Official Organ Of The Sla vonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas. Founded 1897. BENEVOLENCE
VOLUME 53 — NO. 46
HUMANITY
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE, SENT, P. 0. Box 100, TEMPLE, TEXAS
NOVEMBER 17, 1965
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK WOMEN ALSO NEED LIFE INSURANCE Women are coming to need life insurance almost as much as men do. While it's generally sensible to concentrate as much insurance as possible on the breadwinner of the family, which usually means father, women these days play so many roles in the economy that as much as one-sixth of all the insurance in the country today is owned by women. One large category is made up of women who come into an inheritance or who accumulate stocks or other assets before their marriage. They will find life insurance useful in taking care of the inevitable taxes on death. A far larger group, though, are the working women. Probably 5,000,000 women today are heads of families, and millions of others, of couse, contribute all or part of their pay checks each week to meet family expenses. This means women are sharing the role of breadwinner with the men. Sometimes they are the only breadwinners; in other cases not only are their contributions welcome but they are needed. And just like men, they look to insurance as a substitute for income should death strike down the breadwinner. • • Here are some reasons why working women in each of several large categories are buying life insurance:
WORRY TABLE (Things we worry about) Things that never happen 40% Things that can't be changed by all the worry in the world 35% Things that turn out better than expected 15% Petty, useless worries 8% Legitimate worries 2% Total 100% The point: It's 50 to 1 against the worry being a real cause for concern. 1. The single woman without responsibilities. There are women who fill hours off the job doing volunteer work for hospitals, Girl Scout troops, and other communal projects, and often name such groups as beneficiaries of their own life insurance policies. Other single women often will take out policies to benefit a favorite niece or nephew, or even the children of a close friend. •
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2. The single woman with responsibilities, such as caring for an invalid sister or aging parents. Case in point: a high-salaried woman in Washington, with a sister and invalid mother. The sister agreed to run the house and care for their mother rather than fill a job. In turn she was named the beneficiary of an insurance policy by the working sister.
3. The married woman without responsibilities. Often she is a co-breadwinner. In this way she and her husband are able to enjoy a higher standard of living than would be possible with a single income. Each takes out insurance, as a guarantee that the pattern of life they have shared will continue should the other die. • • 4. The married woman with children. Generally she is in one of two categories. If her children are small, she either is earning enough to cover the cost of a professional nurse or maid, or she can call upon a neighbor or relative to take care of the children while she is at work. If the children are nearing college age, she probably is filling a full-time or part-time job as a way of supplementing her husband's income. In this way a college education or some other costly family project will be made possible. Insurance on death ends her contributions to the family coffers. • • 5. The widow or divorcee. The value of life insurance to this category is obvious. She may support her children totally, or work to supplement payments from an insurance policy or alimony where the proceeds are not enough to keep the family up to its normal living standard. •
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Many working women, no matter in which category they fit, have an added