Mortgages

Life Assurance as Protection - Term assurance

Term assurance (also known as "temporary insurance") provides financial protection if you die within a specified period known as "the term". This period might be 10, 15 or 20 years although most Life Assurance Companies will allow you to take cover up to age 70.  If you are alive at the end of the term, no payment is made.Term assurance is the cheapest form of protection. For just a small amount of money per month your dependants or business colleagues can have the piece of mind that in the event of a premature death their family and business are taken care of. You can also receive tax relief on certain term assurance policies.

There are three main types of term assurance:

• Decreasing Term or Mortgage Protection - The sum assured reduces by a fixed amount each year, decreasing to nil at the end of the term. This is the basic and cheapest form of Protection cover available. These policies are usually used to cover a mortgage or other loan and they are designed to pay any outstanding loan repayment if you die early. Remember, though, at the end of the term nothing is payable. The premium remains the same throughout the term.

• Increasing Term - The sum assured increases each year by a fixed percentage of the original sum assured. These policies are designed to increase your insurance protection as your earnings increase or against inflation. A lump sum of cover is provided in the event of death.

• Family Income Benefit - If you die during the term of the policy a regular income is paid to your dependents for the rest of the term. The income can be paid monthly, quarterly or yearly. Some policies provide an income which increases each year at a fixed rate - say by 3% or 5%.

If you have any further questions regarding Life Assurance, do not hesitate to contact us.

Income Protection

Unfortunately, none of us are immune to accidents or illness and should we become unable to work, the last thing you want on top of a health crisis is an income crisis.

Put simply, an Income Protection plan guarantees you a source of regular income until you are fit to return to work or reach 65 years of age.

With income protection, tailored for those in the medical profession, you can:

• Protect up to 75% of your yearly earnings in the event of being unable to work due to accident or illness to a maximum annual benefit of €250,000.00.

• It is also possible to receive up to 40% tax relief on the premiums paid.

• We can guarantee you the most competitive premium available between all providers.

• We boast reduced medical underwriting requirements compared to that offered by competitors, e.g. no underwriting required for an annual income protection benefit up to €70,000.00

• No long winded applications to be completed, instead a tele-medical is provided at a time which is most suitable to you. If a medical examination is required, it can be conducted either at your home or place of work

Why should you take out income protection cover?

• If you are self-employed and would have no source of income if you couldn’t work due to illness or disability

• You currently receive little or no sick pay from your employer

• Have no ill-health pension protection

• Have dependents who greatly rely on your income

• You currently have no alternative source of income

• You do not not have sufficient benefits to replace your lost income and/or cover your expenses

An income protection benefit is treated as normal income and so is assessed for income tax, PRSI and the Universal Social Charge.

Critical Illness Cover

Unfortunately, serious illnesses such as cancer and cardio-vascular disease, affect one-in-four women and one-in-five men before retirement age. According to a recent World Health Organisation report, cancer alone stands as the number one cause of death worldwide.

Critical illness insurance, or serious illness cover pays you a tax-free lump sum in the event that you become seriously ill or totally disabled. Typically, the policies will begin to pay out one month after the onset of the serious illness.

What it covers

Critical illness insurance pays benefits on the diagnosis of certain specified critical illnesses. The range of diseases covered has increased to more than 30, though contracts differ from one company to another.

All policies cover seven core medical conditions. These are cancer, coronary artery bypass surgery, heart attack, kidney failure, major organ transplant, multiple sclerosis and stroke. They will also pay out if a policyholder becomes permanently disabled as a result of injury or illness.

However, not all conditions are necessarily covered and as such it is important to speak to your financial advisor before taking out this cover who will carefully outline the conditions which you will be covered for.

For single people, or those of us with no dependents, critical illness cover which pays off your mortgage is perhaps more important than having life cover, as it means you have fewer bills or a lump sum to play with if you are very unwell.

If you feel critical illness cover is something you wish to discuss further, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Having an adequate pension scheme in place is one of the most important steps we can take in order to secure peace of mind.

In today’s society, people are living longer and leading more active lives throughout retirement. As a result, it is more important than ever for you to think about where your income will come from when you retire. The state pension (currently in the region of €11,976) will provide you with a basic level of retirement income, provided you qualify.

When planning for retirement you will need to decide whether this is enough to live on in retirement and if not where your additional income will come from.  No matter what your age, it is important for you to take control of your retirement planning and make the correct decisions regarding your pension.

For the Self-Employed and those in non-pensioned employment, Sheil Financial Planning offers independent, professional and objective advice to individuals in relation to personal pensions and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSA’s).  We will help in ensuring that you avail of the maximum tax reliefs available and maximise your pension.

If you have any further issues you would like to discuss, let us know when the most convenient time for us to contact you is and we will be in touch.

We can develop an investment strategy to suit your age and risk profile.

As the stock market is inherently fluctuating, we offer client specific investment advice which is entirely appropriate to you. Examples of some of the potential investment options available are as follows.

Investment options:

• Monthly only

• Monthly and Lump Sum Investment

• Lump Sum Only

Our professional, independent financial advise will guide you in selecting the right investment products for you.To talk through these options, at no obligation, please contact us and suggest a good time for us to contact you.

(Warning; the value of your investment may go down as well as up. Terms and conditions apply)