Future Planning, Because eventually we all die

[wxmanjosh]

Hey guys, I know that issues regarding future and family planning were of high interest during the last Blue Conference, so I thought that I would share this with you.

I found a really cool thing offered by personal finance guru and fellow GLBT community member and advocate, Suze Orman. If you go to her website,Suze Orman, there is a free kit you can do online for personal planning. Just click on the link above, and in the gift code field enter "People First" and click submit. This will give you free access to her will and trust kit, which includes step by step instructions that guide you through the process of filling out the necessary paperwork for:

• Advance Directive and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
• Living Revocable Trust
• Will
• Financial Power of Attorney

Since she herself is GLBT, the language is even set up for those fortunate enough to be in domestic partnership to provide the necessary healthcare and financial access to their partner.

[Craiggles1528]

oooo i like this! haha since I know a lot about it. I think that it would be a great topic for gays to start thinking about at a younger age.

[Little Matt]

I agree with both of you! We really must start planning for the future now. We do have some obstacles in life regarding rights, wills, insurance, marriage, etc. and it never hurts to start examining things now. Perhaps this could be a topic for a Blue Conference..."Planning for your GLBT Future"...just a thought.

[Craiggles1528]

I agree with Matty when he says we need to work harder to plan our future and our estate, but the thing is, we are almost too young to know exactly what needs to be said and how things need to be worded. Times are changing and I expect, as I hope a lot of you do too, for rules and regulations to change and evolve regarding gay rights to survivorship and powers of partners. We can start planning now and keep rewording and rewording our wills to fit the laws of the govenment, but unless you have a significant value of estate, or have no one but your boyfriend in your life, then I guess that would be a good step to take. If not, wait it out til you're a little older and things are a little more settled. It will save you time and headaches.

Now for financial planning..... GET ON THAT! Its never too early to start saving!

[wxmanjosh]

It is never too soon to consider a living revocable trust. Even with the gains that we are witnessing almost daily in New England, marriage equality will only provide part of the solution to our futures.

A living revocable trust eliminats the necessity of probate. It is revocable, i.e. you can change it at any time. It allows the transfer from the trust to beneficiary remain private, whereas probate publicly diseminates the beneficiaries and amounts. It also eliminates challenges to the estate.

Perhaps, you would want a portion of your estate to go to an organization, you could name that organization as a beneficiary in a living revocable trust. That would guarantee that your wishes are executed at that time, without the need for court intervention

Besides the kit is free.

[Galen]

I remember one of the speakers at the 2008 Blue Conference gave a very good presentation on this topic. It was more focused on the legal aspect rather than the financial but he gave a lot of good advice.

Things I can offer based on my own investing/future planning experience:

POWER OF ATTORNEY. These magic words unlock a lot of doors that might otherwise be closed to you. If/when the time comes for you to "partner up", this should be one of the first things you negotiate with your partner. This includes things like living will, beneficiary status, etc. I've heard a lot of sad stories where one partner wasn't able to care for or even visit the other in the hospital because they didn't have one.

START SAVING NOW, be it a 401K, mutual fund portfolio, or my personal favorite, the Roth IRA. Roths are great because unlike a 401K, there is no tax penalty when you take your money out. You do have to pay a little bit on whatever you deposit in it, but the interest you get is ALL YOURS. Pretty much any of these options are better than a company pension- look at GM and Chrysler for examples of how unreliable pensions can be and how ####'d up they can get when the unions get involved. Much better to be self-reliant in this area and manage your finances for retirement yourself or with a broker's help than depend on a company that could go belly-up or relocate to China at the drop of a hat.