There’s a rare object known as a tuit. It’s a special gift to keep for yourself, but also has great value for your friends and family. Tuits, especially round ones, will generally have a note or inscription along the following lines:

This is a Round Tuit. 

Guard it with your life!

Tuits are hard to come by, especially the round ones.

It will help you become a much more efficient worker.

For years you’ve heard people say

“I’ll do that when I get a round tuit.”

So now that you have one, 

you can accomplish all those things you put aside,

until you got a Round Tuit.

It’s easy to put off important decisions until tomorrow. When there’s too much to think about, we’d rather do it ‘when we have more time’; we’ll take care of it when we get around to it. The problem is that all too often we never get around to it until it’s too late.

Taking out the extra insurance before we have that accident, fixing the leak before it rains, finishing a presentation before the deadline… we all have our stories of occasions where we were confident that we’d get around to it – but didn’t.

Dread disease cover is one such conversation that is never easy to have and is often put off until we get around to it; partly because it’s not nice to talk about or spend money on, and partly because it’s fairly complex.

Sometimes called CI cover, dread disease cover is different to disability cover, which protects you and your finances after an accident temporarily or permanently leaves you unable to work. 

In a similar way, dread disease cover is there for when a health setback floors you temporarily or for a longer period of time. From strokes or heart attacks to serious illnesses like cancer, this cover helps you focus on your recovery without having the added stress of loss of income each month just when your medical and associated expenses are skyrocketing.

When the average person thinks of cancer, a tumour or a stroke, they imagine the worst. And no one likes thinking about it… it will never happen to us anyway, right?

But in reality, these things are more common than we realise and are not a death sentence – far from it.

“Statistics confirm there is a high likelihood of contracting a major illness such as heart disease or cancer. And thanks to advances in medical technology, people are more likely to survive these illnesses than ever before,” Old Mutual’s Ferdi Booysen says in insurance publication FA News.

Research shows that one of the single biggest impediments to recovery in any illness (barring chronic mental illness) is stress. Research also shows that finances are one of the biggest things that people are concerned about when ill – a vicious and ironic circle.

And they’re not wrong. There are lots of little unforeseen expenses surrounding illness and hospitalisation. Even if you have an amazing medical aid in place, there will be things the medical aid doesn’t cover. And what about other things you may need, like therapy for you and your spouse after the trauma of a stroke?

With dread disease cover, it’s easier to relax and focus on recuperation knowing that everything is in place. In fact, most CI cover pays out a lump sum so that you can decide what’s important for your recovery journey.

Falling seriously ill or having a health episode is never pleasant, but it is a fact of life – and it needn’t be the end of it. In fact, it can be the start of a whole new one.

Those who have experienced these things with the support of insurance and the ability to focus on themselves rather than being forced to work when physically unable, often describe their journeys as powerful wake-up calls that helped them “get around to it” and improve their lives.