The current uncertain economic climate and recent spate of natural disasters is a reminder for Australians to assess their insurance cover to make sure they have adequate protection.
As your lifestyle changes, it’s important that your insurance cover adapts with it – otherwise you risk being underinsured, which can have devastating financial effects on you and your family.
Here are four types of insurance and why they are ‘must-haves’: Read more…
Posted on May 2, 2013 Insurance Money Expert Leave a Comment
If you are approaching retirement, you should consider protecting your retirement plans and finances by ensuring your children have sufficient cover for their own families, such as life insurance, trauma, and income protection.
In the event something was to happen to your son or daughter which left their family without any means of support, it would most likely be you who the family turns to for support.
We encountered a situation recently with a retired couple whose financial situation was well secured with a self-funded pension arrangement. Unfortunately, their daughter suffered a serious and sudden long term health issue and they are now looking after the two grandchildren, both physically and, to a worrying extent, financially. Read more…
Posted on April 24, 2013 Insurance Money Expert Leave a Comment
We’ve been named Australia’s Best Credit Union in the 2012 Mozo People’s Choice Awards, only four months after receiving Money magazine’s Credit Union of the Year award.
As part of the Mozo Awards, more than 25,000 banking and finance customers across the country rated close to 180 financial institutions, judging them on overall consumer satisfaction, price, features, customer service, convenience and trust.
The Mozo People’s Choice Awards, now in their third year and are a leading, nationally recognised finance comparison and reviews website. The award was nationally regarded as the most comprehensive consumer report card on the Australian financial services industry, and receiving the top award was an exceptional achievement.
Winning the Mozo Award and being recognised as Australia’s Best Credit Union for the second time this year is great feedback that we are meeting consumers’ needs in a wide range of categories. Read more…
Posted on October 4, 2012 Car Loans Financial News & Updates Home Loans Insurance Investing Money Expert Saving Security Leave a Comment
It’s comforting to know that home contents insurance protects our valuables from theft or accidental damage inside the home. But if you take your camcorder or digital camera to the football or a barbecue this winter, you might find they are not covered if they are lost, damaged or stolen.
The fact is home contents insurance generally covers your precious possessions only in specified locations or circumstances. As a result, valuables like cameras, musical equipment, jewellery, watches and sunglasses may need additional cover to ensure they are fully protected outside the home.
So if you’re someone who gets out and about on weekends and you want to protect your valuables at all times, it might make sense to consider including Personal Effects cover under your existing home contents policy. Read more…
Posted on June 5, 2012 Insurance Money Expert Leave a Comment
Some types of life insurance can be taken outside or inside superannuation. So how do you know what is right for you?
For most people who have a family and other responsibilities, the decision to hold life insurance should be a relatively straight-forward. Somewhat less straight-forward may be the question of how you hold it – i.e. inside or outside your super fund?
There are some important advantages and disadvantages of each ownership structure that need to be considered when you’re setting up your life insurance. These can also depend on your circumstances, which is why it’s so important to get a regular review of your cover.
Inside super
1) You might have some already. If you’re an employee, you may already have some death and total and permanent disability (TPD) cover in your super fund. This can be an easy and cost-effective way to get basic cover without the usual medical tests.
2) You can pay premiums using super. Super funds can claim a tax deduction for some insurance premiums paid inside the super fund. This means your insurance premiums may be effectively paid with pre-tax dollars. This can help you take a higher amount of cover and use the tax savings to cover the additional premiums.
3) You can salary sacrifice. If you want to pay your insurance premiums inside super but don’t want to reduce your retirement benefits, you can top-up your super by setting up a salary sacrifice arrangement. However, if you do this you need to keep an eye on your concessional contributions caps (see below).
Outside super
1) You can protect your income tax-effectively. Income protection premiums are generally tax-deductible outside super – meaning there’s no tax benefit to holding this cover inside super.
2) You can use your concessional contributions caps for super, not insurance. There’s a limit to how much you can contribute tax-effectively to super each financial year. Currently, the limit is:
• $25,000 per year if you’re under age 50, or
• $50,000 per year if you’re age 50 or over (this is a transitional cap that applies until 30 June 2012).
If you have sizeable insurance premiums inside super and you need to make additional contributions to pay them, you could be limiting how much you’re able to put away tax-effectively for your retirement.
