Steps to Effective Investing as a Couple

Making Investments as a Couple

For couples who want to make the most of their investment dollars, investing together can be a smart strategy. But if both partners don't agree on the same goals and methods of investing, pooling your money can be a recipe for a financial -- and relationship -- disaster.

"Having two chefs in the investing kitchen can be a big problem when they don't agree," says Yuval Dan Bar-Or, author of the "Play to Prosper" investment guides. "I generally recommend that people invest separately, especially if they are not married or file taxes separately.

"Investing together means potentially realizing capital gains, and receiving interest and/or dividends. It may not be clear how these are to be handled when it comes to paying taxes. If you decide to invest together, you must be committed to each other because it can be a nightmare to try to unwind mutual investments, especially if the relationship turns sour," Bar-Or says.

If you are committed to investing as a couple, here are five steps to make it work.

Understand Each Other's Goals and Fears

Before launching into investing together, spend some time learning about your spouse's views and goals regarding finances. Erica Coogan, partner at Moss Adams Wealth Advisors in Seattle, recommends that each person separately complete a risk questionnaire profile and then compare answers. "This makes a subjective conversation a little more objective if you have a guide to reference," she says.

Make sure you understand your spouse's financial history and experience before you invest together, says Richard Reyes, owner of The Financial Quarterback in Maitland, Fla. Reyes says it's very common for one spouse to invest heavily while the other spends heavily. "It's a formula that will totally destroy any plan or marriage," he says.

Before designing an investment plan for couples working together, Justin Reckers, director of financial planning at San Diego-based Pacific Wealth Management, talks with both spouses about their financial histories. "They commonly have different levels of aversion to risk," he says.

To find a common ground, couples need to "know as much as possible about each other's investing styles and tendencies, their successes and failures and how they dealt with them, along with the lessons they learned from parents and the sources of their wealth," Reckers says.

Commit to Working Together

If one spouse takes the lead in investing matters, it may be the person who is most knowledgeable about a particular type of investment or the one who has more time to monitor the investment, says Lynn Mayabb, Kansas City, Mo.-based senior managing advisor of BKD Wealth Advisors LLC. Couples need to determine "who will be the main contact person, and who will analyze information regarding the investment opportunities," Mayabb says.

But if possible, both people should be analyzing opportunities and discussing investments together, Reyes says.

Reckers makes it mandatory for both members of a couple to come to financial planning meetings and reschedules if one party can't make it.

"The needs of men and women are very different and I do not think one should have the ability to make decisions for the other without fully understanding the other's goals and aversion to risk," Reckers says. "It is not uncommon for one party to take control of financial decision-making in a relationship, but doing things together will always result in better outcomes. More informed couples make for better relationships. Decision-making and brainstorming together makes for better partnerships."

Develop a Strategy Together

Once you understand your spouse's money views and habits, and once you're committed to investing together, develop a workable investment strategy. Start by specifying the purpose of accumulating assets, says Mary Quist-Newins, assistant professor at The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., a nonprofit institution for financial services professionals. The purpose may be to purchase a home or second home, fund a child's education, start a business or retire. Next, estimate the amount of money needed in today's dollars to meet the goal, and don't forget to factor in investment variables such as available capital, savings and time available, inflation, tax and return rates, Quist-Newins says.

Your goals will determine how much you and your spouse will invest, says Coogan of Moss Adams. For instance, when do you want to retire? Do you plan to pay for college expenses?

"Since everybody has different goals, it is important for a couple to talk through each of their personal perspectives and assumptions about their future so they are planning in the same direction," Coogan says. Consider working with a professional financial planner to develop an investment and asset allocation strategy to help you reach your goals.

Establish a System for Resolving Disputes

When two people are investing together, they're bound to clash at times. Before you and your spouse come to a deadlock, devise a method for working through such potentialities. Bar-Or, "Play to Prosper" author, recommends spending half of the available cash on each person's preferred investment, when contention surrounds a decision about a new investment.

Another solution is to quantify investment variables such as capital, savings and time available, inflation, tax and return rates as well as their impact on achieving your goals. If you can quantify these variables, that process "removes the emotion from an inherently emotional decision-making process," Quist-Newins says. "It can be beneficial for couples to work with a financial professional who can assist in clarifying goals and providing alternatives both can live with."

