If you have a family, protecting them is likely to be one of the highest priorities you have. Part of protecting your family concerns ensuring that your family are financially secure regardless of the twists and turns life throws their way. Of course, it’s very easy to lose sight of this particular priority when you are so busy just trying to provide for them on a day to day basis.

To help, here are three quick steps you can take towards protecting your family’s financial security once and for all

Step 1: Saving the day

Putting aside money each month can make a huge difference when an emergency arises. Regardless of your means, putting money aside each month is an important factor when keeping your family financially secure. Keeping some money to one side in case of a financial emergency will enable your family to meet any problems head on without having to worry about getting into debt or having to make sacrifices

Step 2: Better Safe than Sorry

Life Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance, Private Medical Insurance and Income Protection Insurance are all worth considering when you have a family.

When Insurance is mentioned most people simply switch off and stop listening. This is often because it’s quite a morbid topic, it’s not the most interesting topic and the last thing most people want to hear is that they need to spend more of their hard earned money on something they may never reap the benefit of.

Taking all the above into consideration, the simple fact is that statistically it is very possible that your family may find themselves in a position in which they need the above types of Insurance as a safety net.

Of course, the truth is that it is entirely up to you to decide whether you should take out any form of Insurance, but if you have a family then you at least have a duty to do some research

Step 3: Make your wishes known

Unfortunately many people assume that they have plenty of time to make a Will and are sadly wrong. It isn’t as difficult to make a Will as you may imagine. So if you haven’t done it yet, make your wishes known by making a Will

If you are interested in chatting to us about any of the above give us a call on  (028) 3752 2909

Comparing Apples and Oranges

Many people spend a lot of time shopping around for quotes for their life insurance, but despite the time and energy they put into it, a lot of the time they still end up making the wrong policy choice.
The main reason they still get it wrong is because they are not comparing the quotes received on a like for like basis. Initially people give estimates of how much cover they think they require, how long they want it to last and what type of cover they think will be most suitable for them. The more companies they speak to the more knowledge they acquire and the more accurate they quote their needs to insurance companies.

 Generally the customer will select what they perceive to be the lowest quotation covering exactly what they need. However, they haven’t given thought to the fact that they provide less accurate information to the initial companies and the quotations received are not on a like for like basis. In many cases if the quotes were on a like for like basis, they may have found that they could have saved even more and chosen a completely different provider. When shopping around for Life Insurance quotes, make sure they are on a like for like basis before you choose which one to go for.

Attention to detail

One major reason that people pay more than they have to for their Life Insurance is because they fail to pay attention to detail when it comes to their policy. The choices you make concerning how much cover you need, what type of cover you need, how long you need the cover for, amongst other things will make a big difference to the monthly premium you will be charged for your Insurance. If you want to make sure you don’t pay more than necessary on your Life Insurance, pay attention to your policy details.

Loyal customers always get the best deal right? maybe not….

Getting Life Insurance from a young age is generally considered a good way to keep your monthly premiums low. As they grow older many make the mistake in thinking that they couldn’t possibly get a better monthly premium if they were to change supplier now as they are on a price given for young less at risk policy holders.

However, just like your mobile phones, satellite TV subscriptions and gym memberships, just because you are a long term customer doesn’t mean you are getting the best deal! Policies change as do the Insurance market over the years, and you may well discover that you can get all the cover you require as a new customer for less than you are currently paying. Recent studies indicate that some people are paying up to 30% more than necessary on the Life simply because they haven’t reviewed their Life Insurance for years.

Step one
Involves looking at internal improvements which could be made. Think about the following:

• Could your working capital be managed in a better way?
• Could closer management of specific areas of your expenses help reduce   the overall cost?
• How is your relationship with your bank helping your business, consider   meeting your bank manager and see if you are getting the best they have   to offer, and shop around to see if other banks may offer you more.
• Can you renegotiate with your suppliers?
• Is your business plan up to date?
• Does your business have a strong presence in your market?
• What are your unique selling points, and do you currently market these   as effectively as you could?
• How does your staff feel about the business? A content workforce is very important to your long term success, if there are concerns with job   security or direction of company from your staff, share the targets for   the business in 2012.

Step 2

If your business currently uses bank overdrafts consider how reliant your business is on them, it is not unheard of that these facilities can be taken away, reduced or terms changed with little warning.

Step 3

Are you wasting money in any aspects of your business? Think about electricity, petrol, travel expenses, telephone bills etc.
These are some ideas to consider with your current business activities. We would recommendation all our clients prepare Budgets and Cash flow Forecasts for the likely trading scenario in 2012 and have a meeting with your bank in relation to the facilities required.
If you would like to discuss any aspects of our suggestions please call us on: (028) 3752 2909