How Australian expatriates can protect their wealth whilst living offshore

So you’ve found the house back in Australia you would like to buy, the finance and legals have been arranged. The question is have you considered the consequences of unexpectedly being unable to work offshore through illness or incapacity? How would you service the new debt load without the principal income? Would your existing liquid resources support your overheads for an indeterminate period? Would you have to return to Australia prematurely? Worse, what if the principal income earner died or was totally and permanently disabled?

These and other questions are very important considerations, especially for Australian citizens living offshore when access to welfare systems is neither generous nor available to foreign nationals. Part of the wealth creation process involves protecting your existing assets through risk management strategies – life or risk insurance being a key plank for any wealth protection strategy.

In this editorial I wish to expand on the insurance options available to Australian Expatriates and deal with some of the advantages of working with an Australian based Authorised Life Broker Representative.

Firstly a recap of the main life insurances available to most eligible Australian Expatriates:

Term Life Insurance:

This is a lump sum insurance paid out on the death of the life insured. These policies are conventionally self owned with a nominated beneficiary or owned by the trustees of a Super fund with a binding nomination as to  the beneficiary.

Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD) Insurance:

Similar to Life Insurance, this is a lump sum insurance paid out on the Total and Permanent Disablement of the life insured. This insurance is often bundled with Term Life policies offering some premium savings. The policy type can also be bought stand alone.

Income Protection or Replacement Insurance:

Unlike Term and TPD insurance, this is as the name suggests an income replacement product that provides a maximum of up to 75% of the life insured’s gross taxable income on the occurrence of a disabling event inhibiting or preventing the insured from performing their role or duties.

Trauma Insurance:

Similar to Term Life and TPD insurance, trauma policies pay a lump sum to the life insurance on the occurrence and admission of liability by the life office. This insurance is intended to support the recovery and rehabilitation of the policy owner by meeting large, unexpected out of pocket expenses e.g. capital improvements to property, large medical bills not met by medical insurance policies etc.

Minimum Wealth Protection Strategy:

At the very least property buyers living offshore should consider this range of insurances to assess their risk exposures. The “what if” scenario is useful to ascertain the inherent risk to wealth through further borrowings or the loss of the breadwinner.

Consider for a moment the effect on the investment portfolio or possibly your standard of living if the key bread winner was incapacitated for 9 months whilst you lived offshore. The medical and other out of pocket expenses could mount very quickly especially in a high cost jurisdictions like the United Kingdom , Western Europe or the USA . The typical medical insurance policy has severe limitations when it comes to large out-of-pocket medical expenses and certainly won’t meet “opportunity costs such as lost income”. Without life insurance, the ability to service on-going mortgage repayments could become very difficult potentially jeopardizing not only the new investment but also the existing asset portfolio.

Benefits of applying for insurance down under:

1. All Australian Life offices are regulated by various Acts of Parliament including the body called APRA [Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority] requiring them to meet minimum solvency, liquidity and governance standards. This is not always the case in offshore jurisdictions where the regulatory framework is less robust or possibly non-existent. 
2. The Insurance policy document in most cases is in plain English with policy terms and conditions consistent with the regulatory environment in Australia .
3. There is an established conflict resolution process in the Australian legal jurisdiction as opposed to less robust jurisdictions overseas.
4. A practicing Risk Adviser in Australia must have met a minimum set of on-going technical competencies [PS 146 being the minimum standard] and be registered with ASIC [Australian Securities and Investments Commission] as an Authorised Representative working via their own Australian Financial Services License or via a Registered Licensee. This ensures a minimum professional and academic rigor for practitioners.
5. Premiums are not generally weighted against expatriates in mainstream offshore locations by virtue of the destination alone. Some jurisdictions such as Iran or Iraq however will attract a country risk premium.
6. In most offshore markets Australian registered Medical staff can conduct the requirements for medical underwriting in house ensuring first class medical standards are adhered to.

Ultimately peace of mind is very important and a competent Risk Broker can identify your insurance requirements in consultation with the expatriate client, research the market and complete the insurance application and underwriting with a minimum of intrusion in your life.