With Christmas fast approaching, it’s about time to start planning who to buy presents for, what to buy and how much money you will need over the holiday season. Ideally, if you like to splash out at Christmas, you should have been saving for a long time now, but many of us are guilty of leaving it to the last minute year after year.
When it’s left to the last minute, hopefully we’ll have a few options. Some of us will borrow the money from a friend or use a credit card, others will look at their expenses and see what they can cut out in the run up so they can use the money elsewhere. You may surprise even yourself if you look at your outgoings and put them in order of priority. Think about the things that would come at the top of your list. You would hope it would include your mortgage, gas, water, electric and your insurance policies. The things which should appear near to the bottom of that list are things like eating out, satellite TV, the internet, designer clothing and nights out, but this is not always the case. Especially in the younger generation, keeping money for a night out can be more vital than anything else on your list.
Strangely, in the past few years, we have seen a fall in both the amount of new protection policies people take out and a fall in the amount of protection policies people keep running because they decide to cancel them in order to save money. It seems that even when the country is most vulnerable, we are willing to take the biggest risks with what matters most. It is times like these when we shouldn’t be looking to reduce our spending on insurance, we should be looking to increase it, because as the state will provide less for you and your family, the responsibility falls more onto yourself.
If you do need to cut your costs, you should have a proper review of your insurance with a professional adviser, who can assist you in deciding what is most important. Without thought you may decide that your most important insurance product is the one that covers something like your new phone, TV or laptop, not the ones which protect you against more damaging events like an accident, sickness or death. Also, rather than cancelling your policies altogether, they can discuss how you may wish to reduce your cover so that your not leaving yourself completely unprotected.
Making sure your family are protected should anything happen to you, or if you are unable to work, should be one of your top priorities. If you would like to review your protection needs you should consult an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). We recommend you speak to an independent mortgage adviser so that together you can decide what matters most to you and find you the mortgage you need. Kieron Bassett Financial Services has two Independent Financial Advisers. Contact us on (01524) 832057, via e-mail, info@kieronbassett.com, or visit www.kieronbassett.com.
Jason Hinde DipPFS
31st October 2011.
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