Actuarial science is one of the key principles our office spends considerable time researching. As our firm has matured over the years, we've observed how certain patterns tend to play out. Today, I have a message specifically for men—although women, if you’re reading this, you should pay attention too.
Recently, I was surprised to learn that more boys are born than girls. This is a statistical fact: for every 100 females born, 105 males are born. Whether you attribute it to DNA, divine design, or something else, this has always been the case. We need more men born than women because there's a shift that occurs as people age. By the time they reach about 50 years old, the ratio evens out to 100 men for every 100 women. From that point onward, men begin to lose ground. By age 60, there are 90 men for every 100 women. By age 80, that drops to 65 men for every 100 women. And by age 100, only 30 men remain for every 100 women. Although men start off life with a numerical advantage, the balance tips by age 50, and it only declines from there.
This observation made me think about the stories I heard in Sunday School and the scriptures I've read as an adult that talk about widows. So, I Googled how many times the word "widow" appears in the Bible. Depending on the translation, it’s mentioned around 80 to 90 times. But how many times does the word "widower" appear in the Bible? Zero. This is actuarial science in action: as the number of men decreases, the percentage of women increases. So, how are women protecting themselves later in life?
When a woman loses her husband, she may face an immediate loss of income. There might have been two Social Security checks, and now there's only one. Her husband might have had a pension or a retirement account, but those funds may not last long, as women typically live much longer. Due to their longevity, women also face higher healthcare costs. The longer anyone lives, the higher the cost of living becomes. Additionally, her husband might have been helping with day-to-day activities, and now she may need to hire assistance.
I believe times are finally changing, but we still often see issues related to who holds financial knowledge and responsibility within a household. In past years, some women were unaware of the financial details because the man felt it was his responsibility to handle everything. However, finances should be a joint venture. It’s the responsibility of whoever takes the lead in household finances to ensure that the other person is informed and knows how to proceed if something happens to them.
The surviving spouse must navigate all of this while dealing with the emotional distress and grief of losing a partner. On top of that, they often have to manage the costs of settling the estate.
This is one of the reasons I wrote my book some years ago - Investments Don’t Hug: Embracing the Life Insurance Asset. We can show you how to use life insurance to store your safe money, build an emergency fund, or create an opportunity fund. Actuarially, we know how the numbers will likely play out for the majority of couples we work with. We understand that we’re likely to have many more widowed wives than widowers. As a husband and the man of the house, part of your responsibility is to ensure that all financial information is shared between you and your spouse.
It’s also crucial for both of you to understand how life insurance can fill gaps when you're young and building your family, as well as later in life when one of you is no longer there. Life insurance is there at the exact moment it’s needed most, with ironclad guarantees of a tax-free death benefit, if properly arranged.
If you want more details on how this can be integrated into your financial planning, please reach out to us. Perhaps it’s time to schedule your Financialoscopy®.
