Insurance for the Stay-at-Home Parent

Stay-at-home parents put in an estimated 94.4 hours of domestic duty each week 1. They're the child carer, support teacher, house cleaner, laundromat executive, school project manager, taxi driver, the gardener and so much more! If illness or injury were to strike a stay-at-home parent to the point where they could no longer perform their domestic duties, how would your family cope???

According to a study released by Salary.com, a stay-at-home parent would earn nearly $124,000 a year if they were to be paid in cash for their roles at home. For the stay-at-home parent to be adequately covered, they need to ensure their insurance will cover the costs of outside help. For example;

Meal service for four people - $570 per week 2
Nanny - (based on 5 x 9 hour days) $1,125 per week 2
House cleaner - (based on 6 hours per week) $150 per week 3

I can provide families with peace of mind through a range of insurance options for stay-at-home parents.

Life Cover
A cost effective way to protect the running of the family in the event of death or terminal illness.

Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Cover
Pays a lump sum if the client suffers from total and permanent disability, such as multiple sclerosis or loss of limb.

Trauma Cover
Provides a lump sum if diagnosed with certain medical conditions such as heart disease or cancer.

Income Care Plus Benefit
Income Care Plus pays the working parent a monthly benefit if they are unable to earn an income due to illness or injury.

I can also introduce a domestic help benefit to the Income Care Plus product. If the life insureds spouse or defacto (who is a home maker or not working more than 20 hours per week) is disabled due to an accident, you will get help to pay child minding and housekeeping costs for up to three months.

1 The eighth annual survey of mothers' market value, by Salary.com
2 As quoted on www.liteneasy.com.au
3 As quoted by dial-an-angel

Source: Update Magazine

Unlike car insurance, income protection is tax deductible!

We all have some kind of plan for the future.  Whether it is to pay off our debts, buy a house, get married, have a family or travel the world, but what happens to those plans when something unforseen like an injury or an illness happens?  How do you survive each week let alone realise your goals?

Have you considered how you would pay your bills if you could no longer work?

Income Protection insurance can help by replacing up to 75% of your income if you are unable to work due to injury or illness.  It can help your replace lost income to meet ogoing living costs and generate savings to help realise your goals in the future. Income protection eases the financial stress during traumatic times so you can concentrate on your recovery.

Tax Deductible Premiums
Premiums for your Income Protection may be tax deductible making it more affordable.  If you take out a policy before June 30 and pay your annual premium you can bring forward an expense that would otherwise be tax deductible to you the following year.  So right now is a great time to look at Income Protection. Plus your cover will be in place for the next financial year!

Click Here if you would like any information about the benefits of Income Protection.

How to Reduce Your Insurance Premiums

In these tough economic times many people start cutting back on non essentials. Unfortunately many people consider their personal insurances as being non essential and this could not be further from the truth.

Personal Insurances including life, trauma and income protection insurance provide a safety net for you and your family in times of personal crisis such as suffering a critical illness or injury. Think about it, if you had to stop working tomorrow and couldn't return to work for more than three months, how will you pay your mortgage, your car loans and day to day living expenses? I challange you to sit down and work out just how long you could financially survive!

Many think they will be covered by worker's compensation or sick leave, but what happens if your accident is out of work or you suffer an illness? How long can your boss afford to pay you?

There are many other strategies available to help reduce the cost of insurance. You can now use your superannuation to fund your premiums either from your employer guaranteed contributions or from existing funds in the account. If you make after tax contributions to your super and are entitled to a co contribution from the governement, these can be used together to pay your premiums.

Self employed people can claim a tax deduction by paying through their superannuation and they may be able to claim the government co contribution to help fund the cost of keeping their insurance.

Other ways to reduce the cost include using salary sacrifice through superannuation, approaching your employer to organise some group insurance at your place of work, paying premiums annually instead of monthly and reassessing your level of cover.

Of course you can always shop around and compare prices but not all insurance policies are created equal so it is important to get a licenced adviser to guide you through different products.

The bottom line is that illness and injury happen every day despite the state of the economy. It is important you understand all of your options and get qualified advice. Most advisers will not charge you a fee for this service so it really is important to take advantage of their expertise.

Nobody wants to get sick or injured but we have little control over these events but at least you can take back some control by protecting yourself and your family from the financial strain that often results.

WL

PS. I am more than happy to help anyone who is struggling with paying their insurance to reassess their needs and their options.