insurance | Squirrelers

Does Your Insurance Policy Cover You In Case of Flooding?

Natural disasters and weather-related factors can make for interesting television. It’s often fascinating how much power mother nature can have, and how we must respect that power. Even our finances should respect it!

Of course, what can be fascinating at times can be not so interesting when we are impacted personally. Unfortunately, we have seen some tragic weather disasters in the last decade throughout the world. Major earthquakes, hurricanes, devastating winter storms, and other events have occurred. While money obviously the isn’t the most important thing to think of when it comes to those situations, it’s still something to consider. This is why it can be really important to consider the right type of insurance for weather risks.

People living near water might want to think about this. I’ve previously written about my thoughts on waterfront living risks, and how there seem to be so many situations where people experience problems when living right by the water. By oceans we have risks of tsunamis, hurricanes, and simply major storms. By rivers and lakes we have flooding. There was even an “ice tsunami” this spring that resulted in ice being pushed ashore on lakes in Minnesota and Manitoba, crushing some homes. I’m not sure if snow insurance covered this, but it speaks to the need for a variety of insurance types.

Anyway, the bigger takeaway is that all of this shows why it can be important to consider flood insurance. You might be asking, “who should get flood insurance?” Well, with something you can’t control, like weather, there just might a need for such coverage for a lot of people.

Homeowners insurance might not cover all water damage. Of course, one must check his or her own policy for specifics, but quite often water damage from rain could be covered. However, if water damage resulted from ground-level water from flooding, storm surge, or events of the like – it might not be covered. As we can imagine, those situations can be devastating for homeowners! Thus, flood insurance can help out with those risks.

I don’t see the benefits of living on the water relative to the risks, or even in flood-prone areas. Apparently, some others feel the same way, as people in certain higher-risk areas might actually be required to get flood insurance in order to get mortgage.

Costs could vary, and specifics of coverage might vary as well. However, flood insurance could save you from a financial catastrophe, which might happen if somebody suffers flood damage and has no coverage.

My Questions for You

Have you thought about weather-related situations such as floods impacting your finances?

Do you think separate flood insurance could be important to obtain, in addition to homeowners insurance?

Do you know anyone who has been impacted by flooding?

Financial Spring Cleaning: 5 Tips

By Squirrelers 7 Comments

The beginning of Spring is kind of a nice milestone for those of us living in cold-weather climates. While the weather can be cold even in late March and early April (as I write this, I see snow still on the ground here), we start to get some random nice days in too. It’s the beginning of the great thaw, and a signpost that warmer days are soon upon us.

This is also a time when many folks thing about opening the windows, and getting going on spring cleaning. While this is usually the case with the actual home, we can also take part in a financial spring cleaning as well! Much like the new year is a time of renewal and refocusing, we can look at the beginning of Spring as a time to “clean up” our finances, our at least do some dusting! 🙂

Here are 5 ways we can spring clean our finances:

Organize Tax Records

This is the time of year when we have either just filed our taxes, or will be doing so very early in the season. At least here in the U.S., anyway. Along those lines, it might be a good idea to take your new paperwork and documents, and add them to what you’ve already saved. Then, make sure that you have multiple year’s tax documents organized properly in case you need to go back to reference them.

Think this is overrated? Well, I got a surprise letter a few years back about capital gains from a prior tax return. It turned out that the brokerage that had originally sent me the form did not include the purchase price, so without it one could technically say that it was zero. Crazy, obviously, since who buys stocks or funds with no value. But technicalities matter, so I had to go back and get a reissued form to avoid paying a gargantuan penalty.

It all worked out, and it is an example of why need to keep tax records. Might as well keep them organized too. Oh, and on a separate note, this was also a good example of why we should consider having a professional do your taxes.

Check Your Credit Report

It’s a good idea to keep an eye on your credit report. One reason is to make sure that there aren’t any mistakes on there. It’s not at all uncommon for people to check credit reports and find out that there are problems that shouldn’t exist. While they may not be our fault, it is our fault for not being diligent about keeping tabs on this. Hopefully things are fine, and checking is a good quick step to make sure.

Rebalance Your Investments

Many folks like to practice asset allocation, and keep certain percentages of their portfolio in specific types of investments. The thing is, the value of each of these investments in relation to each other might change each business day. For example, let’s take a simple case of someone who keeps 50% of her portfolio in an S&P 500 index fund, and 50% in cash. Let’s forget whether or not that’s smart for a moment, and just think about the concept. In this case, if stocks go up tremendously since the beginning of the year, this person will at some point have much more than 50% in stocks.

