Women are busy. So busy, in fact, that they may not stop to plan for their fu-tures. As economic contributors, caregivers of children and elderly parents, and household managers, women shoulder a large share of family responsibilities.

Whether they’re married or not, with or without dependent children, women have very distinct life insurance needs. From primary breadwinners to caregiv-ers, women provide important financial contributions to their families, contribu-tions that should be protected should the unthinkable happen. However, ap-proximately one-third of women in the United States have no life insurance, and about one-half of working women acknowledge that they don’t have as much coverage as they need.1

Do you carry sufficient coverage?

Does your wife, daughter, or sister?

Women Need Life Insurance

Why is Life Insurance So Important for Women?

Life insurance is important regardless of a woman’s age or family circumstances. No matter what their stage of life, women need financial protection.

Women make up just under half the work-force and are increasingly the main or co-breadwinners in their families. Within mar-ried-couple families, the typical working woman brings home 42% of her family’s earnings.2 With women more likely to be economically responsible for their families, life insurance becomes more important than ever. It can help pay off mortgages, secure a spouse’s retirement, and fund college edu-cations. It can also help maintain a lifestyle similar to one funded by a double income.

For caregivers, life insurance provides re-sources families would need to continue to run their households. Stay-at-home moms’ contributions are frequently and vastly un-derestimated. The average annual salary a mother would be entitled to if she were to be paid for her time and effort is nearly $200,000 in services.3 Life insurance pro-vides funds that allow a surviving family to help pay for the myriad contributions care-givers make every day. With more women caring not only for children, but also for aging parents, the need for them to value their unpaid contributions is greater than ever before.

Life insurance is a necessity for anyone with dependent children, but for single moms, it is especially crucial. Life insurance pro-vides not only for children’s daily needs, but also for their long-term financial goals like college educations. Disturbingly, two-thirds of single mothers have no life insur-ance.4

Widowed, divorced, or never married sin-gle women without dependents are, by far, the most likely to have inadequate life in-

surance. But they do have financial respon-sibilities—loans and other debt—that would fall on others, most likely family members, should the worst happen. Life insurance can also cover final expenses; the average funeral cost for an adult funeral is $7,775. 5

Why Are Women Underinsured?

The average life insurance policy for wom-en is $130,000, 31% less than the average male life insurance policy.6 More than one third of women acknowledge that they do not have enough life insurance. So why are women so underinsured? Stunning as it may sound, many have simply not taken the time to calculate how much they need.7 Even those who consider themselves proac-tive in managing their money often fall short when it comes to life insurance.

In a 2011 MetLife study, nearly half of those surveyed had blindly accepted employer-sponsored insurance as their only life insur-ance source. On average, employer-provided life insurance covers about three times annual household income. However, women were less likely than men to have adequate employer-provided coverage, with only twice their income in protection, far short of the seven-to-ten times earnings traditionally recommended by experts.

Many women mistakenly believe that life insurance is not affordable. A recent report revealed that consumers predicted life in-surance costs would be nearly three times the actual price.8 The fact is that the cost for basic term life insurance has fallen by about 50% over the past ten years, making it more affordable than ever before. This is espe-cially true for single women who often have lower insurance needs than women with mortgages and dependent children. Term life insurance (that provides coverage for a specific length of time and for which premi-ums remain the same throughout the cover-age period) is also an affordable option for women with young families. For any wom-

an, regardless of her life stage, coverage purchased today can protect future insura-bility as she gets older.

What Can You Do?

If you’re a woman with any sort of financial obligation, you should consider life insur-ance. With longer life expectancies and therefore lower premiums than for men, there’s little reason for women not to pro-tect their loved ones’ financial futures. Even if you don’t have financial commit-ments today, purchasing coverage now protects your future insurability, as you will never be younger and you probably won’t be healthier.

Take a look at your own situation. Do you have life insurance? It is enough? Will your coverage protect your family and fulfill your responsibilities? Many factors, includ-ing lifestyle, income potential, and expens-es, will determine how much life insurance is appropriate for you. Because that deter-mination is complex, we have developed a Collegiate Alumni Life Calculator.

(CALC) our proprietary online tool de-signed to calculate an appropriate amount of life insurance. It considers funds needed for college educations, survivor living standards and retirement, and even ac-counts for the value of all the unpaid work done at home. As your family’s needs change, we encourage you to revisit CALC to ensure that your coverage is sufficient.

info@meyerandassoc.com or call 800-635-7801.

1Neilsen/Claritas Re-Contact Survey, 2010 2The New Breadwinners, Heather Boushey, The Shriver Report, 2009 3Mom Salary Survey, Salary.com 2009 42011 Genworth Financial Life Jacket Study

5National Funeral Directors Association survey, 2010 6Why Women Need Life Insurance, Yahoo Work and Money, The Shrine, October 2012 7Insurance Revealed, ING 2012 82012 Insurance Barometer Study, LIFE Foundation and LIMRA

To learn more about term life insurance through the alumni association or to request an application for insurance, email: