Protecting and growing your wealth is critical in order to take care of yourself and your family as well as plan for the future. However, it’s important to have a long-term strategy in place if you want to grow your wealth early on in life – and that does not mean just planning for your retirement, but also ensuring that you are covered for the unexpected.
Most people’s financial goals lean towards building wealth however what you should really be asking yourself is; what worth does this wealth have, if it is not protected? Protecting your wealth means identifying key insurance policies that will protect you and your family’s finances, should something happen to you.
Often seeking financial advice around such policies however, can seem overwhelming and complicated – resulting in you looking to a financial advisor and consequently costing you more time and money. However, it doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, certain direct insurers have innovated the financial planning process and offer individuals a financial needs analysis that takes the complications out of financial advice and ensures that you find the right policies that work for you and that can be adjusted when significant life events occur.
As a starting point, it is important to find a reputable provider, one that is able to undertake and identify your specific needs, based on your current financial status and align this to your monthly affordability as well as your existing lifestyle requirements. Today, certain insurers offer you the option to do your own online needs analysis – which allows you to get detailed recommendations on how much cover you should have.
It’s also important to start planning your wealth from early on in life as you are better able to reap the long-term benefits of financial protection. In addition, your cover should be tailored to you, ensuring that it provides the financial protection you need if not only for death but aspects such disability or critical illness.
Have you ever considered that something might happen to you if you are diagnosed with a serious illness where you are unable to work for a few months – resulting in numerous medical expenses? Or, what if you are facing an unexpected disability due to an accident or injury? What will happen if you pass away, will your family have the funds to maintain their standards of living and cover any outstanding debt you may have. In fact, research 1 shows that South Africans are generally underinsured when it comes to dread and disability cover and they don’t necessarily realise the emotional and financial implications that this can bring.
Many people do understand the importance of additional policies in this regard however, a common problem consumers experience is that they are unable to afford more than one monthly premium – usually associated with taking out multiple policies.
There are insurers out there who offer one comprehensive policy, which includes two or more of the above mentioned products, such as dread disease cover – tailored to your needs - disability cover, funeral cover, as well as life cover – all based on your specific lifestyle requirements and income. Not only is this an effective means to manage your wealth, and your budget, but it will give you and your family the peace of mind that you are correctly covered for the unexpected – all through one, managed policy.
Building for the future does not mean over-extending your monthly finances, but rather finding a provider who can adapt your needs to what you have available to spend. Long term insurance can play a critically important role in terms of protecting your wealth and building a financial future that is sound. So ask yourself, have you thought about what long term insurance can do for you?
1 www.asisa.org.za