bells &
whistles
risk & rewards
Insurance is a grudge purchase. We
spend money every month on something
we hope we never need. We’re not
motivated by desire for something fun
and fabulous; we’re motivated by fear
– fear of losing our possessions, or
becoming sick or disabled.
fee gym membership, discounted lifestyle products like movies
and travel, and a range of cash backs. Liberty Own your
life Rewards is similar but it’s in a slightly different category
because it can be used as a stand-alone benefits programme
without having any policies with Liberty.
They are all similar, and they’re all different, and each has its
strong points and weak points, and even those are subjective
depending on what it is you want out of it. It’s tempting to
And investment is much the same. Very few people put away
mix and match – hospital plan in one place, short term and
R 100, R 1 000 or R 10 000 every month because they want
life insurance in perhaps two others, and then spread your
to. We do it because we believe we should. And, much like
investments around to hedge your bets. But that’s really not a
insurance, we don’t get anything out of it until – way in the
good idea because the crux of all of them is that they reward
future – we get some kind of payback. In our culture of instant
you – not only for good behaviour like eating well, going to
gratification, that’s not so hot.
gym, not smoking, and not driving like a teenager – but also
for spending money with them. Yes, the more products you
So that’s why insurance/investment companies have started to
have with one company, the more your benefits accrue.
tailor their products to respond to the way most real people
actually think and make decisions. Discovery was the first long
So, for example, if you have a Discovery life policy, and you’ve
term insurance company to tie a bunch of lifestyle rewards
activated the Vitality option, it’s worth insuring your car with
to life insurance, and it worked so well, most of the other
them because you get extra discounts and cash backs for
insurance companies followed suit. Momentum Multiply and
buying tyres and driving like you want to live till your next
Sanlam Reality both offer a basket of benefits like reduced-
birthday. And you get some of your petrol spend back. But, if