How Long Could You Last Without An Income?

We take great care to insure valuable items around us – whether it’s cars, pets or mobile phones, but if something were to happen to you or your partner – for how long could you continue to pay the bills?

A report from Legal and General¹ has shown that the amount of time we think we can survive and maintain our lifestyles may be a lot less than we think, and the amount of savings held by the average UK household is significantly less than what may be needed if the main source if income was lost.

Some interesting facts revealed:

• The average UK consumer is just 19 days from the breadline
• 42% of employed adults believe they could only survive a month or less on their savings
• 60% of households have less than £5k savings and 16% have no savings at all
• The average person stated they would need £12k+ savings to feel secure, but the average household has less just £2.5k savings
• It would take 10 years for the average household to save up the equivalent of their gross annual income
• 53% say they can’t afford to save after covering day-to-day living costs
• 45% aren’t confident that they are saving enough for their retirement – that’s over 14 million working adults

There’s some very shocking statistics within the findings, so it does make you think about your own situation, how long do you think you could last?

Losing an income may be closer than we think – whether it’s a sudden job loss or redundancy, through to a serious illness or worse, life can change very quickly and your ability to earn and maintain your lifestyle can be seriously impacted in a short time.

To help maintain a peace of mind, there are a range of protection options out there that can help you and your family mitigate against the worst happening, and we would be happy to help you find the most suitable options for your individual circumstances.

As a starting point, let us give you a quick overview of what cover is out there:

• Protect your income if out of work – we can all feel secure in our jobs, but you never know what’s around the corner. Policies are available that aim to protect policyholders from losses of income due to being involved in an  accident, getting a sickness that forces the person to stop working or involuntary unemployment. Something that could help significantly if you are facing the burden of household running costs alone.

• Protect against serious illness / critical illness – if you or your family become seriously or critically ill, this could have a huge impact on your daily life, especially as any extended period off work puts additional financial burden and stress during a difficult time. Serious Illness cover/Critical Illness Cover could potentially pay out a sum if you are diagnosed with or undergo a medical procedure for one of a list of specified critical illnesses set out by your provider, during the length of your policy. This can then be used to help with childcare costs, household bills or maintaining your standard of living if you take time off work to recover from illness  
• Protect your family against a death – no one wants to think about it, but sometimes the worst can happen – and often at the most inconvenient time. Think of life insurance as a way to protect your family should the worst happen to you. A policy could minimise the financial impact on your family after you’ve gone, with a lump sum payout that could be used in a number of useful ways, such as to clear mortgages, cover household bills and childcare costs, and to provide welcome assistance at an emotionally challenging time.

Seek advice

There are whole range of policies and options online, and it can be overwhelming to work out which maybe the most suitable for your circumstances, so we would encourage you to book an appointment with us, we will listen to your exact circumstances before giving advice to help you make the right decision for you and your loved ones.

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