Women to empower themselves through financial planning
01 August 2013 | Magazine Archives FAnews & FAnuus | Life | Dr Dominique Stott, PPS
With the average life expectancy of women being higher than men, a global increase in dread disease, and the fact that over the last decade, more women are entering the workplace to become the main breadwinners for their families, it is becoming increasingly important that intermediaries advise their female clients to take their financial planning seriously and have an independent financial plan.
Despite strides forward in education, women are often not as confident when it comes to financial matters as men, which is mainly a result of social conditioning and lack of basics of accounting in schools. But times are changing, and intermediaries should emphasise to women that they need to understand their unique financial needs in order for their clients to provide for themselves and their loved ones as alarming statistics are being revealed.
Insurance considerations
The following key facts have been revealed by the World Health Organisation.[1]:-
- On average, women live six to eight years longer than men globally.
- In 2007, women's life expectancy at birth was more than 80 years in 35 countries, but only 54 years in the WHO African Region.
- Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among adolescent girls in high- and middle-income countries.
- Essentially all (99%) of the half a million maternal deaths every year occur in developing countries.
- Breast cancer is the leading cancer killer among women aged 20–59 years in high-income countries.
- Globally, cardiovascular disease, often thought to be a problem men battle with, is the leading killer of women.
PPS’s own claims data reveals that 75% of dread disease claims for women are cancer related and 70% of these claims are for breast cancer. This means that one in every 11 women aged between 20 and 59 years old will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
More alarming is that cancer cases will increase from an estimated 12.9 million in 2009 to 27 million in 2030, with 17 million cancer deaths, says a landmark report on the global cancer burden.[2]
As a result, it is crucial that intermediaries advise all female clients to take out essential insurance cover, including medical aid, critical illness cover, life insurance and short-term disability cover. Stress that they are never too young to take out dread disease cover and they must take out life insurance when they are young and healthy. Once there is a health change it becomes difficult or impossible to get the required cover.
The importance of sufficient insurance cover to protect against financial implications of serious injury, disability or dread disease cannot be stressed enough, especially for those women with dependents.
Retirement Planning
Many women mistakenly believe that when they get married their partner will provide for them. Your client should understand that this is not the case as they could become divorced or their partner could lose everything.
Advise your client to begin planning for retirement as soon as possible because time in the market is critical to ensuring better long term returns. Your client will need to outpace inflation so the growth will need to be significant in the long term.
Bear the above aspects in mind when giving financial assistance to women to ensure that your client have a solid and secure financial situation now taking into consideration her unique circumstances. Educating your client to take control and understand their own finances will greatly assist women in shaping their own financial future and realising their goals.
