The Ultimate Guide to Life Insurance for Women

While many women may understand the need for life insurance, they may still hesitate to purchase a policy. This hesitation can come from a lack of knowledge or research.

That’s why we’ve created this guide to life insurance for women to help you understand everything you need to know.

This guide will aid you in identifying a policy that will best suit your financial needs. Let’s get started!

Types of life insurance

Before you embark on your life insurance journey, you need to understand the types of life insurance that are available. There are several different life insurance options that can meet your life insurance needs.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is one of the least expensive life insurance policies you can purchase. You can purchase a term life insurance policy for a 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30-year term. This type of life insurance is designed to protect your dependents for a certain number of years until they can support themselves.

Typically, your premium will remain the same over the course of your term. Term life insurance is a great life insurance option for women, especially if they are caring for children or other dependents.

Permanent life insurance

Permanent life insurance has two components: a death benefit and a cash value element. Unlike term life insurance, you carry the policy for the length of your life. Permanent policies tend to be more expensive because of the length of the policy. There are many different variations of permanent life insurance.

Whole life insurance

Whole life insurance is a permanent life insurance policy. Once you purchase a policy, your premium will remain the same over the course of your life. If you purchase whole life insurance at a young age, you may lock in a lower rate. The younger and healthier you are, the better rate you will receive.

If you have a pre-existing condition, whole life insurance may be the only life insurance policy you can get.

The cash value feature of this policy can grow tax-deferred over time. This means you will only be taxed when you take distributions.

Universal life insurance

Universal life insurance is a more flexible permanent life insurance option. With universal life, you have a death benefit and a cash value element. However, the policyholder can select the amount of the premium they would like to contribute to each. Keep in mind, there may be guidelines for each contribution.

Since the policy is permanent, the policyholder can access their cash value at his or her discretion. It can be withdrawn or borrowed for any reason.

Variable life insurance

Variable life insurance also has a cash value element and a death benefit. The difference with variable life insurance is that it allows policyholders to take part in an investment option. This gives your cash value the opportunity to grow substantially.

However, there are some risks involved, such as a downturn in the market. Policyholders can increase their cash amount to coincide with market movements.

Keep in mind, a variable death benefit may go up and down but it will not dip below the guaranteed benefit.

Variable universal life insurance

Variable universal life insurance is similar to a universal life policy. The difference is the policyholder can invest the cash value of the policy into different investment vehicles. It’s important to note, there is no guaranteed cash value.

Final expense life insurance

Typically, seniors between 50 and 80-years-old purchase final expense life insurance. The type of policy only pays for burial expenses. It ensures that the policyholder’s loved ones don’t get stuck with the final bill upon his or her death.

Because this isn’t a large policy, the underwriting requirements tend to be more lenient.

No medical exam life insurance

You don’t have to take a medical exam in order to qualify for this type of coverage. This coverage is a good fit for people who have preexisting conditions. Since there is no medical exam required, the application process can take as little as a few days.

However, if you think you can pass a medical exam, you may want to go in a different direction as it may save you money on premiums.

How long will you need coverage?

For many women, they want to protect their dependents if something were to happen to them. If you want to protect your children until they leave the nest, estimate the amount of time you will need coverage.

There are many additional factors that will determine how long you will need coverage. Some of these factors include:

When will you pay off your debt?
How long do you want to support your children?
Do you have other financial obligations you’re responsible for?

If you are unsure of the length of coverage you need, we have an article that can help.

How much coverage do you need?

Now that you understand the length of time you will need coverage, how much will you need?

The amount of life insurance coverage women need depends on their family responsibilities. The best way to determine how much coverage you will need is to figure out an annual income your family will need to thrive.

Once you have determined said annual income, you can use several different methods to decide how much life insurance you will need. Here’s an article to help you calculate your coverage.

How much does life insurance cost?

Your premiums depend on your health, age, term, amount of coverage, and type of policy. With all these factors, it’s hard to give an average cost of life insurance. If you’re looking for a less expensive option, you may want to purchase a term life insurance policy, as permanent life insurance tends to be more expensive.

It’s important to note, the earlier you purchase life insurance, the less expensive it will be. Even if you don’t have any dependents, you may want to purchase life insurance to lock in your rate.

Other factors you need to consider when purchasing a policy

There are a lot of factors to consider when purchasing life insurance for women. Here are a few additional considerations you should keep in mind when shopping for life insurance:

Conversion feature: Some insurance policies allow you to convert your coverage from term to a permanent plan such as universal life or whole life. If you want flexibility later in life, purchasing a plan with a conversion feature could be beneficial.
Living benefits: Certain life insurance companies will provide benefits if you were to become chronically ill or need to be placed in a long-term care facility. A policy with these additional benefits will help take care of you if you get cancer or need some form of long-term care.
Budgeting restrictions: Finding a policy that fits within your budget isn’t just important now, but it’s important for your financial future. If you were unable to pay for your life insurance due to losing your job or other financial factors, this could add a significant financial burden to your entire family. Find a life insurance policy that fits within your budget.
Immediate payout: Some policies have a waiting period of 2 to 3 years before they will pay your benefits in full. If you want your benefits right away, make sure your policy provides this feature.
Strict underwriting requirements: Purchasing a life insurance policy that has unfair underwriting requirements could end up costing you. Partner with an insurance expert who can help guide you toward an insurance company with fair underwriting requirements.

The bottom line

Life insurance for women can be hard to understand. Partner with an insurance expert to help you weigh out all your options. Insurance experts have extensive knowledge of the industry and what policy will best fit your financial needs. So, don’t wait, start your life insurance shopping process today.

At Term Life Advice, we work with 63 top-rated life insurance companies to help our client’s find the most affordable life insurance coverage. We also offer no-exam life insurance if your schedule is too full to meet with a nurse, or if need insurance in a hurry to collateralize a business loan.

Give us a call today at 855-902-6494 for some accurate rates to help you get started, or you can request an online quote below to instantly compare your options.

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