Invest
Ages and stages for insurance: How to best protect yourself
While most people don’t hesitate to insure their car or their house, there is a reluctance to protect their most valuable asset of all – their ability to earn income over their working life.
Ages and stages for insurance: How to best protect yourself
While most people don’t hesitate to insure their car or their house, there is a reluctance to protect their most valuable asset of all – their ability to earn income over their working life.
But insurance cover should not only be established early in life, it should then be reviewed every time a life milestone is passed.
People get promotions, change jobs, get married, start a family and move to new cities, but they often overlook updating their insurance.
Anyone who is the family’s main income earner should ask themselves how would their family manage financially if they lost their income through accident, sickness or death. Would they have to leave the family home? How would they manage their living expenses?
To be adequately covered means being able to pay off, or reduce, any mortgage to manageable levels, as well as taking care of living expenses.
Equally, the contribution that both partners bring to the family needs to be considered. Even if one spouse doesn’t work, or earns considerably less, the cost to pay someone to cook, clean and look after the children is considerable, and is something that should be insured for.
But not all insurance coverage is the same, and the approach taken will vary depending on your age and stage of life.
If you are young, and in your 20s, it is an ideal time to live a healthy lifestyle and do some research about how you want your future to look. In most circumstances, this is where personal income insurance can play a fundamental role. Knowing that your income is protected in the event of accident of illness provides peace of mind. The added advantage of taking out this type of insurance in your 20s, is that you can lock yourself into a fixed premium – which will provide a large saving when you are older.
If you’re in your early 30s – or just starting a family – this is the ideal time to put in place a five-to-10-year plan that provides coverage for now, but also allow for change. This may include personal income insurance, life insurance for you and your partner, as well as trauma insurance to cover any unexpected illness with a lump sum payout.
As people get older, their insurance needs change. To quote American journalist Kin Hubbard, “Fun is like life insurance; the older you get, the more it costs”. Of course, if you locked into a fixed premium in your 20s, this doesn’t have to be the case, but regardless, personal insurances become even more important as people age.
For instance, as people’s circumstances change, their need for persona insurance cover can also increase – and increasing the insurance amount is often overlooked. Insurance is not something you can set and forget, and reviewing and updating it shouldn’t be something you put off until “you’ve got time”.
Insurance through superannuation is another area that needs regular review. While there is no doubt that some of the issues of surrounding insurance in super and financial advice following the royal commission may have put people off considering their own position, it is not something that should be ignored. It’s a good idea for anyone who has insurance cover through their super to find out more about it and ensure it still suits their needs.
Andrew Kennedy, risk adviser, HLB Insurance Services
Stock market
Super fund investors bid to acquire Sydney Airport
A group of super fund investors has lodged a non-binding takeover bid for Sydney Airport, valuing the company at over $22 billion. ...Read more
Stock market
10 most globally held stocks revealed
Australian investors remain bullish on electric vehicles and technology stocks, according to their long-term held positions, new research has shown. ...Read more
Stock market
How ‘gamer investors’ are pushing a new wave of social responsibility
A new generation of younger retail investors are pushing a new social movement, yielding a distributive impact on the markets, most notably through the GameStop saga, two researchers have revealed. ...Read more
Stock market
ASX tipped for record high despite inflation fears
The market is tipped to shake off fears of rising inflation, with the ASX 200 now tipped to close the year at a new record high, an economist has revealed. ...Read more
Stock market
‘Commission-free propaganda’: Warning issued for retail investors
The phrase “if you’re not paying for it, you’re the product” applies just as much to stock trading apps as it does to social media networks. ...Read more
Stock market
Is the tech sell-off creating opportunities for investors?
A tech sell-off sparked by inflation concerns has seen world markets crash. But is it creating an opportunity for investors to ‘buy the dip’? ...Read more
Stock market
Government opens arms to Wall Street
In its bid to maintain Australia’s global competitiveness, albeit its firmly shut borders, the Australian government has included a measure in its recent budget to allow foreign financial services p...Read more
Stock market
Aussie market falls on US inflation
The Australian sharemarket has fallen on the bell after Wall Street experienced sharp sell-offs overnight due to hotter than expected inflation data. ...Read more
Do lockdowns boost property prices? Are short-sellers levelling the playing field? Did you lodge your tax returns early?
Listen now
Will lockdowns halt the housing boom? Is the metaverse taking over? And the cons of lodging your tax returns early
Listen now
Are you being priced out of the market? Have you got the Tuesday blues? And are you ready for the upcoming super changes?
Listen now
Are property prices set to crash? Should you jump on board the fintok craze? And how to prepare for this tax time
Listen now
Stock market
Super fund investors bid to acquire Sydney Airport
A group of super fund investors has lodged a non-binding takeover bid for Sydney Airport, valuing the company at over $22 billion. ...Read more
Stock market
10 most globally held stocks revealed
Australian investors remain bullish on electric vehicles and technology stocks, according to their long-term held positions, new research has shown. ...Read more
Stock market
How ‘gamer investors’ are pushing a new wave of social responsibility
A new generation of younger retail investors are pushing a new social movement, yielding a distributive impact on the markets, most notably through the GameStop saga, two researchers have revealed. ...Read more
Stock market
ASX tipped for record high despite inflation fears
The market is tipped to shake off fears of rising inflation, with the ASX 200 now tipped to close the year at a new record high, an economist has revealed. ...Read more
Stock market
‘Commission-free propaganda’: Warning issued for retail investors
The phrase “if you’re not paying for it, you’re the product” applies just as much to stock trading apps as it does to social media networks. ...Read more
Stock market
Is the tech sell-off creating opportunities for investors?
A tech sell-off sparked by inflation concerns has seen world markets crash. But is it creating an opportunity for investors to ‘buy the dip’? ...Read more
Stock market
Government opens arms to Wall Street
In its bid to maintain Australia’s global competitiveness, albeit its firmly shut borders, the Australian government has included a measure in its recent budget to allow foreign financial services p...Read more
Stock market
Aussie market falls on US inflation
The Australian sharemarket has fallen on the bell after Wall Street experienced sharp sell-offs overnight due to hotter than expected inflation data. ...Read more
More articles
Website Notifications
Get notifications in real-time for staying up to date with content that matters to you.
