Overview

There is no doubt that we all have busy lifestyles. Stop and consider one of the more fundamental issues that tends to receive very little attention. Protection planning is about making sure that you / your family and or business are protected in the event of significant challenges such as death, critical illness, permanent disability, etc.

Take a moment to consider your greatest asset. Whether we are talking in the context of business or personal, the answer is very likely to be 'people'. Much consideration is given to insuring other assets, but in many instances, the most important asset, you and or your employees / work colleagues are ignored. The loss or damage to assets such as a property, vehicle or business equipment may be inconvenient, but the loss of a breadwinner at home or a key employee or colleague at work could be disastrous and the impact is often far reaching and long term.

Many of us do not have sufficient resources on hand to provide for the loss of an income or immediate settling of debt in our lives. The loss or serious illness of a person integral in your personal or business life results in significant emotional distress and you do not need to have this further compounded by financial concerns. An efficient and cost effective solution is to apply for appropriate protection to provide the much needed financial resources when the unexpected occurs. Once the appropriate protection cover / benefits are in place and reviewed regularly, one is able to 'sleep well at night'. Protection planning is a fundamental and crucial part of financial planning, which is often overlooked.

While there are instances where a single need such as mortgage protection may require immediate attention, it is recommended that one takes a holistic view when considering protection planning to ensure that all aspects are considered, resulting in an informed decision being made.

Apart from considering the type and level of protection cover required, thought must be given to how to structure the policy (e.g. premium structure, term, indexation of benefits, etc.) and how best to implement the policy (e.g. whether to have the policy held in your name / the business name or a trust, as this can have a significant impact on issues such as the time it takes for a benefit to pay out and inheritance tax issues).

To ensure a complete financial planning process is available to you, I am able to refer you to specialists at Sykes Ihlenfeldt Limited for all your Pension, Mortgage, Investment and Estate Planning requirements.