There's a local tavern in West Los Angeles named Mom's Bar. Given that we have an extraordinary gastropub in town named Father's Office, Mom's fits in as part of the cool, local scene. You can raise a few after work, or pop in later when the trendier crowd arrives and creates a hip club scene.

Mom's Bar. Sounds like a nice place. It was.

Last weekend, a co-worker went there with his wife. They are typical locals having a drink at 7:30 PM. Low key and relaxed, they happen to be on the quiet side, very courteous and polite.

At work, he's the guy who pops into my office only when he's got something interesting to say. From time to time, he snaps a photo of my dog doing something silly, and sends it like a little gift into my email inbox. I always seek him out when I need good advice on a whole host of issues, technology, vendor management, and purchasing particularly. He also steps up when my business partner is off, taking on the questions and requests from staff, vendors

When I started my personal blog, I had no idea that it would lead me to my dream job of being able to work from home. Soon after I began blogging, I started my own social media consulting company as a way for me to occupy some of my time spent at home. I also began doing more freelance writing at home as well. Before I knew it, I was working full time from my computer at home while still being able to stay at home with my daughter. My job as a teacher definitely helped me with my life now working from home. Check out 7 skills that I learned while working on the job site that I still use as a work-at-home mom. - By Lauren Jimeson

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Is this really the last resort for same-sex couples to protect their assets?Normally, when a person dies, her assets get passed to her spouse and children, even when she doesn't have a will. It's the natural progression of things. But what happens if you can't marry your partner?

Estate planning creates a special challenge for gay and lesbian couples. The federal government doesn't recognize gay marriages and civil unions, so the couples have to get creative to avoid a serious obstacle to inheritance. But one solution could be construed as no solution at all, because it is fraught with complications.

When it comes to inheritance, spouses and children have the advantage. Maryland, for example, charges an inheritance tax of 10% on property passing to people other than a child, spouse, parent, grandparent or sibling.

Another problem? If there's no recognized spouse or child to inherit, everything could go to probate, a process that drags your will or your assets through the court system after you die to make sure that all of your debts are paid and all of your

Under the aegis of Affordable Care Act, states are mandated to set up health insurance exchanges - online marketplaces for buying and selling health insurance and auxiliary products. Considering the cultural and demographic differences among various US states, the federal government has extended states with an option to design their local state health insurance exchanges based on their local residents insurance needs, health profiles and local insurance market designs. This 'flexibility' for states has however increased design and administrative complexities for insurers.

Most US states are still deliberating about whether they should set up a state exchange in the first place. While most are awaiting the Supreme Court verdict on the ACA constitutionality that can free states of their obligation to set up exchanges, other states such as Maryland, Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado are aggressively working towards setting up a functional health exchange model before the

Private health insurance exchanges though principally similar to public health insurance exchanges, differ from public health insurance exchanges on some key characteristics. One such distinguishing factor is the implementation time. There are several private exchanges already operational in the health insurance market, with many others scheduled to launch over the next few months. Public exchanges on the other hand are not scheduled to open until January 1, 2014, by which time, the existing private exchanges would have a couple of years under their belt. Thus, by the time the public exchanges roll out, insurers and commercial payers would be able to collect two years worth of operational results and insights through private exchanges and would be able to get some clarity on the best exchange operation practices and methods.

There is a lot of doubt and ambiguities associated with public health insurance exchange with the ACA awaiting Supreme Court ruling and most of the US

Tanna FrederickStage/film actress Tanna Frederick, 33, knows more than anyone that good things come to those who wait, whether in Wall Street meetings or Hollywood. As someone who has earned positive reactions from The Chicago Tribune and New York Times, she executive produced and starred in The Farm, an indie film shot in her native Iowa this summer.

What drove you to directing? In the future, how do you plan to do more directing in film and on stage?
Directing was a bucket list deal with myself that I didn't consciously realize until I was researching a play to do proceeding Sylvia. I was searching and searching for the right piece to do and Sylvia had been a huge comedic hit and loved by audiences and I decided it needed to be something dark but comedic that would be a challenge for me to test my comedic skills with. I was Backstage surrounded by 35 or 40 scripts before a show one night and just looked up and realized the play that I needed to do was Why We Have a Body- a play that had stuck with

In discussions with my readers and from what I see online I am constantly amazed at how low a priority folks give their finances. Yes, it is unpleasant to deal with hard money issues. Taxes are a drag. Changing bank accounts for a higher yield is a pain. There never seems to be enough money in our paycheck after monthly expenses. And finding time to discuss money issues with our significant other is rarely a priority.

But the reality is that unless you are on top of your finances, you will surely end up on the path to financial mediocrity. Here are 7 red flags indicating that you may be on the wrong financial path.

1. You don't have a financial plan. A bunch of random mutual funds isn't a plan. Saving whatever little you may have left at the end of the month isn't a plan. Counting on a future windfall or lottery win is definitely not a plan. A plan means running a retirement calculator, identifying a savings goal, making reasonable assumptions about rate of return and taxes,