Financial Implications of Marriage Equality
Financial Implications of Marriage Equality
Often, I find there's a lack of education about marriage rights for LGBTQ+ people. And they think things that are not true, because marriage is still pretty new for many same-sex couples. They are still learning about things like spousal IRAs and the over 1,000 federal benefits that come with marriage.
In addition to better understanding how marriage affects financial and life planning decisions, it’s important to realize that marriage doesn’t override the need to do other legal documents—not everything automatically includes or goes to your spouse.
On the flip side, some LGBTQ+ couples have decided not to marry. Or maybe they will get married sometime in the future. And so, even though you are in a committed relationship, you don't have legal rights without being married unless you've done other documents.
So I want people to understand the pluses and minuses, the legal benefits, and the risks of getting married. So that's a difference. Of course, you've got a lot of straight couples who don't get married. But clearly, that's a difference for LGBTQ+ people more because of marriage being newer to us—including issues of immigration and green card status for some couples.
Whether partnered/married or not, everyone needs to address these issues:
Pensions
Social Security
Beneficiaries and Inheritance
Additional Resources:
Don't Let Divorce Derail Your Retirement: How To Protect Your Finances