Stories Like Yours

"Hi, my name is Shafik. I have my own business which launched 8 years ago. We started as a small team of 5 employees, marketing electronic products nationally. Thanks to the progress we’ve made over the years, we were able to expand our operations beyond Egypt and to other markets in the Middle East and Asia. Today, we have 45 employees and many of them travel regularly on business trips. Prior to starting this business, I worked in the sales department of a large organization. I used to travel often. I remember, I was once on a business trip to Belgium when I suddenly had to undergo an emergency surgery for my appendicitis. To make things even worse, the company I worked for did not have any overseas medical coverage. This meant I had to pay myself for all the medical expenses. After a long time and several complaints, the company finally reimbursed me. This experience left a lasting impact on me and when I started my own business, the first thing I did was purchase a medical policy to protect all my employees. If ever the situation arises and there is a medical emergency, I want them to feel safe, receive the best medical care possible and especially not worry about any financial implications – no matter how far they might be from home.”  

"Hello, my name is Massoud and I am the HR manager of a multinational organization. The primary objective of my job is to attract, retain and motivate talented staff. In today’s world, it’s not always easy to find qualified and experienced employees, but once you do, it’s not easy either to meet their expectations in terms of compensation and benefits. Competitors are always trying to attract our most talented people with a better salary – so making sure our employees are happy with what we offer them is a constant challenge. I personally believe that offering a combination of salary plus benefits is key to not only interest the right people, but also to retain them and gain their loyalty. That’s why we’ve made sure to include in our package an innovative life and medical insurance plan that covers employees and their dependents. Without it, our package would be incomplete and that would get in the way of our company’s vision of being #1 in our line of business in every market that we operate in.”

"Hi, my name is Ahmed. I’m 45 years old and I own a graphic design company here in Cairo. I’ve worked hard all my life – and ever since I graduated from college, I knew that I was going to have my own business one day. I have a passion for design and I enjoy being independent. My career started at a small design firm, where I worked late nights as a freelancer for a small hourly fee. Despite it all, every month, I would put aside a portion of my income towards fulfilling my dream of being my own boss. My father had always told me that money saved is money earned. Looking back, I know that having saved is one of the main reasons that I’ve made this far today. Having learned this invaluable lesson, I try to convey the same message to my employees. Most of them are young, either married or recently engaged. I can tell that they are all looking forward to a promising future. I tell them that saving is the way to get there, be it to have their own business, to send their children to the best schools, get married, or build a dream home. And since my company already offers employees a group life insurance, I decided to add to it a voluntary savings program, allowing employees to benefit from a more disciplined form of saving. With deductions made automatically from their salaries every month, saving becomes really easy to manage. More so, to reward them for their hard work, the company also contributes to their savings account every now and then. I think of this as a valuable strategy that can help people years from today – especially in the absence of a social security safety net.”         

"Hi, I’m Riham and my husband is Khalid. We’ve been married for 11 years now and we’ve finally bought our own villa two years ago. It’s the dream house that we’ve always wanted – large and with a beautiful garden for the children to play in. We’ve paid for it by using some of our savings and through a mortgage that our bank provided. Life was going great, until the news of Khalid’s accident shattered our peace. He was badly injured and had to spend over 3 months at the hospital before he was allowed to come back home. The doctors did their best, but because of the severity of his injuries, he is now permanently disabled and confined to a wheelchair. Through this hard time, Khalid and I both knew that our biggest challenge was going to be our finances. Our medical insurance covered the cost of our bills, but since Khalid could no longer go to work, we needed to figure out how to manage our expenses. My salary can cover for the day-to-day bills, but it was not enough to cover the installments for our home. I called my bank to find out what our options were and I was surprised when they told me not to worry. They explained that along with our mortgage, Khalid had purchased a mortgage insurance cover. This means, because my husband can no longer work, this insurance will re-pay our outstanding mortgage in full. Knowing this has lifted a huge burden from our shoulders and I can now focus on taking care of my family and helping my husband get better."

"Hi, I'm Adam and I've recently taken out an accident insurance mainly because of what happened to a friend of mine – Aziz. One day, he was driving to work, when someone trying to cut in front of him crashed into his car. It was a terrible accident. He fractured his spine and he is now paralyzed from the waist down. To make things worse, he didn't have an accident insurance. This means he’s been using his savings to pay for his expenses because he can't work at the moment. I don't think he knows what he's going to do when the money runs out. His story made me think about how a situation like his could affect me and my family. I want to make sure that my family will be taken care of and that I can maintain my independence if the unexpected was to happen to me."

"Hi, I'm Adam and I've recently taken out an accident insurance mainly because of what happened to a friend of mine – Aziz. One day, he was driving to work, when someone trying to cut in front of him crashed into his car. It was a terrible accident. He fractured his spine and he is now paralyzed from the waist down. To make things worse, he didn't have an accident insurance. This means he’s been using his savings to pay for his expenses because he can't work at the moment. I don't think he knows what he's going to do when the money runs out. His story made me think about how a situation like his could affect me and my family. I want to make sure that my family will be taken care of and that I can maintain my independence if the unexpected was to happen to me."

