Queer Money®: How Gay People Do Money

Gay taxes don't have to be difficult If you are a same-sex married spouse, the IRS may owe you money! A recent Credit Karma LGBTQ tax study found that 35% of same-sex married couples are unsure about their filing status. If you are among the 35% and you filed as single, head of household or married filing separately, you may not have received all the tax breaks and benefits you deserve. But the good news is, can file and amended return and get that cash back! Christina Taylor is the Senior Manager of Tax Operations for Credit Karma, the online platform working to make financial growth possible for everyone. Credit Karma is on a mission to give its 75M members free access to the tools, education and opportunities necessary for making real, meaningful progress in their financial lives. Christina joins us to share the findings of the Credit Karma LGBTQ tax study. She explains why tax law is so confusing for same-sex married couples and walks us through the five potential filing statuses. Christina discusses her top takeaways from the study, offering insight around filing jointly, claiming the adoption tax credit, and filing for a medical deduction. Listen in for Christina’s advice on filing an amended return and learn how Credit Karma can help you receive all of the tax breaks and benefits available to you! Get show notes here: https://debtfreeguys.com/gay-taxes/ ‎

Queer Money hosts Lillian Karabaic and finds out how she uses Ziggy Stardust as her personal finance muse. A little glitter makes everything better—and that includes personal finance! Ziggy Stardust and kitten videos may not be the first things that come to mind when you think about getting educated on money matters, but that’s because you haven’t met Lillian Karabaic. Lillian is a personal finance coach for millennials, teaching workshops and hosting the weekly podcast, Oh My Dollar! Despite working in the nonprofit realm and earning a modest income, she has traveled to 31 countries and remains debt-free. Lillian is passionate about helping artists and freelancers feel comfortable making money decisions, and she is the author of Get Your Money Together, a purr-sonal finance workbook to help you budget your money and save for retirement. Lillian joins us to explain how she stumbled into personal finance and why David Bowie is a part of her approach. She shares her personal secrets to avoiding student loan debt and saving money on minimum wage. Lillian offers advice on FAFSA access for homeless LGBTQ youth and addresses affordable healthcare as the #1 hurdle for the queer community. Listen in for insight around effective budgeting based on your values and learn to channel Ziggy Stardust as your personal finance muse!

Queer, gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans, we've all got concerns about money, especially as teens growing up in non-supporting families or communities. We were both the same way. This week we provide some advice to queer teens from a highsight is 20/20 perspective. Advice we would have given our younger selves when we were struggling with coming out. If you are a queer teen or know someone who is then please share this episode with them and help them prepare for a better life, both financially and more.

Resources: https://debtfreeguys.com/workplace-equality-index/ When you think of an activist, what comes to mind? Marching in the streets? Are there other ways to promote LGBT rights, advocating for workplace equality and social change? John Roberts is the creator of the Workplace Equality Index, an equal-weighted index of companies that support LGBT equality in the workplace. He also serves as partner and portfolio manager with Denver Investments, where he has managed portfolios screened for LGBT-inclusive policies since 1998. John writes and speaks extensively on the benefits of workplace equality and activist investing, and he was named Entrepreneurial Man of the Year by the Colorado LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce. John joins us to explain how managing funds for the Kevin Mossier Foundation led to the creation of the Workplace Equality Index. He describes the process of identifying companies that support LGBT-inclusive policies as well as the progress we’ve made toward workplace equality. John addresses the crucial role of business in driving social change, discussing the impact of data in making the shareholder case for LGBT rights. Listen in for insight around identifying the companies that truly ‘walk the walk’ and investing in a portfolio that aligns with our values!

Show notes: https://debtfreeguys.com/return-on-equality/ Todd Sears’ Return on Equality Out Leadership is on a mission to engage the world’s top corporations in implementing inclusive policies and advocating for LGBTQ leadership and equality. So, how can the LGBT community and our allies support those businesses that use their power for good, adopting diversity as a core business value? Todd Sears is a recovering investment banker turned LGBTQ equality entrepreneur. He established Out Leadership in 2011 with the intention of mobilizing LGBTQ leadership as a business voice and supporting organizations in tapping into the dividends of inclusion or Return on Equality. Todd created the first team of financial advisors on Wall Street to focus on the gay community and led pioneering equality initiatives for Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse. He serves on the nonprofit boards of the Williams Institute, The Palette Fund, the Global Equality Fund and Lambda Legal. Today, Todd offers insight around the three pillars of Out Leadership—business, talent and equality. He discusses the slow progress when it comes to LGBTQ leadership at the CEO level of Fortune 500 companies and the shifting perception of being gay at work as an advantage. Todd walks us through Out Leadership’s global initiatives, sharing the details of OutNEXT, OutWOMEN and Quorum as well as their OL-iQ inclusion diagnostic tool. Listen in for Todd’s take on limiting beliefs among the LGBTQ community and learn how we can ensure that businesses demonstrating a true commitment to inclusion are rewarded on their bottom line with a Return on Equality.