This is an example of a situation where rebalancing may be needed. While spring cleaning finances, we can take some time to do that.

Revisit Your Insurance Coverage

Think about the insurance coverage you have. It could be homeowner’s, renter’s, car, personal item, or some other type of insurance. Take a look at the policy you have, and determine whether or not you have adequate coverage. Sometimes we go on autopilot with our insurance without thinking about the actual terms, and just think “oh, I have insurance so I’m covered.” But it might be a good idea to think about the terms of the coverage to make sure that it still fits our situation.

Also, it can be good to periodically shop for rates. As an example, I’ve written before about ways to save on auto insurance. It’s good to take the time to explore the different ways that we can save on not only auto, but the other types of insurance we might have as well. Again, why go on autopilot and pay more if there’s a chance we could pay a fair amount less? Savings can add up!

Check on Your Budget

Sometimes, we put together a budget but we get distracted with day-to-day life and don’t always monitor how our expenses are really looking. Or, we just might track expenses but don’t try to fit them within a budget. Frankly, I don’t think most people do either!

As a part of spring cleaning our finances, it can be good to take a look at our budget, line it up with how we are actually spending, and then see where the shortcomings may be. If we’re doing well with our spending, then congratulations are in order! If not, it’s time to make some changes. No better time than the present to get back on track!

My Questions for You

Do you take any of these actions on a periodic basis?

Are there any actions you like to take as a part of our finances during the Spring?

Do you have any others to add?

Use Auto Insurance Discounts to Save Money

By Squirrelers 3 Comments

When looking at our monthly expenses, we can see many things that are quite expensive. A mortgage or rent payment often tops the list. Food,

Be safe, drive defensively, and save!

clothing, and medical costs can add up too. For some people, auto and transportation expenses can result in a big outlay of money each and every month. This becomes especially noticeable when that auto insurance premium is due.

Along those lines, there are many ways that we can save on auto insurance. I previously mentioned the concept of discounts as ways to save money. Two that I mentioned were: multi-car discounts (2 or more cars), and multi-line discounts (car plus another policy). Well, there are quite a few other potential discounts that drivers can take advantage of to potentially enjoy savings. And as the saying goes, a penny saved is a penny earned.

In addition to the ones mentioned above, here are 5 auto insurance discounts that might save you money:

1) Safe driver. Depending on the company, you might be able to get a discount for being accident-free for a period of time. Of course, accidents can be bad for our health, which is the priority. But being safe can also help your finances as well, in the form of lower insurance premiums than yoj might otherwise pay.

2) Anti-theft system. You might be able to save a signifificant percentage – possibly over 20% – if you have an built-in anti-theft system installed. So, your property can be better protected and you could save money on insurance. Not bad, and something to consider if you already have this installed.

3) Good student. We’ve talked before about how education impacts net worth. However, what didn’t enter that discussion was the fringe benefit of a good student discount 🙂 Yes, in some cases students who geet good grades might qualify for a discount. Of course, let’s also not forget that cars for teenagers to drive don’t need to be expensive in the first place. This can be another way to save.

4) Defensive driver course. Being a defensive driver is much smarter and – one would think – safer than being an overly aggressive, offensive driver. Those road rage types aren’t helping themselves! Anyway, another way defensive driving can help is through possible discounts for taking a course.

5) Military. Drivers who are on active duty or even retired might be able to get a discount on their car insurance premiums. It’s nice to see people getting breaks like this!

As with many things, one must check into these individually to see details, qualification, etc. That being said, it just might be worth looking into. These 5 discounts, as well as the 2 I noted previously, are just a subset of the total possible auto insurance discounts that are out there. It’s good to be informed, and see what we might qualify for. You never know where those opportunities to save might be!

My Questions for You

Do you give much thought to looking into auto insurance discounts?

If you do, what do you take advantage of and how much do you save?

Do you have any other good ones to share?

Self-Insure Against Life’s Biggest Risks

By Squirrelers 9 Comments

Risk can be a big part of the financial world. It’s often said that where there is no risk, there is little reward. It makes sense, and we can see this in practice with the returns on different investments. Look at the risks and returns involved in buying individual stocks, and compare to the risks and returns involved with “safe” bonds.

