[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":281},["ShallowReactive",2],{"lesson-\u002Flessons\u002F4-insurance":3,"lesson-next-\u002Flessons\u002F4-insurance":131},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":93,"duration":94,"extension":95,"meta":96,"navigation":97,"order":98,"path":99,"quiz":100,"seo":127,"sitemap":128,"stem":129,"__hash__":130},"lessons\u002Flessons\u002F4-insurance.md","Lesson 4: Insurance that matters",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":85},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,50,54,61,65,78,82],[10,11,12],"p",{},"Insurance is the least exciting part of money — and the part that decides whether one bad day undoes everything else you've built.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"insure-catastrophes-not-inconveniences","Insure catastrophes, not inconveniences",[10,19,20],{},"The principle: insure what you cannot afford to replace. A cracked phone screen is annoying; three decades of lost salary is catastrophic. Rank by damage:",[22,23,24,32,38,44],"ol",{},[25,26,27,31],"li",{},[28,29,30],"strong",{},"Your ability to earn"," — disability\u002Fincome protection. At 25, your future earnings are worth tens of millions of rand. This is your biggest asset, and it's uninsured by default.",[25,33,34,37],{},[28,35,36],{},"Your health"," — medical aid or hospital plan, so a car accident doesn't become a R500,000 bill.",[25,39,40,43],{},[28,41,42],{},"Your stuff"," — car and household insurance (car insurance is effectively mandatory if financed).",[25,45,46,49],{},[28,47,48],{},"Your life"," — life cover matters when someone depends on your income. No dependants, no rush.",[14,51,53],{"id":52},"check-what-you-already-have","Check what you already have",[10,55,56,57,60],{},"Many employers bundle ",[28,58,59],{},"group life and disability cover"," into the retirement fund. Your benefits statement tells you how much. This is the cheapest cover you'll ever get — know it before you buy anything privately.",[14,62,64],{"id":63},"the-medical-aid-gap","The medical aid gap",[10,66,67,68,71,72,77],{},"Even good medical schemes pay at \"scheme rate\", while private specialists can lawfully charge several times more. The difference is your bill. ",[28,69,70],{},"Gap cover"," — a separate policy costing a few hundred rand a month — exists purely to pay that shortfall. If you're on any medical scheme, it's worth understanding (",[73,74,76],"a",{"href":75},"\u002Flearn\u002Fgap-cover-basics","gap cover basics",").",[14,79,81],{"id":80},"keep-it-boring","Keep it boring",[10,83,84],{},"Insurance products in South Africa can get complicated and commission-driven. The young-professional basics are simple: employer benefits first, hospital plan + gap cover if you're buying your own, income protection as earnings grow. Anything fancier deserves a registered adviser and hard questions about fees.",{"title":86,"searchDepth":87,"depth":87,"links":88},"",2,[89,90,91,92],{"id":16,"depth":87,"text":17},{"id":52,"depth":87,"text":53},{"id":63,"depth":87,"text":64},{"id":80,"depth":87,"text":81},"Group life, disability cover, medical aid and gap cover — which protections actually matter when you're young.","5 min","md",{},true,4,"\u002Flessons\u002F4-insurance",[101,110,118],{"question":102,"options":103,"answer":108,"explanation":109},"For most young professionals, the most valuable insurance is:",[104,105,106,107],"Cellphone insurance","Income protection \u002F disability cover","Funeral cover for yourself","Travel insurance",1,"Your income is your biggest asset — decades of future earnings. Losing the ability to earn is the catastrophe worth insuring first.",{"question":111,"options":112,"answer":87,"explanation":117},"What does gap cover do?",[113,114,115,116],"Replaces medical aid","Pays your premiums when you can't","Covers the shortfall when specialists charge more than your medical scheme pays","Covers dental only","Specialists in private hospitals can charge several times the scheme rate. Gap cover is a separate, cheap policy that pays that difference.",{"question":119,"options":120,"answer":125,"explanation":126},"Your employer likely already gives you some cover through:",[121,122,123,124],"Group life and disability benefits attached to the pension fund","Automatic car insurance","A government scheme","Nothing is ever included",0,"Many employer retirement funds include group life and disability cover. Check your benefits statement before buying duplicate