Morgan Stanley has announced the launch of an LGBT initiative to provide its financial advisors with wealth planning tools, business development and marketing resources designed specifically for LGBT prospects and clients.

The new client educational resource – LGBT On Your Terms – is available to help same-sex couples understand the factors that are likely to affect their family's finances and long-term plans.

You’ve seen the straight way to budgeting. Make a spreadsheet with about 100 spending categories, allocate a specific amount for each item, and then track every dollar you spend by diligently placing each expense in the appropriate category. Boring!

Money conversations with your partner, or even yourself, may begin like this: “How much was the bill at that restaurant last week? What did we spend in Palm Springs last weekend and does that go in the “entertainment” or “travel” category ?”

With Pride season in full swing and the recent victory for same-sex marriage in New York, it’s a good time to remember that legally married gay and lesbian couples still do not get over 1,100 federal benefits and protections that opposite-sex married couples receive.

This number gets published quite a bit, but rarely do we hear specifically what these 1,100 federal benefits are. I thought it would be a good idea to outline just two benefits that opposite-sex couples receive that same-sex spouses do not get.