What would you do if you couldn’t work and earn income from your business for 6 – 12 months? Have you got enough savings to pay your mortgage, a manager, staff, bills, medical expenses? When we’re on the treadmill working in our businesses it is hard to take time out to plan for things that we really hope won’t happen – like illness or accident. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go to plan and incidents of diseases like cancer are on the rise. We spend hours on our business plans and marketing strategies, so it’s probably a good idea to invest a few hours to make sure that we’ve got adequate income protection insurance to make sure we can get through any rough patches that life throws our way. This issue is especially important for single women, women with few assets and women leaving secure employment to start a new business venture.
So, make a plan! After all, it’s probably what you do best.
If you have an existing superannuation fund, contact them and find out what income protection insurance might be available to you as part of your existing plan, and judge whether you have enough cover or if you need to upgrade. If your strategy for superannuation is based on equity in your business, then you’ll need a different approach. Take advice from one or more independent, financial professionals. Most banks will also provide a free initial consultation with an in-house financial advisor. You can find some general information to get you started through the Financial Services Council (FSC) Lifewise campaign, which aims to help people understand and manage the risks that we can face in daily life. Get planning. Protecting your future income is too important not to.