3) Your benefit is easier to access. Outside super, you are the owner of the insurance policy, and any benefits are paid directly to you or your beneficiaries. Inside super, the super fund owns the policy and your super account receives any benefits. To get that money out of super, you then have to satisfy a ‘condition of release’. If you don’t, you may have to wait until your retirement age to get this money out of your super account.
With the 30th June approaching, it’s a good time to review your insurance needs to make sure you have the right cover in place, and that you’re making the most of the strategies available. For advice specific to you and your family, talk to your financial adviser today.
General Advice Warning: This advice may not be suitable to you because it contains general advice that has not been tailored to your personal circumstances. Please seek personal financial advice prior to acting on this information.
Posted on May 18, 2012 Insurance Money Expert Leave a Comment
Record rainfall last year has resulted in a blanket of grass transforming large parts of Australia, which could prove to be a significant fuel source for bushfires this summer. ¹
Now is the time to take some precautionary steps to protect your home and loved ones before a bushfire threat develops and ensure your Home Building and Contents Insurance is up to date and that it provides enough cover to replace your home and all its contents should the unthinkable happen. Read more…
Posted on February 1, 2012 Financial News & Updates Insurance Money Expert Leave a Comment
Trauma Insurance is about protecting you and your family’s lifestyle whilst also providing you with choice when it matters most – choice to receive the best treatment available, choice to allow your spouse to take some time off work to help you rehabilitate and choice to use the money however you want.
No one thinks it is ever going to happen to them – but what if one day, you unexpectedly had a heart attack like one of our members Jan. Jan was 50 years old and fit and healthy, but one day after suffering from stress, Jan had a heart attack. Jan was told she was ‘half a centimetre away from death’ that day.
Luckily Jan had taken out trauma insurance as there was a history of breast cancer in her family. She received payment six weeks later and was able to choose what she wanted to do with the funds, such as pay off debt, or set aside the money for retirement as she may need to retire earlier.
“I now see why it is so important to be adequately insured to protect against unforeseen events in life particularly where health is involved, because it has a major impact on your life,” says Jan.
Some people are aware that they are at higher than normal risk due to family history. Sadly the majority of people who are diagnosed with cancer, cardiovascular disease or serious illness did not know they were at risk.
Dealing with the emotional consequences of suffering a serious illness can be hard enough, but adding financial stress on top of this can be devastating. Trauma Insurance eases the financial burden allowing you to focus on getting well.
Trauma insurance pays a cash lump sum payment in the event of contracting a specified disease or trauma and covers up to 58 defined events such as cancer, heart attack and stroke.
Trauma insurance gives you a lump sum payment to ease the financial pressures of not working and could be used to cover things such as:
Posted on October 26, 2011 Insurance Money Expert Leave a Comment
Everyone is well aware of the fact that car insurance is a necessary expense that must be included in every driver’s budget.
There are basically three types of policies available. ‘Comprehensive’ insurance will cover you for the damage to your vehicle as well as the damage you may cause to other people’s vehicles or property. ‘Third Party Property Damage Fire and Theft’ only insures your car if it is damaged by fire or as a result of theft as well as damage to other people’s vehicles or property that you cause with your vehicle. ‘Third Party Property Damage’ only covers damage you cause to other people’s vehicles or property.
When looking for an insurance policy to meet your needs and budget, here are five things to remember:
Find out more about car insurance which can be tailored to suit your needs.
Posted on October 9, 2011 Insurance Money Expert Leave a Comment
Following on from our previous travel feature about accessing your money overseas, the next most important part of booking your holiday is making sure you will be covered in the event of an emergency. Personally I always take out a policy before travelling to any overseas destination, buts its not just me recommending you take out travel insurance Smart Traveller urges all Australian to take out travel insurance, saying that each year they assist over 25,000 travelling Australians in need.
Travel insurance covers you for things like medical bills in case of an accident while travelling, loss/theft, cancellation or disruption to flights and more.
A friend of mine recently returned from a holiday in Japan and dislocated his knee/ligament damage, without travel insurance he would have been responsible for large medical bills. I also recently returned from holidays where my return flight was cancelled and rescheduled for the following day, I had organised travel insurance through Companion Credit Union before I left so luckily I could claim my hotel for the night I was delayed, and transport to/from the airport due to the delay. Which I was very happy about!
Have you ever had to use your travel insurance? Tell me about it,
Cas
Posted on March 15, 2010 Financial News & Updates Insurance Money Expert 2 Comments
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