When we step outside the realm of investments, and enter the world of money in our daily lives, it seems as though risks don’t always come with great rewards. Sometimes, there are some things that we want to make sure don’t happen, as the consquences can be less than entertaining for us!

This got me thinking about the concept of insurance, and how it’s supposed to protect us against risks. In many cases, it absolutely can protect us financially to a large degree. Insurance coverage is important in many aspects of life. However, what about the concept of taking things in our own hands, and supplementing this with own efforts to self-insure against different risks in lfe.

I’m not talking about buying additional insurance. Rather, I’m taking about insuring ourselves against risk by being aware of how things work, and using our brains to intelligently make decisions that help us avoid big problems throughout life. Importantly, this involves self-discipline as well!

Here are 5 ways to avoid financial risk in our daily lives, through taking steps to “self-insure” oursleves:

1) Manage your career

I say this quite a bit here, but we can’t save money for retirement – much less have money for daily needs – if we aren’t making money in the first place. To protect oursleves against the loss of income, we need to make sure that we are valuable to A) our current employer, and B) other potential employers. This means self-insuring against economic conditions and other bigger issues by taking an active role in treating your job and ultimately career like it is your own business. You need to manage it, rather than let it manage you.

2) Diversify income

First off, I do believe in the 80/20 rule, as the Pareto Principle leads us to focus our efforts on what brings in the most benefits. See “manage your career” above! That being said, there are benefits to diversification of our energies as well. As long as we don’t drop the ball on our primary endeavor, it can be a good idea to spend some time on diversification of income. If you do lose your job for whatever reason, a second income stream can help. This can apply in other ways, such as a couple where two people work instead of just one.

3) Stay healthy

Sure, we can and should have health insurance to protect ourselves financially against what can otherwise be sky high medical costs. That’s obvious. We should also strongly inconsider the importance of dental insurance to our finances, as those bills aren’t always cheap either. However, we can insure against medical expenses in a different way: by staying healthy! This means eating right, and getting exercise. The healhier we are, the less we may spend on health problems, and the more able we might be to work and earn money. Being healthy even means managing stress and getting rest – we’ve discussed the topic of sleep and wealth before!

4) Avoid accidents

On the surface, this might seem obvious. Who plans to get into accidents? Nobody I know, that’s for sure! Of course, if we aren’t careful, or take our eyes off the ball so to speak, things can happen. This means using our heads and not taking dumb risks where the downside far outweighs the upside. For example, while it’s clearly great to save money on auto insurance, we can also save money by self-insuring against risks by simply following the rules of the road, driving within the speed limit, refraining from texting and driving, and so on. This concept can apply to many other parts of life, as reckless behavior comes in many flavors.

5) Maintain good relationships

First of all, good relationships are healthy and great to have without any consideration of money whatsoever. People matter more than dollars. Keeping that disclaimer in mind, it still makes sense that to the extent that we get along with others, we’ll be better off financially. What if there was an inheritance that could be divided, but you and your siblings couldn’t get along? Worse, what if a relationship with a spouse didn’t work and the two people ended up in divorce? The bottom line is that we can insure against such risks by taking the time, attention, and genuine care to maintain good relationships with others. If we don’t, we risk poor results in many ways, one of which is money.

My Questions for You

Do you ever think about some of these risks to our financial health?

What do you do to actively prevent such risks in your life?

Are there any that you think are more important than others – or that should be added?

A Long-Term Care Insurance Checklist

By Squirrelers 1 Comment

Most of us think about aging, plan for their retirement, and consider how they’d like their later years to be lived. U.S. Money suggested that “people as young as their 40s ought to raise their retirement savings rate now to prepare for their later years in a recent article, “Long Term Care Needs Demand Your Attention Now.” Yet, I would bet that most people are not considering themselves as part of the 70% of Americans who will need long-term care.

Today, the cost of long-term care is rising beyond the rate of inflation. Americans are paying more than $17,000 a year for nursing home facilities than they did in 2005. This represents approximately 4.35% compound annual growth. With statistics like these, it’s easy to pay attention.

Currently, there are four basic ways to cover the cost of care: Medicare, Medicaid, Out-Of-Pocket, or Private Long-Term Care Insurance. Medicare is a co-payment governmental program that provides hospital and medical insurance to people 65 years or older and to qualified ill or disabled persons. To be eligible for Medicaid, the individual must meet some rigid requirements, as the program is reserved for the indigent. It goes without saying that out-of-pocket will be costly. But a well-planned long-term care insurance (LTCI) policy can provide a viable solution to a costly and anxiety-ridden problem.

