Do I need life insurance if I'm Single and LGBTQIA+?

Do I need life insurance if I'm Single and LGBTQIA+?

The answer is probably Yes, and here's why

Many LGBTQIA+ singles are taking control of their own lives and getting their Life Insurance sorted sooner than many of their straight allies, who traditionally risk leaving such important decisions until they’re married with children.

And that’s because LGBTQIA+ folk often face more unique challenges than our straight friends.

Many LGBTQIA+ people understand the importance of having their own Income Protection insurance in place because it helps protect their ability to continue to earn an income, to live, to love (and to party). However many LGBTQIA+ people have additional Life Insurance needs and challenges.

Jump Ahead

The uncomfortable truth

Many LGBTQIA+ folks simply can't rely upon their biological family for support or backup, so they have to build their own ‘family of choice’.

• Some biological families either disown their LGBTQIA+ family member, while others,
• Suddenly arrive demanding to collect Life Insurance payouts, challenge Wills and Superannuation entitlements later, failing to even acknowledge the life, our partners, and chosen family we have built for ourselves.

As a result, many of us have had to learn how to become more self-reliant; living life now, but with one eye on preparing for the future too.

The question we get asked most by Single LGBTQIA+ people

The question we get asked most regularly is;

‘If I'm single and unattached, do I still need to think about Life Insurance?’

An easy way to start your thinking about this important question is to simply ask yourself;

‘If you had a million-dollar life insurance policy in place already, who would you want to nominate as your insurance beneficiary?’

If the answer is, ‘nobody yet’, the next question would be;

‘Who relies upon you now, or who would you expect to start to rely upon you soon?

How you answer this question can point you in the right direction. The question about, whether 'you need Life Insurance cover when you're single', often becomes a more, ‘not if, … but when,’ kind of conversation.

A 2021 consumer attitudes poll revealed:

• 29% of Millennials and 32% of Generation Y already provide some form of support to their parents.
• 18% of households earning $75,000 or more, admit to knowing that their parents are counting on them to be their caregivers later.

Thinking about self-reliance starts early in the LGBTQIA+ world

It's never too early to start to normalise talking about money matters and thinking about how we want to live our best financial lives.

You could say this is a hard message to sell in our consumption-driven gay media, which doesn’t seem to want you to think about a future they can’t sell you today. *sigh*. But this is an incredibly important part of living a fabulous life and building a financially strong and capable LGBTQI Community. too. We all do better once we know what our options are.

Common examples of who people nominate as their life insurance beneficiary

1. Partners, De-factos, friends, children - own and co-parented.
2. A family member (whether logical or biological), a special needs sibling, favourite nephews, and nieces (that's because ‘Guncles’ and Aunties are the coolest people and the ultimate backup plan – and sometimes the only examples that life is diverse, fabulous and gets better).
3. Those who have supported you in the past like a mentor, those who may have provided financial support, like a loan for a deposit on a home or to start a business.
4. Charities and Not for Profit organisations.
5. Funding a scholarship - so that a favourite nephew or niece can finish University without massive student debt and/or maybe have a head start on a deposit for a home. Leaving a legacy certainly makes a happy difference in the life of someone you love or care for.

Psst - How easy is it to change a Life Insurance beneficiary nomination?

You can change your Life Insurance Beneficiary easily whenever you like, (and as many times as you like) - nobody but you and your financial adviser need to know. You can learn more about that here.

The little known big feature of a high quality life insurance policy

Life insurance pays out a sum of money to your nominated beneficiaries (there’s that word again, you can learn more about that here), or your estate if you unexpectedly pass away.
The money can be used for anything and in most cases totally tax free.

• What many people don't know is that Life Insurance also has a Terminal Illness Advanced Payout feature, where a policy pays out upon a Terminal Illness Diagnosis too.

Imagine what a payment of $1,000,000 could do for you if you were facing a terminal illness -surely the most stressful time of your life? You could afford the very best of medical treatments (even the ones not yet on the subsidised PBS) and perhaps have new options not otherwise available.

This Terminal Illness Advanced Payout feature provides significant value as part of someone’s financial back up plan.

Seven good reasons why Single LGBTQIA+ people may need Life Insurance

Do I need life insurance if I’m single with no dependents?
If you don’t have any financial dependents today, there are still plenty of reasons to get your Life Insurances sorted as a single person.

1. Life Insurance is cheaper and easier to get while you're younger and healthier, so you can often lock in cover now at a better price.
2. If you have a family health history of cancer or diabetes, (particularly before age 65), you need to get your insurance cover asap or risk facing a lock out later. This is because life insurances work to protect you from unknown risks - once a risk becomes a known possibility, that becomes a problem.
3. If you have recently received a diabetes diagnosis - get your life insurances sorted asap.
4. If you have recently received a positive diagnosis - get your life insurances sorted asap.
5. Be aware that unknown or unexpected changes in your future health or mobility can see you suddenly locked out of being able to get cover later, so don’t delay making a good decision today.
6. If you own property with another person and have a mortgage, be aware that if you unexpectedly passed away, the lender would still seek to claim back the equity in the property to pay out the debt. This might mean your assets would be forcibly sold and this could lead to some difficult situations, especially if you had someone living with you. If you have Life Insurance in place, the policy payout could provide sufficient money to pay out a mortgage.
7. If somebody depends upon you now, soon or later.

The future is not ours to see

As an LGBTQIA+ Financial Adviser, I want my clients to have options and encourage them to think differently about how they relate to the world around them. Sure, I hope everyone lives long (and prospers) but I know the statistical realities of life mean that won't be the case for everyone.

“Yes, at the moment I'm probably worth more dead than alive, but that's normal because making your millions and building up your assets, and allowing investments to mature takes time. So while I'm working at that now, I'm using a life insurance policy to provide that financial safety net for later, just in case.”

The Last Word

Life never works out quite as we plan. That's why we use Life Insurances as part of our backup plan. Getting a life insurance policy in place while you're young and healthy is a no-brainer.

Having a life insurance policy in place is really about making a difference to someone else, leaving a legacy that makes a happy difference you want to see in the world, and providing hope for someone you love and care for.

At its core, it's actually about protecting and providing — it's the very essence of being human — and nothing is as good as feeling safe, and fabulous.