I read recently about a twenties-something young woman who set up her own accountancy practice, from scratch.  After six years of hard slog – working and studying full time – she wanted the challenge of setting up her own business and not taking on somebody else’s client base.

Bright, educated and attractive – funky, goal orientated ladies heading down the path of success are no longer the exception.  Females now make up around 60 percent of university graduates.

It’s not just the young ladies who are into getting an education and having a career.  One in every 13 single women in the 45 to 49 years old age group is paying off a HECS debt compared with only one in every 100 single men of the same age.

With all this feminine up-skilling, the gap between men and women’s incomes continues to close- and Australia is leading the way with Australian women now earning about 92 percent of male incomes.

It’s great to see women moving ahead in leaps and bounds.  But not only are they earning bigger incomes, they are also taking on more debt.   In the last decade alone there has been a 50 percent increase in single female home owners.  The ladies are thinking ahead and building up their asset base, but they’re not doing enough to protect their income.

Out of all the incomes insured by the insurance industry, less than fifth belonged to the ladies, yet they make up nearly half the workforce.  Maybe the industry is a little to blame – in the past it was full of mainly male bean counters, but that’s changing!

The industry has woken up to the potential earning power of the ladies and some now tailor their policies to meet the needs of the ladies.  Most insurers now offer a pregnancy pause for those women who plan to include a family in their working lives and premiums can be waived for up to 12 months.

Some insurers can provide options such as grief support, contributions towards financial planning or payment for a family member who stops work to care for the insured if the policy holder becomes incapacitated in any way.

The best way to find a policy that suits you is to talk to an independent female financial planner who is qualified to give insurance advice and create a plan to suit your individual circumstances.  We have one, give Cheryl a call on 1300 766 323.

Please Note:

This publication has been prepared to provide you with general information only. It is not intended to take the place of professional advice and you should not take action on specific issues in reliance on this information. In preparing this information, we did not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Before making an investment decision, you need to consider (with or without the assistance of an adviser) whether this information is appropriate to your needs, objectives and circumstances. This information is provided for persons in Australia only and is not provided for the use of any person who is in any other country.

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