] "Hi, my name is Salma. Hani, my husband, works full-time while I stay at home to look after our two boys – who are growing up far too quickly. Caring for a family is also a full-time job and I always seem to be running around between school, horseback riding lessons and swimming classes. They're very active children, and like many mothers, I've ended up taking them to the doctor’s quite a few times, because of falls or some other accident while playing. We love our kids to bits. So, until they become a bit less prone to accidents, I need a reasonably-priced insurance that extensively covers for my whole family – or at the very least, my two sons."

"Hello, I'm Salwa. My husband and I just had our first baby, Gamila. As you can imagine, life is very exciting at the moment. We live in a lovely apartment that we bought last year. We both earn reasonable salaries and I'm lucky to work for a company that offers a good maternity package. This means our income hasn't been hit too hard since I'm on leave with the little one. But now that we have Gamila, we will obviously need to change our lifestyle and start making some kind of regular savings and investments. We want to be able to give our daughter the best in life, and in order to do that, we have to start putting money away right now. It’s reassuring to think that we could pay for her fantastic wedding one day, or even help her with the deposit on her first house.”

"Hello, I'm Amira. My husband Khaled and I moved to Cairo recently with our 4-year-old son, Shady. He's showing all the signs of a bright child and we want to give him as many opportunities as possible. My dream is for Shady to attend a college in the US or UK, even if it's going to be expensive for us to send him abroad. Khaled made sure that we have a sound investment portfolio, but I know that the financial market can have its ups and downs. So, I'd like to start putting aside some money in a secure investment, separate from Khaled's investments, to be 100% sure that Shady gets the education he deserves."

"Hello, I'm Sameh. I'm married to Mira and we have two teenage children together. We live in a nice apartment in a good neighborhood. Knowing the kids will soon leave home for college, it's time for Mira and I to start thinking about our future and retirement. I’ve been working for the same company that I started 14 years ago, which I really enjoy. Although my wife doesn't work, we’ve managed to save a reasonable amount of money. My job has taken me all around the world – and I'd like to be able to revisit some of these places again when I retire. But this time around, I want to go with my wife, so that we can enjoy the adventures together. We want to make sure that the savings and investments we make in the next few years give us a comfortable retirement, without having to eat into money we'd like to leave for the children – and, with any luck, the grandchildren, too."

"Hi, I'm Ahmed. Over the last 15 years, I've pretty much dedicated my life to build up my company. Two years ago, I took out a loan for EGP 9 million to install new equipment that really helped increase production. Business has never been better. I didn't think anything could go wrong, but when my neighbor suddenly passed away last month, it really got me thinking. If anything should happen to me unexpectedly, what would happen to the business I've worked on my whole life? More importantly, what would happen to my family? I'm training my nephew to take over when I retire, but if business drops, he'll have to pay back a loan that he can’t afford. Parts of the business could end up being repossessed. And then, what would all the people who depend on me do? It's time for me to look at insurance options to protect my family and employees no matter what."

"Hello, I’m Heba. I'm married to Gamal and we have two daughters together. We're doing okay financially, but having a little extra is always nice. That’s why, when our youngest starts school next year, I'm planning on going back to work as a part-time nurse. Over the years, my job has meant that I've been personally involved in tragic cases where one or both parents in a family have died. Because I've seen first-hand how financially devastating this can be, Gamal and I have decided to take out protection should anything happen to us. Actually, we've been meaning to review our finances for a while, but we are unsure about how much cover we’d need to be able to provide for the girls, pay off the mortgage, as well as all the other bills – in case something should happen to one or both of us.” 

"Hi, I'm Amal. My husband Youssef and I are fortunate to have had very little to worry about in life in terms of health and financial security. However, something happened recently which made us think about the future and the plans we have in place. My husband's boss, Kamel, whom we know very well, recently had a stroke and he's only 55. It's been very hard for his wife and children. It brought to our attention that such illnesses can be triggered by specific factors, such as a not very healthy lifestyle or a high-stress working environment. Kamel's wife and their two children are obviously suffering emotionally, and now they have financial difficulties as well. Their medical insurance takes care of the hospital bills, but it doesn’t cover Kamel's ongoing disability, which means they have no monthly income. We realized that this could happen to either one of us, and having seen what their family has gone through, we’ve decided that we should put a plan in place in case we can't rely on Youssef's income anymore."

"Hello, I'm Rania. I'm married to Mohamed and we have a 6-year-old daughter together. We have a nice lifestyle since both my husband and I have good jobs. We even manage to save some money. Recently, we've decided to take out health insurance, even though we're both perfectly fit at the moment. It's mainly because my colleague was recently diagnosed with cancer and I have seen how stressful it has been for her and her family – not just emotionally, but also financially. She had to leave her job and was in and out of the hospital all the time for her treatment. As she no longer earned a salary, her family had to start using up their savings to pay for living costs, medical bills and day-to-day expenses. And to make things worse, they didn't have any insurance. It was a terribly stressful time for all of them and it really made me worry about what would happen to us if I were in that situation."