4 Steps to Financial Security for Lesbian and Gay Couples [Paperback]

Harold L. Lustig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1999

THE FIRST FINANCIAL GUIDE TAILORED EXCLUSIVELY TO LESBIAN AND GAY COUPLES ON HOW TO PROTECT THEIR ASSETS WHEN LAWS FAIL

Lesbian and gay couples can achieve solid, long-term financial security--but they need to arm themselves with foresight, awareness, and facts. That's what this book is all about. Now, drawing on more than twenty years' experience as a financial adviser to lesbian and gay couples, Harold L. Lustig has written the definitive financial guide for you and your partner.

Through Lustig's four easy-to-follow steps to economic security--PLAN, PLAN, PLAN; PROTECT WHAT'S YOURS; THINK COMMUNITY; USE NON-CONVENTIONAL WISDOM AND TAKE ACTION--this invaluable book gives you workable financial strategies and up-to-date information on

- Estate planning--why it's especially vital for you and your loved one
- Tax advantages available to you--and not to legally recognized couples
- Reducing your tax load through charitable contributions and shifting assets
- A domestic partner agreement--why it is critical to your financial well-being
- Avoiding the "gay penalty" on long-term health care and retirement plans
- Tips for funding a college education--without dropping into the red
- Reentering the job market when you are HIV positive
- Buying and fine-tuning disability insurance
- The facts about joint ownership
And much more!

Despite unfavorable laws, you can protect your assets, provide for retirement, avoid discriminatory penalties, and ensure that you and your partner enjoy and share what you've earned together. From building and transferring wealth with life insurance to creating documents that protect you when marital laws do not, this clear, smart, practical guide provides the essential financial information that every lesbian and gay couple needs and deserves.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Because gay and lesbian relationships do not have the same legal status as marriage, many aspects of financial planning do not apply to them. Although several recent guides do discuss those aspects, they mostly consider only the basics: cohabitation agreements, power of attorney, and living wills. Lustig is a San Francisco^-based financial planner whose discerning advice makes this the most comprehensive manual of its kind. His so-called steps are really just categories, but three can be applied by all gay and lesbian couples. "Plan, plan . . . "covers financial myths and principles, estate and tax planning, and financing college education for those couples with children; "protecting what's yours" covers all types of insurance and required legal documentation; and "think community" is devoted to avoiding capital gains taxes and the "gay penalty" in most retirement plans. A fourth section specifically targets those who have recovered from a "terminal" illness. Lustig explains how to reestablish credit, considers the option of bankruptcy, balances the pros and cons of viatical settlements, and details the implications of returning to work. A final chapter emphasizes financial considerations for those who are terminally ill and have a very short life expectancy. David Rouse

From the Inside Flap

THE FIRST FINANCIAL GUIDE TAILORED EXCLUSIVELY TO LESBIAN AND GAY COUPLES ON HOW TO PROTECT THEIR ASSETS WHEN LAWS FAIL

Lesbian and gay couples can achieve solid, long-term financial security--but they need to arm themselves with foresight, awareness, and facts. That's what this book is all about. Now, drawing on more than twenty years' experience as a financial adviser to lesbian and gay couples, Harold L. Lustig has written the definitive financial guide for you and your partner.

Through Lustig's four easy-to-follow steps to economic security--PLAN, PLAN, PLAN; PROTECT WHAT'S YOURS; THINK COMMUNITY; USE NON-CONVENTIONAL WISDOM AND TAKE ACTION--this invaluable book gives you workable financial strategies and up-to-date information on

- Estate planning--why it's especially vital for you and your loved one
- Tax advantages available to you--and not to legally recognized couples
- Reducing your tax load through charitable contributions and shifting assets
- A domestic partner agreement--why it is critical to your financial well-being
- Avoiding the "gay penalty" on long-term health care and retirement plans
- Tips for funding a college education--without dropping into the red
- Reentering the job market when you are HIV positive
- Buying and fine-tuning disability insurance
- The facts about joint ownership
And much more!

Despite unfavorable laws, you can protect your assets, provide for retirement, avoid discriminatory penalties, and ensure that you and your partner enjoy and share what you've earned together. From building and transferring wealth with life insurance to creating documents that protect you when marital laws do not, this clear, smart, practical guide provides the essential financial information that every lesbian and gay couple needs and deserves.

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (June 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449002497
• ISBN-13: 978-0449002490
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #910,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A much needed guide thru the paperwork maze, September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 4 Steps to Financial Security for Lesbian and Gay Couples (Paperback)

Lustig's book is a must-read for any gay or lesbian couple, as it tackles such sticky wickets as purchasing life insurance when one has serious medical problems, viaticals, and the hurdles of retirement plan assets when a partner with an employer-funded plan dies. It's easy to read with "frequently asked questions" and gives step-by-step instructions for approaching insurance companies, mortgage brokers and traditional bankers. If you think the world of financial responsibility is difficult to navigate with laws and mores directed at traditional heterosexual couples - imagine the nightmare it can be for those who are discriminated against, and for whom there is no protection. The book isn't a long exercise in financial planning - it's an explanation of fundamentals with sound advice and tips. Very worthwhile reading for just about anybody.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars proceed with caution! (not for the novice), April 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: 4 Steps to Financial Security for Lesbian and Gay Couples (Paperback)

This is a well written and easy to understand book that provides some much needed advice for lesbian and gay couples. That being said, the author's advice is not without bias (in favor, for example, of using insurance as an investment vehicle), so readers are advised to compare these recommendations to those of other experts with differing opinions. For myself, I agree with those who look with a jaundice eye at whole or universal life insurance as a planning or savings tool. (Term life is usually best and cheapest: consider the advice of Suze Orman, for example; or the excellent and readable "Personal Finances for Dummies" book by Eric Tyson.) Also, the book's warning that under New York law a lesbian or gay partner is not an "insurable interest" seems incorrect or perhaps out of date: my partner and I had no trouble getting life insurance naming one another as beneficiary. And some of the more complex strategies that involve transferring title to assets don't include a complete set of their disadvantages. On balance, I'd urge anyone reading this book to both (1) read it carefully and (2) assess the advice for your personal situation while comparing approaches from other advisors (like Orman and Tyson).

Still, any book that gets gays and lesbians to focus on savings and legal strategies to protect our relationships is a needed one, and this one provides a helpful focus on issues that are specific to our community.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Answered Questions I didn't even know to ask..., August 6, 2001

By 

"dihvine" (CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 4 Steps to Financial Security for Lesbian and Gay Couples (Paperback)

My partner and I just bought a house, combined our checking account, and were unaware of the problems we could be facing. While we knew we needed rights of survivorship and wills, we didn't think of the tax issues, trusts, and the plethora of other issues addressed so clearly and to the point in this book. If you are queer or straight and committed but not married, this book is a goldmine of information!