Many women take life insurance for granted. If you're young, single and babies are but a faint blip on the radar screen of the future, life insurance is likely the least of your concerns. Too bad, because getting life insurance while you're young is the best way to get it cheap!

But the single gals aren't the only ones overlooking life insurance. Whether we're too busy bringing home our share of the bacon while helping raise the kids or carrying the entire load on our own, life insurance is something we rarely think about (until we have to.)

Why you Need Life Insurance for Women

Your family (if you're single, think ahead) would be lost without you. Even if you're not the big breadwinner of the team, just imagine what life would be like if you were gone?

Let's say you have a family to take care of. Consider the cost of replacing all you do--caring for your kids, cooking, laundry, all the things that make a home. Someone will still have to do all that when you're gone. And it will all cost money.

How will your husband continue working and afford the added cost of taking care of the family?

OK, now just imagine the added importance of life insurance if you're on your own... or you wind up on your own.

How Much Do You Need?

If you're a savvy single gal who's planning ahead, get just enough life insurance now (while you're young and it's cheap) to cover funeral expenses and maybe leave an inheritance for a loved one or a charity. If you get married and start a family, you can add to it as you see fit.

If you already have children or any other kind of dependents, buy enough life insurance so that the payout amount will replace:

• The amount of income you generate
• The cost of any services you provide
• The cost of life changes as a result of your death
• Funeral costs

If you're a stay-at-home mom, you may not have a salary, but the work you do every day would be very expensive were it not provided by mom. Factor in how much it would cost to replace all the things you do day to day: Childcare, housekeeping, cooking, transportation and other hidden expenses.

If you're a single mom, definitely factor in a multiple of that income in addition to what it would take to cover all your debts and other expenses such as health insurance. You might also want to make sure the kids can afford to go to college after you're gone. If you want to add that in, be sure to factor in rising tuition costs.

How To Get It

Check out an online insurance quote site like InsWeb.com. You can get term life insurance quotes right there.

Applying for life insurance is super simple. You'll be asked about your general health and lifestyle--basic things like height, weight, smoking, and any existing health conditions.

For the most part though, you'll be filling out information about how much coverage you need and how long a term you would like to purchase. A total snap!

Life insurance for women? Yes, you need it. It doesn't have to be expensive. It's easy to get. So what are you waiting for?