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People spend an amazing five years of their lives worrying, a study revealed earlier this year. About 86% of people surveyed in the UK described themselves as ‘worriers’. They spend on average one hour and 50 minutes a day, 12 hours and 53 minutes a week, or four years and 11 months across an average lifetime – just worrying!
While some people worried about issues as trivial as receding hairlines, the survey found that most worries involve work, financial concerns and their family’s future.
The cost of worryMore than 60% of the people surveyed claimed that worrying had affected their well-being, while others admitted that stress and irritability had led to arguments with their partner and children, even relationship splits and job losses.
Quick ways to help keep worry at bay range from sniffing grapefruit to writing down your fears – both scientifically proven to help master worrying. But are there other ways to beat worry? Never was a truer word said in jest than the following by American businessman and humourist Arnold Glasow: “You'll break the worry habit the day you decide you can meet and master the worst that can happen to you.”
Glasow had the right idea – master your fears, not temporarily by feel-good activities such as grapefruit sniffing, but by managing them, one worry at a time.
Can you really manage worry?Take a moment to sit down and list the things that worry you. You will see that a lot of the things that you fret about are risks or fears that are within your control. But, there are also some risks over which you have no control and this is where insurance brings you peace of mind. Planning ahead and ensuring you have the right insurance can help protect your income, partner or family and help take the worry out of everyday life.
What to cover?When was the last time you conducted a comprehensive review of your insurance cover – and not just your existing insurance policies, but what you need to cover to give you peace of mind. Remember, as your circumstances change, your level and type of insurance cover should be regularly reviewed to ensure it remains appropriate and affordable.
Here are some of the types of insurance that you should have on your portfolio:
- Life insurance: protect against the death of a breadwinner and the loss of his or her income.
- Disability insurance: financial protection against permanent disability and the subsequent loss in income
- Dread disease cover: a lump sum pay-out if you are diagnosed with any of the illnesses listed in your policy document
- A medical aid or hospital plan
- Funeral cover: plan for the passing of family members and funeral expenses
- Short-term insurance: you should cover your car, household goods and any other valuables, such as cell phones and jewellery
With the right cover in place you know that you and your family have the financial protection you need against illness, injury, loss of income and theft. And, if planning strikes you as a bit of a chore then rather consider it in more positive terms: a couple of hours work may save you a large portion of those five years of worry.
