend to release new versions of their software each year.  For so many people this software is the heart and soul of their personal finance management.  When the technology goes awry so goes the best laid plans of managing, planning, and tracking your finances.

Now, as a general rule I don’t upgrade software unless there is a compelling reason to (in terms of features I need) or I am forced to (compatibility, support of the product).  That is why earlier this year when my Quicken 2006 started to give me notices that investment downloads would no longer be supported after April 30th I started to get that cold pit in my stomach. The ever popular

After April 30, 2009, online services will no longer work unless you upgrade. When you upgrade, your services will be fully reinstated. While you can upgrade after the discontinuation date, in order to get the most benefit from Quicken products we would like to help you upgrade to the latest release right now.

Being the proactive girl I am, I purchased Quicken 2009 at Costco in March figuring that would give me time to install and setup before the support went away.  Add to this the fact that I had recently made some sweeping change in my investments and fund families to save on expenses I knew I had a few hours ahead of me to get things all working to my satisfaction.

That was March, this is May and STILL I find myself totally screwed by Quicken.  Read the rest of this entry »

April 15th is always a good reminder that gays and lesbians pay equal taxes but are denied equal rights. Isn’t it time that we receive the same benefits for our tax dollars as straight people? So in advance of “Tax Day” the Human Rights Campaign has scheduled a national web chat on a variety of financial issues currently facing members of the LGBT community:

During the discussion, HRC and several financial experts will highlight the unique legal inequalities and hurdles facing the LGBT community with regard to financial, tax and estate planning issues.  Federal law treats same-sex couples as strangers, thereby denying them the 1,138 federal rights, benefits and protections available to different-sex married couples.

On Tuesday, April 14th, join HRC for a webchat at 2 p.m. EDT that will answer questions on a wide range of financial issues affecting LGBT individuals and couples with experts Joe Kapp, Advocate contributor and co-owner of a Washington, D.C., financial planning practice that caters largely to the LGBT community; Kirstin Gulling, an attorney at the law firm Silber, Perlman, Sigman & Tilev who specializes in same-sex family planning, gay and lesbian family law and estate planning; and HRC’s legal director Lara Schwartz. You can submit your question prior to the online chat to webchat@hrc.org.

WHEN: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. EDT

To participate, visit the following link: www.hrc.org/taxchat and for daily updates, visit the HRC blog.

Finally, here’s additional material to bookmark: Joe Kapp, one of the experts mentioned above, co-authored a piece in the Journal of Financial Planning that each of us should check out: A Guide to Serving the Estate and Financial Planning Needs of Gay Men, Lesbians, and Same-Sex Couples.

Image credit: HRC.

Carol’s review and giveaway in yesterday’s post got me thinking about how same-sex couples plan for retirement and in general, deal with household financial matters. Those “often mundane planning issues” as she refers to it, are so important to a couple’s long term goals.

The Hartford partnered with the MIT AgeLab to conduct research on couples and their financial planning in order to better understand how American couples can create financial security in retirement that extends throughout their lifetime. The data doesn’t cite any specifics about same-sex couples, but many of the findings still apply.

The study identified four financial planning styles and habits of “highly effective” planning couples:

Drivers (17%): One partner handles all financial matters of the household including the day-to-day finances and the investments.

Passengers (19%): One partner is not involved in the day-to-day finances or investments or that they are less involved in both areas than their partner.

Joined at the Hip (53%): Both partners share financial management, choosing to make every financial decision and take every action together.

Divide and Conquer (11%): Each partner takes the lead on some aspects of the household finances and plays a secondary role on other aspects. Read the rest of this entry »

The reckoning has begun. Our kitchen is well on its way to completion – just the floors need to be done – and the bills have started to roll in. I was telling the accountant at work about the renovation, and she said, “So, now you’ve already got the debt to worry about!” And what did I say? “No, actually, it’s already paid for.”

This made me feel good. And this goes back to the very beginning, and how we got to this place.

Start saving early. We knew from the moment that we took ownership of our place that we had to replace the kitchen – it was just that bad. But we also knew that we were not prepared to go into debt to make it happen. Our ING Direct Home Renos account was started! Two years later, we had the money necessary to make the dream a reality.

Automatic Savings: the only way to go. In order to reach our goal, we took advantage of weekly automatic withdrawals from our chequing account, which helped to slowly but surely build up the cash we needed. I know this advice is reiterated on all sorts of personal finance blogs – pay yourself first, etc. – but I had to mention it just one more time. (Seriously, just Google that phrase, and you’ll see what I mean.) Read the rest of this entry »