While four in five employees today believe their life insurance coverage is adequate, 45 percent of working women and 28 percent of working men with life insurance haven't evaluated their needs since obtaining their first policy, potentially leaving themselves and their families financially vulnerable in the event of a premature death. This is all according to MetLife's 2011 Insurance Literacy Study, released today.

Working women with life insurance are also nearly twice as likely as men (21 percent vs. 12 percent) to acknowledge they don't know how much coverage they have and are also more likely to underestimate how much coverage might be needed. While a good starting place for life insurance coverage is typically outstanding debt plus five years of salary, 54 percent of women and 47 percent of men believe coverage equal to outstanding debt and only three years of salary or less will be adequate. The study also found that only one in four men or women considered outstanding debt when calculating their life insurance needs yet 52 percent want their death benefit to cover these obligations.

Gender expectations