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
Ethical investing tipped to drive ETF market
Following a volatile 2020 where investors poured into ETFs, shareholders are tipped to focus on ethical investing and technology as the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, an industry expe...Read more

Stock market
‘The concept of collective investing is here to stay’
The phenomenon of retail investors acting as a collective, led by social media and celebrity investors, is here to stay, says one expert. ...Read more

Stock market
What is short selling and should you do it?
Short selling stocks may sound like a good investment strategy when you’re after quick and big returns, but is it worth the risk? Here’s a rundown of why shorting stocks may not be a sound stock t...Read more

Stock market
How much insider trading really happens?
There are at least four times as many people who get away with insider trading than the number of those caught by prosecutors, new research has revealed. ...Read more

Stock market
Why you should be wary of the tech stock bandwagon
After a strong year of tech stock gains, tech shares have been on a decline in recent weeks as increasing bond yields rattle equity markets. ...Read more

Stock market
GameStop set to release first earnings since Reddit stock market rally
The video game retailer at the centre of the WallStreetBets saga is set to post its first quarterly market update since the fiasco began, with social-media investors heavily tipped to continue backing...Read more

Stock market
What is thematic investing and why it could be a fad
Long-term investors are being urged to ignore market fads and instead focus on identifying major socioeconomic, environmental and technological themes, an industry expert has explained. ...Read more

Stock market
ASX 300 companies cash in on JobKeeper scheme
Most of Australia’s ASX 300 companies that received JobKeeper payments did not need the subsidy as they recorded increases in profits throughout the calendar year, according to a study. ...Read more

Is the market overheating; should ETFs take your fancy, and what’s happening to the low and middle income tax offset?
Listen now

Home values up 30% (or are they); NFTs taking the world by storm, and why Keating thinks Aussies will be ‘poor’ in retirement
Listen now

Raging floods, the tech stock bubble and the ongoing SG debate
Listen now

Meet the Manager with Trilogy’s Philip Ryan: RBA rates and property price growth
Listen now

Stock market
Ethical investing tipped to drive ETF market
Following a volatile 2020 where investors poured into ETFs, shareholders are tipped to focus on ethical investing and technology as the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, an industry expe...Read more

Stock market
‘The concept of collective investing is here to stay’
The phenomenon of retail investors acting as a collective, led by social media and celebrity investors, is here to stay, says one expert. ...Read more

Stock market
What is short selling and should you do it?
Short selling stocks may sound like a good investment strategy when you’re after quick and big returns, but is it worth the risk? Here’s a rundown of why shorting stocks may not be a sound stock t...Read more

Stock market
How much insider trading really happens?
There are at least four times as many people who get away with insider trading than the number of those caught by prosecutors, new research has revealed. ...Read more

Stock market
Why you should be wary of the tech stock bandwagon
After a strong year of tech stock gains, tech shares have been on a decline in recent weeks as increasing bond yields rattle equity markets. ...Read more

Stock market
GameStop set to release first earnings since Reddit stock market rally
The video game retailer at the centre of the WallStreetBets saga is set to post its first quarterly market update since the fiasco began, with social-media investors heavily tipped to continue backing...Read more

Stock market
What is thematic investing and why it could be a fad
Long-term investors are being urged to ignore market fads and instead focus on identifying major socioeconomic, environmental and technological themes, an industry expert has explained. ...Read more

Stock market
ASX 300 companies cash in on JobKeeper scheme
Most of Australia’s ASX 300 companies that received JobKeeper payments did not need the subsidy as they recorded increases in profits throughout the calendar year, according to a study. ...Read more