122. Money Protection: Must-Have Insurance for Gen Z (And Why It Matters) ft Adrian Benjamin

In this episode, we’re diving deep into why financial protection is non-negotiable and how to safeguard your future with the right insurance. We’ll break down key areas like income protection, life insurance, and critical illness coverage so you can make informed choices about your financial security.

Here’s what we’re unpacking:

• Why the unexpected can happen anytime, and how to be prepared.
• The importance of income protection and how it keeps you covered if things go wrong.
• What life insurance does and why it’s essential, even if you think you’re too young.
• Why critical illness cover is a game-changer — and why everyone needs it.
• Busting common myths about insurance that could cost you down the line.
• Tips on how to find the right financial advisor or broker to guide you through the process.

Ready to protect your future? For more personalised advice, contact Adrian Benjamin for a free consultation on social media.

FOLLOW ADRIAN:
💰 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adrian1b1/
💰 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-benjamin-cemap/
💰 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556540363988

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Financial Protection
• 9:00 The Importance of Being Financially Secure
• 21:00 Understanding Income Protection Insurance
• 40:00 Demystifying Life Insurance
• 1:02:00 Key Aspects of Critical Illness Insurance
• 1:24:00 How to Choose the Right Coverage

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey guys and welcome back to the Penny to Pounds podcast with your host, kia, and this is a podcast where we aim to dispel your myths, simplify difficult financial jargon and rectify your own personal problems. Happy Monday, everyone. I hope you've had an amazing weekend. Today we are talking all about how we can protect ourselves financially. If we've learned anything from the last five years, it's that anything can happen. You cannot predict what is next. The pandemic was definitely a lesson for many of us that security isn't always there. So what are the things that we can put into place to secure ourselves and our future? To help me with this, I've got an incredible guest who's going to demystify all of this for us. Guest who are you?

Speaker 2: 0:40

My name is Adrian Benjamin and I'm a financial protection advisor.

Speaker 1: 0:43

Amazing, adrian. I'm super excited to have you here. We're going to be talking about insurance, income protection and things that we can do to make sure we're financially protected. But first things first, I want to know a bit more about you. How did you get into this? I feel like this is not something that you wake up and say this is what I'm doing today and this is my career. So how did you get started?

Speaker 2: 1:01

So, like a lot of people in the industry, you kind of fall into it. So I always wanted to do banking when I was younger. So I think when I was like 21, I just walked into that west branch I was like, look, I want to learn about banking and I'll work for free. I don't know if you can do that, probably not anymore. This is. This is a while back I'm showing my age here and he said yep, we've got this. Um, you know this, this product, we don't understand it. We're not really selling it. Can you do that? So I did that, did loads of analysis on it, got great experience. And then I think after a month they were like you did a good job, but we think you'd be better suited to like corporate or or investment bank, and retail bank is not for you. And then the year afterwards I did the Mountbatten internship, which is basically the apprentice on steroids. So picture 200 grads from all around the world all living together in New York are you joking?

Speaker 2: 1:52

it's a real thing. Oh my gosh. So there'll be six of us in a flat. Uh, the American way of uni is you share a room?

Speaker 2: 1:58

yes so there's no door so there could be two of you or three of you sharing a room. So living together, working together, you know. So I was doing investment banking for Swiss bank called UBS, who were massive. This was 2009, so just after the crash. So all the films that you see, like living that in real time was eye-opening. Um, I got into it because you think it's glamorous and the money obviously is good, but it just wasn't for me. I kind of wanted to get into wealth management, but at the time it loads of people got made redundant so I kind of just left it. Then came back to the UK, did recruitment in Manchester and then worked for Royal Bank of Scotland in the corporate division and then after that I've worked for HSBC and then contracting as well. So different parts of banking are all different so retail different to investment.

