Insurance needs change over time, and New Zealanders are becoming increasingly underinsured.
A ‘set and forget’ approach without regular reviews of your cover could leave you under-insured, over-insured, or inefficiently insured in areas that now need more attention – especially as you approach retirement.
In the same way that a family trust should be reviewed regularly, your insurance policies should be assessed to make sure they are meeting current and future needs for you and your family.
When putting together your tailored financial plan, your adviser will also review your insurance and ensure your cover reflects and protects your current and future lifestyle – because you might need to make changes!
As part of your financial plan, an advisor will help you review your insurance to:
1. Reduce unnecessary cover and prepare for retirement savings
An insurance plan that was appropriate a few years ago might need to be changed to meet your current lifestyle – because things have changed since you got insured. You might be earning a substantial amount more than when you first set up your policy, or you may have another child to consider under your insurance.
Chris & Amy:
Chris is a medical professional and is excited to be expecting a second child with his wife, Amy.
With a successful medical career and a new baby on the way, Chris and Amy sought advice from an NZFP adviser to help with their planning and to make sure their family was sufficiently protected in the event of their death, critical illness, or loss of income.
While putting together a comprehensive financial plan, our adviser found that Chris and Amy's personal insurances were put in place a while ago and didn’t reflect the increase in income, family needs or level of debt. They needed to adjust their insurances to reflect these changes and to give them adequate protection in the event of death or disability.
Using analysis tools to compare types of cover against different providers, Chris and Amy’s adviser presented them with options to increase their insurances cost-effectively, gaining more benefits and with more comprehensive cover.
Chris and Amy now have the peace of mind
that their family are fully protected and can sleep easy knowing they have a plan in place!
1. Identify shortfalls and consider a more cost-effective option
Included in your financial plan, your advisor can help you review your insurance and identify if the insurance is now unnecessary, or reduce premiums that may be getting expensive. Health insurance is a prime example as it gets dearer as we age.
John & Melissa:
John and Melissa are in their late fifties and starting to think about retirement. They've both worked hard throughout their careers and are proud to be debt-free – plus, their children are now financially independent.
During their working lives, John and Melissa had comprehensive life insurance plans in place to protect themselves and their children in the case of death, critical illness, or loss of income.
These comprehensive insurance plans served them well during their working lives when their insurance protected mortgage repayments and childcare responsibilities.
But times have changed and this amount of cover is no longer necessary. John and Melissa actually risked neglecting their retirement savings due to expensive over-insurance that didn't reflect their lifestyle shift.
By reviewing their insurance with a financial planner, John and Melissa successfully reduced their life cover to accurately fit their current situation. The savings in insurance premiums gave them the extra funds needed to add to their savings, so John and Melissa can enjoy a few added luxuries when they retire!
“As a country, we are underinsured. At NZFP, we offer end-to-end support for our clients’ insurance – from basic personal insurance and health insurance to more complex insurances for small and medium-sized businesses. I take care of the whole process, using a comprehensive needs-analysis to accommodate my clients’ financial plan for future insurance premiums. This builds an action plan based on my clients’ current lifestyle and future retirement goals.”
– Callum Forbes
Financial Adviser, NZFP
With a financial plan from your advisor, you can adjust and accommodate your insurance policies based on your holistic lifestyle goals.
Let’s get started.
