Insurance And Women: Plans Which Are Common Across Life Stages

Women today are more conscious about gaining financial freedom than ever before. They want to be empowered to make their financial decisions, be invested in creating a corpus that takes care of major life goals as well as their sunset years. This will work only with a solid understanding of financial planning and its role in helping them achieve their envisioned financial goals.

Investing is about behaviour

With more and more families functioning on two incomes, it is important that women - invest in the right financial products and maintain a robust investment portfolio. While investing in diverse financial instruments and maintaining a diversified investment portfolio is key, it is important to keep these pointers in mind.

• Start the investment process as soon as you have a source of income. Being young translates into lower health risks. This ensures that your premiums will be on the lower end too. You will have more affordable options to choose from.
• Research and compare policies from multiple vendors. Go through the eligibility criteria, policy terms, premium modes, benefits carefully.
• Align your financial goals with your life goals. Decide on the suitability of the policy basis your future growth.

Insurance Planning for Women Across Life Stages

In view of the current market dynamics, insurance is a must-have. For women, it is important to opt for the right life insurance policy to safeguard their loved ones whilst providing stability for their families. It also eases a lot of the financial pressure if something unforeseen befalls.

Women can choose from a galore of life insurance policies. The trick is to align the right plan with the right stage of their life. This can be achieved by carefully assessing individual policy requirements and considering factors like income sources, dependent members, debt, liabilities – all of which play a vital role in enabling women to reach their personal and professional goals.

Alternatively, seeking guidance from an experienced and qualified insurance advisor also helps.

Take a look at these life insurance policies - and how they can help women across various life stages: 

Term Insurance Policy: A term insurance policy is a pure life cover and is often advisable for young women. The premium for a term insurance policy would be lower depending on their age while giving them more years of coverage.

Whole Life Insurance Policy: This policy offers a cover for life and the insurer pays the sum assured to the nominee of the policyholder after their death. This policy also offers a saving component. It allows women to re-invest, thus growing the amount or even remitting a part of the cash value during their lifetime. Women can even secure a loan against the saving component.

Endowment Policies: Endowment plans are also a combination of savings and protection. This is a great option for women if they plan for making any goal-based savings. It also offers relief in case of financial emergencies, as they can avail of a loan against it.

Moneyback policy: Moneyback policies are also a combination of savings and protection. This type of policy offers a liquidity advantage wherein a portion of the sum assured is paid at a regular interval during the policy tenure, while the remaining amount along with the bonus is paid at maturity. This benefit is not available for any other life insurance policy.

Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs): ULIPs are a combination of insurance and investment. The investments are made in debt and equities by a fund manager assigned by the insurance provider. The policyholder can choose whether they want to invest in debt or equity, and in what proportion. ULIP provides a higher return than traditional policies with a savings component, making them a great investment option.

Final Thoughts 

Women, undoubtedly, are multi-faceted and in many situations are taking the lead in terms of shouldering financial responsibilities in the family. Therefore, understanding financial planning and the importance of insurance must also be ingrained in their lifestyle. Not only will that enable them to make informed and smarter life choices but will help maximise savings, secure their future and safeguard the aspirations of their loved ones.

The article is authored by Murli Jalan, Head - Tied Agency & Direct Distribution, Bharti AXA Life Insurance