Financial Planning In and Out of Love (Part 1)
The job of a financial planner is only half done without heterosexual marriage counseling! Though the United States is better than Switzerland and some European Union countries in abusing taxation systems to entice free men and women to get and stay married to members of the other sex, the country has made laborious progress in moving towards exclusive individual taxation. There are serious disincentives in cohabiting out of wedlock in the home of the brave, while financial benefits are kept away from homosexual homes. Financial planning must cater to personal preferences, and even heterosexual citizens have to plan in advance to keep the cash drains of their feelings for others under control!
What should you do with a home mortgage if you decide to separate from a partner or a spouse? Will innocent children suffer loss of Earned Income Tax Credits (ETIC) when their blue collar parents move in and out of love? Do you have the stomach for fighting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Innocent Spouse protection against gross financial planning errors of a man or a woman you dearly love? Who would like to look the gift horses of marriage subsidies in the mouth, but are you sure of the ‘until death do us part’ bit? Wake up to Uncle Sam pulling at your purse strings through your heart!
New Etiquette for Financial Planners
A marriage subsidy for one couple can become a tax for another. Similarly, children from an earlier marriage may suffer in a new family meal table configuration because the government will not allow more than 2 siblings to enjoy EITC benefits. The pain of separation can find clear reflections in a tax return, while at other times marriage can become a real drag on financial planning. Celebrities typically engage attorneys at exorbitant fees to keep slates in good written order, but common folk try and fend for themselves. However, everyone can work towards better and shared understandings between rich uncles, expectant nephews, and the givers and takers of love.
Extraneous pressures on adults in and out of love are common. Some oriental communities require the permission of parents and other elders to marry. The Catholic Church makes divorce excruciatingly difficult. Ruthless immigrants indulge in marriages of convenience to extend their citizenship benefits to kin. Do not mock these social phenomena because it could be time for you to ask a financial planner to play marriage counselor! Choices of individual versus joint filing of tax returns are not static matters, since your gross income and that of your spouse, as well as tax brackets change from year to year.