Julia Smith was a 44 year old mother of three daughters who worked full time outside of the home. She was happily married and contributed nearly half of the household's income. Her family lived a comfortable lifestyle, but all that changed when Julia became ill and died suddenly.
Her husband Mike was forced to work more hours just to stay ahead of the bills. Unfortunately the mortgage payments couldn't be met so they were forced to sell their home. Higher Education for the kids their daughters? It was out of the question. Not only did the family lose their mother, but their lifestyle totally changed because Julia didn't have a life insurance policy. Her husband's $200,000 insurance policy was no consolation.
Women have come a long way in the past few decades. They have better jobs that pay more, but there is still not equality across the board. Life insurance is a perfect example. The situation above is all too real. The United States Census Bureau reports that slightly more than half of the U.S. population are women, and yet industry studies show that less than forty percent of the policies are being sold to women. Sales have been focused on men because of an obsolete cultural belief that men are the financial decision makers and the loss of the male would create a greater financial burden on the family.
While men carry most of the financial burden in some households, in many it is the exact opposite. More and more women are entering highly compensated legal and medical professions, and there are more female entrepreneurs and business owners than at any point ever before. Estimates state that between 80 percent and 90 percent of women will be solely responsible for their finances at some time in their lives. In more than 50 percent of U.S. households, both spouses work outside the home, and in more than half of those households, the woman supplies at least 50 percent of her family's income. Life insurance sales are clearly not reflective of the times. When women are contributing so significantly to the financial stability of American homes, it defies logic to think that only the loss of a man could cause that stability to falter.
Given these numbers, it is clear that the loss of the female member of the household could be financially devastating for a family that has not planned well. Often the loss means hardship in meeting the required funds to pay the mortgage, day care bill, college tuition and other basic monthly expenses.
Even if a woman does not work outside her home, her value is often underestimated. Without her, new bills could arise on top of existing expenses. While she may not be financially contributing to her household, she is definitely a major contributor to maintaining financial stability. Should she die, her household responsibilities such as child care and home maintenance, will either cut into her husband's schedule or need to be delegated to appropriate service at a large cost.
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SOME REASONS WHY PEOPLE BUY LIFE INSURANCE
1. They do not want to pass on their financial obligations or their funeral costs to their families.
2. They want to supplement their Social Security benefits so that during their retirement years, their standard of living will not be drastically lowered.
3. They don't want to die and leave only enough life insurance and other assets to pay off their last expenses, so that their families will not have enough money to last through the financial adjustment period that follows the death of the breadwinner.