WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) – Same sex couples are
rejoicing after today’s Supreme Court ruling declaring the
Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. It offers federal
recognition of the unions and invites them into a new and
potentially lucrative world of shared tax, retirement, estate
and employee benefits.

“It will be less costly to be gay,” said Debra Neiman, an
Arlington, Massachusetts, financial adviser and author of “Money
Without Matrimony.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Next week the Supreme Court is widely expected to hand down a ruling that will confer federal recognition on state-sanctioned same-sex marriages.

If that ruling comes down as anticipated, it will send some gay and lesbian couples to the altar – but it is likely to send even more to financial planners, trust attorneys and tax accountants.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Long-term-care insurance has always been an expensive product, but now it is getting a lot pricier – especially for single women who may most need help in old age.

Providers are raising rates for old policies and new ones – by as much as 60 percent, according to state filings. But the latest development is gender-based pricing. Genworth, a leader in this field, has started selling plans in 31 states that charge more for women than men. John Hancock is also embracing gender-based pricing, and other insurers are expected to follow suit.

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) – Long-term-care insurance has
always been an expensive product, but now it is getting a lot
pricier – especially for single women who may most need help in
old age.

Providers are raising rates for old policies and new ones -
by as much as 60 percent, according to state filings. But the
latest development is gender-based pricing. Genworth, a leader
in this field, has started selling plans in 31 states that
charge more for women than men. John Hancock is also embracing
gender-based pricing, and other insurers are expected to follow
suit.

NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters) – A key part of the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission’s new proposal on regulating
money-market funds came from an idea raised by a single
financial firm, a senior SEC official said.

The SEC proposal, issued Wednesday, would require
institutional funds – those marketed to large organizations and
ultra high net worth investors – to transition from a fixed $1
share price to a floating net asset value (NAV). Retail funds,
aimed at smaller investors, would be exempt.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Pension funds – those old guaranteed-benefit retirement plans your grandma might have told you about – outperform those in 401(k) plans year after year, according to new research from consulting company Towers Watson.

In 2011, the last year studied, defined-benefit plans had median returns of 2.74 percent, while 401(k)s and other defined-contribution plans lost 0.22 percent. It was the widest margin since the mid-1990s, the company said.

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) – Pension funds – those old
guaranteed-benefit retirement plans your grandma might have told
you about – outperform those in 401(k) plans year after year,
according to new research from consulting company Towers Watson.

In 2011, the last year studied, defined-benefit plans had
median returns of 2.74 percent, while 401(k)s and other
defined-contribution plans lost 0.22 percent. It was the widest
margin since the mid-1990s, the company said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It isn’t like Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues have it in for old people – I’m sure they are all very respectful of their elders. (The policy-setting reserve bank presidents typically have to retire when they are 65. Bernanke is 59.)

But their policy of holding interest rates as low as they need to be to keep the economy in modest growth mode is also hitting Grandma and Grandpa particularly hard: At ages when most people try to keep their money “safe” in bank certificates of deposit and bonds, retirees are having to contend with returns that would be considered laughably bad if they didn’t have to cover groceries and Medicare co-pays.

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) – It isn’t like Federal Reserve
Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues have it in for
old people – I’m sure they are all very respectful of their
elders. (The policy-setting reserve bank presidents typically
have to retire when they are 65. Bernanke is 59.)

But their policy of holding interest rates as low as they
need to be to keep the economy in modest growth mode is also
hitting Grandma and Grandpa particularly hard: At ages when most
people try to keep their money “safe” in bank certificates of
deposit and bonds, retirees are having to contend with returns
that would be considered laughably bad if they didn’t have to
cover groceries and Medicare co-pays.

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) – Just when you may have thought
that federal tax policy was set – that January’s “fiscal cliff”
deal meant you could go about your financial life with
multi-year certainty – Washington is again talking of
comprehensive tax reform.

Both key congressional committee heads – Senate Finance
chair Max Baucus, a Democrat, and Dave Camp, the Republican
chair of the House Ways and Means Committee – have hinted that
the impending debt-ceiling increase could be the tree upon which
a new tax code hangs.