Despite the increasing contribution of women in the workforce, they are unfortunately under-protected when it comes to term insurance. There is still a major gender gap regarding securing the financial future through a term plan. This gender disparity in purchasing insurance is not limited to India but is witnessed globally.
Reason for low insurance rate among women
A reason for this could be owing to the inadequate knowledge about life insurance and term insurance for women. Women need to embrace financial literacy and tap the right resources to support their families while supporting themselves.
Women are working their fingers to the bone while managing the responsibilities of the house and their workplace. As this busy schedule leaves little room for anything else, women can buy term insurance online to save time. There is often a misconception that home-makers are not eligible for an insurance policy. However, insurance providers now offer a suitable term insurance plan for a housewife to enable the financial empowerment of working women and home-makers alike.
What is Term Insurance?
To facilitate an informed insurance decision, it is important to be aware of what is a term plan. Amongst the easiest life insurance policy to understand, a term plan offers financial protection for a definite period – between 5 to 30 years. Some term insurance plans offer coverage up to 80 years of age.
If the policyholder passes away while the policy is active, the surviving beneficiaries receive a death benefit. This coverage is assured with the payment of a regular premium amount to the insurance provider.
Amongst the biggest term insurance benefits is that it is highly affordable as it offers high coverage at a reasonable premium. The premium amount is calculated based on the age and the health of the insurance seeker. If your policy has expired, the renewal premium can be higher. You can check the cost of your term plan online by using the term plan premium calculator.
If cost is a concern, you should buy insurance early as the premium amount is cheaper when you are younger. Additionally, look for an online term policy to further optimise your savings.
For those who believe insurance to be a complex matter, this concern is put at ease as term insurance for women as it is a hassle-free policy with simple procedures.
Why Should Women Invest in Term Insurance?
With a progressive shift in society and changes in the working dynamic, having adequate insurance cover for women is imperative. Here are some of the reasons that make term insurance plan for housewife and working woman essential:
1. Ensuring the Financial Security of the Family
Working women have been supporting the lifestyle of their families and undertaking regular expenses. In such a scenario, if something were to happen to them, the financial footing of the family is put at risk. Term insurance can act as an income replacement so that your family’s finances are steady even in your absence.
Moreover, term insurance for women tends to be cheaper because they have a greater life expectancy. This translates to lower premium costs, especially when you buy term insurance online.
2. Enhancing Your Coverage with a Critical Illness Rider
Currently, there is a greater susceptibility to lifestyle diseases. Increased stress, unhealthy diet, inadequate sleep, and pollution all combine to amplify health risks. Considering this, when you buy term insurance online, there is a need to strengthen it with a critical illness rider.
With this rider, if you are diagnosed with any of the listed critical illnesses, an additional sum is provided over and above the basic sum assured. This additional amount can be used to pay for medical expenses.
With the rising cost of hospitalisation, not having an adequate insurance cover can burn a sizeable hole in your pocket. This rider is especially beneficial for women who have had a family history of serious medical illnesses in the past.
3. Investment for Future Milestones
Inadequate financial knowledge can push your financial goals further from achievement. To prevent this, investment in the right online term policy early in life is essential. In addition to protecting your family’s finances, the term insurance plan for housewife or working women can help save on tax and also help you secure the important milestones in your family’s lives. For instance, the term insurance payout can help your family lead a dignified life, provide for the children’s education or marriage, secure their dreams and help ensure a financially secure life for them.
4. Coverage for the hard-working homemakers:
The homemakers’ contributions towards the stability, well-being and happiness of the household are truly exemplary. A homemaker takes care of the children, cooks for the family, takes care of the household needs, manages the monthly budget, runs household errands, and does so much more! The monetary value of all these tasks will definitely be felt in case of the unfortunate demise of the homemaker. As a result, term insurance for homemaker is an essential investment to ensure that the financial losses caused by the demise of the homemaker are taken care of.
5. Support for the small business owners:
From traditional activities like tailoring to modern roles like leading a small company, women are venturing into many business sectors and making a mark.
However, every business requires capital. While government and financial institutions offer special loans for women, you wouldn’t want the burden of repayment befalling your family in case of your unfortunate demise. A term life policy covers the loan amount and the life cover payout allows your family to repay any outstanding debts.
Types of Term Insurance
Term insurance is available in different variants to fit the different lifestyles of insurance-seekers. The most common types of term plans include:
· Level Term Plan: is one with uniform sum assured throughout the policy tenure.
· Increasing Term Plan: is where the sum assured increases year-on-year at a fixed rate.
· Decreasing Term Plan: is defined with a reduced sum assured every year.
· Return on Premium Term Plan: comes with a maturity benefit, i.e., if the insured passes away, a death benefit is provided, and if they survive, the total premiums paid are refunded.
Term Plan for Women with Edelweiss Term Insurance
The Edelweiss Tokio Life Zindagi Plus plan is a flexible term insurance policy that is designed to address the changing insurance needs. Some of its unique benefits include:
· The Better Half Benefit for an additional cover of up to 50% for your spouse
· Life + COVID-19 cover to protect you from unforeseeable circumstances.
· No medical option for a sum assured of up to ₹99,99,000
· Discount on the premium amount when you opt for a higher sum assured.
Aside from the aforementioned, Edelweiss Tokio Life has offerings, such as Guaranteed Returns plans and Unit Linked Insurance Plans, that can help you grow your wealth while strengthening the financial foundation of your family.
To conclude
It has been observed that women tend to place greater importance on saving for future milestones such as a child’s education or marriage as opposed to planning for their own retirement or ensuring financial security after retirement. However, having life insurance for women is essential as it can act as an income replacement tool should the unfortunate come to pass.
Swati Tumar – Travel & Finance Writer
Swati is a Writer in the day and an illustrator at night. Among her interests, she is quite fond of art and all things creative. She often indulges herself in creating doodles, illustrations, and other forms of content. She identifies herself as an avid traveler and shameless foodie.