Working as a Financial Services Consultant within the Construction sector means that I have Safe Pass, so that I can get to my clients when they need to see me. As a result, I have a fair understanding of how important protection is on site. Protective clothing, protective rails and barriers to keep everyone safe and PROTECTED. It is equally important when it comes to your family and your finances. Susan O’Mara at Milestone Advisory outlines some of ways you can protect yourself and them.

Income Protection 

There is a long list of financial commitments that our income has to cover, mortgage, property tax, car, utilities and food. After that, maybe you invest in your future and live a lifestyle that you have grown accustomed to… but have you thought about how you would manage if you fell ill? You probably do not think twice about insuring your home, car or healthcare but what about your income?

It is easy to think, “It won’t happen to me”, but the following statistic might surprise you.

One in three people in Ireland will develop cancer during their lifetime according to The Irish Cancer Society. Thanks to medical advances, people are more likely to survive serious illnesses. This means however, that more people are likely to take prolonged periods off work for treatment and recovery. This could have a huge impact on their income.

One solution is Income Protection. With an Income Protection policy, you can provide for yourself (and your family if you have one) with the peace of mind that you have the protection of a regular income during periods of long term illness. An Income Protection policy can be tailored to meet your individual needs and can pay you up to 75% of your current salary.

Specified Illness Cover

Another solution to protecting your finances in the event of a serious illness is Specified Illness cover. It pays out a cash lump sum if you are diagnosed with an illness from one of the many serious illnesses covered by the plan – illnesses such as Cancer, a Heart Attack, or a Stroke (subject to policy terms and conditions). This cash lump sum would help remove some of the financial and emotional stress associated with a serious illness, affording you the opportunity to take the time off work, to help pay for specialist medical treatment or even to help cover day to-day household bills such as childcare. It can also be used to pay off debts while you are recovering. If you are diagnosed with a serious illness, you have enough to worry about and so making ends meet should be the least of your concerns.

Life Assurance Cover

Life Cover is an important yet often overlooked feature of good financial planning.

To decide if it is something you need, you simply have to ask; how would your family cope financially if you, as either the main or joint income earner, died?

You have seen the importance of Income Protection above but the importance of Life Cover is back to basics.

You may have overlooked a Life Cover policy because you have Mortgage Protection. This would cover the cost of your mortgage if you were to die, however, your income pays for many other things for you and your family, and it is important that they be covered too.

There are a few different types or Life Cover, but essentially, Life Cover is an insurance policy that pays out a lump sum in the event of your death. As previously mentioned, you will often have a certain amount of life cover attached to your mortgage, called mortgage protection. This will ensure that you do not leave someone with the burden of your mortgage on your death.

Key Person Cover

Finally, while all of the above can help you protect your family’s finances in the event of illness or death, however, if you are a business owner, there is a way to protect your business in the event of the death or serious illness of an important member of your team.

This protection is called Keyperson Cover and it is a life assurance policy taken out by an employer on the life of a key employee, who may also be a shareholder or director. This is done to protect the company against any financial consequences of that individual’s sudden death or serious illness.

The sudden death or serious illness of a key person could give rise to a number of immediate financial pressures for the company:

• Company Loan repayment – in particular any to which the ‘key person’ had given a personal guarantee

• the potential cost of any extra resources that may have to be committed to the recruitment and replacement of the key individual.

• the potential cost of an interruption to business

• the potential loss of business contacts

At Milestone Advisory, we work with our clients to help them to quantify their needs and put cover in place so that they can get on with their busy lives with the peace of the mind that they are adequately covered. Talk to us today!

For further information please contact Susan O’Mara: susan@milestoneadvisory.ie or phone: 01-4068020. Milestone Advisory DAC t/a Milestone Advisory is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Milestone Advisory was established in 2014 by CIF Pensions Administration Services Limited DAC (CPAS) to bring expert, impartial financial advice to members of the construction and related industries.