Insurance and the government cuts

Cuts, cuts, cuts. There are more cuts going on in public spending right now than there are in barber shops.

As we navigate our way through our futures we're going to find some surprises along the way. Will the age of retirement edge up further and further until 'retirement' becomes a euphemism for, well... being dead?

As the cuts begin to be felt - there will necessarily be a corresponding change in the private sector. A lot of the public sector jobs that are being exterminated, Dalek style, are expected to be replaced by posts in the private sector.

And this is where insurance is bound to play a part - when you think about the unstoppable changes that are taking place, it makes certain kinds of contingencies all the more important. Where once such things as life assurance, payment protection plans, health cover, redundancy cover, children health insurance - etc - could have been seen as add-ons for the comfortably off, it now looks like they'll be increasingly important for all of us.

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Chilean Miners Saved

Well, the world breathed a sigh of relief this morning with the news that all of the trapped Chilean miners are now free and back on the surface of the panet, after being trapped below for many weeks.

It must be a very difficult situation for the miners to deal with. It would be challenge enough to adjust to life back on the surface. But add intense worldwide media attention and you have a situation that even an x-Factor winner would find fifficult to cope with.

I don't know what the miners' insurance situation was, but I think it's fair to say that even if they aren't due some kind of payout, they have the potential to earn millions by telling the story that the world is desperate to hear.

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Medical Insurance quotes and pensions up, early retirement down?

And so the cuts continue. This week the hullabaloo has been about child benefit payments. next week the hullabaloo will be about something else. Always with the hullabaloo. (There, I've used that word three times in one sentence - do I get into the Guiness book of Records or what?)

Despite the opposition's noises, it looks like the direction of travel for the foreseeable future will be one way - and that's the way of the deficit-cutting.

My guess would be that we're about to see people reacting to the current situation by being a bit more strategic with their cash. As we emerge from the recession, I predict

People using savings accounts more

Higher payments into pension schemes (who knows what a state pension will be by the time we retire?)

More people seeking medical insurance quotes to ensure that they can get swift treatment should they need it.



Fewer people retiring at 50 - in some organisations this was the norm a decade ago.

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