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.

A NerdWallet survey of more than 2,000 couples has revealed that roughly 1 in 3 couples do not have any life insurance at all and 43% of those adult who actually do have some life insurance say they would not be financially prepared or capable if they were to loose their spouse.

And, it also revealed that women would be more financially affected than men…so take note of this, thoughtful husbands out there every where.

Here are 5 things couples can do to be prepared in the event of the loss of a spouse:

A will is a legal document that outlines and designates who gets specific belongings and assets after you die. It’s a very important document and needs to be kept up to date. You name an executor (aka personal representative to manage your estate) and you can also name a guardian for your children. There is plenty of DIY will kits out there that you can use and frankly, they’re better than not having one in place at all. However, a solicitor can assist you with preparing a will in a little more detail than a DIY will kit will do but in any case, you need to have a will.

As I always say, no one is bullet-proof, so don’t take this issue of life insurance for granted. We all die, that’s an indisputable fact!

And it usually happens when you least expect it. Most people just rely on whatever life insurance their employer provides them through their default super fund but this is usually never enough.

And don’t for one minute think that just one of you should have life insurance and not the other, because death doesn’t discriminate.

Both spouses should have life cover, even if one is a stay-at-home parent.

There are a few different ways to work out how much life cover is enough and a professional (Risk) Adviser will be able to guide you in the right direction for this.

Even if one of you is more involved in the day-to-day financial management of the household, the other spouse should have at least a basic understanding of what is what…this should make sense, doesn’t it?

It’s amazing how many people, or couples just don’t know where their important financial documents are kept or worse still, many people don’t even keep them and end up, for whatever reason, loosing them. It’s hard enough having to deal with the emotions of loosing a loved one and then having to ferret around and find that person’s important financial documents such as a life insurance policy is usually the last thing you want to do. So keep all of your important financial documents in a safe and secure location that both of you know about and are able to get too if a tragedy does happen.

The NerdWallet survey also found that a large number of people simply do not know anything about their spouse’s final wishes, including their preferences about burial or cremation or even if they are listed as an organ donor.

Some people have very specific wishes but like a lot of things, we’re afraid to communicate these types of things and talk about them to our spouses.

Especially today with so many blended families it’s so important to get instructions right about our belongings and assets and exactly what we want to happen when we die.

The problem is that most families don’t look into estate documents until after the funeral and conflicts can, and often do arise about what someone thought, or expected would be left to them.

This is a sad and very true fact unfortunately and talking about the end of your own life, or harder still, the end of your spouse’s life may not be a very nice topic of conversation but it’s the responsible thing to do.

This way there is no uncertainty and it’s all about managing expectations at a time that is usually extremely emotional and painful for the surviving family members.

So, even if you consider yourself not to be one of those people who is all that organised, make an effort on this subject for the ones you love.

There are many gifts of love you can give your family and the gift of security is one of the best!

* The author of this article, Gary Fabian is a financial adviser and principal of Precision Advisory and specialises in risk insurance and superannuation. 

I bet that headline got your attention, didn’t it??? More to it than what you might think though. If rich rock’n’roll stars use risk insurance to protect themselves, then why don’t the rest of us mere mortals?

Australia is one of the most under-insured countries in the world when it comes to personal risk insurance. You know, life insurance, income protection and the like.

Yet the worlds top singers and bands are embracing it like never before, and most of us would think that rich and famous rock stars wouldn’t need it.

Take for example Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters who broke his leg on stage in Gothenburg in June. This type of accident could severely impact on the band’s ability to continue on and hinder their future income placing a great deal of financial strain on what the band may have planned coming up.

Does this sound just a little bit like what could happen to you with your income and home mortgage, school fees etc. etc???

Everything is relative and regardless of being a rock star, or just an everyday normal person, we all have financial commitments and families to consider and protect, and this is where a tailored risk insurance plan comes into play.

As a nation, it’s great having that old Australian attitude of  “she’ll be right mate” but when it comes to accidents, illnesses or worse still, death, “she’ll be right mate” just doesn’t cut it in anyway!

None of us is bullet-proof (seems that rock stars know this only too well) or perhaps the people who manage them know this and make sure their prized acts are insured just in case they fall off stage or loose their voice and can’t sing.

Then at least the risk insurance can kick in and take over and ensure some financial security for their large entourages, as well as their families.

So the next time you’re singing in the shower and pretending to be your favourite rock or pop star, think long and hard about your insurance cover, and either get some ASAP or if you’ve already got some, have it reviewed and up-dated.

If it’s good enough for the rock stars, it’s good enough for the rest of us!

Christmas is a wonderful time but it can be very busy and often a stressful time of the year and certainly an expensive time of the year for just about everyone. Here are 7 finance tips to help keep the expenses in check and to relieve the burden of carrying forward extra debt into the new year.

Even if you’re not organised for the rest of the year try as hard as you can to be organised for Christmas and you might find it’s a little less stressful on your head and your wallet. When you’re organised and plan things out in a logical way you’ll usually find this will overlay to your finances as well. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all but the extra debt you might end up with won’t be exciting at all when it comes to paying it off.

A part of being organised is to write things down so make a list of everyone you’re going to get presents for and then double-check and be sure you’re not going over board about it. I’m not suggesting for one minute to be the Christmas Grinch by any means, all I’m saying is to be mindful of who you’re buying pressies for, that’s all. When you’ve finalised you’re list, then go over it and work out what would be a good present to get that person and try to put a reasonable budget to it and off you go shopping.

I know it’s always busy at every shopping centre but if you try to plan when you go and keep away from the obvious really busy times then you’ll probably find you’ll enjoy it a little more and you won’t get caught up in the crowds and the hassell that goes with and get feed up and just buy anything (at any price) just so you can get outta there. An obvious part of being organised and having a plan is to try to get your shopping done in early December rather than late December, at the last moment. This way you can keep your budget in check and keep some degree of sanity as well.

Credit card debt in January and February is beyond enormous and it is without doubt because most people get caught up in the buying frenzy that is Christmas shopping. Whatever you do, keep a very close eye on your credit card spending because it’s an invisible monster that will creep up on you and take all the fun out of Christmas when the bills start coming in. Again, this is not about being tight-fisted, it’s about being financially smart about consumer debt and credit cards are the worst enemy of them all for this.

In keeping with the previous tips about being organised, having a plan and keeping an eye on the credit card, the obvious tip here is to have a budget worked out for how much you’re going to spend over the Christmas period and monitor you’re spending as you go and stick to the budget you’ve worked out. If you do this there probably won’t be any (unwanted) financial surprises after Christmas is over and whatever credit card debt you have should be manageable.

Just because it’s Christmas and you’re giving a gift doesn’t mean it has to be expensive. In fact, with a little bit of thought you can give wonderful gifts to your friends and family that have meaning and warmth and will last in their memory as gift from you from your heart, not your wallet. This just comes down to your Christmas plan you devise and being a bit creative and thinking about what it is that the person you’re buying for really likes and their particular character and guess what, you’ll probably come up with a wonderful lasting gift for them that won’t break the bank either.

This one is not really a tip, I just threw it in… As always, the best feeling in the world is to give rather than to receive. So, enjoy the Christmas festive period and enjoy the giving of thoughtful presents to those people you love and admire.

* The author of this article, Gary Fabian is a financial adviser and principal of Precision Advisory and specialises in risk insurance and superannuation planning.