Why are we afraid to talk about Life Cover?

Life cover in many cases should, in my opinion, be as high on our list of priorities as house or car insurance. Why?  If we think about it we all acknowledge that our home is hughly important as is our mode of transport but how about ourselves? Do we not value our own financial importance/earning capacity as much?

We are always told to live for the moment, and for the most part it is a great way to live but if we just think for a minute about the future and the amount we can earn in the next say 20 years for example we would probably by surprised.  Let’s take an average wage of €35,000; over 20 years that will amount to €700,000.  A lot of money – but money that invariably will be required for living expenses over the next 20 years, particularly if you have young children.  So while we hate to think about it, we have to ask ourselves the question; how would our young family live if we weren’t around to earn that €700,000?

Hence the need to talk about life cover!

I have many friends at that stage with young children – many have life cover but it does surprise me how many do not.  There are various explanations from those that say they cannot afford it to those who literally shiver at the thought of it and neatly push it to the back of their minds.

Yes, it is hard to discuss and hopefully it will never be needed.  BUT what if?  Hard as it is, we need to assess how our family could cope without us.  After all they are our world and of course we want to be there for them and cannot contemplate otherwise, but if the worst happened, wouldn’t you want to have adequate provision left behind to make life at least financially manageable?

Not affording it is not an option.  The alternative does not bear thinking about.  Any spouse/partner left behind with a young family has enough horror to deal with without the stress of financial instability.  Even a small amount of cover will elevate the stress and strain for the initial year or so.

So don’t feel it’s too hard to think about taking out a life policy for your family – it’s a simple process and much like making a Will, it’s hard to take that initial step but once it’s done it gives such a sense of relief and provides invaluable peace of mind.