cover.",{"title":5,"description":93},{"loc":99},"lessons\u002F4-insurance","hMYpoVPEYOzfKlcuZpuyQlrsnC_2nHHCtFIPRqxZtH8",{"id":132,"title":133,"body":134,"description":248,"duration":94,"extension":95,"meta":249,"navigation":97,"order":250,"path":251,"quiz":252,"seo":277,"sitemap":278,"stem":279,"__hash__":280},"lessons\u002Flessons\u002F5-credit.md","Lesson 5: Credit without the trap",{"type":7,"value":135,"toc":242},[136,139,143,162,174,178,181,208,211,215,226,230],[10,137,138],{},"Credit is a tool that most people meet as a trap. The difference is entirely in how you use it.",[14,140,142],{"id":141},"the-score","The score",[10,144,145,146,149,150,153,154,157,158,161],{},"Credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, XDS) track every account you have. What moves the score, roughly in order: ",[28,147,148],{},"paying on time"," (most of the game), ",[28,151,152],{},"how much of your limits you use"," (stay under about a third), ",[28,155,156],{},"age of accounts",", and ",[28,159,160],{},"how often you apply",". You're entitled to a free report from each bureau every year — checking your own never hurts it.",[10,163,164,165,169,170,173],{},"Counter-intuitively, a ",[166,167,168],"em",{},"blank"," record is a problem too: lenders can't price the unknown. A phone contract or low-limit card, ",[28,171,172],{},"settled in full monthly",", builds a perfect file at zero cost. Interest paid earns you nothing.",[14,175,177],{"id":176},"good-debt-expensive-debt","Good debt, expensive debt",[10,179,180],{},"Debt isn't one thing — it's priced:",[182,183,184,190,196,202],"ul",{},[25,185,186,189],{},[28,187,188],{},"Cheap-ish and productive",": home loans, some student debt — long-term assets at lower rates",[25,191,192,195],{},[28,193,194],{},"Middle",": car finance — necessary for many, dangerous with balloons and 72-month terms",[25,197,198,201],{},[28,199,200],{},"Expensive",": credit cards revolved month to month, store accounts (20%+)",[25,203,204,207],{},[28,205,206],{},"Radioactive",": payday loans, informal loans — rates that can double your debt in months",[10,209,210],{},"The question is never \"can I get the credit?\" — it's \"what does this rand of debt cost per year?\"",[14,212,214],{"id":213},"if-youre-already-in-it","If you're already in it",[10,216,217,218,221,222,225],{},"Attack the ",[28,219,220],{},"highest interest rate first"," while paying minimums on the rest (the avalanche — mathematically fastest). Don't take new debt to feel better about old debt. If it's truly unmanageable, ",[28,223,224],{},"debt counselling"," is a legal protection, not a failure — but it flags your record until cleared, so it's a serious step.",[14,227,229],{"id":228},"the-habit-that-makes-credit-safe","The habit that makes credit safe",[10,231,232,233,236,237,241],{},"One rule does most of the work: ",[28,234,235],{},"never spend on credit what you couldn't pay cash for this month",". Credit then becomes what it should be — a convenience and a record-builder, while your actual wealth grows in your ",[73,238,240],{"href":239},"\u002Ftools\u002Ftfsa","TFSA"," and retirement fund.",{"title":86,"searchDepth":87,"depth":87,"links":243},[244,245,246,247],{"id":141,"depth":87,"text":142},{"id":176,"depth":87,"text":177},{"id":213,"depth":87,"text":214},{"id":228,"depth":87,"text":229},"How credit scores work, the difference between good and expensive debt, and using credit as a tool instead of a lifestyle.",{},5,"\u002Flessons\u002F5-credit",[253,261,269],{"question":254,"options":255,"answer":108,"explanation":260},"What builds a credit score fastest?",[256,257,258,259],"Carrying a large balance and paying interest","Paying every account on time, every month","Applying for lots of credit at once","Earning a high salary","Payment history is the biggest factor. Interest paid earns you nothing — a card settled in full every month builds the same history for free.",{"question":262,"options":263,"answer":108,"explanation":268},"Which debt should you attack first?",[264,265,266,267],"The biggest balance","The one with the highest interest rate","The oldest one","Whichever has the smallest instalment","Highest rate first (the avalanche method) saves the most money — an outstanding store card at 22% costs more per rand than almost anything else you owe.",{"question":270,"options":271,"answer":108,"explanation":276},"A store account helps your credit record if:",[272,273,274,275],"You keep it maxed out","You pay it in full, on time, every month","You open five of them","You never use it","The account and the trap are the same product. Paid in full it builds history at zero cost; revolved at store-card rates it's some of the most expensive debt around.",{"title":133,"description":248},{"loc":251},"lessons\u002F5-credit","XWKsohLp244vslL5DyK4cyVUOatzu9CHPnJcV_GRTOM",1785421697590]