Four Reasons why you should get Life Insurance while you’re young

Insurance is a grudge purchase – we don’t want to pay for it, but we need it. Unfortunately, when we are young, we don’t really anticipate the realities of a calamity happening. This could be in the form of a sudden death of a loved one or you could fall critically ill. Death, disability and illness are not tangible items like your car, house or possessions. As a result, we don’t want to pay cover for a misfortune that we can’t physically see or envision. However, the reality is that none of us are bullet proof.

For the 20-29 age group, over the past 5 years, Partners Life have paid:

• 101 individuals for Private Medical Cover

• 254 for Income Protection/Mortgage Protection Cover 

• 13 Deaths (Life Insurance)

Luckily those individuals had cover! Imagine what could’ve happened to their families, had they not thought about Insurance cover at all?!

What are the benefits of having Insurance from a young age?

1. Cheaper Premiums
   Premiums rise exponentially in your 40’s. As a young healthy person – you are viewed by Insurers to be low risk i.e. you are less likely to make a claim in the near future. You’d be surprised how cheap premiums can be in your 20’s and early 30’s.

2. You’re financially protected from future events
   When you’re younger it’s unlikely you have pre-existing medical conditions i.e. adverse medical conditions in your body that are present at the time of an Insurance application. Typically, the younger and healthier you are, the better it is to have Insurance. Insurance companies love young and healthy people and they want you to stay that way. An older person is more likely to have developed pre-existing medical conditions such as, high blood sugar/cholesterol etc. If you have any pre-existing conditions, you will not be covered for that condition(s) in your Insurance policy OR you may get a “premium loading” which means that you have to pay extra premiums to be covered for that particular condition(s). When you have developed an issue in your body, it’s simply too late, unless you fully recover and show no symptoms over many years. 

3. Outstanding Loans
   You might have a Mortgage and/or other Loans. If you own a house in your 20’s or early 30’s, it can be assumed that you still have majority of your Mortgage remaining. If either you or your spouse experience a premature death, can the other support the Mortgage and continue leading a good lifestyle purely off their own income? What about funeral costs? Death of a partner/spouse is emotionally damaging – would you not want the luxury of taking a few months off for bereavement?

4. Support
   Is someone else dependant on your income and time? You might get some sort of illness/disability that can stop you from working, unexpectedly. And guess what? Now YOU are the one that is dependent on someone else! And without a doubt, it will affect their ability to generate income as they must take time to care for you. Worst of all, it will impact your income & your lifestyle. It’s simple. NO WORK = NO INCOME. Period. 

There is a good chance that none of these problems will happen to you or your family prematurely, but IF it did happen, you would want to be in a position, where you and your family are taken care of. You will continue with your days being responsive, and not being reactive to financial stress during these tiring times.

So, do the right thing. Be smart. Get Insurance when you’re young. It shouldn’t break your bank!