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What is your most important financial asset? Is it your home? Your superannuation fund? Your investment portfolio? Your sports car (probably not!)?

Actually, it’s you.

That’s right, you are your own most important financial asset. Think about it. The average Australian working full-time earns around $75,000 a year. If the average working career is 40 years, then the average Australian will have $3 million worth of wages or salary pass through their hands. In addition, their employers will need to contribute at least $285,000 into superannuation on their behalf. So, you’re working life is worth almost $3.3 million – and that’s just if you’re average.

What’s more, you will use at least some of this $3.3 million to buy wealth-creating assets such as a family home, investments and assets in your superannuation fund. Without an income, none of these things are possible.

Even more importantly, you will use much of this $3.3 million to support the people you most care about – your partner, your kids, your parents – maybe even your favourite football team!

Most of us do not think twice about insuring less important assets such as our car or our house. Some people even insure their holidays. But too few people realise that the most important asset to insure is themselves. In particular, their ability to earn an income.

That’s why we recommend that people treat themselves like a house or a car. Every year you need to pay some money to make sure that your asset remains in good working order. That it keeps doing the job you needed to do – putting a roof over your kids head in the case of your house, getting you from A to B in the case of your car. And bringing in that monthly income, in the case of your good health.