Protect your most valuable assets - you and your income
Have you insured your house, its contents and your car? Most people do, so you’d think that it would be logical to insure where those possessions come from - you and your income.
It’s a cliché, but it’s true - people should expect the unexpected, and one of the best ways to prepare is to have some insurance.
If there’s an unwelcome intrusion into your life, whether it’s a burglary or something more devastating like death or a long-term illness, insurance can at least take care of the financial disruption, providing the money to help your family cope.
Many people are simply not prepared for the financial consequences that can follow unexpected events. If, for example, a normal working couple with 2 children were suddenly reduced to one income, their household income could fall anywhere from $20,000 to $80,000 in the first year alone. If either parent were to suffer a serious and long-term disability, this loss could be between $500,000 to $1.8 million over 20 years.
Most people are so focused on earning their pay and building their wealth that they don’t take the next step to protect it. In one year, the average family could lose around $40,000 in lost earnings after a disability. However, with insurance, the same family can ride out the bad times without having to worry too much about how they will pay the bills.
Insurance can help
Risk protection insurance can help you protect your family and your assets, including your business, if something unexpected did happen to you. Everyone’s needs are different and it’s important to have a good risk protection strategy in place.
Protect your family
There are several insurance options available to protect against the loss of income in the case of someone suffering a disability. The most common is income protection. Income protection can pay a monthly amount, kind of like a wage, if a person is injured or ill and cannot work.
Income protection payments can help maintain the household, meet the mortgage repayments and even pay some of the medical costs while someone recuperates before they go back to work.
Most people do have life insurance through their superannuation, which is a simple and cost effective way to buy this insurance, but often people still don’t have enough cover. Many superannuation funds provide life insurance cover of less than $100,000. But the AMP.NATSEM Report revealed the average Australian household has debts of around $100,000.
Protect your business
You need to consider who would run your business if you couldn’t because you were ill or injured. The bills would still need to be paid. By paying the expenses of your business while you’re ill or injured, business overheads insurance helps keep your business going while you recover.
Finding out if you have enough life insurance cover is relatively simple and is as easy as talking to us, we can assist you with working out your insurance needs based on your needs, objectives and financial situation.
Any advice in this publication is provided by AMP Financial Planning (AMPFP). AMPFP is part of the AMP Group of companies. No remuneration or other financial benefits are paid to AMPFP or its related companies or associates for providing advice in this publication. Any advice in this publication does not take account of your personal circumstances. Before relying on it to make a decision, you should consider how it applies to your overall circumstances or speak to a financial planner. Before deciding whether to buy or continue to hold any financial product including those referred to in this publication, you should also obtain and consider the Product Disclosure Statement for the product, which is available from your financial planner. Although this information was obtained from sources considered to be reliable, it is not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. The information in this publication is current as at the date of publishing and may change over time. Past performance is not an indication of future performance.