We encourage our clients (particularly the younger ones) to take a “benefit period to age 65” for their Income Protection policy. But what does this actually mean?

While this is common vernacular, it is actually a little misleading, as generally a policy will only pay until the policy expiry date, which may be age 65 or it may be the policy anniversary prior to or after age 65.

Some years ago, we had arranged for a client to receive an Income Protection claim. After years of abuse to hi...

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We’re in the last quarter of the financial year for 2012/13. Here are our top 5 tips to get your finances squared away before the end of the financial year.
 
Private Health Insurance Rebate
The government changed the rules on private health insurance rebate from 01 July 2012. You are now income tested on private health insurance premiums and payments to private health insurance are tested against three new income thresholds to determine if you are entitled to a rebate from the government.
This...
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Your biggest asset is your ability to earn an income. I talk about this a lot because I’m passionate about ensuring you have the right foundations in place for peace of mind and financial security. If you couldn’t work tomorrow because of injury or ill health, how long would your financial resources last? Would you want to end up reliant on government support? It’s not a lifestyle I’d want and it’s not a lifestyle of choice for most people.
There is a perception that protecting your ...

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While a broken arm or leg may not keep you off work, it is an inconvenience and it might put you out of pocket. What would a few thousand extra dollars do for you?

Many good quality Income Protection policies have a feature called ‘Specific Injury Benefit’ that will pay your monthly insured amount for a specific period of time regardless of whether you are totally disabled, need ongoing medical treatment or working. Plus, this benefit is usually payable during your waiting period.

For e...

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The 'waiting period' is the time between you becoming unable to work and receiving your first income protection payment. You can generally choose a waiting period between fourteen days and two years. A shorter waiting period usually means a higher premium.

Because most disability events are temporary, insurance coverage for them is cheaper when the policyholder agrees to wait longer before receiving claim payments. For example, if you break a finger, it may only be 2 months before you are ab...

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