These days, we seem to spend a lot of time worrying about things that, really, aren’t that important. The pace of modern life and the things we take for granted – such as the technology we all use on a daily basis – can turn small issues into major frustrations. Take the problems that Blackberry experienced just last week, which lead to a major inconvenience to thousands of people.
We also know that it is sensible to insure the things that we own to make sure that, should they be damaged or stolen, they can be replaced. Your car, house, laptop, TV, even your washing machine are likely to be protected in this way.
So what else do we all take for granted – and can these be protected in the same way?
What about important things like your health, the ability to continue working, paying your mortgage? Like Blackberry, what if you were to go “offline” – diagnosed with a serious illness, or had an accident, or even die. How would your family cope financially?
Time taken to address these needs means that you can stop worrying about the financial consequences, knowing that you and your family are protected. For example, income protection (as the name suggests) is designed to replace part of your income if you are unable to work for a period of time because of illness or disability, and continues to pay out until you can return to some kind of paid work or reach retirement, whichever is sooner.
Without a regular income, you would have no way of paying for your expenditure, such as mortgage and loan payments, utility bills and council tax; not to mention food and general living expenses.
It’s easy to dismiss all of this under “it’ll never happen to me” and, of course, you may be right. Unfortunately, the statistics suggest that it might. According to Cancer Research UK, over 1 in 3 people in the UK will contract some form of cancer during their lifetime. Due to advances in medicine however, half of those diagnosed will live for at least 5 years, with cancer survival rates in the UK having doubled in the last 40 years.
It’s all too easy to get tied up in the stresses that work and family life place upon all of us. However, with a little planning, you can make sure that these very areas – your work and your family – are protected should the unthinkable happen.
As independent financial advisers, Kudos is ideally placed to provide advice and source solutions for you from the whole market. If you would like to discuss your own protection needs, or any other area of financial planning, please contact us on 01224 652100.
Kudos Financial Services Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
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