Did you know Irish Men Insure themselves more than women ?
Most women do not have sufficient Protection in place – whether they are working within the home or employed outside the home.
The reason being they simply under value themselves and the work they do! They underestimate the contribution they make to their families and wider communities.
Women who stay at home are not paid a salary.
But if they were, it’s estimated it would be in the region of €42,000 annually to replace all the jobs they do!! For example, childcare, cleaning, cooking, taking children to and from activities, house maintenance, minding pets and relatives etc. Those at home rarely have sufficient cover in place, if any.
Women who are employed within the workforce are often subject to a Pay Gap in salary and other benefits such as pensions and life cover too.
Perhaps they have reduced their working hours to maintain a work-life balance, or maybe they have taken a number of years out of the workforce when their children were young. All these gaps can lead to a gap in the level of protection they have in place too.
This is backed up by research carried out by a leading life company over a 5-year period. It highlighted that Irish men insure themselves on average for 64% more Life Cover compared with women, and 26% more for Specified Serious Illness Cover!!
Most women will be covered on their Mortgage Protection plan which pays off their mortgage in the event of death. Outside that, research has shown that less than half of women in Ireland have some form of financial protection compared with two thirds of men.
Putting sufficient Protection in place means your family will be protected should anything happen to you. Have you any of the following protection plans in place?
Life Cover
Life Cover is one of the most common forms of insurance in Ireland. It pays out a tax-free lump sum if you die during the term of the policy. The lump sum is typically paid to your family or next-of-kin.
There are other benefits that you can add to your plan such as Indexation and Conversion Option. Indexation will index your benefits each year in line with inflation without the need for further underwriting, and ‘Conversion Option’ this will give you the option to extend the term without providing medical evidence.
Most companies offer free benefits too, such as Terminal Illness Benefit that will pay out a lump sum if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness and have less than 12 months to live, or free children’s life cover.
The following benefits are often referred to Living Benefits:
Specified Serious Illness
Specified Serious Illness cover pays out on a tax-free lump sum on diagnosis of a specified serious illness such as cancer, heart attack or stroke during the term of your policy. It is also known as Critical Illness cover or Serious Illness cover.
When diagnosed with a serious illness it can often prevent you from working. A lump sum payment made during this time can help you pay for your household bills and medical expenses allowing you to concentrate on getting better.
You do not need to be earning an income to get Specified Serious Illness Cover and it is recommended for stay-at-home parents.
Income Protection
Income Protection can help you maintain your lifestyle and pay your bills by paying you a part of your salary if you are unable to work due to illness or injury. You can decide on a deferred period between 4 to 52 weeks before the payment begins. The longer the Deferred Period, the more reasonable the cost.
If you are working we recommend you check out your company sick pay entitlement and work out how long you could manage your bills without a salary.
All premiums are subject to tax relief at your marginal rate of tax which makes it more affordable.
Health Insurance
Health Insurance is an insurance policy that you can take out to cover your private medical and hospital expenses for you and your family when they need health care. (line deleted here).
There are many different plans available so it can be difficult to compare them all. A good starting point is the Health Insurance Authority website www.hia.ie. as it will help you to compare different plans and benefits.
We suggest selecting a monthly budget for your plan and then comparing the best available benefits for that premium. Tax relief is given at source at 20% of the cost.
Remember you can also claim a refund of 20% on unclaimed medical expenses from the Revenue i.e. medical expenses that are not covered by the State or your Private Health Insurer.
We value our families; nearly everything we do is for them. Ask yourself what would happen them if anything happened you? It is possible to bridge that gap and give yourself and your family peace of mind.
Find out how affordable bridging the gap may be by reaching out to grainne@sunrisefinancialplanning.ie or call 061 – 412388.
