Adam Lawson

At 23 Adam Lawson thought he was ten foot tall and bulletproof. He earned good money as a computer programmer and had his future mapped out.

"I had plans," says Adam. They included buying his first home, getting married and starting a dog kennel business.

Because Adam was an analytical person, he had done his research before he approached his adviser and thought he knew exactly what he wanted: life insurance, income protection cover, and the beginnings of an investment portfolio.

"At the time my adviser wanted me to take out critical illness insurance cover. It was going to cost $6 a week and I simply couldn’t see the reason to pay for it. There was no way I was going to get cancer, have a stroke or suffer from another critical illness. I was too young for that," says Adam. "It's hard to believe looking back that within 10 months, I would fall off my perch."

His adviser got a call one day from Adam's girlfriend to say he had suffered a stroke as a result of an ischemic cerebral infarction and had been rushed into emergency surgery.

Furthest from Adam's mind at that time were the insurances he had taken out. But it soon became apparent that he would need considerable recovery time and even then would not be able to return to his previous profession.

"My world imploded," says Adam, "and all my financial plans all had to go on hold. It was really gutting to go from young and successful to disabled – although I've improved over the years and I now feel great.

"I made a claim on my income protection insurance through the Insurer and received 75% of my $44,000 salary for the next two and a half years." The insurance would have covered him up until age 65 if he had been unable to return to work.

"The income protection insurance saved my bacon. Without it, I would have been on benefit and would have used up all my capital just to live,” says Adam.

He realised after the event that a lump sum critical illness insurance payment would have made a huge difference to me especially with the cost of university courses.

"When I met my adviser I’d only considered the possibility of my death, not that I might be disabled through accident or illness. I thought the income replacement cover would be all I needed to pay the mortgage. But I didn't bank on the cost of retraining as an accountant.

"I look back and am extremely grateful that I met my adviser when I did. I'm just sorry that I was a little bit arrogant for my liking and didn't take all of his advice. I thought I knew everything and was in total control of my world."