Life very rarely runs smoothly and this is never truer than when it comes to your health and your finances. Put the two together and you may find yourself with big problems, especially if you suddenly become too ill to work or, god forbid, you die. Planning for the future is always essential and taking out life assurance and any of the other financial products that can help with potential money worries is a great way to start.

So how do you start to plan for the times when things aren’t going to plan? Well unfortunately you can’t plan for every eventuality but you can plan for the times when you become ill, possibly critically or terminally, when you have an accident that prevents you from working and when you finally give up the ghost and pass away. There are numerous types of policy and insurances that you can take out to safeguard your finances and the most popular ones are outlined below.

Planning for Illness
Nobody can say when they’re going to become ill but when an illness becomes critical or terminal then it’s time to worry. Obviously seriously ill people can’t work or they prefer not to work and so it’s important to cover the income lost during these times. Critical illness cover pays out a lump sum of cash when you’re diagnosed with a specific illness, such as cancer, stroke or heart attack. The cost of cover is quite expensive because there’s a good chance that you’ll claim during your lifetime but if you have a family history of critical illness then a policy is worth considering.

Planning for Accidents and Illnesses that aren’t Critical
Accidents and illnesses that affect your ability to work also affect your ability to earn money and while this may be okay for a month or two, anything longer will probably start to cause serious financial difficulties. To combat this there is Income Protection Insurance which pays out an agreed amount each month in place of your lost wages. The top level of cover is normally equivalent to 60% of your monthly wage so that you can pay the essentials and afford to live but you can’t splash out on lots of little luxuries.

Planning for your Death
Death is unfortunately a certainty for everyone but by taking out a life assurance policy you can leave your family financially secure while also paying your own funeral bills. There are two main types of life assurance – term assurance and whole of life assurance.

Term assurance pays a pre-agreed death benefit if you die within a pre-agreed period of time, such as the length of your mortgage. If you don’t die during the term then the policy ends and that’s that. You don’t get any money back but because of this the policies are quite cheap.

Whole of life assurance pays out a pre-agreed sum of money at any time the policy is running, providing you pay your premiums every month. The policy literally lasts until you die but if you stop paying the premiums you don’t get anything back and so this type of assurance needs careful thought before signing.

There are a number of other methods to plan for the future as well and so it is worth doing your own research or talking to a qualified financial planner for more details.