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At Last! Legal Gay Marriage States are Nationwide

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Out Estate Planning, Supreme Court Gay Marriage Ruling, James Lange“Today, we can say in no uncertain terms that we have made our union a little more perfect.” – President Obama from the White House, June 26, 2015.

In a historic 5-4 vote today, The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a ruling making gay marriage states legal nationwide. The day does not appear to be happenstance, either. On June 26, 2003 SCOTUS struck down the sodomy laws, in June 26, 2013 SCOTUS struck down DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act), and today Justice Kennedy joined by Justices Ginsberg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan delivered a beautifully human, and well thought out opinion for the majority ending states abilities to ban gay marriage.

Here is an excerpt from that groundbreaking opinion:

“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their pleas is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The constitution grants them that right.”

It is so ordered.

While this is a huge coup for human and civil rights, many people do not realize the huge potential for LGBT couples to now gain the financial equality they have long been denied.

Our very own Jim Lange, has been talking about this potential financial equality for years, and advising his LGBT clients to take advantage of the opportunities that become available to them when marriage is a possibility.

His newest book on the subject, Live Gay, Retire Rich! is available for pre-order now at Amazon.com – http://amzn.to/1LAIbAY.

With the Freedom to Marry comes Enormous Financial Benefits for Same-Sex Couples

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Jim recently went to San Antonio, Texas to be on Great Day San Antonio where he discussed the financial benefits for same-sex couples who get married.

With the Supreme Court’s decision on the freedom to marry set to occur any day now, it is important to take a moment and assess what this means for the LGBT community from a perspective that most aren’t talking about: the new financial benefits and security for you and your partner.

To watch this interview click here or press play below.

Jim Lange’s new book Live Gay, Retire Rich is set for release in July 2015. To pre-order your copy of the book click here. Jim will also be hosting a retirement and estate planning workshop for the LGBT community in Pittsburgh on July 11th. You can learn more or register for the workshop here.

James Lange is interviewed by Paul Mireles of Great Day San Antonio about what motivated him to write a book about the financial benefits for same-sex couples who get married.

LGBT Couples Need New Financial Advice!

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James Lange, CPA/Attorney, highlights potential financial benefits available to LGBT couples who marry

Pittsburgh – April 28, 2015 –The United States Supreme Court is hearing arguments today on the issue of marriage equality. This historic case should be decided by June.

The two likely possibilities of the decision are:

  1. Supreme Court says all states have to offer same-sex couples the right to marry.
  2. Supreme Court says all states have to recognize marriages performed outside their state.

In either case, all states will likely have to recognize same-sex marriage, even if the couple has to travel to get married in a state that does recognize same-sex couples and then return home.

WHAT ARE THE FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF MARRIAGE?

Retire Secure! For Same-Sex Couples Cover 7x10-2According to James Lange, a best-selling author, Certified Public Accountant, attorney and president of Pittsburgh-based Lange Financial Group, there are potential benefits that many people know about including the “marriage bonus” when preparing tax returns and health benefits being extended to new spouses. But what many people do not consider are 2 enormous financial benefits of marriage for couples who are 60 and over:

1. Marriage can increase your Social Security benefits: There are options to increase your total household Social Security benefits when you are married. Spousal benefit rules impact a couple while both are alive, and the survivor benefit available is impactful after one spouse passes. Over time, the difference can be hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions of dollars. This could be even more important if one spouse has a strong earnings record and the other spouse does not.

The graph below shows the difference between a couple not getting married and taking their Social Security benefits at age 62, versus getting married and utilizing a technique called Apply & Suspend for their Social Security. The difference is going broke in your 90s versus having more than $2 million. Image1

 

2. For purpose of inheriting money, most states and the federal government impose less inheritance and income taxes on assets left to a spouse than on assets left to a non-spouse. After Windsor (a previous case), however, the IRS will recognize same-sex marriages for federal income and estate tax purposes as long as the couple was married in a state that recognizes same-sex marriages. This makes transfer of assets between a married LGBT couple much easier than between a non-married couple.

Lange warns, however, that there could be some drawbacks including the potential health care liability of getting married, and the so called “marriage penalty” that may affect some taxpayers. He encourages same-sex couples that are currently marriage or weighing the benefits of marriage to read his book, Retire Secure for Same-Sex Couples: Live Gay, Retire Rich, in which he details recommendations for the issues mentioned herein and so many more.

Lange’s book lays recommendations in a convincingly detailed yet surprisingly easy-to-follow fashion and is available to purchase through www.outestateplanning.com.

About James Lange

James LangeJames Lange, CPA/Attorney started the first exclusive LGBT estate planning website in Pittsburgh, in 2002. Jim is a nationally-known Roth IRA and retirement plan distribution expert. He’s also the best-selling author of the first and second edition of Retire Secure! and Retire Secure! for Same-Sex Couples. With over 30 years of experience, Jim and his team have drafted over 1,995 wills and trusts with a focus on flexibility and meeting the unique needs of each client.

Jim’s recommendations have appeared 35 times in The Wall Street Journal, as well as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The New York Times, Newsweek, Money magazine, Smart Money and Reader’s Digest. His articles have appeared in Trusts and Estates magazine, The Journal of Retirement Planning, Financial Planning, The Tax Adviser (AICPA), and other top publications.

To learn more, or sign up for their newsletter, visit www.outestateplanning.com