Following on from my last blog I wanted to pick up on the cost of protecting yourself and your loved ones. It’s the age old objection to having the proper cover in place – “I can’t afford it, it’s more expensive than I thought it would be!”
The cost of cover depends on many factors, age, health, occupation, sum assured, term required, and yes it can be expensive depending on the requirement but we appreciate that budget has to be a factor in considering what can be put in place.
All too often people discount having cover in place as they feel the cost will be prohibitive and they don’t seek advice on what they could actually achieve within their budget. Then there are those that don’t feel there is any spare budget available to put towards protecting themselves and their family. I think if we all took a serious hard look at our weekly spends we might we might be surprised at what budget could be made available with a little careful planning.
In the average week we all like our little treats, a nice frothy coffee, a take-away, glass of wine or pint of beer, the odd magazine or newspaper, premade sandwich, or jumping in a taxi at the end of the night to make it home quicker.
Based on average current costs* if in a given week I had 3 coffees, bought a magazine, a couple of premade sandwiches , a takeaway, a couple of glasses of wine and a taxi ride home after my takeaway that could equate to weekly spend of £46.00 or £199.33 per month. It all adds up.
If we all took a serious look at the monthly spends on little luxuries we could make an immediate saving which could be put towards getting the right cover in place.
If I cut back a coffee a week and drop the take-away meals to once a month I make an immediate saving of £35 on average. What would £35 buy in terms of cover?
A single 28 year old male could have life cover of £120,000 for 30 years for as little as £30.44, a couple both aged 38 could have £220,138 of life cover for 20 years starting from £35.00 per month.
Still think it’s too expensive?
Get in touch with us today for your own personal calculation to see how your monthly luxuries add up and what cover you could buy with a little clever reallocation of your financial resources.
It only takes a few minutes to give you peace of mind for the rest of your life, can you really afford not to do anything?
Dr Claire Armstrong
*Based on Bright Grey’s online Lifestyle Calculator as of April 2013.