Report Tracks Gay Couples' Retirement Plans

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Report Tracks Gay Couples' Retirement Plans

By Andrew Noyes, PlanetOut.com Network

February 23, 2004

A significant factor influencing same-sex couples' retirement planning is satisfaction with their relationship, according to one of the first U.S. studies ever to look at the subject.

Cornell University experts on gender issues say although the quality of a marriage influences the extent of retirement preparation, the link between relationship satisfaction and retirement planning is much stronger for same-sex couples.

"Gay men and lesbians who are in unhappy relationships need to make sure that they are not ignoring their future needs," warned Steven Mock, a doctoral student in human development and coauthor of the study.

Findings also suggest lesbians in general and gay men who are not in relationships are in particular need of planning and should consult with a financial planner or explore savings options through their workplace.

"In in-depth interviews, a significant number of the study's participants mentioned that when they went from being single to partnered, they began to think more about the future," Mock said in a press release. "In some cases, their partner knew more about financial planning than they did, and this increased their awareness of retirement planning."

The study also finds that when lesbians make financial plans for retirement, they do it with their partners, unlike gay men who tend to plan individually. Mock analyzed data from interviews with 39 women and seven men in same-sex relationships -- a subset of a larger Cornell Ecology of Careers study.

The authors note that because U.S. laws currently do not recognize same-sex marriages, these couples are barred from a number of financial, health and tax rights that marriage provides.

"Nearly all state and federal legislation assumes gay and lesbian life partners to be individuals and not economically interdependent as married couples are assumed to be," noted the authors. "This lack of recognition of same-sex couples has repercussions in terms of retirement and financial planning."

A report released by the Human Rights Campaign last month affirmed that same-sex couples stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars in taxes and an average of $5,000 in yearly Social Security survivor benefits, and revealed that "widows" and "widowers" are heavily taxed on any retirement plan like 401(k)s or IRAs inherited from their partners, while heterosexual spouses can inherit the plans tax-free.

"It would be a tragedy of immense proportions if same-sex couples who have been together for decades discover at the end of their life that they have few resources to enjoy their retirement and their last years of life," Ritch Savin-Williams, professor and chair of human development at Cornell, said in a press release.

Overall, studies show that in straight couples, wives tend to put less effort than their husbands into retirement preparations, but lesbians tend to plan even less than other women. National Center for Lesbian Rights Elder Law Coordinator Joyce Pierson says that, generally speaking, women are less inclined to do financial planning due to a variety of factors, including lower income levels; lack of education and access to affordable legal help; lack of self-empowerment economically; and "oppression and prejudices, external and internalized."

"My experience working with older lesbians regarding GLBT legal education, estate planning, health care planning [and] domestic partnerships -- where allowed -- indicates a great mistrust of the legal-governmental systems, fear, denial [and] procrastination," Pierson said.

The report's findings were presented at a Feb. 20 research and policy forum in New York City and will be published in the book, "Research and Clinical Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Aging," due out in 2005.