How old is your heart?

There are 50 preventable deaths happening every day in the UK from heart attacks and strokes, with a quarter of these deaths occurring in people under the age of 75. To help people identify whether they could be at risk, Public Health England is urging adults to take a free online test to find out their ‘heart age’. The test asks a number of simple physical and lifestyle questions, and provides an estimated heart age. If this is higher than your actual age, you could be at risk of having a heart attack or stroke. The test also gives suggestions on ways people can change their lifestyle to help them reduce their heart age, such as losing weight, stopping smoking, exercising regularly and reducing their alcohol intake. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for men in the UK, and the second leading cause of death for women. Four out of five deaths from cardiovascular disease in people aged under 75 are preventable if people made lifestyle and behavioural changes to improve their heart health.The impact of poor health on your financesHaving cardiovascular disease, or any other serious medical condition, can have a major impact on your finances, particularly if you’re unable to work due to ill health. It can also bump up the cost of protection policies such as life insurance or critical illness cover, as insurers will look at your medical history and your Body Mass Index (BMI) when assessing risk. You can work out your BMI using our BMI calculator. Having financial protection is vital if you have outgoings such as a mortgage which your loved ones may not be able to cover if you were no longer able. Our life insurance calculator can help you decide how much cover you might need, taking into account paying off your mortgage and other debts, such as credit cards and personal loans, as well as providing for your family. There are several different types of protection as well as life insurance which you may want to consider, including critical illness cover, income protection and family income benefit. You can find out more about how these different kinds of cover work in our guide 'What type of life insurance do I need?'