Can you help my son?

Can you help my son?

Can you help my son was the question today from a client. The client says that his son’s partner is now expecting & hence his son should have some cover.

The client is very aware of the need for cover as his wife has just had a trauma cover payout as she has cancer. This trauma payout was sufficient to pay out the mortgage for the client.


So can we help the son or rather the son’s partner or rather the up coming grand child. Yes, of course we can. The son only knows he has ‘not much super’ & we know for sure that he will have insufficient life cover should that event occur. How much is sufficient?

There are plenty of calculators on http://www.lifewise.org.au/Default.aspx to work that out. However back of envelope suggests more than 1 million. The family would prefer to have a rent free house paid off say 400k – 500k and then capital of 1 million to provide the income so as there is no reduction in family standards. The mother should be allowed to be the mother & who knows how many will be in the family.

We could argue the same amount for total & permanent disability. We all are aware of the efforts in looking after elderly parents or what is even more telling bring up autistic or other disadvantaged children. A huge amount of time, money, emotions is required along with much more support. Hence total disability needs more cover than the average industry fund provides & certainly more advice. These may seem large amounts but all can be tailored to the son’s needs & income.


Of course there is also income protection which as a recent TV advt says ‘isn’t it time you discussed income protection’? as more than ‘50% of household run out of money in a month.’ As most are aware this is taxx deductible. It is also generally better outside super due to constraints on super trustees from super legislation. The son can’t rely on others to meet his rent, car expenses & living costs as they have their own challenges.


We repeat ‘all can be tailored according to the budget’ & after 25 years in this service we find that 2-3 dollars per day maximum provides useful cover.

Of course at the age of 28 this son needs to start looking after his next 28 years & his responsibilities. His partner might start suggestion houses. Unfortunately they won’t have sufficient deposit although pre CFG they might be given a loan. Hence they need to build a 20% deposit, decide what school they will send the children & it is the only house they will buy. The bank or the mortgage broker will want to flog them a loan too early & this may not be for the child’s benefit in the future. The family needs 2 incomes to meet most loans.

Hence we offer the same opportunity as for the son. I.e. a complimentary meeting with a non-aligned wealth coach & we have been a member of the FPA since its inception. We have been a member of the AFA for 26 years.

Do you have sufficient cover & if not we are here to help you. Welcome to email, call on 3848 1088 or book on our websites.

John McAuliffe