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What Do You Dislike Most About Tax Time?
Complete the sentence (leave a comment): The thing I dislike most about tax time is . . . Me? Checking that damn “Single” box, when I’m not. Followed closely by the income tax Helen pays on the health insurance coverage that her company provides to me, and the lack of spousal IRA contributions for same-sex [...]
She Got Me Blogging
I’ve lured her to the dark side. My spouse Helen, whom some of you know from our “She Got Me Pregnant” vlogs, has started blogging. It all began when she launched a side business, Affine Financial Services, to do tax preparation and financial planning. She started putting up regular tips on her Web site, decided [...]
What Are Your Best Baby Gear Ideas?
Nina over at Queercents is adopting a baby in December, and wrote today about her meltdown at Babies R Us and her concerns about what to get for her new arrival. She was kind enough to mention that she found my list of baby gear recommendations useful. I wrote the list a few years back, [...]
“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 24
This week, Helen and I remind viewers of the long-lost parenting storyline on Jackie Warner’s Work Out. We also commemorate tax week with a rant on our own filings, and on a more positive note, discuss various approaches to children’s allowances and why we don’t have any answers. Plus: What were those weird pipes in [...]
IRA’s Raise My Ire
HRC is celebrating tax season with their “7 Days to a Better Financial You” campaign, and kicks it off with the video of two lesbian moms talking about the financial difficulties of raising children under the unfair burdens faced by same-sex couples. HRC hits the high points here, but doesn’t discuss the fact that it [...]
We’re Here, We’re Queer, We File Every Year
H&R Block’s TaxCut Online software doesn’t support tax filings for civil union couples, as two Connecticut men have found out. The ACLU has sent a demand letter to the company asking it to change its system. The ACLU also states “Although the tax requirements for couples with civil unions in Connecticut are very similar to [...]
Wells Fargo Shareholders: Vote Against LGBT Discrimination
If you happen to own shares of Wells Fargo, make sure to open the proxy statement you should have received recently, and take the time to vote your proxy. Item 9, “Stockholder Proposal Regarding Neutral Sexual Orientation Employment Policy” (pages 105-107) is a vicious, anti-LGBT proposal asking the company to create an equal opportunity policy [...]
Scholarships for Students with LGBTQ Parents
I rarely pass along a press release wholesale, but this one from COLAGE, about scholarships for children of LGBTQ families, seemed worthy: Sponsored by COLAGE with generous support from the Horizons Foundation Joseph Towner Fund COLAGE is pleased to announce a continued partnership with Horizons Foundation to award four $1,000 scholarships to support the undergraduate [...]
“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 17
Vlogging barefoot! Helen and I kick off our shoes and socks this week in honor of the k.d. lang concert we just attended, advise when not to sport a fauxhawk, and then discuss some financial ideas for parents. Thinking about starting a family or already planning for your childrens’ college educations? We share what’s worked [...]
Taxing Our Patience
Tax-preparation software TurboTax has a number of Web pages devoted to helping people determine the tax implications of various life changes, such as changing jobs, getting married, or having children. To the right is the image they use under the title “Your Child.” They also use it in one of their television ads. Not exactly [...]
Does Marriage Lead to IVF?
“Mass. Gay Marriages Lead To Increase In IVF” proclaims the headline at 365gay.com. Since marriage equality became law in Massachusetts, more same-sex couples are using in vitro fertilization (IVF) to create their families, they report. Samuel Pang, Medical Director of the Reproductive Science Center of New England, one of the largest such firms in the [...]
Queercents Adds Lesbian Mom Writer
LGBT finance blog Queercents has added a parent to their roster of writers: Dr. Jennifer Natalya Fink is a professor of English at Georgetown University, the author of two novels (V and BURN, both from Suspect Thoughts Press), and, most importantly, the mother of a gorgeous and hilarious baby girl. She and her family live [...]
What Cost Parenthood?
How much does it cost for two moms to start a family? Nina at the Bilerico Project (and also publisher of Queercents) talks about her and her partner’s experience with in vitro fertilization (IVF), and the difficult questions they face as they get close to their last affordable attempt. Should they try donor eggs or [...]
Same-Sex Parents, Money, Marketing, and Influence
New studies from the Williams Institute at UCLA have shown that same-sex parents in Illinois, Michigan and Rhode Island have “significantly” lower average and median incomes than opposite-sex married parents in those states. (I’ve omitted exact numbers for ease of reading; you can find them in the original reports, however. Thanks to Gay Wired for [...]
Eight Family-Friendly Haulers, Part II
Yesterday, Joe Tralongo of Gaywheels.com offered the first half of a guest post on family-friendly and gay-friendly haulin’ vehicles. Not everyone wants the same thing in a car, as was clear from comments on the post, but I hope these reviews will give you some sense of what’s on offer if you are in search [...]
Eight Family-Friendly Haulers, Part I
Thanks to Gaywheels.com, “the Gay-Friendly Automotive Resource,” for today’s special guest post, first of a two-part series. Gaywheels’ Joe Tralongo has put together for Mombian a list of family-friendly—and gay-friendly—vehicles worth checking out if you’re in the market for a new ride for yourself and your clan. If, however, you’re having a midlife crisis and [...]
Amazon.com Clarifies Contest Rules to Include Same-Sex Partners
Sometimes it pays to ask. Amazon.com is having a Tuition and Textbooks Sweepstakes, in which you can enter to win a grand prize of one year of free tuition (up to $25,000). The contest page says “If you’re not a student—but you have a family member who is—you may enter on his/her behalf.” After reading [...]
Suze Orman Offers Advice on Children and Money
Financial guru and out lesbian Suze Orman offers her advice on financial lessons for children. She claims many parents inadvertently send negative messages to their children, including the following: Be happy to go to work. . . . You tell your kids: “Oh honey, I hate that I need to leave you, but I have [...]
Weekend Reading
A few highlights of note from mainstream media: In “A Reason to Take the Early Bus Home,” Michael Winerip of the New York Times last week profiled two gay dads in Montclair, New Jersey. It’s nice to see dads getting coverage—when mainstream media does cover LGBT parenting, it’s most often about us moms. Having said [...]
The Costs of Infertility
Nina at Queercents wrote today about her and her partner’s struggle to get pregnant. She discusses the costs, both financial and emotional, and the interplay between the two. Worth a read if you’re dealing with infertility yourself or know others who are. On a related note, 365Gay.com reports on the overuse of intracytoplasmic sperm injection [...]
Want Your Children to Earn More? Teach Them Self-Esteem
Teenagers and young adults with higher self-esteem earn more money in middle age than those with less confidence, concluded a study from the University of Florida. Not surprisingly, a privileged upbringing and parents who are professionals also lead to higher salaries—but only in the presence of self-confidence. “It is surprising to see what little positive [...]
Student Loans: Should You Consolidate?
A lot of my posts here are aimed at parents of young tots, so here’s one for you folks with older children, or those not long out of higher education yourselves. The Christian Science Monitor just published a lengthy article on student-loan consolidation, offering advice on what to consider and highlighting some recent changes in [...]
A Walk Through the Education Sections
A bevy of interesting articles in the past few days: The Christian Science Monitor examines proposed changes to the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). As lawmakers debate its reauthorization, they are considering whether the evaluation of schools should emphasize progress, rather than merely achieving certain goals. Across the pond, educators in the U.K. [...]
Paying Children for Grades
Would you pay your child $100 for making the honor roll? Or $20 for each A? Some parents swear by monetary grade incentives, reports the Hartford Courant. Others say the practice sends the wrong message, and the good behavior will disappear if the reward does. They also worry it may cause parents to ignore the [...]
