There are innumerable incentives to having Life insurance. For example, a Life insurance policy offers financial protection for remaining family members when a primary breadwinner passes away. This will help ensure that beneficiaries have enough income to maintain their standard of living and not struggle to make ends meet. Life insurance funds can also be used for expenses like a child’s or widow’s college tuition, attorney and probate fees associated with the estate, mortgage payments, burying the deceased loved one, childcare and housework expenses left unattended by the deceased loved one dying, and so forth. It’s obvious that Life insurance offers invaluable protections for the entire family. So, why is it that more Life insurance policies are purchased by men? Contrary to the assumptions made by some, women in all types of family structures need to have a Life insurance policy.
Married Women Working Outside or Inside the Home. Modern women are often making as much, if not more, of a financial contribution to the family as their male counterparts. It needs to be determined if the wife’s financial responsibilities will still need to be met or be moot with her death. It also needs to be determined whether or not the deceased wife’s absent income will affect the family’s ability to maintain their lifestyle.
Aside from direct financial contributions that many women make to a household, there are also all the various childcare and household chores and responsibilities that the female, whether holding down a job or not, attends to inside the home. The value of such contributions are often significantly undervalued until the wife is actually gone and the husband discovers how costly it is to pay someone for the services.
Historically speaking, men have typically purchased a Life insurance policy on themselves to protect the family, possibly adding a much smaller policy for the wife. Everyday life has given women a firsthand view of just how difficult it can be for a widowed husband to maintain the same standard of living for his family after his wife passes away without Life insurance. As women have a growing need for assurance that their children will still be able to live in the same home, go to the same school, eventually attend college, and so forth if they were to pass away, they’re starting to realize what a misguided and dangerous approach it is to only insure the male. Many women are taking the initiative to research and purchase their own Life insurance policies and/or have an equal say in the family’s overall Life insurance portfolio.
Single Mothers. In some cases, the woman is the sole head of household. Often the full brunt of responsibility is on the single mother’s shoulders. Life insurance can provide monetary assurance that the child will not be left financially destitute. Remember, even if a family relative or friend has agreed to assume responsibility for the child, it will still cost money to raise and educate the child.
Single Women without Children. One of the biggest insurance misconceptions is that single, childless women don’t need any Life insurance. This simply isn’t true. First of all, someone would be responsible for the inevitable costs of death, such as probate fees, attorney fees, and the cost of the burial. Additionally, many single women are purchasing their own homes. Some might share their homes with their aging parents eventually. Another concern would be from parents expecting to entirely or partially depend on their child for financial help. Should the child die, the funds from a Life insurance would provide the aging parents with any financial support they’d lose and the ability to finish paying for the child’s home.
In closing, a woman’s value, both inside and outside of the home, should never be forgotten or diminished. The need and importance of insurance is just as, if not more, substantial for women as men. Don’t procrastinate on Life insurance needs; Life insurance policies are easiest to qualify for and are most affordable the younger and healthier the woman is when she applies.
