You’ve got to protect YOU.
- When you buy a car, you take out car insurance;
- When you buy a house you take out building insurance and home and contents insurance.
- When you buy a washing machine and other household equipment, you take out insurance on them
So why are you not protecting YOU. Are those assets more important than YOU?
Below is a list of insurance to consider taking out for YOU:
Critical Illness Cover – this pays you a lump sum if diagnosed with a serious illness or sustains a serious injury. Most will pay out lump sum for you to do whatever you want e.g. it could be used towards your medical care, to cover your expenses, a holiday (after recuperation), investment (got to get that one in there 😊) or whatever you want. This insurance doesn’t pay out in the event of death.
Income Protection Cover – this pays you a regular income if you can’t work because of partial or full disability or debilitating illness.
Medical Insurance – In the U.K. people are able to obtain free medical care via the National Health Service (NHS). Having medical insurance however gives you a choice in the level of care you get. One could argue that this is not a necessity, because the NHS does a good job, so the decision on this cover would be dependent on one’s preference for medical treatment e.g. would you want immediate treatment or be happy to wait till you can access treatment on the NHS, would you prefer a private ward if you had to stay in hospital, if necessary, would you to be able to obtain medication not covered on the NHS at no (or a minimal cost), etc. These considerations are all things that are accessible without medical insurance, but could be quite expensive without medical cover, but of course if you have a big saving pot or emergency fund, you could draw on that to cover the cost of these preferences.
Life Insurance – this is more for one’s dependents and loved ones than for you. It is paid out on death. It however provides you with a level of assurance that loved ones will have some financial security, when you are no longer here.
Until recently, like most people I haven’t prioritised ME. We tend to think we are strong and can keep going or perhaps adversities happen to others and not us; or maybe, just don’t think about these things while those who are religious, perhaps believe that God is the protector and will keep adversity away (as far as I know, all religious books talk about God testing us to the level we can bear – who knows which test it would be!). The truth is, irrespective of how healthy or careful one is, adversity can hit at any time. Without you being on your two feet well and able, all those assets we take insurance out on, will not be! So to ensure that if taken down by adversity, we can maintain some semblance of normality, it is my opinion that at the very least one should take out Income Protection and Critical Illness insurance.
A combination of these two will put a lump sum in your hand and afford you a regular income for a period (dependent on your cover), which could mean the difference between worry about health and wealth (how to feed, cover expenses, etc.) and planning for a new lifestyle or life after the adversity (depending on its severity).
The level of cover you take out will determine the benefits and the premium paid. As usual, if this strikes a chord with you and you decide YOU are worth protecting, then do your own due diligence; speak to a broker perhaps and clearly define what benefits you would want, to ensure the cover your take out is appropriate for YOU.
Is there any other cover you think is important one takes out? Share in the comment (including why) below.
📝 Originally shared under my first blog, bitalks; part of the journey that shaped Life’s Riches.