What would happen if your income stopped tomorrow?

Most clients don’t come to Tara asking about protection.

“It’s something that comes out in the first meeting,” she explains. “People might have taken out cover when they got a mortgage, but beyond that, it’s often not something they’ve revisited.”

Unless something brings it into focus: a friend’s illness, a family bereavement, or a major life change, it tends to stay in the background.

But the reality is that long-term illness, and the loss of income that can come with it, is more common, and more immediate, than many people assume.

According to the Office for National Statistics, over 2.5 million people in the UK are currently off work due to long-term sickness. That’s not a remote risk. It’s something affecting millions of working-age adults today.

And it’s why Tara believes protection needs to be part of the conversation from the outset, not something left until later.

Talking about illness, death, or losing income isn’t something most people naturally want to do.

But Tara sees it differently. “It’s part of our duty of care,” she says. “We talk about investments, tax and retirement, but we also need to talk about what happens if things don’t go to plan.

“You can build a great financial plan,” she explains. “But if someone’s income stops and there’s no protection in place, that plan can start to unravel very quickly.”

That’s why she describes protection as the bedrock of financial planning, not because it’s the most exciting part, but because it’s the part everything else depends on.

One of the biggest misconceptions Tara sees is the idea that protection is a one-off decision, something you set up once and forget. In reality, it needs to evolve alongside your life.

Early on, when someone’s single and building their career, their income is often their most valuable asset, and protecting it becomes a priority. “If you’re young, healthy, and perhaps without dependents, income protection is often one of the first areas we explore,” Tara says. “It’s typically more affordable, and can become a useful part of your financial toolkit long term.”

Later, as life becomes more complex – marriage, a mortgage, children – the focus shifts. “It’s no longer just about you. It’s about protecting the people who rely on you.”

And then, in later life, priorities change again. “Debt may no longer be the issue, but things like inheritance tax and passing wealth on become more relevant. Protection still plays a role, but for different reasons.”

A recurring theme in Tara’s work is the gap between what people believe they’re covered for, and what would actually happen. “A lot of people assume their employer will continue to pay them if they’re off sick,” she says. “That’s often not the case.”

Others assume their mortgage would somehow be cleared if something happened to them. Again, not necessarily true.

Modern working arrangements vary. Benefits change. And what feels like a safety net can turn out to be far less secure than expected. “It’s about understanding the reality,” Tara says. “Not the assumption.”

Not everyone can afford every type of protection straight away. So prioritisation matters.

For Tara, one area consistently stands out. “When deciding on priorities, income protection is often a key area we discuss first, depending on individual circumstances,” she says.

It’s a view backed up by data. According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2023, roughly 36% of working-age adults in the UK reported having at least one long-term health condition. The reason is simple. “Statistically, you’re far more likely to be unable to work due to illness, than to die during your working life. And if your income stops, your outgoings don’t.”

Mortgage payments, household bills, childcare costs – life carries on, whether income does or not. “That’s the risk we’re really trying to manage.”

For Tara, it’s often real-life experiences that reinforce just how important these decisions are.

The client who delayed the conversation and suffered a stroke is one example. But there are others too.

In one case, a client who had taken advice and put protection in place died unexpectedly in an accident. Because the policy had been structured properly and written into trust, his children received a substantial tax-free payout within weeks.

“No amount of money replaces a person,” Tara says. “But it can make a huge difference to the people they leave behind.”

It meant the client was still able to provide for his family, even after he was gone.

While protection has always been a core part of financial planning, Tara says it’s coming into sharper focus for certain groups, particularly business owners and those with larger estates.

“Business owners are often more exposed than they realise,” she explains. “They don’t have the same safety net as employees, so if they’re unable to work, there’s usually nothing to fall back on unless they’ve put it in place themselves.”

That shifts protection from something “nice to have” to something fundamental.

There can also be ways to make it more affordable. “In some cases, business owners can fund protection through their company,” Tara says. “Depending on how it’s structured, this can offer tax efficiencies, such as reducing income tax, National Insurance and corporation tax, although the extent of any benefit will depend on individual circumstances and current tax rules.”

At the same time, changes to pension rules are prompting a different kind of conversation.

From April 2027, unused pension funds may form part of an individual’s estate for inheritance tax purposes; something that wasn’t previously the case. For some clients, that could increase the tax burden on their family.

“As a result, we’re seeing more people think about how they pass wealth on,” Tara explains. “In some cases, life insurance is being used to help cover a potential inheritance tax liability, so families aren’t left having to find large sums at short notice.”

It’s not something everyone needs to act on straight away. But for those with businesses, growing assets, or significant pension savings, it’s becoming an increasingly important part of the wider financial picture.

For anyone who hasn’t reviewed their protection in years, or ever, the starting point isn’t complicated. “Understand what you have in place already,” Tara says. “Find your policy documents. Check what you’d be entitled to from your employer.”

Then take a step back and look at your life as it is today. What are your monthly outgoings? Mortgage or rent, food, bills, childcare – what does it actually cost to keep everything running?

“And then ask yourself,” she says, “if your income stopped tomorrow, what would you need to keep going?”

That’s where the real planning begins.

Putting protection in place is easy to postpone. It means paying for something you hope you’ll never need, and facing risks most people would rather not think about.

But as many people discover, the cost of delay can be far greater.

For Tara it comes back to one simple point: “Financial planning isn’t just about building wealth. It’s about making sure that if something goes wrong, the people who depend on you are still protected.”