If you didn’t already know, last year our 23 year relationship broke down and we separated. I have never hid that from the blog and the fact we probably get on better now than we did when we were together means we made the right move. The children are happier, we are happier and the whole situation is a completely overall more healthy one for everyone. Who knows what the future may hold but for now I have had to have a shift in priorities as there were a few things I now have to hold myself totally responsible for now I am a single parent!
Since I only have my income to rely on I knew I needed to sort out some kind of insurance to help look after the girls and our home. I checked around and using the Post Office Life Insurance calculator I found that by paying from just £7 per month or more you can get up to £500,000 of cover. The calculator takes you through some simple steps which include whether you have outstanding debt, whether you want to leave a lump sum to your family should anything happen to you and how long you want the policy to run.
Did you know that the average UK family could only sustain their lifestyle for less than two months – 46 days – if they were to suddenly lose their main income, according to new research from Post Office Insurance. That is such a scary thought as there seems to be fewer opportunities around too to replace that missing income.
I know in the past we never even thought about life insurance as it seemed like something we could never afford but looking at the calculations it is now something I can not afford to NOT have! The policy pays out in full too if I would be diagnosed with a terminal illness meaning I was unable to work.
One in four UK adults (24%) do not feel their household has a contingency plan in place if they were to lose their income for 4 weeks – despite the average family needing an estimated £2,428 a month to live on (or £1,484 for a single person). This lack of contingency plan increases to 34% of households if the income loss were to last for 6 months or more.
My income is less than reliable as I am a full time blogger so is based solely on the amount of paid work I can gain each month meaning savings are not something I am capable of at the moment. My wage varies hugely from month to month so to know we have monies put aside in the form of this policy should things go wrong is a weight off my mind. A contingency plan is something we should all have in place should the worse happen and I am just sad it has taken something like our break up for me to sort it out.
Only one in four people feel their family’s financial futures are adequately protected (27%)
In addition to this, most UK adults have not discussed the guardianship of their children (76%), their funeral wishes (63%) or how they would like their assets divided among loved ones (53%) in the event of their death; even fewer have a formal agreement in place for these considerations.
Taking into account the message in the sentence from the research above I have also looked into Funeral arrangements. I know this is a morbid thing to think about and it is something I hate to think about what with the girls only being 3 and 7 – It really does frighten me but what frightens me more is the thought of nothing being in place should anything happen to me. I am nearing 44 and a lot of End of Life policies don’t start for a good few years but the Post Office Pre-Paid Funeral plan allows for inclusion from the age of 50 so this is something that I am contemplating in the next few years. The good thing is you don’t need a medical and all funeral costs etc are taken care of by either monthly installments or lump sum payments.
Being a single mum now I would hate to think I left anyone with the burden of paying for burying or cremating me upon the grief they are already going through so to know I can take this one worry from them is something that doesn’t make me sad it makes me happy that I would be doing something to ease their pain if that makes sense?!
I am a huge believer in life is for living so we need to enjoy every single day, but that doesn’t mean we can’t prepare ourselves should the worse happen. Do you feel the same and do you have plans in place?
XOXO
Debbie
This is a collaborative post with the Post Office
I think life insurance is so important and is definitely something to consider looking at if there isn’t a huge sum of savings stashed away somewhere.
I actually think a lot about what would happen if either me or my husband were to pass away. I’m going in for a major hernia repair towards the end of the year and it’s been something I’m worrying about. You have inspired me to check.
Wow that is great cover for the monthly payments it’s something we need to look into also.
I’m so sorry to hear your marriage broke down, but it’s so great that you’ve maintained a relationship for your kids. I separated from my daughters father and I feel so lucky that we get on so well still. It can be so hard to be civil, but amazing for everyone involved when you can be. It sounds awful, I haven’t even thought about life insurance until I read this post. I definitely need it and I don’t know why I’ve been putting it off. I use the Post Office for so many things, from travel insurance to home insurance, I’m definitely going to look into this too! x