When Life Hits Hard, Here's What Women Need To Know About Insurance

Forbes

16-06-2025

How women can better prepare for an unexpected and sudden loss
More and more women today are taking charge of their financial futures—running businesses, growing investments, leading households, and educating themselves on how to manage wealth. They face a unique set of challenges, including career interruptions, wage gaps, caregiving responsibilities, and longer lifespans. With these increased burdens comes a greater need to prepare for an unexpected and sudden loss and ensure that you have the resources in place to protect your assets.
In exchange for premium payments, insurance is meant to protect you against the financial consequences of life's unpredictable events, providing compensation for losses, damages, illness, or death. For women, who on average live five years longer and have 32 percent less retirement savings than men, this type of protection is not only convenient but essential. But the industry can be daunting to navigate, and preparing for the worst possible outcomes may not be an everyday priority.
I suffered a huge, unexpected loss during the holidays last year when my family and I experienced a house fire that took our home and all our belongings. Fortunately, we had a homeowners' insurance policy. While we grieved the loss of everything we owned, I expected that the insurance company would work proactively and efficiently to help us get back on our feet. Like many women, I was already carrying a heavy load and needed help finding a path forward. I was dismayed to discover that the journey was instead burdensome and exhausting. What I believed would be reliable protection revealed itself as a complicated process filled with unclear outcomes and financial implications. I hope the lessons I learned can help other women protect themselves against unforeseen calamities.
Most insurance policies fall into one of two categories: life and non-life (also known as property and casualty) which covers health insurance, disability and long-term care, homeowners' insurance, car insurance, and protection of business assets. Within each category, there are many options to choose from, so how do you determine what's appropriate for you and your family?
First, let's look at life insurance. It can act as a tax-advantaged wealth-transfer vehicle through death benefits, estate tax exclusions in the form of irrevocable trusts, tax-deferred cash value growth on whole or universal life policies, gift tax exclusions, and more. This is especially relevant to women, who are expected to inherit as much as 70 percent of the $124 trillion projected to change hands through inheritance by 2048. Permanent life insurance policies—as opposed to 'term' policies, which provide coverage for a specific time period—can fund legacies, trusts, and even charitable giving plans. For business owners or women who are the primary earners, such policies can protect dependents or business partners. According to a recent study based on Census Bureau statistics, approximately 70 percent of mothers in the United States will be the primary earners for their households for at least one year before their children turn 18, with an average duration of six years. So safeguarding earnings, especially with the increased burden of being a primary caregiver, is crucial.
Now let's turn to non-life. Volumes have been written about health insurance in the United States, so we'll set that aside for today except to say that a 2024 Commonwealth Fund survey found that in this area 23 percent of American adults are underinsured, two-thirds of whom have coverage through an employer. So it's worth devoting a few hours to finding out exactly what your plan covers and filling in any gaps necessary before it's too late. Try to take into account unlikely scenarios like ambulance rides, medflights, rare diseases whose treatment insurance companies may deem experimental, network restrictions, and the occasional need for specialists.
As for long-term care and disability insurance, consider this: A 2017 Pew Research study suggests that women continue to serve as primary caregivers. This is especially true later in life, when up to 68 percent of women say they shoulder most of the burden when a family member has a serious health condition. So long-term care and disability insurance for both partners—and ideally their parents—can help protect women from medical costs and loss of income.
Insurance policies include many documents and details, making them daunting to review. Even as a financial services professional who regularly examines exhaustive documents filled with industry-specific jargon, I find the language in insurance policies opaque. Because most or all of it was clearly industry-standard, I didn't think to question the specifics. However, as soon as I reported our fire, the insurance company directed me to refer to my policy regarding coverage—not just the declarations page, but the policy jacket, amendments, and accompanying footnotes. Yes, the onus fell on me to determine what protection we had in place. Everything, including temporary housing, the building replacement cost, the timeline for rebuilding, and reimbursement for lost items, was unknowable so long as I struggled to decipher the language. My assumption that the terms we agreed upon when I signed the policy would offer us ample protection was shattered; our future was uncertain, and my already high stress level heightened as I tried to secure our family's future.
I wish I had engaged a second opinion, or even a formal insurance audit, months earlier to review our policies and identify potential gaps. This can typically be done by an independent insurance agent or a broker who represents multiple insurance providers, an attorney who specializes in insurance, or a financial advisor. According to AAA, women are often underinsured, particularly with life insurance, due to disparities in earnings, awareness, and financial education. Moreover, while most mortgage companies require homeowners insurance, 40 percent of homeowners own their houses outright, and one in eight homes in the United States do not carry homeowners insurance. Among those who do have it, a 2024 Deloitte survey found that the majority are unclear about what coverage they need and how much to purchase, putting them at risk of recovering less after a loss.
Understanding the financial implications of your insurance policies' details is critical for protecting your wealth. Changing circumstances and life stages—career, parenting, retirement—affect insurance needs, so reviewing them every year or two is advisable. Understanding how insurance plays a role in wealth planning can also increase your confidence in financial decision-making and reduce any anxieties about the future.
The most important misconception I had about the insurance industry concerned advocacy. I assumed my insurer would be aligned with my family's best interests and that the agent who placed us in the policy would advocate for our needs. However, as the Deloitte survey highlights, insurers primarily focus on profitability, leaving insureds to fend for themselves against inadequate coverage, claim delays or denials, lowball settlement offers, or poor customer service during the claims process. Some insurance agents will advocate for your claims to an extent, but their compensation may be tied to settlement amounts, which could create conflicts. Several insurance agencies now have claims advocacy departments that help clients navigate the process to maximize coverage and resolve disputes promptly and effectively, but don't forget they do still work for the agency, so you can't rely on them solely. In the case of natural disasters, nonprofit organizations and consumer-rights advocacy groups such as United Policyholders and the Red Cross can help you navigate the claims process.
But you remain your primary advocate, so you must make sure you're fully informed. Reading and making sure you understand all the fine print is not a fun task, but it's a necessary one to undertake sooner rather than later. Set aside a day, or an hour or two each day for a week, to review, discuss, and perhaps work to change your coverage.
Equally important is that you plan ahead for any disasters that may arise. First, make a detailed home inventory of everything in every floor of your house, including the attic and basement, every year. Include a description of each item, a serial number if applicable, the date you purchased it, and its price; even better if you have the receipt. Make a file for receipts, appraisals, and verified provenance, if applicable, and take lots of time-stamped photos, both wide shots of rooms and collections or individual valuables such as paintings or coins, as well as photos of yourself wearing any jewelry you may need to claim in the event of a robbery. Put all hard copies in a safe-deposit box or keep them at a separate property, or store all documentation in the cloud (never hurts to do both!). Also, if something does happen that will require a claim, take pictures immediately, before any repairs begin.
Before last December, discussing or even considering our insurance policies was far down on my list of priorities, given everything else I had to handle each day. As a mom and business owner, I constantly had to think about such things as the logistics of upcoming business trips, what time baseball practice was this week and who was taking my son, whether I had reviewed the agenda for next week's board meeting, and what we were having for dinner that night. This left no room for reviewing insurance policies; I never even thought about them. But of course in hindsight I wish I had taken the time to explore our options, check the details, and identify our advocates in case of an emergency. Growing and protecting assets is incredibly important for women, especially now that we are managing an increasing portion of wealth, and weaving insurance into a comprehensive financial strategy will protect you and give you with greater control over your family's future.