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If your income stopped today, what would you want to protect first?

For many of us, the ability to earn an income is what keeps our financial lives running smoothly. However, if you had a period of time during which you couldn’t work, what financial expenses would be the most important for you to still be able to pay?

When you have a comprehensive portfolio of insurance protection, you’ll have peace of mind that the most important things will be taken care of.

Here are a few things to think about.

What’s important to you?

Insurance is about helping you financially protect the things that are most important to you and your family.

That might be your family’s financial needs, your home, or your ability to be independent – it’s likely to vary a lot from one person to the next.

Thinking about what matters most to you, can be really helpful when it comes to how you structure your insurance cover.

Different types of cover

There are many ways that insurance can be an invaluable safety net.

Mortgage and rent cover can step in to help you pay what may be your biggest bill each month, if you’re unable to earn for a period of time.

This could allow you to remain in your home, where you and your family are settled and secure.

Income protection could help by replacing some of your income for a period of time.

This might be helpful if you’re worried about things like being able to pay for school fees, or kids’ activities, or just keeping the household going.

Health insurance might help you have your health needs addressed through the private system, potentially avoiding delays in the public system.

Trauma cover could help you make adjustments to your home if a health event meant your accessibility needs changed. This could mean your family wouldn’t have to move. Trauma cover could also help to pay for treatment costs that aren’t covered in the public system.

Business insurances can be invaluable if you’re a business owner and want to make sure you can keep things turning over. You might have cover for a key person, or to pay out a shareholder’s stake if necessary, or to provide business continuity cover in some cases where something stopped you being able to operate as normal.

Insurance is about quality of life

Insurance can help give you and your family the financial means to preserve your quality of life, no matter what comes your way.

It doesn’t have to be for worst-case scenarios but can instead be useful in many situations where you just need a financial safety net to keep you on track. Knowing your lifestyle is protected helps you focus on living well today.

As New Zealanders, we are great at financially protecting things like our cars and houses. Personal insurance can give that same financial peace-of-mind for our lifestyles, too.

Want to talk?

If you have any questions about your insurances, get in touch with our expert SHARE team. We can help you look at the cover you have, identify any gaps and consider what else might be suitable for you and your family.

Disclaimer: Please note that the content provided in this article is intended as an overview and as general information only. While care is taken to ensure accuracy and reliability, the information provided is subject to continuous change and may not reflect current developments or address your situation. Before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article, please use your discretion and seek independent guidance.