You need to protect your ability to earn

HERE'S a question for young working South Africans. What is your most valuable asset? No, it's not your property, and it's not your retirement savings. It's you.

- MARTIN HESSE

Unless you are in retirement or close to retiring, your ability to work and earn an income is more valuable than the assets you have accumulated. It is therefore essential to protect yourself as a living asset.

Long-term insurance comprises mainly life cover and disability cover. If you're young and single and own little in the way of assets, life cover is not essential; it only becomes so once you start a family and have dependants.

Disability cover, on the other hand, is a must-have from the beginning of your career, because if you become disabled and cannot earn an income, you still have the rest of your life to live. As a young worker, this is your top priority.

Last week, the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (Asisa), in partnership with actuarial firm True South Advisory, released its 2025 Insurance Gap Study, assessing the widening gap between the amount of life and disability cover working people should have and what they actually have.