Entrepreneurship and risk go hand in hand. Entrepreneurs forge new ground, introduce new ideas, and put new products and services into the marketplace. They do this at great personal and professional expense, emotionally and financially. No successful entrepreneur has made their fame and fortune without sacrifice and all admit their path would not lead anywhere without a healthy appetite for risk. But there is one risk an entrepreneur cannot afford to take: living without life and health insurance.
Life and health insurance for entrepreneurs
Startups control for many factors, but there is a random element that nobody can fully prepare for. It’s called life. Life means getting ill unexpectedly – and sometimes terminally. It means being the victim of an accident due to someone else’s negligence. It means losing limbs, eyesight, the use of your hands or feet. Life is unpredictable and as long as you are living, you are at risk of the unexpected.
Insurance is all about mitigating risks – and that is something you as an entrepreneur know very well. While you cannot control the future, you can minimize the fallout of risks. If you are so willing to do this for the company you put your blood, sweat and tears into, why not do this for the person behind the company – you?
There are several coverages that entrepreneurs need:
Life insurance
Life insurance pays your beneficiary in the event of your death (conditions apply). If you have a family and your income is a big part of their support, you need life insurance.
Health and dental insurance
Whether you are single or have a family, a turn in your health could spell the end of your startup. Medical care, while covered robustly in Canada, is still very expensive. Things like copays on medication, walking boot casts, eyeglasses, braces and ambulance rides all come at a cost.
Money is often tight when startups are just getting off the ground, but to face a medical or health expense while launching your company? That can be a disaster. Health and dental insurance helps mitigate this risk.
Disability and/or critical illness insurance
Known as living benefits, disability insurance pays you in the event of a disability while critical illness insurance pays you in the event of a serious (but not always fatal) diagnosis.
For example, if your job requires you to be very physical (such as owning a roofing company) and you fall off a roof and break your leg, you would need disability payments to bridge the financial gap until you can get back to work. If you are diagnosed with cancer and have to take time off for treatment, critical illness insurance would pay you a lump sum, which gives you the option of time off work, paying for experimental (or out of province) treatment, paying off debts, and more.
Protecting your greatest asset
Your biggest asset isn’t your home, your car, or even your successful business. It is your ability to earn an income. Without that, all your physical assets are at risk. You see the need to insure your home, car, business and even your cell phone. You are worth more than all that combined, so don’t risk it – insure yourself.
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