What women should consider when getting life insurance

In years past, the life insurance industry primarily targeted men as their most lucrative market segment; traditionally, men were the breadwinners in almost every family, so this made sense. Times have changed, however, and the number of women who work to contribute to their family’s financial well-being has increased to a near-record high. With this many women in the workforce, it would be logical that the percentage of women who carry a life insurance policy would be similar to the percentage of men who also have life insurance, but this is not the case.

Recent insurance industry studies have revealed that more than half of adult women in America do not carry a life insurance policy, and of those women who have life insurance, the amount of coverage that they carry is only about half of the coverage that adult males in America carry. Even though the average woman’s paycheck is smaller than that of the average man’s paycheck, the disparity in the amount of life insurance should not be so great.

The good news is that more and more women are assessing their financial health and realizing that they need to hold a life insurance policy or to increase their life insurance coverage. Depending on their stage in their life, the specific requirements of a life insurance policy for a woman can vary somewhat.

For a woman who is married, has children, and works, the need for adequate life insurance coverage is great. If a woman in this situation were to pass away, the family would most likely need to replace her income, and there are also the future college expenses for the children in this situation.

A single mother has an even greater need for a substantial life insurance policy. As the only breadwinner for her family, a woman in this situation needs to ensure that all of her children’s living expenses, both current and future, would be covered in the event that something was to happen to her.

A stay-at-home mother might think that she has no need for a life insurance policy since she does not bring home a paycheck. This is a fallacy, since in her absence, the children would most likely need some kind of childcare or a paid caretaker.

Single women without dependents should consider taking out at least a low cost life insurance policy. In addition to funeral costs, there might be expenses associated with the settlement of a single woman’s estate, and a life insurance policy could cover these expenses.