Speaker 2: 2:46

So I think having all all that experience helped me to get in here. So how do I get into it? You touched on it the pandemic. Um, I was contracting. All the contracts kind of stopped. So it was time of, like unemployment for me, so squeaky bum time like, ah, what am I going to do with my life? Um, I was into property anyway. I've got a lot of friends in property, have my own property business, I'm going to be a mortgage broker. So I did my CMAT qualification and the second module is about insurance and I was reading it I was like this is really important. Why does no one tell us about this? This is, this is a bit weird, Like so from then I just kind of specialized in it from then.

Speaker 1: 3:23

Really, that's amazing. I think it's so important. You and I had a conversation off camera about how important this is. Yeah, it's not always spoken about and a lot of people would benefit from having insurances, but I think it is understanding how they work, the benefits and then maybe picking the ones that work for you.

Speaker 1: 3:41

So before, getting ahead of myself. Let's start with the first one I think is probably a bit more common. I think it's becoming a bit more common now, and probably the first one I really came across, which is income protection. So I want to ask you what is income protection and who should consider getting income protection?

Speaker 2: 3:57

Good point. Most people it's life first. But I think social media, income protection is spoken about more than life. So it's kind of different Before everyone had life and they forgot about the other two. So income protection kind of what it says on the tin, it helps your income if you're ill and you can't work. So if you're sick and you can't work, as long as you have a GP certificate, you send that to the insurance company and you get a monthly income.

Speaker 2: 4:22

The reason why that's important. So let's take COVID, for example. If you, let's say, you get hit by a bus, you're not going to die, but you're not great as well. Your savings, no matter how much you have. Most people it's one to three months savings. That's what most people have. If you have more great, once you've been through those three months and that happens really quick then what? It's a very stressful situation and you don't want to be in be in that situation. So you said who needs it the most? If you are self-employed, um, if you have a physical job, so if you're like a builder, a plumber, electrician, if you can't use your hands or your legs and you're getting paid weekly, you can't earn an income. So those people, um, if you have children, obviously you've got to look after yourself and the children. It is for everyone but those, those class of people, they, they.

Speaker 1: 5:08

I think income protection is really important for them I know I came across income protection because I am self-employed and if I fall sick there is no one to give me a sick pay, so that was probably a big thing. A lot of entrepreneurs and business owners know about income protection, but I think it is sometimes skewed as if it's only business owners who can get income protection, which is why I'm so happy that you mentioned that there are other categories, that it's for everyone, but the other categories of people who probably should consider it, because it is just good to have that protection when it comes to your money. So we've covered one. Next one life insurance, probably the most common one. Yeah, but quite often I would say advertised to an older demographic.

Speaker 1: 5:50

I don't know if you've ever seen. You probably see many ads. I know I've seen many. My parents used to watch stuff like qbc and in between qbc breaks I'll be seeing life insurance. You see the old people. I'm thinking. Anyway, let me know when the ad's done, because it's not for me, but talk to us. What is life insurance and who should consider getting life insurance?

Speaker 2: 6:06

good point and the adverts are terrible, terrible. It's like it doesn't make sense. There's old people on a beach smiling. It's the polar opposite of what this really is. So yeah, don't worry, I've been banging on about to change that um again. Life insurance is for everyone. I think most people come across it when you get a mortgage. That's probably the first first time most people get it. So if you're in your 20s, 30s, 40s buying a property, the mortgage advisor should be recommending life insurance. You don't have to take it. It's optional. And the reason why it's linked to property is, when you take out a mortgage, that debt you obviously owe the lender If anything was to happen to you. You want to make sure that the mortgage is paid and your family can can own the property. That's why that's um quite big.

Speaker 2: 6:47

But I feel it doesn't matter if you have a property or not it doesn't matter and then people think, oh, I've got to have kids to have it, like you need it. You know I'm. When I bought my flat, my mum was like, you know, if anything happens to you, you know, would you want your sister to have your flat? And I'm like, yeah, obviously it's like she'll get life insurance. I did it like I trust my mum, she's, she's smart, so to me I just did it.

