The one where I write about insurance

I am talking about insurance today. Yeah I know insurance= boring to most people, but stick with me here, okay? Did you know that I worked in insurance pre-kids. In Life and Personal insurances and Superannuation in particular. And you know what? It really wasn't that boring.

But one of the things I did learn was that Life Insurance was perceived as a 'rich persons' insurance. But really it isn't. And this months LIFE Awareness Campaign aims to to tell you just that.

Australia is currently facing a massive under-insurance problem. We insure our homes, our cars, our holidays, but not our lives. And really that is the most important thing.

I mean, what would happen to your family if you were to pass away? Even if you aren't the primary income earner, you are probably still the primary care provider in your family. Right? And you probably run the home too. Right? So even though you may not be earning much of an income, your family will still feel an impact financially.

I am guessing that you have probably already seen a gazillion TV ads telling you just that too. But really it isn't that expensive. And there are a load of different insurance companies offering a load of different types of policies. It can be confusing, I know. But if you are unsure as to what level of cover you and your family needs you can visit the life insurance calculator from Life Insurance Finder and then compare life insurance plans to find the right option for you.

And don't forget to check your super policies. You will have some kind of life insurance on them, but if you didn't choose them when you first signed up you probably have the lowest of low coverage. But this isn't hard to change.

If you are interested in some stats, A 2008 joint survey conducted by the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) and Industry Funds Forum (IFF) found that:

1. 1 in 2 industry fund members were under insured by $100,000 or more
2. More than 50% of respondents were under-insured for death cover by $100,000
3. For Total and Permanent Disability cover, 74% are under insured by $100,000 or more
4. For Income Protection cover, 45% are under insured by $1000 or more a month

The only exception was under 32s without dependents. This group was found to be over-insured in many cases.

 
Source - http://www.aist.asn.au/media/2358/aist_2008.06.03_media_Underinsured.pdf

So did you make it that far without me boring the pants off you? Do you have Life Insurance, or has it been put in the too hard basket?

We need to update our policies as we haven't looked at them since Ethan was born. 

I am participating in the LIFE Awareness campaign. I received a VISA gift card for this post courtesy of Life
Insurance Finder via Digital Parents Collective. I am also in the running to win an iPad3. As always, all opinions are purely my own.