The calculator is an engaging interactive tool to help advisers kick start protection reviews with their clients. It helps clients evaluate their spending habits by showing how the cost of everyday subliminal purchases mount up over the course of a month. Advisers can then use the total of their clients' monthly spend and compare it with examples of protection costs for four different life stages - single, couple, family and divorced - showing how affordable protection can be for them.
Kevin Stevens, Head of Intermediary Sales at Bright Grey said: "It's quite a shock to see how the things you don't think twice about add up over a month. Not only does the Bright Grey calculator help put clients' monthly lifestyle spend into context, but it also helps overcome one of the greatest barriers people have when considering protection - cost.
"The online calculator shows that by cutting back on spending that normally goes below the radar, clients can save enough to buy a substantial amount of protection. And ultimately that protection could make the difference between financial stability or financial hardship."
Peter Chadborn, Principal at IFA firm CBK added: "I think Bright Grey's lifestyle calculator will appeal to the novice and the specialist because it can be used in so many different ways. I like the way the lifestyle calculator demonstrates how much people actually spend on insignificant expenses. This is an excellent method for overcoming affordability objectives for what is a fundamentally important commitment. I can imagine many instances when the lifestyle calculator will add value to the advice process."
The calculator helps show how much clients spend on little extras like coffees, magazines and takeaways. It also helps put spending priorities into context so that someone cutting back on just one coffee a week costing £2.50, would save £10 in a month. By sacrificing the cost of a coffee a 26 year-old non-smoking male could get £40,000 of Critical Illness Cover or £170,000 worth of Life Cover.
To find out more about Bright Grey's Life stages calculator visit www.brightadviser.co.uk