Speaker 2: 7:10

But everyone else don't really, don't really work like that. So yeah, it's for everyone. But again, if you have small children, you know like, let's say, they're two, three, that's really important, even if your kids are like 18 and over, if anything happens to you, that money is going to help them, you know, in the future. Because that income, let's say, if it's you're on 30 grand a year, for example, 10 years, that's 300 grand, that's not coming in. 20 years, that's 600 grand like that's a lot of money. But we don't really think like that. Everyone's kind of like now, now, now, and if you have that in place where you know you are going to pass at some point, which just don't know when, it's going to massively benefit your family. And I think, with everything going on at the minute, with inflation and we were talking about taxes before. Life insurance is is so important, especially if you write it into trust. It's outside of your estate, so you're not going to get taxed 40%.

Speaker 2: 8:00

If you don't have it in trust, it can get taxed at 40%.

Speaker 1: 8:03

Yes, massive, and you've highlighted some of the benefits of life insurance. But I know we've got listeners across all ages, but our biggest core group are those in their mid-20s to mid-30s who listen to this podcast and I know a lot of them are probably saying well, I'm young, got no kids, right now I'm still living at home, I don't need life insurance, so are there any benefits to young people in that demographic to looking at potentially taking out life insurance within that age group?

Speaker 2: 8:37

No good question. I mean, you probably see a lot of GoFundMes, right, this prevents having a GoFundMe Whether you have children or not. It's for the, it's not for you, it's for the family to help them going forward. And you know, someone passing is a very stressful time. You know, depending on who you work for, you know if you're employed, your employer might give you time off. That time off is going to end at some point or they're not going to pay you. You know it's a very difficult thing. It can take months or even years. So if something was to happen, you could say look, everyone could take a year off. The bills are covered and go back to life as normal afterwards. A lot of people don't have that. So they're dealing with grief, they're dealing with stress, they're dealing with money issues and obviously what's happened is it's quite stressful.

Speaker 2: 9:20

Also, the younger you are, the cheaper it is. Technically, the best age to get life insurance is 18, and I know 18 year olds listening to this are probably thinking what is he talking about? Because the stats of you passing away are so low. It's you're the cheapest right. So if, if you're 18, it should be cheaper than someone who's like 55, for example, if you know you're going to, you know, hopefully, get married, have kids, have a property, whatever At some point. If you've just done it earlier, you're going to be saving so much money in the long run. So that's why the younger you are, the cheaper it's going to be. I have a lot of clients coming to me when they're older and then I told them the price and oh, it's so expensive and I was like, well, if you got it when you were younger, then we wouldn't be in this this situation.

Speaker 2: 10:02

So technically, 18 is the best age to get all of these products.

Speaker 1: 10:04

But and second to that, the best age is right now. Yeah, right now, wherever you are, wherever you are, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 2: 10:09

If you have an office job, your, you know, manual job, self-employed, it's irrelevant.

Speaker 1: 10:14

Income protection is massive and obviously the life insurance for the family as well amazing, then I think we have a third insurance that we should have a look at, which is critical illness. So what is that? I've got a three, three point question. So what is critical illness insurance, what illnesses does it cover, and when should someone consider taking it out?

Speaker 2: 10:37

Okay, so critical illness. The main medical issues that it covers is cancer, heart attack and stroke. Now in the UK we have, you know, loads of marathons and charity stuff for cancer. We all know it's a massive issue, right, and the stat is one in two out of two of us is going to get it One in two.

Speaker 2: 10:54

That's the stat. Oh gosh, scary right. And the stat is one in two out of two of us is going to get it. One and two. That's the stat right. So, again, if you did get it, time off, work stressful you don't want to. When you're ill, bills is the last thing that you want to worry about.

Speaker 2: 11:04

So critical illness covers basically money where you can take some time off. So some people do it as a multiple salary where you know they get something serious. They can take a year off, don't have to worry about bills. Two years, um. With that money, um, they can get medical treatment, whether in the uk or if you've probably again seen with gofundme, someone has to go to america for something because or I think japan's got really good medical facilities as well. That stuff's expensive. So critical, honest cover can be. You know, if you're going to have massive medical bills, it's not coming out of your savings, it's coming out of this policy. So, yeah, that's why you need it. And who needs it? Again, same as before. Everyone, doesn't matter how old you are, you should get covered.

