When you’re the head of a family, your health is not just a matter of personal importance. Your fitness journey is something you are doing for your partner and kids as well. After all, they love you and rely on you in a number of ways.

However, we cannot account for every possible illness or accident. You may be in excellent shape, but that doesn’t mean you are immune to the chaos of life. Anything can happen at any time.

How do you help secure your family’s future for all possibilities? Here are some important steps to take.

Open a life insurance policy

Life insurance might make a huge difference to your family if something happens to you. As the breadwinner or co-breadwinner, you are responsible for your family’s solvency. It is smart to put some protections in place.

Of course, no amount of money will bring you back once you’re gone. But it may allow your family to stay on their feet for a good amount of time and find another way forward financially if necessary. Today getting a life insurance policy online is easier than ever. Many online insurance companies, like Lemonade, offer a simple and easy way to get a quote and a policy.

Your partner might also want a life insurance policy if they are earning money, even if they are not the primary breadwinner. You might struggle without their contribution, and having the cushion insurance can help provide  at such a tough time in your life is also a big relief.

Invest your savings

If you don’t have savings, you need to start an interest-earning savings account as soon as possible. And once you have some money in savings, you should strongly consider investing it.

Savings are important even if you have a great life insurance policy. After all, if you lose your job, you will need to live off those savings. If you get an illness or are in an accident that prevents you from being able to do your job, that need will be even more urgent.

Job security in the US is, in comparison to much of the rest of the world, almost non-existent. Losing your job suddenly can leave you in a dire situation, and unemployment benefits from the government will only help so much. This is especially true for families with a high standard of living.

Having a savings account which is consistently growing is not just about preparing for your eventual retirement. It might be necessary sooner rather than later, particularly in uncertain times like these.

Regular medical checkups

Many illnesses that were once terminal can now be treated effectively. However, the key to treatment working is more often than not early detection. If you find out about a heart issue long before it becomes a problem, you can change your lifestyle and take the necessary medication. If you catch cancer early on, you can stop it before it spreads.

The problem is that some medical conditions go unnoticed until it is too late. We’ve all heard stories of people who died from a heart attack or seizure due to an undiagnosed heart problem. There are also cancers like pancreatic cancer which don’t show symptoms until they are already in their late stages and it is too long to do anything but slow the illness.

Even regular medical checkups won’t guarantee that you will catch every issue early. However, they make it far more likely, giving you a much higher chance of survival.

You can streamline the process by sharing your family’s medical history with your medical professionals, so that they can check specifically for the conditions most likely to occur.

Mental wellness

Finally, while your physical fitness is crucial, so is your mental wellness. Stress is very hard on your body, and can lead to severe physical issues. Mental illness can make it difficult to get out of bed and put your life at risk.

If you have never been to therapy, consider starting now. Life is difficult at the best of times, and with the added stressors of the past year and a half, many more people are struggling than will admit it.

Take care of your mental wellness not just for your own sake, but for the future of your family. Both you and them will appreciate your improved mental wellbeing.