It's easy to estimate the value of your house or car - or how much it would cost you to replace these items should something happen to them. That's why we don't think twice about paying our house and car insurance. But it's a lot harder to get a real picture of the financial value of insuring your most valuable asset: your ability to earn.

Recent figures from BT show that a person aged 30 and earning an average full time income of $85,000 (indexed at 4%) has the potential to earn around $2,208,000 after tax to age 65. If that person had an accident at age 45 and lost his ability to earn this income the disability support pension would reduce his total earnings to $1,311,000 by age 65¹. Income insurance could help to close that gap, protecting his livelihood and the financial concerns of his loved ones.

Fortunately, insuring your most valuable asset could be more affordable than you think.

Paying for life insurance such as income protection insurance through your super is typically cheaper than purchasing it separately, because you're accessing competitive group rates. And by using your pre-tax income to pay for it, you pay less tax on your salary.

Find out more about pre-approved insurance through BT Super for Life

¹Calculations supplied by Rice Warner Actuaries. The information provided here does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs and so you should consider its appropriateness having regard to these factors before acting on it.