Peter Mitchell | Client Manager at Rich River Wealth  | Insurance | Echuca | Moama

Insurance:

Insurance is a crucial investment for both you and your family. You would most likely have you home, and your car already insured, but based on statistics only around three out of ten of us have insurances for life, trauma, income protection or Total and Permanent Disability, yet they can all be crucial for you and your family to have should disaster strike.

 

 It ain’t rocket science!

 

Life Insurance:

Does this sound familiar?

“Did you hear that frank was killed in that freeway smash yesterday?” 

“Hell no, that’s terrible he was only 36. How are his wife and four kids?”

“They’re pretty bad.”

“Did he have any life insurance?”

“Nah! I told him a month ago my adviser had set me up with some, and that he should speak with him but he reckoned he was young and healthy and nothing would happen to him.”

Unfortunately this scenario is played out everyday in Australia. Yet in 2000, there were at least thirteen accidental deaths every day 1 and , 49,741 Australians died from cardiovascular disease 2.

Apart from the emotional stress caused by the death of a loved one, little or no life insurance can plunge a family into a financial crisis from which they may never recover. A personalised risk management plan will provide a predetermined lump sum, payable in the event of death of terminal illness, which can be used to:

Life insurance makes plain good sense. If you don’t have it today, do something about it tomorrow.

1 AusStats, Deaths, Australia 2000, Australian Bureau of Statistics

2 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australia’s Health 2002

 

Trauma Insurance:

Ask yourself this question:

How many people do I know that have suffered from:

Most of us would be able to list at least five, or perhaps ten people we know, who have suffered from on of these conditions.

Sadly, based on statistics, only three out of every ten would have insured themselves against these events; Yet most would have lived to tell the story.

In fact, thats the problem. It is when you are recovering from a serious illness that you need extra money for doctors, nurses, special equipment or just debts.

Trauma Insurance is a living insurance; you don’t have to die to collect.

The benefit is (usually) paid as a tax-free lump sum. It can be used for any purpose such as to repay debts, to provide for the cost of additional medical expenses or to provide money for you to live on until you are capable of returning to work. If you are able to return to work on a reduced capacity, you can invest some or all of your benefit which will produce income to subside your reduced earnings. And, apart from the three medical conditions listed above, modern policies covers up to thirty-seven other serious medical conditions.

Trauma Insurance makes plain good sense. If you don’t have it today do something about it tomorrow.

 

Income Protection Insurance:

What is most valuable to you?

What about “your ability to earn income”? After all it provides for all of your other assets in some way or another.

The scary thing is that illness or injury that stops us from working can strike at any time! In fact, according to Australian statistics, one in three working Australians will become disabled through illness or injury for more than three months before they turn sixty-five3. Apart from the physical and emotional challenges, the financial challenges can be devastating. The bills just keep on coming.

Income Protection Insurance can replace up to 75% of your income when you need it most. And, the premiums are fully tax deductible.

Apart from personal savings, self employed people have little financial protection against disability. Even employees are vulnerable. And, Workers Compensation has limited applications.

Would Centrelink be your preferred alternative?

Income Protection Insurance makes plain good sense. If you don’t have it today do something about it tomorrow.

3 Calculation based on data from the Institute of Actuaries of Australia 2000. Interim Report of the Disability Community. IA Aust: Sydney.

 

Business Overhead Insurance:

Business Expenses insurance is like Income Protection for your business.

It enables your business to continue to operate if you are temporarily disabled and unable to work.

If your business stops operating, your income might be covered by Income Protection, but if the ongoing expenses of the business – for example rent, business mortgage or loan repayments, equipment leasing costs and utilities payments – aren’t covered, the owner might need to use the income protection proceeds to pay those, to keep the business out of bankruptcy.

Ideally, a business owner would have the business’s net profit covered by income protection, any loans covered by life insurance – possibly with some TPD cover – and the expenses covered by business expenses insurance.

Business Overhead Insurance makes plain good sense. If you don’t have it today do something about it tomorrow.

 

Total and Permanent Disability Insurance

Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) cover is life insurance that pays out if the insured person becomes Totally and Permanently Disabled.

In the event of a claim, the TPD payment can be used to eliminate debt, pay ongoing medical expenses, make necessary home modifications, or hire home care services such as nursing, cleaning and cooking.

It is usually purchased as an additional option on another policy but can be purchased on a “stand alone” basis.

Total and Permanent Disability Insurance makes plain good sense. If you don’t have it today do something about it tomorrow.