What is life Insurance?

Life insurance is service which is paid for every month in exchange for a guarantee that the family members of the person who makes the monthly payments (the insured) are taken care of financially in the event that the insured is no longer able to earn an income due to disability or in the event that they pass away. The insured is, in many cases, the breadwinner of the family. The insured enters into a contract with the service provider (the insurance company, also called insurer) where the insurer makes a promise to pay the people whom the insured chose (the beneficiaries) to receive the money (the benefits) when the insured is no longer able to earn an income due to disability or in the event that they pass away. In a nutshell: insurance is a service that gives an insured individual the opportunity to enjoy life with few to no worries because they know that their loved ones will not have to face financial hardship when they pass or become disabled and are no longer able to earn an income.

When should you get Life Insurance?

Pretty much if someone depends on you or when you have any form of debt. • Unmarried – buying your 1st car • Married or getting married – Especially if you are the breadwinner or rely on two incomes • A parent or about to become one – Would your spouse be able to give your children opportunities without you? • A homeowner – Pay the mortgage in full should you die • Retired or planning for retirement – Help widows avoid financial struggles How much life Insurance do you need? When you consider all the things that life insurance proceeds need to fund and how long the money will be needed, you begin to realise that your true need for coverage is often 10 or 15 times your gross annual income, sometimes more! How much does Life Insurance Cost? Insurance companies use a process called underwriting to decide whether to sell life insurance to someone and how much to charge them. The following Lifestyle Indicators will be applicable to you when buying a Life Policy from Trustco Life: • Age • Qualification • Cholesterol Level • Body Mass Index • Blood Pressure • Liver Function • HIV/AIDS • Smoker/Non-smoker Younger applicants and people who are in good health, don't smoke and exercise regularly will be charged lower premiums because the company expects that these policyholders will live longer. Applicants who are older, have health problems, smoke and hardly ever exercise will probably pay more.

Trustco Life Plus Offers Additional Benefits

Trustco Life Plus offers you the choice to add occupational disability and dread disease. Occupational disability provides cover to its members should they be unable to perform the duties of any occupation. In the event that a Trustco Life Plus policy holder is permanently occupationally disabled, his/her Trustco Life Plus policy will pay out the full benefit subject to terms and conditions. As an added benefit to your already comprehensive cover Trustco Life Plus also includes a dread disease cover. A dread disease is a disease that has a significant impact on lifestyle and longevity, incurs high costs and/or causes significant resided morbidity. Serious illnesses covered under Trustco Life Plus: • Heart attack • Stroke • Cancer • Kidney failure • Organ transplant • Paraplegia • Total blindness • Motor Neuron Disease

Don’t let your Children’s lives end before it even begins!

Guardian Life is a long-term insurance policy that is designed to provide peace of mind in the event that the breadwinner passes away. Simultaneously, Guardian Life serves as an effective vehicle to save for longer-term goals like your child’s education, or even to give their entrepreneurial spirit a boost! You can access your savings on five year intervals without penalties. This policy is applicable to households with children. Guardian Life includes Funeral Cover, School and Household Expenses.

How is your life cover, dread disease and occupational disability dependent on your lifestyle?

How to maintain a healthy kidney and liver 1. Emphasis on high quality proteins. 2. Maintain a healthy weight. 3. Limit your intake of sodium. 4. Avoid alcohol. Start your stop smoking plan with START S = Set a quit date. T= Tell family, friends, and co-workers that you plan to quit. A = Anticipate and plan for the challenges you’ll face while quitting. R = Remove cigarettes and other tobacco products from your home, car, and work. T = Talk to your doctor about getting help to quit. How to lower or maintain a healthy blood pressure 1. Lose the extra kilograms and watch your waistline. 2. Exercise regularly. 3. Maintain a healthy diet. 4. Reduce sodium in your diet. 5. Limit the amount of alcohol you take in. 6. Quit smoking. 7. Cut back on caffeine. 8. Reduce your stress. 9. Monitor your blood pressure at home and see your doctor regularly. 10. Get support. How to Improve your Body Mass Index • Use a food diary to track your eating habits for several weeks. • Review the food journal and assess your eating habits. • Look for simple ways to cut calories. • Follow a realistic diet plan that includes all of the food groups and allows room for the occasional indulgence. • Work with a professional trainer to devise a fitness plan that fits your lifestyle. • Incorporate fitness into your everyday activities.

Do I really need life Insurance?

The cold, hard truth is: no one wants to think about death. Especially not their own demise. The fact though is that you will not live forever, and if you have people who depend on you, you will need to start thinking about their financial security when you are no longer alive to take care of them. Even more so if you have debts; your debt will have to be recovered. You are no longer alive so the debt will just be written off right? Wrong!! Surely you want to be sure that your family will be financially secure if the worst were to happen? Well, the longer you put off getting insurance, the higher the cost of reassurance. Have a look at the info-graphic below to determine whether you need to take out life insurance or not: Table

 

So now that you know that you do actually need life insurance, the question is: How much insurance do I need then? We will guide you through a process called underwriting to find out how much it would cost you to take out life insurance. We will use the Lifestyle Indicators below as a guideline: • Age • Qualification • Cholesterol Level • Body Mass Index • Blood Pressure • Liver Function • HIV/AIDS • Smoker/Non-Smoker Younger applicants and people who lead a healthy lifestyle – non-smoker, exercises regularly, follows a healthy eat diet – pay lower premiums because the assumption is that you are likely to live longer. The opposite applies for older applicants who have health problems, applicants that smoke and hardly ever exercise. Now, take into consideration the expenses that your family will have to maintain after the insurance has cleared your debts, paid for the funeral costs…

Savings and Investments

Savings & Investments Many people assume that saving and investing can only be done by those earning a comfortable salary. Far from the truth. Perhaps some schooling on what saving and investing actually are: Saving is when you put away part of your income for later use while investing is when you use what you have saved to earn more income. So if you save first, and then invest, you will eventually earn a comfortable income. In fact, the less you earn, the more you CANNOT afford NOT to save. Look at it this way: if you think your income is insufficient now, what about later when your needs increase? If you are not already saving, start today, your future will thank you for it one day. pic3

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