Reckers of Pacific Wealth Management recommends analyzing the risks versus the rewards, and the costs versus the benefits. When outcomes seem ambiguous, it can be more difficult to agree on a course of action. On the other hand, "looking at potential ramifications of individual decisions can help remove the barrier caused by ambiguity in financial decisions," Reckers says.

Stay Focused on Goals

Keep in mind that investing together is a long-term process and stay focused on your end goals rather than on individual investments, says American College's Quist-Newins.

"There are tens of thousands of investment products available, but frequently just one shot to achieve a goal," she says. "Developing a well-thought-out investment plan and strategy is far more important than selecting an investment vehicle, yet most (couples) spend their time fretting over which stock, bond, mutual fund or variable annuity to purchase."

In addition to focusing on your investment goals, stay focused on your commitment to invest together as a couple. Coogan advises finding time to sit down together at least a few times a year to monitor and discuss how your plan is working, and determine whether you need to make any adjustments due to changes in your lives.

"Communicate often," Coogan says. "Finances are one of the leading causes of separation. The more ownership and open communication a couple has over their finances, the less they are apt to panic when something significant happens to them personally or within the markets."

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'Rajesh Khanna' The First Superstar Of Indian Cinema Leaves For Heavenly Abode

Rajesh Khanna, the actor who became Bollywood's first superstar with a string of movie hits in the seventies, died in his Mumbai home on Wednesday. He was 69. Khanna was also a former Lok Sabha MP.

His funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, family sources said. The 69-year-old actor had been battling with health issues for a long time and was frequently admitted to hospital in the last few months.

Kaka, as he was popularly known, is survived by wife Dimple Kapadia and daughters Twinkle and Rinke.

Scores of worried fans gathered outside his 'Aashirwad' home on Carter Road in Bandra on Wednesday following the news.The veteran actor had been battling with health issues for a long time and was frequently admitted to hospital in the last few months.

In April, he was admitted to hospital due to weakness and fatigue but was discharged in three to four days. He was again rushed to the Lilavati Hospital June 23 and discharged after being treated for two weeks.A week later he was again taken to the hospital after he complained of weakness, but was discharged soon after.

Rajesh Khanna was born in Amritsar on December 29, 1942, as Jatin Khanna, the adopted son of his parents.


Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra studied together at the St. Sebastian Goan High School in Girgaum and went to Kishinchand Chellaram College. They remained lifelong friends.

Rajesh began his career with "Aakhri Khat" in 1966. He became a superstar like no other with his work in hits like "Aradhana", "Do Raaste", "Safar" and "Anand". He was last seen in a TV commercial for Havells fans earlier this year.

Rajesh Khanna, whose romantic persona in songs like 'Mere sapno ki raani', 'O mere dil ke chain' and 'Roop tera mastana' made many young women's heart skip a beat, was Hindi film world's first actor to attain superstar status.

His mannerism, his unique style of dancing, dialogue delivery and gestures added to his onscreen persona and have been imitated countless number of times.

At the peak of his career, Khanna, popularly called Kaka, would be mobbed during public appearances as fans kissed his car, which would be covered with lipstick marks. They lined the road, cheering and chanting his name. Female fans sent him letters written in blood.

His predecessors Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar broke hearts in their time no doubt, but the hysteria connected with Khanna was unprecedented.

Born as Jatin Khanna on December 29, 1942, he was adopted and raised by foster parents. He began taking interest in acting while in school and performed in a number of plays. It was his uncle who changed Khanna's first name to Rajesh when he decided to join films.

In 1965, he won an all India talent contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare and as a result made his debut the next year in "Aakhri Khat", directed by Chetan Anand. His second film "Raaz" was also a part of his predetermined prize for winning the competition.

He found success with films like "Baharon Ke Sapne", "Aurat", "Doli" and "Ittefaq", but it was the 1969 film "Aradhana" opposite Sharmila Tagore that catapulted Khanna to superstardom.

