Are You Thinking About Life Insurance?

For women, life insurance is something that often flies off the radar. Brian Greenberg, president of True Blue Life Insurance, offers three reasons for women to seriously consider purchasing life insurance:

1. Replace your income. Think about your family getting by without your income. Life insurance will provide financial support for them if you die. The household tasks you do can further be quantified in monetary terms.
2. Protect other interests. If you carry a high amount of debt, have a co-signer for a loan or take care of an aging or ill family member, life insurance will help protect your estate, your co-signer and the person for whom you serve as a care provider.
3. Life insurance is less expensive for women. Because on average women live roughly five years longer than men, their life insurance premiums are lower than those for men of the same age. “Women also tend to develop cardiovascular problems like heart attack or stroke later in life than men do,” Greenberg adds.

How much life insurance should you purchase? According to Greenberg, the range is wide—anything from 3 times your income to 15 times your income.

“If you’re a 40-year-old woman making $50,000 per year at your job, you will want to look at buying a policy that’s worth about $750,000,” he advises. “This is a general rule of thumb and does vary by age, so it’s important to speak with a life insurance agent. You also can select a term life policy at a cheaper premium for a specific amount of time, or you can select a permanent plan that will last the rest of your life and provide you with additional financial planning options.”