Thanks to the social skews in society, insurance has traditionally been a product targeted at men. But with more and more women joining the professional workplace, it is critical to review this skew and create awareness about protection cover for women, advises Yateesh Srivastava, COO, AEGON Religare Life Insurance
Jaya, 34, works in a firm in a metropolitan city as an HR manager. She is married with two children aged eight and six respectively. She and her husband pool in their income to not only take care of the day-to-day expenses but also to build assets. They have recently invested a substantially large sum in buying a flat of their own. Their entire planning is based on both of them continuing to earn in the future. Jaya’s husband has a life insurance cover, but does Jaya have it too? Delve deeper into Jaya’s story and you’ll find that she has a few insurance plans, bought mainly to help in tax planning, but her level of cover is woefully inadequate to provide even a semblance of income replacement should anything happen to Jaya.
You need insurance too
Therein lies the rub. Like Jaya, most women in the professional workforce do not see the need to acquire adequate protection cover. Life insurance policies are bought for tax planning and, more often than not, the critical aspect of adequate protection is ignored. This is caused both by traditional social views and inertia. Just look at what is likely to happen to the family’s finances if something were to happen to Jaya. Since Jaya and her husband have planned their financial future jointly, the loss of Jaya’s income is likely to have a very large impact on the financial stability of the family. Plans will need to be altered and even shelved as expenses are unlikely to reduce in proportion to the reduction in income. This will impact lifestyle and can even have a negative impact on the children’s education.
Get adequately insured
The point being made is that it is as critical for working women to be adequately insured against any eventuality as it is for men. Working women should follow the same multiplier as men to take an adequate insurance cover. This should insure, at a minimum, that the post-tax monthly income is replaced by the quantum of insurance. In addition to that, women must also evaluate adding some specific riders to their base life insurance policy. A rider is a simple add-on to the policy that allows the insured to extend the conditions of coverage in their policy at a very minimal cost. In Jaya’s case, it would be prudent for her to evaluate and attach a critical illness rider covering diseases that women are more susceptible to.
Ensure smooth functioning
Critical illnesses can cause a severe dent in finances as the cost of medical care keeps rising. Hence, a critical illness rider for women covers those critical illnesses that women are prone to. In the event of being diagnosed with any of these illnesses, a certain percentage (which varies from rider to rider) of the base plan is paid to take care of immediate medical expenses. This ensures that there is no financial disruption in the smooth functioning of the household. All working women must ensure that they have an adequate life cover. In addition, it would also be prudent to consider adding a rider, at a nominal cost, to the base plan that would provide financial support in case of the occurrence of any critical illness. This is a good way to ensure financial security for the family.