The film also saw the resurgence of Kishore Kumar, who eventually became the official playback voice of Khanna and the actor-singer duo delivered a number of hit songs subsequently, memorable among them being 'Mere sapno ki raani', 'Roop tera mastana', 'Kuch to log kahenge' and 'Jai jai shiv shankar'.

After "Aradhana", "Haathi Mere Saathi" (1971) became the biggest hit and also the biggest grosser ever till then. Khanna appeared in 163 feature films of which 106 had him as the solo lead hero and 22 were two hero projects. He had 15 consecutive solo superhits between 1969 and 1972, which is still an unbroken record in Indian film history.

He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. He was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

Despite his heartthrob status, Khanna played a variety of roles - the terminally ill Anand, a chef in "Bawarchi", a lonely husband in "Amar Prem", and a psychiatric patient in "Khamoshi".

He worked with the best of the talents of his time, be it directors, actresses and composers. Sharmila Tagore and Mumtaz became his leading ladies in many films including "Amar Prem" and "Aap Ki Kasam".

Directors like Shakti Samanta, Yash Chopra, Manmohan Desai, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Ramesh Sippy worked with Khanna. His films' music made them more memorable, with the trio of composer R D Burman, Kishore and he himself working together in more than 30 films.

The commercial success of his films declined during 1976–78. After 1978, Khanna starred in critically acclaimed films such as "Amado", "Phir Wohi Raat", "Dard", "Dhanwan", "Avtaar" and "Agar Tum Na Hote".

If Khanna's rise to fame was meteoric, so was his fall from stardom. By the late 80s his charm at the box office had waned but it did not affect his personal charisma. He held a Lok Sabha seat as a Congressman from 1992 to 1996.

His enigmatic personality not only charmed his fans but also led to him into relationships with three Bollywood actresses in their heydays. Khanna was in a long-term relationship with Anju Mahendru in the early '70s, and later went on to marry Dimple Kapadia, 15 years younger to him, in 1973. They have two daughters - Twinkle and Rinke - who followed their parents into showbiz.

Dimple split from the actor in 1984. Though they lived separately, the couple never completed divorce formalities. Khanna was also romantically involved with his "Souten" co-star Tina Munim (now Ambani). The pair starred together in films like "Fiffty Fiffty", "Bewafai", "Suraag", "Insaaf Main Karoonga" and "Adhikar".

Watch A Memorable Scene From The Movie 'Anand' in the video below:

May The Superstar 'Rajesh Khanna' rest in peace. A Golden Era Just Came To An End!

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Women Now Have Higher IQ Than Men:Study

Apparently people still take IQ tests for reasons other than to distract themselves during the work day. And after 100 years of intelligence quotient assessment, women are finally coming out on top.

The Daily Mail reported that for the first time in recent history, women are scoring higher on these intelligence tests than men, according to data gathered by James Flynn, an emeritus professor of Political Studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Flynn has been studying patterns in IQ results for years and is a recognized authority on the tests.

In his most recent research, Flynn looked at scores from across Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Estonia and Argentina. He found that when modern IQ testing began in 1905, women trailed men by upto 5 points. But over time, that gap has virtually disappeared, and in some countries, women are now scoring better on these tests than men are. Flynn said that the increasingly complicated nature of our society accounts for the changes in these scores, but that more research is needed to make any definitive claims. He said that he plans to publish a book detailing his findings.

Two Potential explanations have emerged for why women’s scores are outpacing men’s, the Daily Mail reported. The first is that women have always been more intelligent than men, but it’s only shown up on IQ tests as women's educational opportunities have expanded and better prepared them for the kinds of questions the tests ask. (Of course claims that men are innately smarter than women have also been made in the past. The second is that women have been forced women to become good at multitasking -- specifically juggling a family life and a career -- which has upped their scores. “In the last 100 years, the IQ scores of both men and women have risen but women’s have risen faster,” he told the Daily Mail. “This is a consequence of modernity. The complexity of the modern world is making our brains adapt and raising our IQ.”

