Income Protection,TPD,Trauma,Death

Hi all,

Would like your opinions on the above insurances. I already have all of the above, but I'm reviewing all of them atm, especially TPD, Trauma and Death. I'm 29 yrs old, still single, no PPOR or dependants, but have 1.5 mill + approx in assets, i.e IP's/shares, with associated debts.

The way I see it, is that income protection is obviously important, but the others I don't know how much to have. Death I see as not necessary, If I die my parents/sister can sell up and take profits,or continue my structure. TPD or Trauma will come in handy if I get cancer, heart attack etc. to cover hospital, operations or whatever else with regards to the situation.

What type of figure should I be looking at??? For me atm I think protecting my income as priority, but don't know what amount would be good for Trauma or TPD. I think I only want these to cover any bad medical situations that may arise. What is satisfactory? I don't think I need to pay extra premiums just to pay out loans as my structure should be self supporting some time in the near future.

So if the worse was to happen, my investments should look after themselves, but would like to have extra in a policy to meet those extra expenses. So how much?

I know its hard to say, but would like some ball park figures of what people think is acceptable to cover the dreaded health situations that may arise in the future.

Thanks,

Stevec

I have no experience in this area, I just wanted to say that it's awesome someone in their 20's has so many investments behind them! You're way ahead of the game.

Stevec

Your comments and assumptions about what you need by way of insurance certainly seem sensible. I must stress however NOBODY can guide you with any degree of accuracy on this matter without knowing a lot more about you and your situation. As general and broadly based your solicitation, be weary to take any action from responses via the forum (despite the intellence and investment savvy that exists amongst the members).
You need to speak with a financial planner or insurance broker!

Congratulations on what you have achieved to date, most admirable!

Mark

Steve C,

If I were a smart young lady I'd be inviting you over for a perfect home-cooked meal... but seeing as I'm not....I'll share the fact that I'm in a similar boat, insurance-wise (minus about 600-700K in net worth however...).

I used be a contractor where Income protection was more-or-less mandatory. However, I now have a full-time job with a govt. employer where the mandatory super fund has a certain level of income protection insurance included. I'm about to venture down the insurance broker path (with a gent recommended by Navra Financial Services) to also sort out some of this stuff. At present I'm up for almost 2K per year for the Income protection thru MLC but have a nasty feeling I'm doubled up in this area. Death cover(why they call it 'life' escapes me...) is rather pointless if there are no dependents whatsoever.
That's my two cents worth...

BsB

BSB,

I'm not sure that the $1.5M is his net worth. He says he has that many assets "with associated debts", so I'm assuming net worth could be as little as $500K odd with $1M in borrowings.

SteveC, noty trying to talk down your situation at all as its still great. Its just important to understand the mix of borrowings and net worth if you're looking for advice on appropriate levels of insurance. So, could you clarify what your total holdings are and the amount of your borrowings against these. Also, your cash flow plays a critical part in the equation too.

I personally have about $1.6M in assets and borrowings of about $600K so my net worth is around the $1M mark. I also rely on my single income to predominately fund all these holdings and don't presently even have income protection insurance, so better go get some. I do have life, trauma and D&PD insurance though.

Cheers mate,
Michael.

Still not bad at 29. He isn't paying off a PPOR and obviously pays rent or board, which is even better.

Bob

Yep, as I said, still great!

Cheers,
MW

SteveC

I absolutely agree with Mark. Figuring out an appropriate insurance plan requires not only detailed examination of your current assets and liabilities and cashflow requirements, but also it should cater for your future investment and life plans. Your family situation could change

The main problem for most people in your position is not dying...rather it is living for another 30-40-50 years with partial or total disability. Things are bad enough in that situation...you don't want to be living on handouts or put in a sub-standard facility when you could insure to provide appropriate care/assistance.

My 2.2c
N.

Yeah but at the same time, insurance companies are great at taking your money but there are a million and one clauses that you need to weave through to get some sort of payout back.

Steve

No sensible recommendation could be done without the need of full Client Date Fact Find.

Anyone who is offering an opinion without this information is doing so without you best interest at heart and is fact breaching the Corporations Act.