Speaker 1: 11:47

What if you never experienced? Or what if you're someone who's like I'm, fit and healthy? It's unlikely I'm going to experience something like that, and that might be the reason why they're not interested in critical illness.

Speaker 2: 11:59

I mean that's a good point, but again it's one in two. Like how many people who are teenagers or kids wake up one day and have got something serious. It covers things outside cancer, heart attack and stroke, but they're the three main ones. They probably make up like 80% of the claims. There are other illnesses as well. It depends what provider you go with, but it's just that cover. So I got it because of family history. So if you know your family is prone to getting certain illnesses for example it could be a family history of breast cancer or high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, whatever you should be more likely to get it. But again to your point, even if you have nothing wrong with you, like you should still get it because every day someone who's 100, healthy, who's young, and if it something happens. So again, get all of them.

Speaker 1: 12:43

Yes, get all of them, have a look at all of them. So I think you've done a really good job of putting these three major insurances on all our radars. You know, income protection, life insurance, critical illness cover.

Speaker 2: 13:01

When it comes to actually, picking coverage and how much you should go for how do you even begin to work that out? Good question, that's why you need a broker like me. Okay, me, yeah, um, yeah, I mean, my job is to basically take all that off your hands, because it is complicated. And some websites, the comparison sites, the products you you have there, they're not fully comprehensive, so they're kind of the cheaper versions. They might not have all these extra benefits available, but, again, not a lot of people know that.

Speaker 2: 13:25

So, similar if you get a mortgage, yes, you can go direct with your bank, but if you have a mortgage broker who's independent, you've got access to other products, and this is exactly the same thing with insurance. Um, and also you've got someone who's who's got experience to help you through the process of why a certain product is better than another. So you might have a product that insurance is always price driven. I just want the cheapest, but you know if you were going to jump out, you know if you're driving, do you want a car that's going to break down or do you want one that's going to be more comprehensive? It's exactly the same thing. So I really don't like people saying the cheapest is the best because there's no point paying all this money and then if you need to claim on it, you can't claim on it all providers are different.

Speaker 2: 14:04

You know. Some providers take longer than others, like there's a whole heap of things in the background.

Speaker 1: 14:09

That's why you need a broker to help you select what's the best one for you if someone's looking for a broker, because I agree with you, I think when it comes to such big decisions, financial decisions like insurances, taking out mortgage, you should go for a broker who that's the expertise and they can scan the whole market, like we can't as individuals.

Speaker 1: 14:28

But how do you even go about finding someone like, yes, we've got you on a podcast and that's great, but in general, where do people look for these advisors and these experts who can actually help them in this? Because I was having this conversation the other day with someone and they basically came to me and they said I really want to get my finances in order and I want a financial advisor, but I don't know where to look, and I said it. I feel like the financial services industry has done itself a disservice in the sense of if you want to get a pt personal trainer, you know you can go to the gym and you can start there right. Even if you want to look elsewhere, you can go on Instagram, but you know for certain I can go to my local gym and find a personal trainer. If you want a financial advisor, there isn't that same concrete. I can just go here. So where does someone look for these experts?

Speaker 2: 15:12

good point. I think more and more people's social media. So Instagram, youtube, you know, linkedin is where I post a lot of content. Google High Street they are on the high street but again, the office probably doesn't stand out. It's very subtle. So you're right, it can be difficult. I'd say do your research and go with someone who you feel is comfortable. You know people buy off people. So if you want a younger person, for example, go with a younger ifa. You're not pigeonholed into someone as well, but I'd say, definitely do your research amazing.

