Archive for July 18th, 2008

by Rob Fisher

Critical illness insurance has become one of the most rapidly growing forms of insurance available today. According to tiscali.money, critical illness insurance may have over 1 million of policies sold in the UK in the year 2002. This type of insurance was developed as medical improvements enabled people to survive a critical illness that could not have been treated long ago.

Most people take the risk, hoping they will not suffer from a serious illness. Unfortunately, you are more likely to die of a critical illness before the age of 65. Statistics show that one out of 17 women under the age of 65 will suffer a heart attack. In addition, about one in seven females will develop some form of cancer. One in 27 women will suffer a stroke, and one in five women will suffer from other critical illnesses.

Men statistically, are at a higher risk for serious illnesses like a heart attack. Longer work hours and an overall stressful lifestyle are the main contributing factors. The statistics show that men have a one in 11 chance of contracting cancer before reaching 65 years of age. In addition, about one in seven men will experience a heart attack. Roughly 3% of all men will suffer from a stroke during their lifetimes, and 25% of all men will be stricken by other serious conditions.

Critical illness insurance will pay you a tax-free, lump sum as specified in your insurance policy. Before signing the agreement, read the policy carefully. Make sure you know the exact range of illnesses covered. This will make it easier for you to obtain payment should you ever need it. Take some time to examine some of the recent statistics. Statistics provided by tiscali.money show that 80% of adults between the ages of 40 and 45 survive critical illnesses such as a heart attack. About half of these adults will survive for an additional 10 years.

Furthermore nearly 40% of people suffering a critical illness incident such as cancer, for example, are between the ages of 35 and 54. On a positive note, modern medicine can help many of these patients survive three years or more after diagnosis and/or treatment. About 350,000 people could have suffered disability as a consequence of stroke. Of the people who are affected by this critical illness, close to 70% may survive for a year.

There are a number of ways that critical illness insurance can protect you and your family. You will be paid a tax-free lump sum payment, upon contracting a critical illness. This money will be useful in dealing with the loss of income and can be used in any number of ways. This way your family can continue to maintain their standard of life and live comfortably.

If you are going to start a family it can be an advantage to buy a critical illness insurance. By doing so, you may already have secured the financial position of your entire family from any mishap that may happen to you in the future.

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by William Blake

Teenagers tend to think that they know everything already, and often consider their parents to be clueless about what really matters to them. Such erroneous beliefs are not true, since parents are well aware of the dangers of poor financial decisions. Parents can and should teach their teenagers quite a bit about money and how to use it well.

Since parents have had more experience on how to deal with financial thicks and thins than their children, teenagers can learn a lot from the advice they give. The knowledge parents share with their teenage children will help them get on the right path financially and set them up for benefiting from having good credit. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open a savings account. As soon as a teenager begins making income from any sort of job, take them to a bank to start putting their money into a savings account. Encouraging teenagers to leave any money they make in the bank for a month before using it will help them save up moderately large amounts of money that would otherwise be squandered away in no time at all and on nothing of any importance. Though it won’t be easy to get teenagers to stick to such a plan, it will be a great financial lesson for them.

2. Get a certificate of deposit. After a teenager has successfully saved about $500, have them invest this money in a CD. Interest rates will be higher on CD’s the longer they are kept. Testing this out on a one year CD is a good idea so that, when the CD is opened, your teenager can think about what they should do with the money that has accumulated.

3. Sleep on it. When your teenager sees something that they really want to purchase, ask them to sleep on it for a night or two. Parents know all too well about buyer’s remorse after an emotional purchase. Implementing the “sleep on it” rule of thumb in your household can save your teenager from feeling that same remorse. They want a scooter today, but by taking the time to think about the purchase, they may choose to save to buy a motorbike instead.

4. Plan your finances. Making a budget can be just as helpful to teenagers as it is for their parents. Explain the difference between wants and needs and then let them consider their situation. Over a period of time, allow teenagers to write out just what they consider to be their personal wants and needs.

5. Determine how much money and time it will take for teenagers to afford their wants. They can also decide what amount of money they want to save on a monthly basis in an effort to buy something they want. This way they will have some extra spending money for going out with friends or on dates.

Teenagers can learn to use money wisely, but starting to teach them as early as possible will make it easier later on. Financially responsible teenagers will turn into equally responsible adults, capable of caring for their financial needs efficiently.

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