This is a question I ask many of my clients and somewhat unsurprisingly (especially in the Auckland market) the most common response is “my house”. I sometimes hear “my business” from the self-employed and also the occasional boat or car gets thrown into the mix as well. Whilst it’s only human nature to think of material things in response to this question, I’m going to challenge you to look at this in a different way.
Your greatest asset is your ability to earn. Without this, there is a strong likelihood that all of the above will be lost.
Just imagine for one second that in your garage, or spare room at home you have a small machine. Day in and day out all that machine does is print money – $10 notes, $20s and even the occasional $50. Every time that you need to go to the supermarket, buy new school uniforms or pay your power bill; you go to the machine and collect the notes.
If that was your reality, would you consider insuring that machine so that it never broke down? Would it be as important to you as your car, your house, your boat?
I’m sure you can see straight away what that machine represents it’s you.
It’s your ability to get up and do your job every working day of the week. It’s your ability to keep generating the money to fund all of the things we’ve become accustomed to in life.
Do you know that there are actually insurance policies that will replace your income if you can’t work due to sickness, disease or accident? And that these policies will pay you a monthly benefit for as long as you’re off work, potentially right through to age 65? The umbrella term for these policies is Income Protection; however there are over ten different types of Income Protection policies and each of them suit different clients’ situations.
Unfortunately though, while more than 95% of homes and cars are insured, barely 20% of us have Income Protection insurance (*Financial Services Council NZ, 2013). I believe that this is primarily due to a general lack of awareness and understanding of this product but that’s where Eightfold can help.
At Eightfold we have a specialist Insurance Advisor who can provide you with free no obligation advice to explain Income Protection, as well as other policies like Life Cover, Trauma and Health Insurance. Our aim is to help simplify what can be a confusing subject, so that you can make an informed decision on the right levels of protection for you and your family.
So whether you are looking at your insurance cover for the first time, or want to review whether your existing policy really covers your needs; please don’t hesitate to give our specialist insurance advisor, Mike Connellan, a call today on 021 765 223.