Planners know the needs of same-sex couples are quite different from those of opposite-sex couples—in execution, although not in substance. Both want financial security for themselves and their loved ones; both buy homes and cars, invest, put children through college, retire, look for insurance coverage and try to provide for their loved ones after they die.
The way LGBT couples go about these things, however, can—and indeed often must—be quite different from the way opposite-sex couples do them. It behooves both planners and couples to be as savvy on their unique needs as possible.
New York Life Insurance Company has provided support to numerous LGBT organizations and earned for the second consecutive year the top rating in the Corporate Equality Index survey, administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The company decided to take that support and its know-how and put them together on a microsite. In early June, it launched Customized Solutions for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community, a microsite divided into four sections and populated with information important to that target market.
According to Angela Daniels, assistant vice president and market manager, who heads the LGBT initiative for New York Life, the goal was to make the website relatable and to provide the same product information needed by mainstream clients in a site uniquely designed for the LGBT market. “Being proactive about financial planning is sound advice for every family, but doing so is especially critical for the LGBT population,” she said.
Currently, the site’s four sections are Creating a Safety Net, Retirement Planning, Estate Planning and Our Community Commitment.