One of the most important elements of financial planning for dental and medical professionals is to design a plan that protects your income and helps to preserve your wealth in the event of long-term illness, disability, or death.
This does not constitute advice and advice should be sought in all instances before acting on it.
Many fail to think about the impact on their finances if they are unable to work for months or even years, and we often find that for a number of reasons many people simply refuse to think about what would happen in the event of their death.
However, a crucial role as a financial advisor is to help our clients see reason – to see the risk in doing nothing. The reality is that accidents happen, people get sick, and death is inevitable. If you fail to plan for these events, you can’t be sure how this will affect your and your family.
Our clients are always grateful for the peace of mind they have when they have put their own personalised plan in place.
“I am writing to say thank you for your good advice 11 years ago regarding critical illness cover, as this has reduced my worries about our home being taken away if I could not afford to pay off the mortgage.”
Dr A.G
Where should you start?
Ensuring your livelihood stays intact in the event of illness, injury, or death is even more critical if you are self-employed and/or are the sole breadwinner in your household. The stakes couldn’t be higher if you lose your income as the burden normally falls only on your shoulders, but there are a variety of ways to ensure you’re protected.
The first step in building your wealth protection and preservation plan is to decide on the level and type of protection you desire.
In an ideal world, you wouldn’t have to choose between
- life cover
- critical illness cover
- income protection, and
- a variety of private insurance options.
Not only do they all give you have maximum protection from losing your income, falling ill, and preserving your home for your family in the event of your death, but you’ll also be able to employ tactics that will help preserve your wealth for generations to come. However, it’s a financial advisor’s job to help you prioritise and select the right coverage for you.
We recommend personalising your plan
Deciding which coverage to go with after an illness or an injury is perhaps the trickiest decision.
In the simplest of terms, critical illness cover is unique because it issues a lump sum to help you pay off one-time expenses.
On the other hand, income protection’s regular payments will help cover you over a longer period of time.
Life cover comes into play when you need to set your family up for success in the event of your death as its primary function is to replace the income that would be lost. Payment is delivered as a lump sum once the policy is fulfilled so your family can keep up with the mortgage, bills, or anything that the insured would usually cover for your dependents.
Protecting your wealth is only the first half of the battle; the other half is preserving it.
Financial advisors will provide guidance on how to do this, but you’ll need to draw up a will to ensure your wishes are posthumously honoured. You need to assign lasting power of attorney to a trusted individual who will make decisions on your behalf while you’re alive if your declining health prevents you from doing so.
At Dental & Medical Financial Services, we are specialists in providing the safety net that you and your family need.
Wealth protection and preservation is an essential financial planning consideration and we offer a number of protection products from a range of trusted providers that will help you find a solution tailored to your specific needs.
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Dental & Medical Financial Services have been helping doctors and dentists to build and protect their wealth, whilst saving tax for over 25 years.