A Life Worth Insuring

Getting to grips with the benefits of life insurance

Life insurance is a strange one. By its very virtue, it’s not something we like to think about and if we do what it will mean for those around us? Will I have pay premiums forever? Will it get more expensive as I get older? Who will get the pay-out and what can they use it for? It’s also hard to imagine needing it when we’re young, but with a little good advice, you might just change your mind.

The truth is that life insurance is something you do for others, on the whole. It’s a way of making sure your loved ones would be ok if anything were to happen to you. By putting in place a policy, you can put your mind at rest.

It might be worth considering a life insurance policy if you have children (especially if they are still at school), a partner who depends wholly or partly on your income, or you’re living in a house with a mortgage. A life insurance policy can help with all these things if you were to die, by covering the cost of your funeral or paying off the balance of your mortgage. These things are an important way of making sure your family are in the best possible position if they were to lose you.

There are normally two types of life insurance:

1. Whole-of-life policy

2. Term life insurance policy

It’s also worth bearing in mind that some employers provide a ‘death in service’ benefit which might mean you’re already covered. This is something you can ask your HR team about, check out your benefits portal if you have one.

Often life insurance is something that you’ll be encouraged to take out when you buy a house. In that case, it’s worth asking your mortgage broker for some recommendations.