Health is wealth

Some – such as those paralympians training for Rio can attest – are extraneous. But the bottom line is that unless we are healthy enough to deal with life’s vagaries then we can expect the quality of our lives to suffer.

As our lives become every busier and more demanding our minds are starting to bear the brunt of our frenetic existence. According to data from Canada Life Group Insurance’s call centre, more than 25 per cent of calls made to its employee assistance programme have been for mental health problems.

Data from its EmployeeCare line from January to May 2016 showed that 28 per cent of calls were for mental health – a 5 per cent increase on the previous year.

Protection will help your clients take control of the most valuable asset they have: their health

The most common mental health issue is anxiety and work-related stress is the fastest growing mental health concern, up 37 per cent year on year.

Rather than sitting on the sidelines, advisers can do their bit to help – in fact they are ideally placed to do so.

Canada Life is urging advisers with corporate clients to make them aware of the issues surrounding supporting staff suffering and recovering from mental illness.

You can also play a part in helping clients themselves make more proactive decisions about their health. Encouraging clients to look at critical illness, family income protection policies, term assurance or even permanent medical insurance (if they are not already covered at work).

Many of these policies are not that expensive – your writer pays £60 a month to insure her family (four people) on a critical illness/life insurance hybrid policy, and is lucky enough to get a group reduction on medical insurance through her employer.

While protection may not be the most financially profitable of products to advise on, it will help your clients take control of the most valuable asset they have: their health.

samantha.downes@ft.com