Insurance…an absolute must-have to protect your family

Is it just me or maybe I’m just a boring old insurance agent from the 80’s, but I just can’t imagine why people think that having life insurance covers to protect themselves and their family is somehow boring. It never ceases to amaze me that people (mainly men) will readily insure their beloved cars, boats, bikes and of course, their house and the thought of having insurance cover on themselves just doesn’t cross their mind. I say to people that if they had a money-tree in the back yard they’d sure as hell insure that, wouldn’t they? Well, you’re the money-tree so why NOT insure yourself?????

It’s a fact that Australians are one of the most under-insured Western countries in the world when it comes to personal risk insurance. And, don’t think for one minute that you should just insure the main bread-winner in the household. Why not the one who stays home to look after the kids? After all, it something does happen to the house-wife, or house-husband this can put an enormous financial and emotional strain on the entire family as the main bread-winner (aka, the money-tree) still has to go off and earn a living whilst taking care of the other home duties including of course, the kids.

Granted, the premiums we pay for insurance can sometimes be viewed as a grudge-payment for something we don’t seem to be getting any benefit from, or should I say, immediate benefit from. But, and here’s the big but, somewhere along the lines we all face a health crisis of some sort and more than likely this particular crisis will have a financial impact on the family in some negative way.

So, looking at personal risk insurance cover should be viewed as insuring yourself against Murphy’s Law…that Murphy was such a pessimist! Personally, I’m a big believer in bundled insurance covers being typically life insurance (for the obvious), Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Trauma (living cover) and to top it all off, Income Protection. With the right insurance plans in place for these 4 covers you and your family will be fully protected for any unfortunate illness and/or health challenge that life (Murphy) throw’s at you.

It’s all about priorities isn’t it? We want to protect those that we love but sometimes we don’t want to discuss the very things that can bring harm to us or them for fear that talking about these things will bring those events on. But life doesn’t work that way. We need to plan to get somewhere and this includes planning for the not-so-nice outcomes as well. This is the smart way to do things and the best way to protect the ones we love. Because one day when something does go wrong with a health or injury issue to us, we can be sure that the financial side of things will be taken care of. Because whether we like it not, money can and does provide protection and some comfort in the face of adversity such as the loss of a loved one. It won’t replace them, but the proceeds of a well structured insurance policy will definitely help with keeping things afloat financially at home.

I know only too well how the benefits of risk insurance have provided financial assistance to families when they really needed it. Insurance may very well be a boring thing, but it’s a necessary boring thing that none of us can really do without.

The writer of this article, Gary Fabian is a financial adviser who specialises in risk insurance and superannuation, and also has insurance on his own life to protect his family.