Life Protection
Everybody who earns an income should consider Life Assurance; a loss of your income is a loss to the household. If you died prematurely, would your family have the money needed to pay for their financial needs, for their food, household and utility bills? Would there be sufficient money in place to clear loans, bills and funeral expenses leaving your family debt free following loss of a loved one? Would there be financial protection to support your partner or your family against financial struggle until your children are fully educated? Considering this, is Life Assurance your No.1 priority?
It has been sketched in our minds, that only the main earner in the household needs to have life cover, we at Complete Financial Solutions believe that both the main earner and spouse are equal in terms of providing for the family. However, all this has changed now, and our thinking must change with our lifestyle today.
Partners working both inside as well as outside of the home, while caring for their family, need life assurance too. The death of a partner may result in you yourself having to give up work to care for any children and the household, or having to fund for home help, if you still need to continue working. Nobody wants to even imagine how hard life can be emotionally, let alone financially, with the loss of a partner; though on a financial level this is something we do not plan for and often a daunting experience for those left behind, in the absence of Life Cover. There are many options to choose from to suit each individual needs and requirements.
How much will I need?
Your life cover benefit is estimated on 10-times your salary. A full review of your circumstances, requirements and disposable income will establish what is realistically required. You may have savings already put aside and the age of your family will be an important aspect of your requirements. Do you have very young children, or a special needs dependent to provide for or do you need to provide funding for school or college fees? Have you covered the cost of an outstanding mortgage or long-term loans? What about the provision of funeral expenses? The average funeral ranges from €3,000-€7,000. Would you have that at your disposal now and if not, how would your family have it at their disposal, if this was not already in place in the form of Life Cover?
How much will it cost?
Cost is on an individual basis and is based on the following:
Extra Optional Benefits will also add to the cost:
Rider Benefits in the form of Hospital Cash benefit, Accident Cash benefit, Surgical Cash benefit
Level Term Life Assurance
This provides a lump sum payment to your family in the event of your death. This is the most popular form of life cover, providing a fixed benefit with a fixed premium over a specified number of years. The cost and sum assured remain the same for the entire term of the policy. If there is no pay out during the term of the plan, the policy ceases. Although there is no cash-in value and only pays out on death of the individual during the specified term of the plan, it provides peace of mind to you and your family that you are financially protected.
Convertible Term Life Assurance
Like Level Term, this provides a lump sum payment to your family in the event of your death. The benefit and premium will still remain the same throughout the chosen term of cover. A convertible option allows you to continue your policy after the initial policy term for another specific term or to change it to a whole of life policy, both without having to provide further medical evidence. This is very advantageous, if your health deteriorated over the initial term, then the availability of continued cover is still guaranteed. The extra cost for convertible term compared with level term is very minimal for what it provides (typically about 5-10%) depending on age and smoking status.
Index Linked Cover
This is an optional facility designed to increase your benefits & premiums on an annual basis to protect against inflation - in keeping in line with the cost of living. The increase is normally at 3% or 5% pa, depending on the company, with the option to stop the facility during the term of the policy.
Single, Joint or Dual Cover
Single cover insures one person only. Joint cover will pay benefits on the first death of either joint insured person, paying out once on death during the term of the policy. Dual cover will pay benefits on the death of both insured persons during the term of the policy. Payment to one person on the policy does not affect the benefit of the second person for dual cover, almost as if they each had single policies.