THE DIFFERENCES IN LIFE EXPECTANCY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN MEAN THAT IT IS TWICE AS IMPORTANT FOR A WOMAN TO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN ESTATE PLANNING AS IT IS FOR A MAN.

The fact is that 90% of women will be solely responsible for their finances at some point in their lives and 85% will be solely responsible for their homes. Multiple reasons exist for this sole responsibility for finances; including being widowed, divorced, or never married.

According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, women typically outlive men by nearly seven years. Seven years may not sound like a lot until you look at a simple analysis. At a conservative 10% annualized return, money doubles every seven years. This means that based upon the average life expectancy of women as compared to men, when a married woman passes away after her husband, her estate will be twice as large in comparison to its size upon her husband’s passing. In short, this means that wives will have approximately twice the estate taxes and twice the problems related to passing wealth to the next generations. By the same token, unmarried women will have the same increased problems with estate planning as similarly situated unmarried men.