5 Must Have Insurance Policies for Modern Women

Modern educated women have proved that they are no less equal than their male counterparts and can, in fact, multitask better than men in their families. They earn as much as the men do and have an equal if not larger contribution to their household expenses.

However, when it comes to financial planning, only a handful of women carry out need-based financial planning and are often happy to be covered under one large safety net for the family at large, which is purchased, more often than not, by the man of the house. 

For women to be truly independent, this has to change. Whether she is a single woman, married, career-oriented or a homemaker, she must take charge of her finances and 

go about planning her investments to meet her financial goals. 

While women should follow the same principles of planning their investments as men, their needs are somewhat different from men because of their life pattern. 

The differentiating factors between men and women are that the mortality rate of women is lower than that of men, they tend to live longer than men, their careers are interrupted by their family needs and they often find themselves alone in the last part of their lives. With these factors in mind, here are five policies that are a must-have for women

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A Term Policy 

Everyone opting for an insurance plan should choose a term plan with a life risk and a disability risk, and a woman should think no differently, even if she is a homemaker. A homemaker may not be bringing in a take home salary, but the things that he does for her family are of equal or more economic value. 

For instance, if there is no household help, she does chores like cooking and cleaning all by herself. She also looks after the kids and takes care of their daily school work in the absence of a home tutor. 

Then there are a so many other things like grocery shopping, bank work, bill payment, etc, that are also handled by the homemaker. Thus, she saves money on concierge services. These jobs must be taken into account and a homemaker should have a life cover, which will give her the required protection and financial independence in her old age if she outlives her husband

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A HEALTH POLICY

The modern woman who is trying to balance her home and her career often falls prey to lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes post the age of 40, or even earlier. Women are also susceptible to bone health diseases and breast cancer. 
Besides there is motherhood, for which the health insurer should ideally provide a cover for hospitalization during maternity. Thus, a woman has to pick a health plan, depending upon her life stage and opt for a plan that has an adequate critical illness cover. 

Must Read : Why Term Insurance Policy is required till 60 years

A SAVINGS POLICY

A woman is farsighted and tends to save for her future needs. She is disciplined and traditional in her savings habits and wants to save for goals like buying gold jewellery that may come in handy on a rainy day or saving for her children’s education. However, these small savings are not directed to the right product. They either lie idle in cash or in a savings account. She can consider investing in a long-term savings policy instead of the traditional option. These insurance plans give the dual benefit of investment and insurance based on her risk appetite and come with the option of  periodic cash payouts that give her the opportunity to meet financial goals at various stages of her life. These plans also come with waivers in case of certain mishaps and also give women the flexibility to make partial withdrawals in case of emergencies. Alternatively, if she is specifically saving for the education of her children, she could consider a children’s plan instead which is designed to benefit children in their pursuit of higher education

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A RETIREMENT POLICY

Most working women are so busy with their work and looking after their kids that they tend to put retirement on a back burner. This is ironic since women have lower mortality rates and tend to outlive their partners. Thus, it is of utmost importance to opt for a retirement plan. It makes sense for women to choose a pension plan 

with a suitable annuity option, where the policyholder continues to receive pension from her policy that will help her live comfortably in her advanced years. The factors to watch out for are expenses, a vesting age that matches your needs and a higher sum assured and accrued bonuses.

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GENERAL INSURANCE

If the recent earthquakes have taught us a lesson it is that it is not enough to buy just a life cover and health cover. One needs to protect the roof over one’s head and household items too. 
A woman who is the nurturer of the family, can take the lead in opting for a general insurance policy that can protect against mishaps such as natural calamities, burglary incidents or fire breakouts. These insurance policies for women are offered by non-life insurance companies and can be customized and tailor-made to suit your needs as a householder, your geographic location or any other factors that you may find relevant. 

The good news is that there are a slew of products that are being offered by insurers in each of the mentioned categories that have been specifically designed for women. The need of the hour is for the modern woman to take financial planning in her own hands and choose right insurance products based on her life stage and long-term financial goals

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