Protecting Our Family with Life Insurance
This post was made in collaboration with Life Happens. All opinions, images and content are my own.
I am proud of my life. I am a mother and wife, an artist and digital creator, and I don’t take lightly how amazing it is that I’m able to support my family by sharing the important parts of our lives. We do this work so that we can provide a life of safety and comfort for our small family, where they can experience and share more than we ever could.
A huge part of protecting our children and preparing them for the future is in setting a plan for when we are gone. Too often, families don’t discuss what’s next, or worse, they know that when a parent passes, there won’t be any funds to plan around. The importance of life insurance dates back further than my lifetime, but it has more value to me now than ever.
Life insurance wasn’t discussed often in my communities – any of them – and I recently realized just how unique our situation is when seeking new policies. I am filled with pride to belong to the communities and cultures that shape me, and proud to live my life along the tumultuous intersections of race and sexuality.
With gay marriage only becoming federally legal in 2008, we can’t ignore that same-sex couples weren’t protected by the law prior. There are still so many laws that require the proper policies (such as second parent adoption, but I’ll share that story of the complicated process to adopt our children another time). It just can all be very frustrating and hard for same-sex couples to easily find the unbiased resources to protect their families even though studies show that they can be more dedicated to future planning. According to LIMRA, only 36% of LGBT families have some sort of life insurance compared to the nation’s 44%.
In the Black community, where working harder doesn’t always mean playing harder, what is actually a sound investment might feel like just another expenditure. A study by LIMRA and Life Happens shows that 56% of Black Americans have life insurance, compared with 52% of all Americans. But 46% remain underinsured, with their benefits not enough to replace income or provide wealth transfer across generations. I talked to the people in my life and confirmed this is a reality; most of them did not have enough coverage to feel confident in supporting their families after they're gone. But without policies in place that can propel your family, your investment won’t see its true potential.
The benefit of having life insurance is much more than just affording your burial. With the right planning, your life insurance can take care of your needs at the end, provide relief to your family and even invest in their dreams after you’re gone. As I continue to create content, freelancing myself from gig to gig, my creative and fluid career won’t stand in the way of a formal and structured plan.
As we continue to grow our family and pour into the habits and investments that actively keep them safe and protected, life insurance will always be high on the list. At each of my intersections, our oppressed communities have had setbacks with finding valuable policies. Now is the time to change that and take charge of what you can, while you can. My unique life: black, queer, mom and wife, is one that is built on love. Life insurance helps to ensure that after hopefully many beautiful years, love doesn’t become a burden once I’m gone.
If you’re looking to get unbiased information about life insurance, then the nonprofit organization Life Happens is a great place to start. You can also calculate how much life insurance you might need directly on Life Happens’ website.
