Queercents

I received this email yesterday, from a financial advisor at the local branch of Merrill Lynch.

Hi Jan,
Hoping that it’s okay to write since I came upon your name on the 2007 domestic partner registry. I wanted to introduce myself as a financial advisor who specializes in working with the glbt community. Since there are 1138 federal rights and benefits that are not afforded samesex couples, we need different tactics to protect ourselves and our families.

If this is anything you’d like to talk about, perhaps we could talk further about how I might be of service.

My first reaction: Ugh, I had no idea that putting my name on the domestic partner registry opened me to solicitations like this. My second reaction was much more positive: Hey! I’m being marketed to! And from someone who very likely understands the whole domestic partner situation from an insider’s perspective. That’s pretty cool! Read the rest of this entry »

“How pleasant is the day when we give up striving to be young — or slender.” – William James

Last week, as we were watching episode 7 of The L Word, Jeanine tried to convince me that the by-the-book military attorney prosecuting Tasha’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” case was played by Kelly McGillis. I wasn’t buying it and indicated that the fiftyish-looking actor on screen could not possibly be the Top Gun incarnate. We missed the beginning credits with its listing of guest stars. Jeanine was so confident that she was right she bet a million bucks. A million bucks!? Her challenge, “I know my 80’s lesbian icons.”

I think the icon part was reference to urban legend and Jodi Foster on the set of The Accused. Wasn’t Whitney Houston part of that love triangle too? Read the rest of this entry »

This is the second installment of a series of articles designed for the small business owner who may be contemplating the plethora of business retirement plans available.

I like simplicity.  I especially like it when I can help my clients in a simple way so that the decision they make is simple, the product I offer them is simple to understand and simple to explain and the benefits are many for both the employer and employee.

Ladies and Gentlemen: I give you the SIMPLE IRA. 

Yes, SIMPLE is an acronym for Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers.  A SIMPLE IRA provides employers and their employees with a simplified way to contribute toward retirement. It reduces taxes and, at the same time, attracts and retains quality employees. And compared to other types of retirement plans,
SIMPLE IRA plans offer lower start-up and annual costs … they are just simpler to operate. Read the rest of this entry »

“To own a home.” – The American Dream

You can summarize Bob Waun’s new book, Besting, Better Nesting: The New American Dream in one quote: “Downsizing is less about size, than about expectations, no one expects less in retirement.” Waun has written the book about what Boomers want in retirement housing.

It’s no secret that books are often promotional vehicles for other goods and services. Waun, as noted in this Wall Street Journal article, is the CEO of Vacation Finance, a mortgage brokerage and lending company in Birmingham, Michigan. That being said, he also practices what he preaches:

Until recently, Mr. Waun owned a traditional vacation home, a cottage in upper Michigan. But after a particularly bad winter — he arrived during a snowstorm to find that the plow service hadn’t cleared the driveway and that the pipes had burst — he sold the cottage and bought two condo hotel units instead.

Waun’s book is the primer on what life can be in a luxury hotel condo, fractional ownership, and timeshare. He explains by outlining Boomer trends and what’s creating demand for these types of investments. Dan Kadlec should be all over this book if he’s not already. Waun writes: Read the rest of this entry »

This is the first part of a series of articles intended to help readers understand a business owner’s options to the common 401(k), a plan that is often very expensive and time consuming to administer for small-businesses.

Once upon a time, there was a lonely retirement account for small business owners called 401(k). It had cousins like the Keogh and the SEP, but far too few knew of his kin. Most had some idea about 401(k), but many didn’t realize much about its features, benefits and restrictions. 401(k) is a retirement account for business owners and their loyal workers, regardless of how many workers there were.

You see, 401(k) was born and raised in a time (back in the 70s) when we Americans were still under the illusion that our government was this benevolent crew of honest and intelligent businessmen (sorry, ladies, but men did make up almost all of congress back then) who would take care of us when we’re old. In a way, maybe they were thinking long term-as they probably noticed how there was nothing Social Security could do to help all of us out in the long-term, so presto! 401(k) – a “one-size-fits-all” retirement vehicle. Read the rest of this entry »

“Retirement: It’s nice to get out of the rat race, but you have to learn to get along with less cheese.” – Gene Perret

For many people, contemplating retirement can trigger anxiety about having enough money. There are gobs of books one might read to make sure the magic number has been saved. There are worksheets and online calculators that can help determine the amount. While it’s a highly personal calculation, figuring out the number is usually the easy part.

Establishing the plan to reach the number is typically the bigger challenge. Women have a harder time than men with closing the retirement savings gap. We live longer and make less. This isn’t an astounding revelation. Read the rest of this entry »

Two weeks ago, Nina wrote an article titled: HIV and Surviving Retirement. I was especially intrigued by this one as it touched upon two extreme epidemics nobody likes to talk about these days (retirement and HIV). I remember seeing Madonna on MTV along with several other stars of the eighties warning us about the risks of HIV when it was known to affect and infect all sexualities. Nowadays, we hardly see even a push for more education on HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Furthermore, most of us don’t want to touch the topic of retirement for fear that we might actually come to grips that Uncle Sam probably won’t give us what he promised and we’ll have to fend for ourselves.

Outta Sight, Outta Mind

It’s like we Americans are living in a dream world when it comes to the long-term. Could it be due to the fact that we provide ourselves with too much of a safety net? Do we live under a blanket of ignorance so thick that sooner or later it suffocates our every free breath? Do we feel there is a parachute available to pad our landing as we break our legs on reality?

I am unclear as to the answers, but the questions could be asked of both epidemics. I refer to both retirement and HIV as epidemics because both are slowly eroding at the freedoms of all Americans. Without an adequate retirement plan – one that is carried out – there is no freedom to enjoy life unless it is at the expense of something or someone. With HIV, there is no freedom to obtain the proper life or health insurance. In fact, HIV carries the same uncertainties as an inadequate retirement plan because with neither can one tell how long the situation will continue. Read the rest of this entry »

Marc explained some mutual fund basics yesterday in “Why A Mutual Fund Makes More Cents”. It’s a good introduction to the topic. But the necessity of the article highlights a problem that often frustrates me - the general lack of knowledge about investing.

Unless you make loads of money, you absolutely have to invest if you ever want to retire. OK, so there are a few exceptions to this. If you have a traditional pension, or you’re planning on severely cutting back expenses, or you have some reason to believe Social Security will still be there for you, maybe you can get by without investing your savings. But for most workers today, investing is not optional - it’s required if you want to have some semblance of a secure retirement. Read the rest of this entry »