Posts filed as “United States”
Gay marriage: fall of Doma leaves many financial questions unanswered
Edith Windsor's tax bill led to the recognition of gay marriage, but same-sex finances are still clouded by uncertainty
History is not often made through a married couple's tax bill, but it was last week. In 2007, Edith Windsor married Thea Spyer, her partner of more than 40 years. Spyer died in 2009 and, like almost any married person, attempted to leave her property to her significant other. But it...Read more.
Gay marriage: fall of Doma leaves many financial questions unanswered
Edith Windsor's tax bill led to the recognition of gay marriage, but same-sex finances are still clouded by uncertainty
History is not often made through a married couple's tax bill, but it was last week. In 2007, Edith Windsor married Thea Spyer, her partner of more than 40 years. Spyer died in 2009 and, like almost any married person, attempted to leave her property to her significant other. But it...Read more.
Room service no more: why luxury is leaving the middle class behind | Helaine Olen
Hilton's pulling of room service in New York is another example of how middle income earners are losing access to life's luxuries
New York City's Hilton Hotels recently announced they would end room service this summer, offering customers instead a high-end food shop in the lobby.
That's right. For $200 a night plus taxes, you'll be expected to brown-bag it.
Think of this as one more demonstration of how services for the middle...Read more.
Room service no more: why luxury is leaving the middle class behind | Helaine Olen
Hilton's pulling of room service in New York is another example of how middle income earners are losing access to life's luxuries
New York City's Hilton Hotels recently announced they would end room service this summer, offering customers instead a high-end food shop in the lobby.
That's right. For $200 a night plus taxes, you'll be expected to brown-bag it.
Think of this as one more demonstration of how services for the middle...Read more.
No Mitt Romney, Private Charity Is Not Enough
Will the era of a thousand points of light end with Mitt Romney’s photo op of a thousand cans of soup? Ever since President George H.W. Bush proclaimed a need for “a thousand points of light,” Americans have been enthralled by the idea that private charity is all that is needed to help those in ...Read more.About Helaine Olen
I am the voice of The Bills, a column about the intersection of money and life, at Slate. At Inc., I contribute to the Spread the Wealth personal finance column. My work on politics, economics, workplace culture and women’s issues has been published in numerous other print and on-line publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Salon, Pacific Standard, and The Los Angeles Times, where I wrote and edited the popular “Money Makeover” feature.
I'm the author of the critically acclaimed book Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry, and The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be so Complicated, which I co-wrote with Harold Pollack.
What else? I’m a passionate bibliophile, a fan of 1970s pop music and a lover of rummage sales. I live in New York City.
Read More...