How will you die?

Published on 5th August, 2019 at 08:51 am

Ever asked: how will you die? Well – as the idiom goes, two things are certain in life: taxes and death! While you can’t avoid your taxes, many of us avoid thinking too far into the future. Yet it’s important to prepare for what may happen.

Start by identifying your life stage (below), then see the risks you should be considering – and how to safeguard against them.

Life stage: Student

Got unpaid student loans? Death cover can help you avoid the risk of your family inheriting this debt. Click here to find out what it can do for you.

Accidents can happen, and the risk of a serious injury is real, impacting your quality of life. While you get back on your feet, accident cover can prove invaluable for covering bills and other daily expenses. Speak to a financial planner, who can advise the best option for you.

Life stage: Young, single, just started working

Before getting carried away with purchases like a car or apartment, ask yourself what would happen if you lost your ability to earn an income. You have 45+ earning years ahead of you, so sudden disability can throw a nasty spanner in the works and put those big-ticket items on hold. Along with disability cover, income protection will help pave a smoother road forward. Find out why this is so important, here.

Take advantage of your age while you can! The good news is life insurance is at its most affordable for you right now while you’re young and healthy. Want to keep up the good health? Click here.

Life stage: Settling down

It’s not something we like to think about, but leaving your partner with co-signed debt or short-term debt is a real risk in the event of your death. Protect your loved one with life insurance and additional death cover to fill this gap, so they’re not saddled with any credit card debt or unpaid personal loans. Click here to find out how much cover is enough for you right now. If you haven’t signed up for income protection or disability cover yet, now is a good time to consider these too.

Life stage: Have a young family

Now that you’re starting a family, anything that happens to you or your partner can affect not just yourselves, but your children too. The more cover, the better, especially if your partner passes away or becomes ill and your household loses an income.

Maybe there’s uncleared debt, or you’d like to save for your kids’ future. Income protection, disability and death cover can provide the buffer you and your children will need.

Life stage: Professional years

As your children grow and leave the nest, your life cover needs could change. Speak to a financial planner, and use our retirement calculator to help reassess your financial needs.

Also consider that older age brings increased risk for health issues, which can be costly if you don’t have severe illness cover. And with life’s unpredictability, it’s worth looking at your death cover again.

Life stage: Retired

Even if you have a pension fund that’ll see you into your golden years, ideally you don’t want to have to tuck into it to cover medical expenses. If you haven’t taken out severe illness cover, now is the time to consider it. This can be used for covering the costs of long-term care for illnesses such as dementia.

It’s not a fun thought, but the cost of winding up an estate can be substantial. And if you have a partner, they may lose part of your pension. To prevent this from happening, go the proactive route and take out death and funeral cover.

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Get in touch with a financial planner to find out more about securing your future.