Summer is a time of joy, celebration and rest for most Australians. We catch up with family and eat and drink too much. We hit the road in droves and head to our favourite holiday destinations. We take time off work and most of us take some time to rest and recuperate.
However, the festive season brings with it real risks to our health and welfare. Rates of depression are known to increase through the Christmas period, overindulgence can lead to health issues and that long awaited holiday trip comes with increased dangers on the road and on holidays – water-sports related injuries and deaths spike over the summer months.
There’s possibly no better time, then, to consider the benefits of life insurance products. Imagine not being able to afford a family Christmas or holiday in the future, as a result of some holiday related incident that means you can’t work?
Life insurance products can be pretty confusing and may appear to be expensive. Consequently, many of us fail to properly appreciate the benefits this type of insurance and avoid making the decision. However, the reality is that, in the event of an incident that prevents you from working, life insurance products potentially replace up to 75% of your income (with an added 10% contributed towards superannuation) if illness or injury prevents you from working.
Some of the key benefits from a good quality income protection insurance policy include:
- It will enable you to keep paying your mortgage or your rent. Mortgages, in particular, take years to repay. Being able to cover repayments if you aren’t able to work is a massive financial impost.
- Manage other forms of debt – your bills and debts won’t go away if you’re unable to work through injury or illness. And, in fact, you may end up having to incur more debt just to keep you and your family financially afloat.
- It’s pretty hard to recover from a serious injury or illness if you’re also worrying about your financial stability. Insurance can remove the pressure and allow you to focus on rehabilitating and getting better.
- With a significant proportion of your pre-injury salary still available to you, you and your family can continue to enjoy the standard of living that you did before the incident.
- Not everyone qualifies for workers compensation if your injury or illness is work related. This may particularly apply to small business owners and sole traders. Insurance provides a safety net in this instance.
- Income protection insurance provides your family with comfort and security, knowing that if something happens that prevents you from working, the family can remain financially viable and focused on your recovery and rehabilitation – getting you back to work sooner.
- Almost all income protection insurance products come with tax benefits for the greater majority of Australians – you can claim the premiums on your tax return.
This summer, consider protecting you and your family against the possibility of serious illness or injury and talk to a specialist insurer about your options.
