What keeps you awake at night?

Recent research revealed the top 20 things that keep Australians awake at night and interestingly many worries were linked to finances.

In the recent study ‘Cash versus Love’ by an insurance Fund Manager#, the top five worries expressed by participants were fear of:

• Losing their job
• Not being financially secure
• Getting a life threatening illness
• Stress from work overload
• Not being able to pay the bills

Funnily enough, four out of these five worries could be resolved by a visit to a Financial Adviser.

Uncertain Future

The common theme in these four fears is a feeling of insecurity around what the future holds. Luckily, these uncertainties can generally be mitigated with insurance.

Research has consistently shown that Australians are not taking out adequate levels of insurance to protect themselves and their families should the unexpected occur. This in turn can cause great distress – often resulting in financial hardship, where families are forced to sell family homes or other significant assets and may even need to rely on Government welfare to survive.

Be Proactive

Although Australians are fully aware of these consequences, it appears they are worrying about them rather than adopting a proactive approach and taking steps to protect themselves.

By seeking financial advice, Australians have the ability to ease their concerns and protect their families. This research supports the ways in which financial advice and insurance can make a positive noticeable difference in our lives.

Financial Security = Better Self Esteem

The other main conclusion drawn from the results is that while Australians place a high importance on financial security, they specifically value the ability to pay their own bills without having to borrow money. This suggests that feeling financially secure is linked to self-esteem, again increasing the potential benefits of seeking financial advice.

The ‘Cash versus Love’ findings show that 90 per cent of Australians feel ‘insecure’, ‘inadequate’ and/or ‘distressed‘ when it comes to borrowing money to pay for bills and 95 per cent of people would feel ‘confident’, ‘proud’ and/or ‘secure’ knowing they would never have to borrow money.

The results support the idea that the ability to earn an income is one of our biggest sources of confidence, yet many Australians don’t know they can or don’t consider protecting their income with insurance.

Review Your Insurances

For those with insurance in place, it is important to review this protection to ensure it still meets and fulfils your personal circumstances. For instance, have you increased your mortgage, started a family, have a different level of household income or had a promotion and salary increase recently? All of these examples are key reasons why you need to regularly review the insurances you have in place.

Contingency Plans

A second research report released by a Fund Manager* also noted key insights of Australians when planning for retirement, with only one in ten having a plan in place for complications such as losing a job or becoming ill. Even more surprisingly, a huge 72.1% have given these issues low or very low consideration. Given the ‘Cash versus Love’ findings show a leading worry for Australians is being financially secure, these retirement trends are very concerning. Australians are stressing about these issues, when they could be doing something positive to reduce them.
We all want our lives to be as stress free and happy as possible. These new findings validate the importance of seeking Financial Advice in order to achieve your desired outcomes.
Speak to your Financial Adviser today and discover peace of mind, knowing you are sufficiently protected for whatever life throws your way.