It’s safe to assume everyone wants to have a comfortable and secure retirement someday.
This dream is definitely one of the main motivations that we use to work hard and strive to stay healthy for as long as we can. As the global economic situation grows more challenging every day, people are working harder than ever just to get by.
Retirement ages are getting pushed back in some countries – in Australia, this is currently a hot topic of debate, with reports it may rise to 67 – and as a result, workers are left with less time to enjoy their retirement. This is why it is extremely important to be prepared for anything that could happen – especially if you have a family that depends on your hard-earned income. In the event of an untimely death before retirement, the family does not need to suffer from any financial burden if there is an ample life insurance policy protecting them from that. If you don’t have a policy in place, Compare the Market as soon as possible.
Retirement and Insurance Go Hand in Hand
With the plethora of life insurance companies out there, it is prudent to make an Australian life insurance comparison among their terms in order to determine the one that suits your needs the most. The unexpected nature of life in general should make insurance policies a vital aspect of your overall financial plan. We can only do so much to prevent ourselves from falling prey to illness or untoward events, but the reality is that there is no guarantee that we will be able to elude them completely, and successfully. A substantial life insurance benefit payment reduces the chances that your family’s standard of living is not altered dramatically because of a sudden death.
When you decide to get life insurance as a supplementary retirement investment, there are numerous factors to consider. For starters, you have to choose between permanent and term policies – this decision will largely depend on your actual income and financial obligations. Life insurance companies offer policies that contain similar features, but with the help of insurance comparison services, you will be able to identify their subtle differences and choose the most appropriate one for you.
Reputation Is Key
You don’t want to risk your family’s welfare with a life insurance company that has a less-than-stellar reputation. The bigger and more reputable a company is, the higher the chances that it has sufficient funds available to provide your family’s needs. Business owners and high-income professionals are encouraged to purchase permanent life insurance as a means of increasing the size of their retirement package.
On the other hand, workers who receive average-sized incomes prefer to buy term life insurance, as it is the more affordable option. But since a permanent life insurance policy entails equity and builds over time, even regular professionals are being enticed to go for permanent insurance. There is a hybrid type insurance policy product being marketed today to people who have difficulty deciding between permanent and term insurance policies. Named Variable Universal Life Insurance, it enables the policy holder to select from a variety of separate accounts. Whether this is a policy worth buying, has been discussed by experts.
Life insurance can certainly ensure the financial stability of your family in the event of your timely demise. However, if you purchase it for retirement or other purposes, be prudent enough to inspect the policy to make sure that it indeed fills that role.
Tradesman liability insurance is something that every self-employed person must have by law. There are two main parts of this insurance: public liability insurance and employer’s liability insurance. If you are self employed but do not have any employees who work for you, then you don’t need the employer’s liability insurance. Public liability insurance, while not required by law, is highly recommended and will protect you from a number of problems.
What public liability insurance covers is any claims that could be made against you by a third party. For a construction worker, this might be someone walking past your site who trips over a tool and is badly injured. For someone working as a builder, plumber, electrician, or other trades that involve entering a client’s house, this will cover the accidental destruction of property in the owner’s house, whether or not it is caused directly by the work you are doing.
Employer’s liability insurance
Employer’s liability insurance, put simply, covers the possible injury or death of your employees in the event that you are sued for damages resulting in your negligence. This will typically cover the amount that the employee or their family is asking for as well as the associated legal expenses. This type of insurance is typically sold along with public liability insurance as the two go hand-in-hand.
There are many other types of insurance that a self-employed person will need to have or at least consider depending on the type of business you have. Contractors, builders, and other construction tradesmen will probably need contractor’s all risks insurance, which will cover everything from employee’s tools; the property on which the work is being done; and loss of materials, tools, and equipment due to theft or damage.
Personal insurance
Personal insurance is something that many people overlook, but it is extremely important for self-employed people, whether or not you have employees. Also called personal accident insurance, it will cover you as the owner if you are injured and not able to work for a period of time. It will provide you with a monthly tax-free income during the time you are unable to work, hospital cash that goes toward covering hospital bills, and may include a lump sum payout depending on the injury. This is another type of insurance that is highly recommended for construction worker, but is useful for any person who is self-employed, including hairdressers and beauticians.
For those in the construction industry or those who use expensive machinery and tools, you may want machinery and tool insurance. In the construction industry in particular, there are a lot of chances for theft, accident, damage, and injury to occur as a result of the heavy machinery being used. This insurance will also typically cover damages caused by third parties.
When selecting the types of insurance needed for your specific trade, take your time and do your research. Check first to see which types of insurance are required by law, and which ones you think you will really need. It’s important also to measure the cost of the insurance against the risk of not having it. It is always better to have more coverage that you think you might need, even though if you are just starting out it may be financially difficult to have insurance.
Standard Chartered bank illegally “schemed” with Iran to launder as much as $250 billion for nearly a decade, a US regulator says.
The New York State Department of Financial Services said that the bank hid 60,000 secret transactions for “Iranian financial institutions” that were subject to US economic sanctions.
Standard Chartered bank illegally "schemed" with Iran to launder as much as $250 billion for nearly a decade
Standard Chartered then covered up its transgressions, it said.
HSBC was recently accused by the US Senate of allowing money laundering.
HSBC has set aside $700 million to deal with those allegations.
