Australians would spend extra money on building up savings and paying for holidays before insurance protection

We are a nation of savers and vacationers, according to new research by life insurer TAL which posed the question: “what would you spend an extra 10% increase in income on?”

The results showed 59% of us would put extra cash towards building up our savings, followed by the mortgage at 38%, paying off credit card/personal loan debt at 30% and paying off bills at 28%. After these immediate financial needs, 38% said they would put the money towards a holiday.

Areas we are not interested in spending extra money towards include cars upgrades at 15%, clothes at 10% and going out for dinner more often at 9%, with financial protection an after-thought at 4%.

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TAL Group CEO Jim Minto said the life insurer undertook the poll to better understand the relative importance of life insurance versus other areas of spending priority. He described the findings as concerning, as for many people, a 10% increase would more than pay for insurance cover.

“This is a concern because in the event that a primary earner is no longer able to provide for his or her family, life insurance, income protection, critical illness and disability cover can help ensure that outgoings are still met without having to dip into savings.”

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