IQ testing isn't the only arena in which women are surpassing men. In her March 2012 book ""The Richer Sex," journalist Liza Mundy argued that the majority of American breadwinners will soon be female. Mundy also tracked how women are pulling ahead academically. Female students currently earn 57 percent of undergraduate degrees and the majority of advanced degrees as well. Data also indicate that while women are excelling outside of the home, they still overwhelming oversee the domestic sphere as well.

The practical implications of Flynn's data remain unclear, especially because many education experts have criticized IQ tests for only measuring the ability to give the textbook correct answer to a question and ignoring more creative types of thinking. However, Flynn's research might indicate that methods for measuring intelligence should account for socialization. As women's roles have drastically changed over the last century, is it altogether surprising that their test scores have too?

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Reasons Why Women Have Affairs

Over the past few years, I've witnessed a growing number of married couples in my fortysomething peer group calling it quits. Not surprisingly, infidelity is a factor in many of these breakups. What issurprising is that it's the women -- not the men-- who are cheating.

Although recent high-profile scandals have involved cheating men (think John Edwards, Anthony Weiner, Arnold Schwarzenegger), a study out of Indiana University  finds that women today cheat at about the same rate as men, and that the number of unfaithful women is growing. The study showed that 19 percent of married women and 23 percent of married men reported cheating, statistics that reflect a closing of the cheating gender gap. (Note: These numbers are probably on the conservative side because they reflect the percentage of people who admitted to cheating. Presumably, the numbers of unfaithful partners is higher.) Research from the 1990s found that only 10 percent of married women reported being unfaithful. According to these numbers, female infidelity may one day rival or even surpass male cheating. 

Another interesting fact? According to the study, the most common age for women to have an affair is 45. For men, it's 55. 

The reasons for cheating are many. Take Diane, a 46-year-old mother of two who has worked full time while raising kids:

"My husband and I were so busy with work and the kids that our life together had slid into the background. It became all about 'who's doing the laundry' and 'who's picking the kids up from daycare.' I needed confirmation that I was still sexy and that other men found me attractive."

This rise in female infidelity is a change from what I saw growing up in the '80s. In those days, it was the man who cheated. In many cases, this pattern held true: Husband cheats on wife with secretary; husband leaves wife and kids near-broke; husband starts new family with younger wife.

My girlfriends and I observed the devastating effects of divorce -- which left families in financial and emotional ruin -- and vowed that we would never let it happen to us. We worked hard in school, went to college and grad school, and pursued careers so that we would never have to be financially dependent on a man.

So why do I look around me and see so many women repeating the mistakes of their fathers? Why are they willing to risk everything -- their marriages, homes, even their children -- for a romp (or two) in the sack with another man?

Is it a midlife crisis? A feminist assertion of independence and power? Or perhaps a "Fifty Shades of Grey" phenomenon where women are craving steamy "chocolate hot-fudge brownie" sex over the "vanilla" flavor they've had for years with their husbands? 

According to Carolyn*, a 44-year-old mother of three, "Sleeping with another man awakened things in me that I hadn't felt in years. When I was with him, I felt like I was doing something just for me. I was sick of living for others. It wasn't hard to keep the affair secret from my husband because I travel a lot for work."

While there are several factors that contribute to marital infidelity, there are a few unique reasons women in their 40s cheat. Here are the top 10:

