Most commonly referred to as Term Life Cover, this type of benefit provides coverage (in the form of a cash lump sum) in the event of death or terminal illness. To ensure your debts are paid off and any dependents are cared for financially.
As we all know fatal accidents and illnesses do happen, often without regard for age, gender or other personal factors. Yet Australians are often underinsured, simply preferring not to think about it or believing that such events won’t happen to them. Unfortunately this is not always the case, cardiovascular disease kills one Australian every 11 minutes and an estimated 1,500 Australians die on the road every year. In the event of death, the recommended life insurance cover may assist in providing your family with a lump sum benefit to provide for the repayment of your debts and to cover family living expenses. The payment is made to a beneficiary, third party or an estate in event of your death. It would also be normal for all or part of the benefit to be paid should you be diagnosed as terminally ill.
If structured correctly, premiums can be paid in pre-tax dollars (similar to salary sacrificing), and the benefit may be able to be paid via a tax free income stream to care for your family. This has the potential to reduce the amount of life insurance needed to provide what your family needs as there isn’t a requirement to increase the sum insured to pay a potential tax liability. This is a specialist area and one that we assist all of our clients with to ensure they are able to care for their family while minimizing their insurance premiums and their tax liability – both when paying for a policy and when a benefit is paid out.
The information contained on this website has been provided as general advice only. The contents have been prepared without taking account of your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should, before you make any decision regarding any information, strategies or products mentioned on this website, consult your own financial adviser to consider whether that is appropriate having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.