Children leaving and parents needing more
This decade often sits between two generations. Your children may be heading to university or moving out, while your own parents start to need more help. You might be paying a contribution to rent for one and a care bill for the other.
Look at who would struggle without your income now. It may be a partner still working towards retirement, an adult child finishing a degree or a parent you support.
Some people in their 50s also have adult children moving back home, or helping them save for a deposit. Decide whether that help is something you want cover to protect, or a gift that can stop if needed.
The last stretch of the mortgage
If your mortgage has ten or fifteen years left, decreasing cover over that term can be good value, because the payout falls with the debt. If you have an interest-only mortgage, check that your plan to repay it still works, and use level cover for the full balance.
Some people in their 50s remortgage to release money for home improvements or to help their children. Make sure any extra borrowing is covered too.
Many people in this decade have a mix of older policies. Some may end soon, some may be overlapping and some may no longer be needed. A review can free up money for cover that matches what you need now.
Thinking about what you will leave behind
As the house is paid off and pensions build up, your estate may have grown beyond the tax-free allowances. Inheritance tax could take a share of what your family receives.
Whole of life cover written in trust pays out whenever you die, so your family can use it towards the tax bill. For married couples, a joint policy that pays on the second death often matches when the tax falls due.
Think about pensions in this picture too. Defined contribution pensions can often pass to beneficiaries, and the rules on how they are taxed can change. Ask a financial adviser how your pensions fit with your estate planning.
Term, whole of life or an over-50s plan
Term cover is usually the lowest-cost way to protect a mortgage or a partner until a fixed date. Whole of life cover lasts for the rest of your life and costs more. Over-50s plans pay a modest fixed sum and accept you without health questions, but early claims for natural causes are often limited to a refund of premiums.
If you are in good health, fully underwritten cover usually gives you more for your money than an over-50s plan.
Critical illness cover and income protection get more expensive with age, but many people still buy them in their 50s. A serious illness in this decade could force early retirement, and income protection to your planned retirement age protects the years of pension saving you have left.
How Hi Tomorrow helps people in their 50s
We look at your remaining mortgage, your pension and workplace cover, your health and what you want to leave. Then we show you the options from our panel, from a short term policy to whole of life, and the cost of each.
We can also help with critical illness cover and income protection through to retirement.