Have you thought about protecting yourself?

It’s a legal requirement to insure your car. It’s a legal requirement to insure your home. It is not a legal requirement though to insure yourself. How strange is that?

On that note, I wanted to ask you, have you every considered what your value is to your family? Or how your family would cope if you were unable to work…..for example, of you were to lose your job. Do you have an emergency fund to meet your short term financial needs? Or worse still, if you were to have an accident and were unable to work for a prolonged period. What income would you receive from work? If you run your own business, how will you able to earn?

And then what would happen if you were to die prematurely? I know it is not something any of us really want to think about, but would your loved ones be looked after financially? Would they incur any debts? Lots of questions, lots of different scenarios. It can be easier to just stick your head in the sand and hope that it never happens. But if COVID has taught us anything, it is that we don’t know what is around the corner and preparing for these difficult eventualities is absolutely worthwhile.

Relief from financial woes

The reality is that when you feel that you and your family would be financially secure in any given scenario, it gives you and them the freedom to focus on dealing with the traumatic emotional and practical sides of the situation, without the additional stress of where the money is going to come from.

It is important that you discuss these issues with your partner and agree a clear course of action. You can also use us as a sounding board just to make sure you have addressed all areas.

Planning pays

No one plans to fall ill. To be fair, not many of us want to think about it as it is too depressing and upsetting. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t have a plan. So here are four questions to ask yourself to help make sure you and your family are adequately protected:

1. Do I need to insure myself?
2. Do I have an emergency fund that can cover my fixed expenditure for six months?
3. What protection policies do I have in place?
4. If I do, are my protection policies suitable for my needs?