Full show notes: https://debtfreeguys.com/mental-health-and-money/ Is there a connection between mental health and money? Do you worry about money? A recent survey of our community revealed that 82% of LGBTQ couples worry about money at least once a month, with 58% of respondents admitting to feeling anxious at least once a week! So, what exactly is getting us down? How is the stress impacting our mental health? And what can we do to improve the situation? Is there a solution to better mental health and money? Sam Schultz is the co-founder of Honeyfi, a budget app that helps couples manage their money together. The company recently completed a ‘Love and Money Survey’ with 300 couples in the LGBTQ community to identify their unique challenges and top goals. Sam returns to Queer Money to cover the struggles LGBTQ couples face when it comes to money, beginning with a lack of emergency savings and ongoing worry about money—despite earning more than the median household income. He offers insight around how social media culture plays into the LGBTQ community’s spending choices and why it’s important for us to share honest stories about our money challenges. Sam shares the study’s findings on the large percentage of couples that don’t use any financial tools or resources and the connection between couples with poor credit and mental health concerns. Listen in to understand the opportunities the LGBTQ community has to improve our collective relationship with money and learn how the Honeyfi app can help!

Show Notes Here: https://debtfreeguys.com/nglcc/ We Are #LGBTBIZ Family with Jonathan Lovitz Being an entrepreneur is hard enough. You need a solid business plan as well as access to capital and connections with potential partners. A lot of things need to go right to make a new venture successful. Unfortunately, the LGBT-owned businesses who need the collective strength of the community most tend to live in places where there is little access to services. That’s where the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) comes in, providing a network of support through the #LGBTBIZ family. Jonathan Lovitz serves as Senior Vice President of the NGLCC, an advocacy group aimed at expanding economic opportunities and advancing the LGBT business community. He is responsible for coordinating media and communications, strategic partnerships, and government policy work for the organization. Jonathan appears regularly on MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, The Advocate and Out Magazine, among others, and he was recently recognized by Business Equality Magazine as one of its 40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40. Today, Jonathan explains the goals of the NGLCC, discussing the connection between social acceptance and economic growth. He speaks to the concept of a ‘return on equality,’ sharing the extraordinary economic impact of the LGBT community in the US and the benefit to corporations that adopt inclusive business practices. Jonathan describes the discriminatory policies that prevent LGBT-owned businesses from competing on a level playing field and offers insight around how the NGLCC can give smaller, queer-owned businesses access to training and opportunity. Listen in for information about the 2018 NGLCC International Business & Leadership Conference and learn the benefits of becoming an NGLCC-certified business!

Full Show Notes Here: https://debtfreeguys.com/live-debt-free/ Live Debt Free was the Obvious Choice Why did we choose to live debt free over making more money? For some, this seems like the stupid mistake but listen to the podcast this week and find out why. Our First Choice More, more, more. Buy, buy, buy! It’s the American dream, right? It’s in all the pictures we see on Instagram, Facebook and Tumbler. Everyone wants that social medial picture-perfect life. The one that seems to breed envy. The one that makes the rest of us TGIF once a week for 50 weeks a year, while saying, “Ugh! I can’t take another Monday” 50 weeks more. To be honest, it was partly seeing and hearing our FB friends complain about the jobs they hate but felt chained to, each Monday morning that kept us motivated to follow through. You see we were both headed up the pay scale and up the corporate ranks when we had our fateful visit to Winter Park, Colorado. The one that locked us in the car for 90 minutes and forced us to have a heart to heart about our finances. The one that convinced us that living debt free was a better choice than just making more money. We share all of that and more in this week’s Queer Money™ episode.

🏳️‍🌈 Show notes: https://debtfreeguys.com/money-confidence/ 🏳️‍🌈 Does the LGBTQ community lack money confidence? Are you following all the traditional advice on money, but you still feel stuck? The missing piece may be money confidence, a mindset critical to financial success. So, how do you develop money confidence? What is the connection between financial confidence and your ability to earn? And how might a money confidence coach serve us in the LGBTQ community? Jen Hemphill is an Accredited Financial Counselor and host of the Her Money Matters podcast, a show dedicated to practical money insights. Jenn works with clients as a money confidence coach, helping them do the inner work necessary to spend more consciously and reclaim ownership of their financial lives. She is also the author of Her Money Matters: The Missing Truths from Traditional Money Advice. Today, Jen explains what sets her apart as a money confidence coach, sharing her holistic approach to supporting clients in their financial journey. She defines what it means to have money confidence and offers advice around spending with intention. Jen shares several simple strategies to gain money confidence, discussing how celebrating financial wins provide an instant boost. Listen in for Jen’s insight on determining your values when it comes to spending and learn how Her Money Matters can support you in building that all-important money confidence!

Complete show notes here: https://debtfreeguys.com/lgbtq-teen-entrepreneurs/ A place for LGBTQ teen entrepreneurs Forty-two percent of students, including LGBTQ student, in grades 5-12 plan to start their own businesses one day and 3% are entrepreneurs already. Is there a place for these LGBTQ teen entrepreneurs to connect and build community with other teenpreneurs? Where can aspiring LGBTQ teen entrepreneurs (and their parents) go for guidance? Meet Eva Baker, the Teenpreneur Conference founder Eva Baker is the founder and CEO of TeensGotCents, a personal finance website devoted to teenagers. The platform is designed to help teens and college students learn to budget their money, stay debt free, shop smart and find a great part-time job. The site has been recognized by The Plutus Awards as the Best Blog for Teens, College Students and Young Adults in 2014 and the Best Generational Finance Blog in 2016. Eva is also the host of the Teenpreneur Conference, a place where business-owning teens and aspiring young entrepreneurs can get together, learn practical skills and connect with brands. Today, Eva shares the inspiration behind both TeensGotSense and the Teenpreneur Conference. She covers what you will learn at Teenpreneur and how the community has grown since its inception in 2016. Eva speaks to her experience working with LGBTQ youth and the inclusive environment fostered at the conference.