Speaker 1: 15:47

I think that's really important. What are some of the common misconceptions when it comes to insurance and some of the ones that we've mentioned, because I know that there must be a lot. I know you must encounter a lot of people that you talk to, so what are some of the things that people believe are true about insurance that really isn't true?

Speaker 2: 16:03

The first one is it never pay out. People think it's like car insurance. They can just you know revenue every year or just cancel it, Like the three that we've spoken about are for the longterm like. You're not meant to do that, it's boring Again. They're fit and healthy, so which is fine, but if you, you know, if there's something wrong with me, then it's going to be more expensive. So if you are fit and healthy, that's the best time to take out insurance, because it'll be cheaper for you.

Speaker 2: 16:29

The younger you are, the healthier you are, the cheaper it's always going to be.

Speaker 1: 16:32

Yeah, I think the boring part an interesting one. I think some parts of finances just have to be done, and sometimes it's not glamorous and fun, it just has to be done, and a lot of them, like you said, you benefit from it. Doing it at a younger age, it's having that understanding and that knowledge. So we've covered quite a lot here. I think there's a lot that many people can take when it comes to insurance and what they want to do, but I want ask you what are some of the three things that you'd want our listeners to really take home when it comes to insurance and protecting themselves for the long term?

Speaker 2: 17:07

I'd say do your research, speak to a broker. Again, anyone who's watched this and wants a free complimentary call, I'm here. I'll give you my socials in the chat. I'm on Instagram, it's Adrian1B1. Linkedin's Adrian Benjamin. Same with Facebook. So if anyone messaged me and said they want to call, I'll do that for free. That's fine, and also just do it, I think. Have the conversations with your friends, your families and also your parents as well, because I think a lot of people as well their parents are older. You're going to lot of people as well, their parents are older. You're gonna have to sort all that out, like I've personally been through that two and a half years ago. It's awful and these products can massively help with that because, again, it's expensive. We, you know we mentioned a couple times about gofundme. You're in control of that, um, and that's the reason why I think people need to start having that conversation have these conversations?

Speaker 1: 17:56

yeah, absolutely. Just before we ran off, I was having a conversation with one of my friends, and their parents had life insurance for a long time and then cancelled it because, you know, we were all experiencing a cost of living crisis. Things are getting more expensive and to cut back money, they'll cut back on subscriptions and I think, like you said, because you don't draw down on it, just you know, anytime soon I think they cut it off and thought they wouldn't need it anyway.

Speaker 1: 18:22

The kids found out, try to get their parents back on it and the price was astronomical astronomical compared to what they were paying before they cancelled it so I think it is, as you mentioned, the point of parents it's important to have these conversations and they wouldn't have known had they not had a conversation with their parents.

Speaker 2: 18:41

That yeah, it's a bit of both. I mean, you've got clients that sometimes they cancel. That's the whole point of having a broker. Anything you need, that's what the broker's for, because it is if you you know if they spoke to someone, the bros, and say if you cancel it now, there's no point because it's going to be so expensive, you're not going to get covered again and you don't get your money back. So it is. I like to say insurance is this adult bill?

Speaker 1: 19:02

It's just when you have to pay.

Speaker 2: 19:03

You don't have to do it, but it's important and it's going to make yourself and your family's life a lot easier, because again you're going to get ill, you're going to get sick and you're going to die. So if you have, you know, sorted but yeah, that's what I think a lot of people do they just think, ah, I don't need it, I'll cancel, I'll just get it again, and they think it's going to be the same price.

Speaker 1: 19:25

Yeah, it's really not that, really not that. So I think this is why this episode is important. This education is it already. But for people listening and watching, where can they come and find you? They want to get this call, they want to have a chat with you again. Where can they find you?

Speaker 2: 19:43

so it is on Instagram Adrian1v1, on Facebook Adrian Benjamin, and Instagram no LinkedIn.

Speaker 1: 19:50

Sorry, adrian Benjamin amazing, and if they drop you a message and let you know they heard from this podcast, they can come and have a chat with you. Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, and to everyone listening and watching, we'll be back.