1. Greater confidence. Women in their 40s have fewer insecurities and are more confident about their bodies, their careers and themselves. They know who they are and feel comfortable in their skin. Many have jobs outside the house and an identity apart from that of mother/wife. Working outside the house also provides women more opportunities to meet men -- and to pursue affairs -- than their stay-at-home counterparts.
2. "Mommy" stage is over. By their 40s, women no longer have leaky, milk-filled breasts for feeding babies. Hey, maybe they've even gotten their pre-baby figure back! They are feeling sexy for the first time in a while. Having brought up toddlers, they have more freedom to go out again and relax -- with their husbands, partners or someone else entirely. 
3. Shifting hormones. In their 40s, women's testosterone levels are on the rise, which increases their libido, or sex drive. The so-called "nurturing" hormones -- estrogen and oxytocin -- are on the wane, making them less physically wired to attend to the needs of others and more likely to put themselves and their own needs first. 
4. Bedroom boredom. Let's face it, after 20 years with the same partner, sex can become "plain vanilla." And as Christian Grey has taught us, nobody likes "plain vanilla." Sex with someone new is exciting and forbidden and provides a dopamine rush similar to a drug-induced high.  
5. Feeling neglected/unappreciated. Women wear many hats in a marriage -- housekeeper, errand-runner, grocery shopper, babysitter, cook, doctor, lover, etc. Is it any wonder that a woman is tuckered out by her 40s? If she feels more like a housekeeper or maid than a beloved and cherished wife, that's when she may stray. The fact that a husband may be spending inordinate amounts of time at work, traveling or on the golf course gives her more reason to seek attention elsewhere.
6. Self-esteem booster. Sex can be an instant pick-me-up, a self-esteem booster that makes women feel sexier, more beautiful and more loved. If a woman feels unappreciated or neglected by her husband, a sexual affair could be just the medicine that she needs. 
7. Revenge/payback for past wrongs. Whether her husband cheated, lost a job, made a bad investment or got caught in a lie, a woman feels hurt and betrayed when trust has been broken. She may want to do the same to get even.
8. Financial woes. Many families today are experiencing financial troubles, which puts a huge strain on a marriage. Women in their 40s feel that they have put in many years of hard labor -- giving birth, raising kids and often working outside the house at the same time. When their husbands are without jobs or decent paychecks, women feel that their husbands are not fulfilling their end of the bargain and become angry and resentful.
9. Letting the bad girl out. Have you noticed how many women get a breast augmentation, liposuction or other plastic surgery after their childbearing years to enhance their looks and sexuality? If not, take another look. Just as men feel the need to sow their wild oats, some women have an inner sex kitten that -- especially with rising testosterone levels -- is just waiting to come out!
10. Exit strategy. Instead of breaking up, it's easier to cheat. An affair is an easy way out, or at least that's how some women see it.

Bottom line? Female infidelity is on the rise. When you add up all the reasons that women cheat, it's usually her heart -- or ego -- that needs healing. Not her libido. A few tips? Keep the lines of communication open with your spouse. Look for the warning signs. And get help from a good marriage therapist before it's too late.

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John Sununu Calls Obama 'Dumb And Stupid'

WASHINGTON -- In the span of one morning, top Mitt Romney surrogate John Sununu referred to President Obama as dumb and stupid, called the Chicago political culture from which he came "corrupt," brought up Obama's admitted use of marijuana as a kid in Hawaii, resurfaced the name of Tony Rezko -- the jailed financier with ties to Obama -- and then questioned the president's Americanness.

It was a tour-de-force performance for the former New Hampshire governor, whose demonstrated willingness to throw punches has made him the wartime consigliere for the Romney campaign. But moments after Sununu said on a conference call Tuesday morning that he wished Obama "would learn how to be an American," he tried to clarify and downplay the remark.

"What I thought I said but I guess I didn't say is that the president has to learn the American formula for creating business," Sununu said. "The American formula for creating business is not to have the government create business."

Sununu's meandering explanation that he instead was referring to Obama's economic credentials seems a sign that the Romney campaign is still searching for a strategy to direct the political conversation away from Romney's tax returns and his time at Bain Capital. But the idea that Sununu had misspoken seemed to conflict with an earlier appearance he made on Fox News in which he unleashed similarly personal swipes against the president, including hitting his past admission of smoking marijuana as a teenager in Hawaii.

"This guy doesn’t understand how to create jobs. So there is no surprise -- there should be because of that statement no surprise on why he failed so miserably over the last four years, in terms of job creation," Sununu said on Fox.

"He has no idea how the American system functions, and we shouldn't be surprised about that, because he spent his early years in Hawaii smoking something, spent the next set of years in Indonesia, another set of years in Indonesia," he said. "And, frankly, when he came to the U.S. he worked as a community organizer, which is a socialized structure, and then got into politics in Chicago."

On the later conference call, Sununu also responded to demands that Romney release more years of tax returns.

