Women’s History Month

All the Single Ladies

During the month of March, we are taking time to celebrate #WomensHistoryMonth.  In general, women have a higher life expectancy than men, so they typically pay lower life insurance premiums when other factors are equal.  A woman’s life expectancy often helps decrease the premium for a couple when the wife is added to a second to die policy.  But women should also consider leveraging their life expectancy when implementing single life policies.

Normally, life insurance is implemented when big life events happen, such as marriage or having children.  When those big life events don’t occur, life insurance can be overlooked.  However, single women can benefit from a life insurance policy in multiple ways.  It’s obvious that single mothers might want to implement policies for the benefit of their children, and single women might want burial insurance to help their families pay for their funeral, but there are other less obvious ways that life insurance might be advantageous. 

Structuring an estate plan can be very important for single women.  They usually have someone in mind to inherit their wealth, most often their nieces and nephews.  If they are without family members to receive an inheritance, estate planning becomes even more important when choosing non-familial heirs.  Life insurance can pay the estate tax to increase the amount of inheritance to loved ones. 

More often than not, women play the caregiver role in the family.  Caring for elderly parents can be a large part of a single woman’s life.  If they pass away before their parents, they can leave a void in the caregiving role.  Generally, once elderly parents require a caregiver, they are not eligible for long-term care insurance.  In lieu of directly providing caregiving, a life insurance policy can pay for a caregiver or a long-term care facility for elderly parents.  The proceeds can also help pay for future medical expenses that a wealthy single woman might have helped her parents cover if she were present.

Many single women are passionate about charitable endeavors, dedicating their time and money to causes that they deem worthy.  Life insurance can be implemented to multiply a gift to a charitable institute at a discounted rate by leveraging premium payments into a large death benefit for the non-profit organization.  Multiple policies can be implemented with multiple charitable organizations named as beneficiaries to help fund large projects in a wealthy single woman’s name.  Just another way to leave a lasting legacy.

To be fair, all people can benefit from these life insurance options, but single women can be overlooked because their needs might not be as transparent as married couples or families.  Contact us with any questions or opportunities to help you or your clients achieve their goals.  This is what we enjoy doing for only a select number of families, businesses, and charitable institutions each year, and we look forward to hearing from you.