This week, we’re going to be talking some more about protecting your financial future and indeed your present using life insurance, critical illness insurance and income protection insurance. That’s a lot of insurance 😉 but making sure your financial planning is built on a sure foundation of security in the face of disaster is a key tenet of financial success. I’ll be building on session number 7 , way back in March 2013 where I cover the basics of this subject.

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Introduction

Back in Session 7 I did a pretty good job (if I say so myself) of covering the basics of how the different types of protection work, and asking how much of each you might need. I’d like to delve a little deeper into this and look at some nuances of the types of plans. It will definitely be worth listening to session 7 if you haven’t already, but I will recap here.

Here's the outline for this session; you can grab the transcription by hitting the massive blue button below

Everything you need to KNOW

1 – Summarise the different types of insurance

Life Insurance, Critical Illness insurance, Income Protection Insurance

2 – More detail on Income Protection

Waiting period, limited benefit, definition of incapacity, benefits level or indexed, friendly societies, care with dividends

3 – How insurance is sold

Commission, rate-driven, cheapest not always best, why Lloyds Bank have laid off all their protection advisers

4 – Think insurance, think trust

So important always to consider trusts when planning personal protection. Trusts are specialist area

Everything you need to DO

1 – Be prepared for medical questions

Have all details to hand, if in doubt, disclose it, utmost good faith, advisers should not lead the answers

2 – Answer the proposal questions specifically and check answers

Why insurers ‘rate' proposals, how and why you should question a rating, take care when applying online

3 – Seek advice when it comes to trusts

So easy to get wrong, be careful of insurance company trust documents, consider ‘life of another'

4 – Review insurance program regularly

Reviewing protection essential, Life events should trigger a review

Summary

Remember one thing: personal protection is not just a commodity, it’s a very nuanced thing with lots of issues to consider. Don’t let me put you off, just take the time to get it right, and if in doubt, seek help.

This week’s reviews

My thanks to Duergar and TC WindowCleaningman for leaving reviews this week.

If you like what you hear on this podcast, please leave a rating or review on iTunes by going to meaningfulmoney.tv/iTunes just like Duergar and TC WindowCleaningman this last week. Either go to that link or hit the big red button below

News

15st 11lbs – back down to lowest point – w00t!

Autumn Statement – big news is Stamp Duty – lots written about that already, so no need for me to add to it I don’t think.

Next Session Announcement

Next time we'll be talking about busting some Inheritance Tax Myths If you have a question on this subject, or any other financial query that you want answering here on the show, then the best way to do that is to leave me a voicemail at meaningfulmoney.tv/askpete