"It just shows how stupid the Obama campaign is to think that someone who has been a public businessman all his life and governor of Massachusetts -- if he didn't pay his returns, you don't think the IRS would be knocking at his door?" he said. (Romney didn't release his tax returns in his 1994 run for U.S. Senate or his 2002 runs for governor.)

"If that were true the IRS would have knocked at his door and we would all know about it," he said. "So by definition in running that ad, the Obama campaign has once again demonstrated that they are clearly and unequivocably a bunch of liars."

The Obama campaign seized on the Sununu call soon after it ended.

"The Romney campaign has officially gone off the deep end. The question is what else they’ll pull to avoid answering serious questions about Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital and investments in foreign tax havens and offshore accounts," said spokeswoman Lis Smith. "This meltdown and over-the-top rhetoric won’t make things better -- it only calls attention to how desperate they are to change the conversation."

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), reportedly a short-lister for the vice presidential spot, backed Sununu. "I think he clarified it," he told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. "Obviously, the governor has a knack for colorful language and can be very informative and entertaining."

UPDATE: Sununu appeared on CNN later Tuesday and apologized for his phrasing that he wished Obama "would learn how to be an American," but didn't back down from the general attack on Obama's job creation record.

"I made a mistake, I shouldn't have used those words," he said. "I'm apologizing for those words, I shouldn't have used them."

When asked why he referenced Obama's past pot use or time in Indonesia, he dodged the question and responded that "the president has to stop denigrating American values" and "he's sending the wrong message to the american people that if you're rich, you're somehow evil."

WATCH VIDEO OF SUNUNU'S CNN APPEARANCE BELOW:

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"Release Your Tax Returns,Romney Unless You Are Stupid"-CNN's Erin Burnett (Video)

CNN's Erin Burnett on Monday called for Mitt Romney to release more of his Tax Returns.

Speaking on her show "Outfront," the host said that the only reasons not to do so were evasiveness or stupidity.

Romney has released his 2010 tax return, but has steadfastly refused to release any more of them. This has led to calls even from conservative corners for him to more fully disclose his tax dealings. Columnist George Will, for instance, said on Sunday that it was high time for him to do so.

"If something's going to come out, get it out in a hurry," referencing the idea that Romney sees political peril in the contents of his returns.

In a monologue reminiscent of former CNN host Campbell Brown's "No Bias No Bull" feature, Burnett was blunt with the presumed Republican nominee on Monday.

"It's time, Mitt, time to put them on the table," she said, hoisting up a huge pile of the tax returns Romney has already released. "If he refuses to release them, it is because one, he had a lot more money in tax shelters in prior years than he does now," she continued. "Two, he did something shady. Or, three, he's stupid."

Burnett concluded that she was in the tax shelter camp.

"Let's assume it's number one," she said. "He had a lot of tax shelters, took advantage of every loophole known to man in the 72,536 page IRS tax code."

She added that Romney could use the release of his returns to argue for an overhaul of the code and a tightening of the loopholes.

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Mad Men's Megan: a Sultry Jessica Par'e

Regardless of what happens whenMad Men wraps up its fifth season this Sunday, and with all due respect to Sally Draper’s go-go boots, Bugles, and—SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! AH-OOOOOGA!—the late Lane Pryce, this has been the year of Megan Draper. Indisputably.

In honor of the season finale, I spoke with Jessica Paré, who plays Megan, about the season’s now-notorious first episode, where she sang “Zou Bisou Bisou,” a sexy yé-yé song (60s French pop genre), at a surprise party for husband Don. The scene was more than memorable: for television—and maybe for any other medium—it was an unprecedented fusion of the sexy and the excruciating. (Full disclosure: The Sexy and the Excruciating is the title of a spaghetti Western I will be writing and directing just as soon as the financing comes through.)

Bruce Handy: Did you know going into the season that Megan was going to make such a big splash?

Jessica Paré: First of all, coming back this season, I didn’t know if I would be back. It seemed likely given the way that last year ended [with Don’s proposal], but I kept telling everybody that all you have to do is open [the first episode] on a closed casket and we’re done with Megan. So I had no idea that I would be back. Then when I knew I would be back, I certainly had no idea in what context. So it was a huge surprise that episode one started with a big bang for Megan.