Here is a checklist for the top things to consider when looking into long-term care insurance

Understand the services covered and how long they will last. The main categories include:
- Nursing home care
- Home health care
- Assisted living facility
- Adult daycare
- Alternate care
- Respite care
- Other
Know policy costs per day, per month and per year
Determine if there is an inflation adjustment feature and a nonforfeiture feature within the policy
Confirm what the policy pays per day for all of the above categories
Find out whether the policy carries with it a maximum length of coverage for each period of confinement for all of the above categories
Define whether your policy have any limitations or exclusions, such as supplies, medications and linens
See if the policy coversAlzheimer’s disease or other common neurological disorders and make sure that you won’t be disqualified if you develop Alzheimer’s after the purchase of the policy
Many policies offer a 30-day free look period, so it behooves you to find a plan that gives you this option
Make a rational and informed decision, not based on emotion or fear
Educate yourself and plan for contingencies before you purchase a LTCi product

In addition, you should always be realistic about your income and any determine what, if any, financial assistance you might receive from family members or loved ones. Know that as you get older and start experiencing health problems, it becomes more difficult to raise the amount of coverage. With that said, it’s important to also ask if you will have the option to lower the amount of coverage down the road if you need to. It is in your best interest to explore your options now by talking with family, friends, and ultimately, a professional and utilizing the wide array of free LTCi resources currently available online.

The preceding post had information provided by Genworth Financial

10 Ways to Save Money on Auto Insurance

By Squirrelers 14 Comments

If you’re driving, you need auto insurance. If you’re like most people, lowering auto insurance costs sounds like a great idea. After all, who wants to spend more money than necessary?

Personally, I’m trying to take a closer look at reducing regular expenses, and the costs of driving a car can really add up. Along those lines, the insurance part of it is an area that I’m revisiting. Since we have to get car insurance, and those costs aren’t insignificant, we might as well look for ways to reduce those expenses.

Here are 10 ways to to lower auto insurance costs:

Actively shop for the best rates. The quotes that you might get for auto insurance can actually vary depending on who you talk to, and where you’re looking. Take the time to do your homework, and show a little persistence in looking for the best possible rates. A little bit of money saved with each payment can add up to a pretty decent amount over the course of time.
Raise your deductibles. A deductible is the amount of money that you will be responsible to pay, out of your own pocket, before the insurer responsibility kicks in. If you raise the deductible threshold amount, your payments will decrease as well. If you end up driving without accidents, this will save you money. Just be careful, as with an accident you would have to pay more out of pocket with a higher deductible.
Drive a low-premium vehicle. Some cars can better than others for premiums. You might pay more if you drive a sports car, a luxury car, a large SUV, a very small car, or others. It really depends on how your car can handle damage, how expensive it might be to repair, and how much damage it could inflict on other cars.
Utilize multi-car discounts. Do you have multiple cars in your household? You might be able to save money with a multi-car discount, covering those cars with the same insurer.
Drive safely. This was already noted in #2 above with respect to raising deductibles, but accidents can also raise your rates. Drive safely, and you can keep your rates low.
Shorten your commute. The distance you drive back and forth to work each day can matter in determining your rates. You might be able to get lower rates if you have a short commute to work. I know someone who’s had a 2 mile commute to work for some years now (must be nice!), who’s talked this up. Hard to choose a job based on lowering insurance costs, of course, but it’s still something to keep in mind in terms of your mileage.
Take advantage of multi-line discounts. Bundling auto insurance with home or renter’s insurance is another potential way to save money.
Take a defensive or safe driving course. Such a driver improvement type of class might lower your insurance premiums. It’s worth inquiring about such potential savings before making the investment in a class.
Consider dropping collision coverage on older cars. If you believe in car longevity, and drive a car until it has a sky high mileage number, you may be in a position to consider dropping collision coverage. It’s good to take a step back and determine exactly what coverage you’ll really need.
Invest in an approved anti-theft device. Sometimes, depending on the device, you might be able to obtain extra savings by installing an alarm system/anti-theft device. Protect your car and potentially save money in the process!

My Questions for You

Do you take advantage of any of these measures?

Do you have any additional tips to share?

