If you want peace of mind and financial independence: According to the Association for Saving & Investment SA’s 2022 Life and Disability Insurance Gap Study, only 45 per cent of the requirements of South Africa’s 14.3 million income earners are covered by life and disability insurance.
In the event of this person’s death or disability, households with a single primary income earner would be required to reduce their expenses by more than half.
Peace of mind and financial independence extend beyond making the right investment and savings choices. It includes preparing oneself and one’s family for unanticipated and often-overlooked events, such as death and disability.
Is there a correlation between monetary security and physical health?
Consider your financial situation holistically. This consists of investments, life insurance, and temporary insurance. Creating a comprehensive plan of your financial goals and needs, and keeping that plan up-to-date as your requirements change, is essential for achieving mental peace and, ultimately, financial independence.
Employer benefits such as group life insurance and retirement funds are frequently neglected, but must be included to ensure that your financial plan accurately reflects your circumstances.
Understanding the resources available to you (such as proper budgeting, debt reduction, and estate planning) and utilising those that are applicable to your specific situation will provide a solid foundation for attaining financial independence.
It will prevent you from being at a disadvantage in the future.
Texas Home Owner Assistance: Income Limit for Homeowner Assistance in Texas (www.eduvast.com)
Discussing death is a difficult but necessary topic of discourse
Creating a will is the first and most essential stage in planning for your demise. You must ensure that your loved ones and the individual you entrust to carry out your final wishes (executor) are aware of your wishes.
This will greatly assist in handling your estate as efficiently as possible, ensuring that your dependents have access to their inheritance without having to contend (possibly for months or even years) to gain access to estate assets or funds.
Life insurance policies are another useful tool for estate planning. In addition to providing future income for your family, proper estate planning will reduce your estate duty liability and help provide your dependents with enough liquidity to cover debt and other related expenses, ensuring that you do not leave your family with an unexpected financial burden.
Income protection and disability insurance for the unexpected
This type of insurance is designed to pay out if you become temporarily or chronically unable to work as a result of an illness or injury.
It is intended to replace (either in full or in part) any future earnings you may lose if you become unable to work.
Income protection is a benefit that provides coverage for transitory illness and does exactly what its name implies – it pays out a percentage (usually up to 75%) of your income for a time period during which you are unable to work.
Coverage for dread diseases, also known as critical illness or trauma insurance
The purpose of dread disease coverage is to provide coverage for medical conditions that would have a significant impact on your life.
This includes illnesses or injuries that require expensive treatment or rehabilitation and have a medium- to long-term recovery period, as well as conditions that necessitate substantial lifestyle adjustments.
Consider factors such as your family’s history of chronic diseases, the extent of your medical aid, whether or not you have gap coverage, and the extent of your disability insurance when determining the appropriate level of dread disease coverage for your particular needs.
Maintain financial independence as your primary objective, but plan adequately to ensure you can provide for yourself and your family in the event of an emergency.
