For most South Africans sending money home, or caring for extended family or the broader community, is part of life. What makes us unique is that we don’t see it as a burden, but something we’re proud of.

When you’re starting your own business, you can get business advice from someone who has more experience than you have or even borrow start-up capital.

Keletso Semomo calls her business coach and friend, Seth Tshidi, her hero. “He has contributed to my success and has never asked for anything in return, which is almost impossible nowadays.

“Today I own a licence for one of the top South African franchises. Not only did he help me secure the franchise, Seth supported and guided me through the process of developing the business. And even today, I run to him when I face challenges in my business.”

Keletso was one of the three winners of the “Nominate Your Qhawe” competition. Entrants had to share their story about the person in their lives who made sacrifices to help them achieve their goals and win R5,000 for their Qhawe and R2,500 to invest in their future.

There is healthy tension between supporting others and investing in our own dreams and wealth creation. At Stangen, the goal is to give you financial independence and make sure you have the right amount of life insurance cover.

If you as a breadwinner or business owner or person with dependents intend to leave a legacy by making sure your loved ones are looked after, then you need to commit to a proper financial plan. With Stangen's life cover options, you'll know that your family and financial commitments will be taken care of when you're gone. 

As far as insurance goes, life cover is pretty straightforward: if you die for any reason, the cover amount (or sum assured) is paid out to whomever you choose (your beneficiaries). The life cover can be used for settling personal debts, family responsibilities, medical bills, school fees and more. It can also be used as a way of providing investment income for dependents’ recurring expenses such as education and living costs or kept as their inheritance.

As a young entrepreneur, with family responsibilities, Keletso is not too young to take out life cover. What will happen to all her debts, her business and her responsibilities should she pass on unexpectedly?

Not sure if you need life cover? Beyond life cover being the obvious solution to settling your debt, here are some reasons why you should:

1. To provide an income for those who depend on you financially. Without your income, will your spouse be able to cover all the household expenses?
2. The cover the cost of winding up your estate. When you pass away, life cover can help pay for the costs of winding up your estate (all the money and property owned and owed by a particular person at death) for example, capital gains tax, executor’s fees and estate duty.
3. To make sure your children’s schooling costs are covered should you pass away.
4. The older you get, the more expensive life cover becomes. You may not have any problems now but you can’t predict the future. An unexpected health crisis could be around the corner and then being able to qualify for life cover might be an issue.

Get wise about life and visit Stangen’s website for more information or call +27 10 202 7600 to discuss your options.

This article was paid for by Stangen.