Profile #5

By FPA member Elizabeth Cox, CFP®

A Same Sex Couple’s Plan to Save for the Future

The Problem/Goal

Lisa Brown and Beth Marks are committed to each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together. However, their situation is complicated by the fact that they are a same-sex couple. More>

The Solution

From a planner's side of the desk, it's important to start at the beginning. Financial planners and clients typically mutually define a client's personal and financial goals, needs, and priorities. The next step is what financial planners call the data gathering: Financial planners will obtain all the quantitative information and documents about a client before any recommendation is made and/or implemented. More>

The Summary

Same-sex couples, like Lisa and Beth, need to keep in mind that even though domestic partnerships or civil unions are recognized by some states (Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maine and Hawaii) and gay marriage is allowed in Massachusetts and New York, the Federal government does not recognize them as a couple. Here is a brief description of some of the financial planning or legal tools useful to same-sex couples. More>

Past Money Makeovers

• A Family’s Plan to Become Debt Free
• A Single Mom's Plan to Restore Her Finances
• A Couple's Plan to Fix Their Financial Situation
• Health Care Shock Creates Pile of Debt: The Plan to Pay It Down