Did you just get a script, and you’re reading through it, and you turn the next page, and suddenly Megan’s performing this big sexy-excruciating musical number? Or did you get some advance warning that you were going to have some song and dance to do?

I did, yes. Somebody mentioned it. I think it was Matt [Weiner, the show’s creator]. He did give me a heads-up that I would have a song-and-dance number. “Megan sings a song to Don,” I think is what he said. But of course that doesn’t really give you a sense of what it’s going to be like—this horribly awkward but sexy, spectacular routine. So when he first said that, it didn’t really clue in to me. Then they booked me for rehearsals with this choreographer, Mary Ann Kellogg, and we had six hours on three separate days. I was like, O.K., this is going to be a bit more than I had anticipated.

Had you read the script? Did you know the context of the scene?

I hadn’t at all. I hadn’t yet. My first clue, to how big the scene was, was how much time they booked me with this choreographer. Then afterward, yes, I read the scene and I was pretty surprised.

When Matt did say, “Megan sings a song to Don,” my first thought was, “What is she thinking?” As an audience member you know what a terrible idea that is. I think, as you’re watching it, all the awkwardness comes from the fact that you know how much Don Draper’s going to hate this, experiencing this in front of all of his colleagues.

How do you perform that? I mean, the seductiveness combined with the awkwardness. It’s not you; you’re acting, of course. But I would imagine that’s a very tricky thing to calibrate.

As you said, yes, it’s not me; it’s the character. But ultimately it was Jessica who had to get up and perform a song and dance in front of the entire cast of Mad Men, who I’m just beginning to get to know. There definitely was some awkwardness on my part and a good deal of shyness. But I don’t think Megan’s awkward about it, at first. I don’t think she realizes until the next day at the office, when she walks in on Harry talking about her, how embarrassing it really was for her. That’s only in retrospect. In the moment she’s got no shame, no shyness. The awkwardness comes from everybody else. They—and we—know how inappropriate this is for Don Draper, the Don Draper that the audience and the office people know.

Do you have a musical-theater background?

Absolutely not. I did play Jesus in Godspell, in high school, because I guess I’m a nerd. But I don’t have a professional singing or dancing background at all. In a way the scene was a huge gift. Not only do I get to be on this incredible show—the best show on TV, arguably—but I get to go professionally sing a song in a studio, work with a choreographer for three days, and put together this number. It’s such a gift. It’s so exciting.

But you weren’t a showbiz freak in high school, like Rachel on Glee, singing “Don’t Rain on My Parade” to the mirror?

No, not at all. I was a drama-class nerd. I did whatever school production we put on. I liked musicals, but . . .

Tell me about Megan’s clothes. I get the sense that the costume people have a lot of fun dressing you. They’ve started bringing a mod vocabulary into the show with Megan.

Janie Bryant, who does the costume design, is obviously so talented, and she’s got a handle on every one of those characters. If you look at their whole closet, the clothes are all so specific and so character-driven. For Megan, part of the fun for her is we’re bringing in the later 60s, even shades of 70s—well, not quite yet, but we’re going into the future with her. She dresses a lot differently than the other characters.

It’s a chance to be more stylish, and you have more of a model-style physique than the other characters.

I think you’re the only person who’s ever said that. [Editor’s note: doubtful.] The thing is, Megan is younger than the other women. Last year, she was more in office wear, although we had a lot of fun with that, too. But this year, she’s Mrs. Draper, and since she’s a bit young I wear a lot more color-block dresses, which is really cool, plus minis, that kind of thing.

What’s it like coming into a show with people who’ve been working together for three or four seasons, and you’re the new kid?

That’s intimidating, especially because it’s such a great show. I was a big fan of the show before I started working on it. You look at that ensemble, and they all work so beautifully together. They’ve been nominated for everything and they’ve received so many accolades. It’s intimidating. It feels like a big stage. But that’s very much countered by the fact that they’re all so wonderful and also easy. Part of it is that they know what they’re doing now; they know their characters and they know the relationships, and everything moves so smoothly on-set. I can’t believe how fucking lucky I am.

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Edited By Cen Fox Post Team

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