What do you think is the best advice to give someone trying to successfully reduce car insurance costs?

10 Winter Savings Tips

By Squirrelers 12 Comments

Different times of the year provide different reasons to spend money, be it holidays or weather-related. With respect to the latter, the winter months provide a unique set of conditions that can affect our expenses in different ways.

With that in mind – and the reality that we’re in for a prolonged few months of cold weather where I’m at – I thought I’d put together a list of winter savings tips, including 10 ways to save money during the winter months. Here goes, in no particular order and top of mind:

Open curtains on sunny days. The sunlight coming in can actually make some rooms bit warmer than they would be with windows partially covered. Let the light in, and feel the warmth. More importantly, let the sun do the work – instead of turning up the temperature in your home. South-facing windows can really help.
Check windows and doors for drafts. This is often of particular importance in homes that are older, but can apply to most homes in general. Sometimes, we can have our expensive heating efforts somewhat negated by small leaks that bring in cold air. Weatherstripping and caulking can help take care of these efforts. Just spend a few bucks at a home improvement store, and a little bit of time, and you can solve such problems quickly.
Lower the heat when you’re not home. When not home during the day, why not lower the thermostat by a few degrees? An empty house doesn’t care whether it’s 70 degrees or 65 degrees! Little amounts that are saved each day can add up to something measurable over longer periods of time, which can be reflected in your monthly bill. This concept of lowering the heat can also be applied overnight, as temperatures can be lower while everyone sleeps.
Lock Santa out of the Fireplace. OK, I like good ole Santa just as much as anybody else. However, on those other time aside from Christmas Night, keep the fireplace damper shut. This is a source of heat loss for many homes. Of course you want to be careful when doing this (as in, not when a fire is going), and not everyone has a fireplace anyway. But if you do, just keep in mind that the damper can be closed, since the jolly man in the red suit won’t be appearing every day. Talk to a professional for details.
Consider an insulation jacket for your water heater. These don’t cost much, maybe $20 or so, but can save you a small percentage of your heating costs by preventing heat loss. Like many other things, these costs can add up over the year.
Wear layers. A great example: wearing a sweatshirt! Instead of cranking up the heat even a few degrees, throw on something warmer – maybe a sweatshirt or a heavier pair of socks. Don’t ever go to the point of being uncomfortable though. Personally, I think it’s entirely silly to suffer just to save a few bucks. But for a couple of degrees, which seems more than manageable, layering can work well.
Be prepared for snow. Depending on where you live, you might be dealing with snow in the winter. In some places – such as where I live (Midwest) – the snow can be significant. Make sure your snow blower is working, snow shovel is handy, and that you can be ready to go if needed. Otherwise, you could waste time and money trying to get someone to do it for you. Not that outsourcing is a bad option – it can be great for many people – but do it if you want to, not if you’re forced into it due to being unprepared.
Pay attention to insurance. Winter brings on it’s own challenges in terms of weather, and some of this is related to snow. Though we can remove it, as discussed above, we might not be able to remove all risks associated with it. Snow insurance might be a good thing to consider, depending on where you live.
Prepare your car for winter weather. This includes checking things such as antifreeze, tire tread, wiper blades, etc. Also, keep an emergency kit in your car. More than money costs, we’re thinking of safety in this case!
Dress for the elements. I’ve seen enough people wear light jackets or no outerwear at all in temperatures as low as the 40’s. That’s a great way to get sick, one would think! Protect yourself against the weather, and stay healthy. Besides the obvious positives of good health, you might save yourself health care costs, and also be able to get to work and be productive!

My Questions for You

Since this was list of ten, I’m sure there are other tips that could be added. Do you have any to share?

What are your favorite ways to save money during the winter months?

How ‘Convenience’ Can Often Cost you more

By Squirrelers Leave a Comment

The following is a guest post

Being ‘convenient’ is often seen to be a fantastic selling point of products. On the face of it, it isn’t hard to see why. After all, various gadgets such as phones and tablet computers often do make our lives easier, opening up communication and allowing us to carry out tasks that would have otherwise taken much longer. However, this isn’t always the case and ‘convenience’ isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. For instance, it might ‘convenient’ simply to renew the same car insurance quote you’ve had for the past three years, but would this really give you a better deal?

Arguably, convenience also has a hidden cost and, all too often, that cost is monetary.

