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family (monetary) values
Aug. 17th, 2006 03:10 pmJust got one of the periodic emails from the HRC (who I think *finally* only has me down for the emails I want to receive, and only at the address at which I want to receive them, which took some doing) and it contained happy gay news! According to the missive, Congress just signed into law a bill that makes a couple financial things nicer for gay, unmarried, and otherwise-unusually-structured families:
1) When someone dies, a beneficiary who is not the spouse of the deceased will be allowed to roll over the deceased's retirement account into a personal retirement account of his/her own, instead of having to take the money as a lump sum and suffer tax penalties as a result;
2) In the case of certain "qualifying medical or financial emergencies," spouses and dependents have been able to benefit from withdrawals from a person's retirement account. Now other beneficiaries can be added to this list.
It's a victory for The American Family!
In other news, I should start a list of all the things that have been easier for G & me because we're straight and married. I have noticed a few, mostly financial or logistical, and they seem fairly significant -- like being able to add his name to my CD without closing it, paying a penalty, and opening a new one. OTOH there are also some things that are weird (e.g. if I want to name anybody else as my beneficiary for anything, I have to get him to sign off on it, and vice versa). But I do think we come out ahead.
1) When someone dies, a beneficiary who is not the spouse of the deceased will be allowed to roll over the deceased's retirement account into a personal retirement account of his/her own, instead of having to take the money as a lump sum and suffer tax penalties as a result;
2) In the case of certain "qualifying medical or financial emergencies," spouses and dependents have been able to benefit from withdrawals from a person's retirement account. Now other beneficiaries can be added to this list.
It's a victory for The American Family!
In other news, I should start a list of all the things that have been easier for G & me because we're straight and married. I have noticed a few, mostly financial or logistical, and they seem fairly significant -- like being able to add his name to my CD without closing it, paying a penalty, and opening a new one. OTOH there are also some things that are weird (e.g. if I want to name anybody else as my beneficiary for anything, I have to get him to sign off on it, and vice versa). But I do think we come out ahead.