Covid was hard on us all. For most of us, we have never lived through a more uncertain and dangerous time before. Never before have many of us felt that we were risking our lives by doing something as simple as walking to the store. As well as being one of the scariest times of our lives, Covid also created the biggest economic crisis since the recession of 2008.
Due to the fact the government imposed lockdowns and asked us all to stay at home, the majority of businesses were unable to operate for almost a full year. This meant that many people that were self-employed were unable to make a livable wage and others were fired from their jobs at the time.
A lot of countries had a contingency plan in place, referred to as a furlough scheme. For these lucky countries, the people who were unable to get to work and make money were, fortunately, able to earn enough money to cover their bills and other costs. However, there were many countries that had absolutely no contingency plan in place, which meant that many of their citizens were left in terrible economic circumstances.
If you were someone that lived in a country that offered no financial support, you may have taken the last year as a sign that you really need to have a backup plan in place for the next time something affects the economy. This will especially be the case if you are someone with a large family, as if you were to unfortunately die, there may not be any way that your family can be supported.
Though worrying about money is never fun, right now you are in a good position to make a difference and ensure that you are able to support your family in the future. The worst thing that you could do is forget your worries and leave them to later in life, as the last year has shown that death can come out of nowhere. Here is how you can financially support your family in these uncertain times.
Help Them With Employment
Even though the effects of covid are slowly starting to disappear, many people have still been left without jobs. If you have someone in your family that has unfortunately lost their job, they may come to you and ask for financial support. Offering them money from time to time is fine, but eventually, that money will disappear because of bills, so they will just be left in the same financial position as they were in before.
If you were lucky enough to keep your own job, why not enquire into your company and find out if they have any other available jobs. Companies would much rather rely on the recommendation of a trusted worker than go through a long interview process with dozens of strangers, so you would be doing both a favor.
If you are not in a position where you can get your family member employment at your workspace, something else you can do is ask around your friends. If you are much older than your family member, it is likely that you have made connections with people who own their own businesses or have prominent positions in other businesses. If this is the case, why not get in contact with them and see if they have a space for your family member? Friends are always happy to help each other and so they will likely be very open to the idea.
Take a look at your life insurance
When we all take out life insurance, we usually go for the basic plan, thinking that we won’t need to use it until we are old and grey. Once again, the events of last year have taught us that this is not the case, and so you should really look at your plan.
A lot of people that have taken a look at their current insurance plans have realized that they do not have a good deal at all. In fact, many people found out that if they had passed away due to covid, their family may not have received any money at all. If you look at your insurance and you are not satisfied with your plan, you can choose to opt out. Once you opt out, you will also be able to take out your cash surrender value. You may be wondering, what does cash surrender value in life insurance mean? To describe it very basically, this just refers to the amount of cash you have accumulated with your life insurance policy, which will inevitably be passed down to your loved ones once you have died.
Most insurance companies will give you this in a sum amount and you can choose to do whatever you would like with this amount. We recommend that you take this money and invest it straight back into another policy that will have you more covered.
However, if you or any of your loved ones are currently in a difficult financial situation, you could also use this money to help get your family out of a difficult situation. If last year has taught us anything, it is that life is too short. So if you are feeling really crazy, why not treat your family to a much-deserved holiday with any cash you may get.