Less work, bigger price

Convenience is generally sold on the basis that buying a certain product will take work out of your day. The general assumption is that this is a good thing. However, when so many of us are feeling the strain of economic troubles and are tightening our belts in any way we can, convenience products aren’t always a fantastic solution.

It might seem a bit of an odd example, but take a look at cheese. You can now get cheese pre-grated, pre-sliced and generally pre-prepared. This might save you a couple of minutes when it comes to getting lunch ready, but you’ll often have to pay a higher price for the privilege. The same is often true of pre-sliced vegetables and other food items.

A similar principle applies to many larger products we use in our households. Many people, for instance, have a sit-on lawnmower. The aim of this is to make it easier to mow the lawn but, because of the extra capabilities of the machine, they cost significantly more than a lawnmower that you push by hand. And really, how many of us actually have a lawn so large we need to drive across it?

This isn’t to say that convenience products are a bad thing – they’re not at all and do often make our lives easier, it’s just that they can also have an extra cost that isn’t ideal if you’re trying to save money or get great value for money.

Not always

This, though, isn’t always the case. The good news is that there are some occasions when convenience solutions actually are all they promise to be and more. They can help us save both time and money, which is definitely something to be celebrated.

Take price comparison sites as an example. It used to be that, back in the day, if you wanted to compare the prices of different car insurance companies for example, you had to go to them all directly. This took time, usually involved spending money on phone calls and, because the companies obviously have an interest in getting your business, sometimes ended up with you getting a product you didn’t especially want.

Now, however, you can just log on to the internet, fill in the information on a price comparison site (usually for free) and get a list of insurance quotes within minutes. Now that’s what we call convenience.

Optimism is Great, but Just in Case – Be Insured

By Squirrelers 8 Comments

I like to try to think positively about things. While financial concerns – or the fear of financial concerns – can motivate me (as I’ll discuss in an upcoming post), I’m a fan of positive thinking. Orient your mind toward positive thoughts and expectations, and you’ll be moving a little bit more in the direction of those things happening.

That being said, we never know what can happen. We can’t control everything, despite our best intentions and positive outlooks. Sometimes, things do happen. A recent story in the sports world, which ended up being a genuine human interest story, can serve as an reminder for the need to get a life insurance quote.

A race car driver, and former Indy 500 champ, died recently in a race at another track. Naturally, that’s sad. What makes it even more sad is that the guy left behind a wife and 2 younger kids. He was in his 30’s, right in the middle of some great years of life. All of a sudden, in a car accident on the track, tragedy happened.

What happens if a tragedy impacts the average parent out there, man or woman, who’s being counted on to support the family? What if the other parent was not actively working, yet all of a sudden loses a spouse? While there are bigger things to think about, the reality is that money can soon become a big problem if much less cash flow is coming into the house.

I took out a life insurance policy a few years back for this reason. Actually, I might need to increase the amount of coverage, the more I think about it. Blogging about personal finance, and researching things further, I’ve come to the conclusion that many of us underestimate the potential financial impact of such events. Especially when young, many people think that they can skate by without making a modest payment, thinking that they can save money. While I normally like the idea of cutting out smaller amounts of money like $40 dollars a month as an example, since those amounts can add up to big dollars over time, the downside to cutting the costs can be extremely painful in the worst case.

When in my mid-20’s, I was friends with a guy in grad school who told me that he was uninsured. By this, I mean he had no health insurance. In fact, when employed before going back to grad school, he didn’t have any insurance for a while. This despite knowing at some level that the downside could be high. What’s crazier is that we were getting our MBAs, so you would think that the business mind would take over! Well, he thought he would take the risk and avoid spending the money. Great guy actually and really funny, but I’m sure it didn’t stop him from spending money going out with friends. Good guy to go get a beer with, I’ll give him that. But he simply got lucky with risky insurance choices – or non-choice.

Well, I’d rather not leave things to luck. There are other risks that can be taken, with far more upside and fun too – with less downside. It’s important to remember insurance. This holds true in many other areas of our lives as well. For example, if you’re driving regularly, you never know when an accident might happen. Nobody’s perfect. Buying motor insurance is a way to protect against those risks. Thankfully, we have to have such insurance. It’s good make smart choices along those lines, and pick a plan that works best for your own situation.

Peace of mind is important, especially when it comes to major financial issues. We might as well protect against big risks, and live without that particular worry in the back of our mind. Then we can focus on the optimism I discussed earlier!