Financial Wellbeing
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Superannuation
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Life insurance
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Trauma insurance
Trauma (or critical illness) insurance provides a cash lump sum if you suffer a specified illness or injury (e.g. serious heart attack, stroke, cancer, kidney failure etc).
Advances in medical treatment have increased the need for trauma insurance because of the improved chance of survival; although you are more likely to survive, you are also more likely to have big medical bills to pay. Trauma insurance is a way to ensure you have funds available to seek medical treatment and take time off work to recuperate.
Choosing a policy
Trauma insurance is usually purchased as a stand alone policy, but can be purchased with additional options, such as a TPD benefit.
Trauma insurance is generally not available through superannuation.
Provides a cash lump sum that can be used by your family to:
The number of conditions covered under a trauma policy can vary, and it is important to consider the definition of each illness and injury when selecting which product to purchase.
Stand-alone policy or additional options
Trauma benefits are free of tax and there are no restrictions on how you can use the payments.
Tax treatment
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Pay for immediate care.
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Provide an income stream should you stop working.
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Repay any debt, or fund the ongoing repayments.
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Meet the costs of ongoing therapy, transportation and any adjustments to housing and lifestyle changes.
Trauma cover is relatively more expensive compared to other forms of life insurance because of the greater probability of a trauma event occurring.
Care should be taken in choosing the product to ensure it includes the illness and injury cover that you feel meets your needs and circumstances.
Cost
How much trauma cover should I have?
This will depend on:
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Your financial commitments, and how long will they last.
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Whether you want to repay your debts in full, or provide funds to cover the repayments for a period of time.
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The estimated cost of specialist medical care.
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Whether any assets will be sold to help pay for expenses.
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The amount of time you may need to take off work, and whether you will need additional money during this period.
We can help you work out an appropriate level of cover to suit your needs.