31. Finances 101: 10 Perspectives - From my point of view. 5. Five Perspectives: Values. Value #4: S
Last week I spent some time talking about financial planning for the wedding ceremony.
Now I continue on with life in general.
One of the key values which I hold dear is that of Stewardship.
I believe we are caretakers and guardians of what we have, and we are entrusted to take care of them all as best as we can.
The few areas that I believe we need to look after are ourselves, our family members, the assets we currently hold: like home, car, etc
One of the ways to cover all these is through insurance.
Now, when I first started work, I don’t have much to spend on insurance, but that’s fine, for at that time, I have nothing much to insure too.
My first tip, if we are working for an organisation, try looking for an organisation that covers you via insurance well, from life insurance to medical insurance, and preferably the cover for you as an employee is unlimited. With the prevalence of all kinds of illnesses, coupled with our quite unhealthy lifestyles in general, medical costs can be quite high. Having an employer that covers all this for you can take a load off your shoulders, especially when we are first starting out.
While that is ongoing, start looking for an Insurance Service Provider that can also provide you with good advice and good products to meet our needs at different times of life.
Home insurance: Of course when you purchase a home, you will most likely take a Mortgage Term Reducing Assurance (MRTA). Then you will need fire insurance for your home, do check, usually your bank will take for you and add the amount into the loan. You will want to consider Homeowners Content to protect against theft.
Car Insurance: This is no problem as you'll need it to renew your road tax.
Your own insurance: Start with Protection (Savings and Investments can come in later). Look for a good insurance advisor / agent whom will advise based on your life stage and based on your priorities. If you are working for an employer that covers you well, you need not be in a hurry as you look for a good agent or Insurance Provider. But don't delay too long as well.For protection, do ensure you are covered with a strong Medical Card / Plan. Take it while you are young and healthy. This goes for your Life Insurance as well, that covers Death, Total Permanent Disability (TPD) and Critical Illness. Take a good policy when you are young and healthy. Then upgrade the policies when you are older and need greater coverage etc.Why? Because it is much more difficult to get covered when you are older, less healthy, display signs of any kinds of illness. Then, no matter how much money you may be willing to pay, the insurer will not cover you.So, when you can still afford it and are eligible for it, don’t tarry too long.
Wallet insurance: In this day and age, snatch theft and muggings and pickpockets are super rampant. Some insurers or banks do provide coverage for your credit cards and even your wallets. Take them. You will not regret.
Being financially responsible today means taking care of your belongings, ensuring that they remain safe, or as safe as can be. While there's no guarantee you will always be 100% risk free, these methods help in ways you can only be thankful for when things happen. If not, even better!
Then, as your finances grow and your dependents grow, you will need to slowly upgrade the various insurance policies to sufficiently cover things like medical, surgery, hospitalisation, children (when needed).
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to protecting what you have, but I'll stop here for now.
Next week, I'll look at the 5th of the values I hold dear, that of leaving a legacy in this world to those you love.
