BY MIKE SEBRING, Union Bank, N.A.

Financial planning is a journey that requires continual monitoring and adjustments.  As you move through different phases of your life, priorities and circumstances change that can alter your course.  Being aware of changing needs and finding appropriate solutions can help you reach your financial goals.

The financial landscape for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans – and in particular, same-sex couples – includes a number of matters that are unique to the community, especially in light of the repeal of parts of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the striking down of Proposition 8 in California.  With policies still being established, it’s important to stay informed as the nation’s laws continue to evolve.

Visit TheSeattleLesbian.com to get more information to help with financial planning during various life stages.

The Seattle Lesbian online magazine reaches more than 188,000 readers per week globally

The post LGBT financial planning for all life stages first appeared on Lesbian.com.

When evaluating a job, there are many different factors to consider in addition to salary. There’s the job itself, your level of responsibility, your title, potential for future growth, and so on. There are also compensation perks like vacation time, bonuses and company equity to factor in.

So, should salary be your primary focus? Is there ever a good time to willingly take a pay cut? We spoke to HR experts and real people who have been through it before, to learn when it is — and isn’t — worth accepting a job at a lesser salary.

Read more at LearnVest

LearnVest is the leading personal finance site for women. Our free Money Center will help you create a budget. Our free bootcamps will help you take control of your money, cut your costs or get out of debt. And our premium financial plans–managed by LearnVest Certified Financial Planners–can help you chart a course for the future you want.

The post Should you consider taking a pay cut? first appeared on Lesbian.com.

BY PAULA GREGOROWICZ

Do you have a budget? Does it feel freeing, or confining? Do you follow it, or create one and never look at it again? Financial Freedom 101 teaches that we should all create a budget, stick to it, and never spend more than we earn, no matter what. Even with a degree in accounting and a financially-oriented mind, I always resisted creating a formal budget – something I felt quite guilty about until just a few years ago. After all, it makes rational sense that estimating your income and expenses and then operating within those intended guidelines is a solid path to success, right? 

Once I started my business, avoiding budgets was no longer a possibility. How I broke through the feeling of simply making numbers up was actually quite simple. I listened to my very practical accountant. She suggested that I base my budget on my past expenses, then review those expenses and determine if they were ongoing and if so, was there any way to reduce them without feeling like I was missing out (for example: getting new quotes for car insurance to see if what I was paying was competitively priced).

Read more at dot429.com

The post How to tackle your budgeting barriers first appeared on Lesbian.com.

When it comes to getting ahead at the office, you’ve probably heard the adage, “Nice guys finish last.”

But Adam Grant, a Wharton professor and a researcher with a Ph.D. in organizational psychology, says that workers who only look out for themselves are playing a short game.

Read more at LearnVest

LearnVest is the leading personal finance site for women. Our free Money Center will help you create a budget. Our free bootcamps will help you take control of your money, cut your costs or get out of debt. And our premium financial plans — managed by LearnVest Certified Financial Planners — can help you chart a course for the future you want.

The post Giving may lead to getting ahead first appeared on Lesbian.com.

BY LIBBY KANE

Many women experience fertility problems severe enough to require medical assistance (or don’t have male partners); a solid 1% of babies in the United States are born using assistive reproductive technology, which includes elaborate procedures such as IVF. In the past, we’ve discussed the costs of freezing your eggs (which can run up to about $20,000) and the price of IVF, which is about $12,000 per cycle if you use your own genetic material. Although obtaining donor sperm is about $500, the costs can run much deeper.

Artificial insemination is a viable, often-used option for those looking at alternate methods of conception. We aim to bring to these issues to light not to harp on the difficulties of the process, but to bring awareness to the factors that need to be considered so you and those you love can have the best chance at a safe and healthy family.

The post Hidden costs of using a sperm donor first appeared on Lesbian.com.

How do you define power in a relationship? Well, when it comes to money, I usually talk about two different kinds of power. The first kind of power is earning power, based on who brings home the most money. The second kind is management power, which comes from who decides how the money will be spent and allocated.

With regards to earning power, women tend to shy away from seeing money as power and see it instead as a resource to be used. One of the first sociological surveys that asked about money studied 12,000 couples. Here are some of the interesting results:

Read the results at LearnVest.com

The post Does money equal power in love? first appeared on Lesbian.com.

BY ALDEN WICKER

Women hold just 18.1% of congressional seats, 23.4% of statewide elected positions,  24% of state legislative positions and 12% of mayorships in the 100 largest U.S. cities. It was seen as cataclysmic last fall when 20 women headed to the Senate. So no, girls do not run the world. And a new report from American University titled, “Girls Just Wanna Not Run” tries to figure out why.

By the time they reach college, young women have often already lost any interest they might have had in a political career. Like with other gender disparities, the reasons are complex, but come down to a mixture of unconscious biases, socialization and the ego gap between men and women. Researchers came up with five main reasons.

Read the reasons at LearnVest.com

The post Women in charge: Gender disparities in American politics first appeared on Lesbian.com.

Look, that dollar is beaming a rainbow!

BY ALDEN WICKER
LearnVest

Out of the nearly 650,000 same-sex couples in the U.S. only about 50,000 have married, according to the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at UCLA. The New York comptroller’s office estimated that the legalization of gay marriage in New York State last year would add $142 million to New York City’s economy from wedding-related purchases and tourism revenue in the three years after the law’s passage. The state economy could stand to gain another estimated $184 million. The additional tourism alone will generate an estimated 2,000 jobs.

Looking at the entire picture, if same-sex marriage rights were granted nationwide, such marriages would generate a net $1 billion each year for the federal budget over the next ten years, according to a 2004 report by the Congressional Budget Office, mainly because the government would now start raising extra money in taxes from gay couples. That even takes into account the fact that newly married gay couples would also qualify for more tax breaks, and the government would pay out more to them for health care benefits and Social Security.

Read more at LearnVest

The post How gay marriage could impact the economy first appeared on Lesbian.com.

The matter of tax fairness for gay and lesbian couples remains a relatively new one in legislation, especially in jurisdictions where marriage equality does not exist. The state of California only recently heard a proposal that would grant tax relief to same-sex couples.

Germany’s conservative government has become the latest administration to consider tax reform that would grant same-sex couples the same tax perks as heterosexual couples. This marks a dramatic policy shift for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Party following their December congress where a proposal of tax equality was rejected.

Read more at dot429.com

The post LGBT-related tax equity in the U.S., Europe first appeared on Lesbian.com.

If her name is Deborah, she’s probably earning more than you.

BY JOYCE WU
LearnVest

We decided to plumb the research and put together the stereotypical highly-paid woman based on all the statistics. In other words, if you know a blonde, Asian, non-smoking pharmacist named Deborah, she’s probably making more than you. Obviously these statistics are not necessarily causal, but no matter what, they’re interesting. Check out the highest earning woman’s stats.

See the infographic and read more at LearnVest

The post What woman has the highest income potential? first appeared on Lesbian.com.