For parents

Joint-life assurance can be used to pay for expenses like childcare or tuition costs if you or your spouse should die before your children are adults.

For Mortgage and Other Debts

The most popular use of joint-life assurance is for mortgage or other debt protection, through joint-life mortgage protection assurance. This policy ensures that upon one death, the surviving spouse will be able to maintain the mortgage and pay off other outstanding mortgage debts. And as an added benefit, the surviving spouse will not inherit any debt, since the cover insures both the capital as well as the interest of the mortgage.

For retirees

Joint-life cover can be a great complement to your retirement plan as it provides a couple purchasing an annuity with more options. When a couple purchases an annuity, their options are usually an annuity that provides monthly payments in two ways, namely:

• Until the first partner dies (a single life annuity); or

• Until the remaining partner dies (a last-to-die annuity).

A last-to-die annuity is often chosen by couples as it leaves the remaining partner a regular monthly income. However, because the annuity has to last longer (beyond the first death) the monthly income is considerably lower then those offered through a single life annuity.

By purchasing a joint-life assurance policy on a first-to-die basis, this means you can purchase a single life annuity (which offers higher monthly payments) without jeopardizing the income for the surviving partner - since when the first partner dies, the life insurance policy will be paid out to the surviving partner.