Most of us don’t think about insurance until we need it and don’t have it.
Malcolm “MJ” Harris is Managing Director of The Hurston Group, a national full services financial brokerage firm and he wants you covered.
“My role as a financial services professional is to help my clients plan for their future in a way that addresses their goals and budget. This includes helping them select life insurance, health insurance, and disability income insurance. Another major part of my work is helping clients make sure that they have enough money to retire.”
According to Mr. Harris, most people are under-insured for death and disability because people don’t think they can afford it or their health status disqualifies them. But life insurance can be as low as $30 a month, and can help cover final expenses and debt so that your loved ones won’t be burdened upon your death.
Disability insurance can replace up to 100% of your income for 90 days or until you are age 65 in most cases. Some life insurance plans also allow for income pay out if you become disabled.
Medical advances now allow many of us living with HIV positive to expect a longer life span. Now insurance and other financial companies are beginning to provide financial products to people living with HIV so that we can have the same financial protections as everyone else. Here are two financial products I recommend to most people living with HIV:
- Get Life Insurance:When we pass away, we don’t want to leave our loved ones in a difficult financial position because we didn’t properly plan for our future. I recommend that every black gay man have life insurance if they:
- Have any joint debt (such as being a co-signer on a loan).
- Plan to leave their assets (such as their home) to someone when they die. For a $200,000 home, it can be as much as $6,000 to transfer the property to another person.
- Have at least $10,000 in life insurance to cover the cost of your funeral and final expenses.
- Open a Guaranteed Income Retirement Account:The most common two concerns that I hear from my clients living with HIV are: “will I have enough money to retire and continue to meet my health care costs?” and “how can I make sure that I don’t run out of money after I retire?” We offer guaranteed income retire accounts, which address both of these concerns. These accounts:
- Provide a guaranteed monthly or yearly payment to the client from the day that you retire until death.
- Can continue paying out money to a spouse or loved one even after death.
These account options can be important for people living with HIV because they provide an income source and help cover healthcare costs.
Malcolm “MJ” Harris is Managing Director of The Hurston Group, a national full services financial brokerage firm that specializes in providing estate planning, life insurance, health insurance, and retirement planning. His team is a national leader in providing Chronic and Positive Financial Planning, a no-cost service designed to help chronically ill clients (including those who are HIV-positive) secure life and health insurance and plan for retirement.
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