Spring-clean your financial affairs

Review your options annually

As soon as the weather starts to change, I get inspired to start ‘spring-cleaning’. It is an opportunity to rearrange for the next season, get rid of the old and to revitalise the unused!

Spring is also a good time to review your financial affairs. Medical aid in particular is one aspect to focus on, as most medical schemes release their new tariffs and changes in their benefits towards the end of the year.

 

Take a holistic approach

Many people believe that medical aid rates will increase and there isn’t much they can do about it, apart from adjusting their budget accordingly. This mindset is overly simplistic, however. It is important to have a sound understanding of your family’s medical aid benefits and take this into account when considering any changes to your medical aid plan.

We can’t predict when we are going to fall ill, but we can be more aware of certain factors that may influence our wellbeing – such as knowing our family’s medical history and detecting problems earlier by getting regular check-ups. Prevention is, after all, better than cure.

 

A hard lesson learnt

A friend of mine recently related to me how she had always believed she had a good understanding of the medical aid benefits her family has access to. However, it was only when she had a health scare that she decided to critically evaluate the cover she had in place.

Obviously, this wasn’t the right time, but it did prompt her to really put in the effort to understand her medical aid and gap cover benefits. It took a few tough conversations with her adviser about her risk benefits, and a feeling of panic at the thought of not having enough cover, but her adviser was able to guide her through a logical conversation and highlight how they got to those numbers in the first place.

This story is a reminder that it’s too late to change your cover after an event has occurred! Our needs – as well as those of our family – change as time goes on, which is why it is so important to ensure that your cover – be it risk, health or provision for savings or retirement – is aligned to your needs and updated regularly.

 

Conclusion

It is incredibly important to critically evaluate your financial wellness on a regular basis. Ensure that you look beyond the contributions or premiums you are paying and really understand what you have cover for, or what you are saving for.

This process is sometimes rather intimidating, so partnering with a specialist is most definitely worth it! Make the right choices today that will lead to a lasting legacy.