So in my young life I have not had the pleasure of dealing with medical insurance a great deal. But in such a short time I feel like I have learned the hard way.
I consider insurance (along with an emergency fund) to be a foundational block of your financial picture. However, now I realize that it is not only important to HAVE inusrance, but you have to UNDERSTAND your insurance.
I knew I had dental so I scheduled an appointment. My insurance covers 100% of reasonable costs. I ended up learning the hard way that my insurance didn't cover the whole amount from this dentist and I ended up having to shell out some major money that I wasn't expecting.
If you have some type of medical appointment make sure you request for them to pre-qualify their expenses with your insurance company in advance. This is a must, especially if this is a new dentist or doctor you are going to.
Showing posts with label Insurance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Insurance. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
Watch out for Identity Theft
I used to not really take this idea seriously because I thought that it would not happen to me. I did not go to questionable websites nor did I give out my information to anyone that I didn't have 100% certainty what it was used for.
However, it is getting trickier and tricker to protect yourself from Identity Theft. For instance, I use paypal on a monthly basis but not a ton. I got this email a week ago saying that my account was frozen due to inactivity and needed to unfreeze my account. The e-mail looked EXACTLY like the paypal e-mails. Then when I clicked the link it took me to a site that had a web address that looked legitimate and had "paypal" in it somewhere. The page even looked exactly like the paypal website.
It asked me for my ss#, bank card #, and other things that paypal might normally ask for. Then I questioned what I was doing because I wanted to think twice before I put this information in. I hovered my mouse over the page to see where the links on the page would take me and came to find out there were no links at all on the page. The entire page was just paypal graphics.
On the page before they had me "log in," so I decided to click back and log in again but this time use an incorrect password. I came to find out that it still let me through. It was a scam.
I notified paypal immediately and change my password. I am thankful that I did not click submit and give out all my information.
Be on your guard against identity theft because it would be easy to fall in a trap if you are not careful. Matthew 10:16 actually tells us to be shrewed as snakes. Jesus was telling his disciples when sending them out to not be taken advantage of. I think this is still very insightful in today's age.
However, it is getting trickier and tricker to protect yourself from Identity Theft. For instance, I use paypal on a monthly basis but not a ton. I got this email a week ago saying that my account was frozen due to inactivity and needed to unfreeze my account. The e-mail looked EXACTLY like the paypal e-mails. Then when I clicked the link it took me to a site that had a web address that looked legitimate and had "paypal" in it somewhere. The page even looked exactly like the paypal website.
It asked me for my ss#, bank card #, and other things that paypal might normally ask for. Then I questioned what I was doing because I wanted to think twice before I put this information in. I hovered my mouse over the page to see where the links on the page would take me and came to find out there were no links at all on the page. The entire page was just paypal graphics.
On the page before they had me "log in," so I decided to click back and log in again but this time use an incorrect password. I came to find out that it still let me through. It was a scam.
I notified paypal immediately and change my password. I am thankful that I did not click submit and give out all my information.
Be on your guard against identity theft because it would be easy to fall in a trap if you are not careful. Matthew 10:16 actually tells us to be shrewed as snakes. Jesus was telling his disciples when sending them out to not be taken advantage of. I think this is still very insightful in today's age.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Thoughts on Insurance
Insurance is an essential Financial Planning tool. The purpose of insurance is to transfer risk. Especially for those at a younger age just starting out adulthood; you don't have a large cash amount and certain losses could bankrupt you, so wisdom says to transfer the risk.
These are 6 Basic Types of Insurance
Homeowners or Rental Insurance
Auto Insurance
Health Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Long Term Care Insurance
The ones that I am going to highlight today are the first four: Homeowners/Rental, Auto, Health, and Life Insurance.
Homeowners/Renters Insurance
When you own your home, it is a must to have homeowners insurance. If you are renting, you NEED rental insurance. It is extremely cheap (usually about $10/month) and if you do not have it you are no longer covered under your parents insurance.
Auto Insurance
I recommend that once you have your emergency fund, you should raise your deductible. The reason for this is because you will save a lot on your reduced monthly payment. Be smart with that and save it up so that it becomes your "Car Emergency Money" that will pay for the deductible when you have to pay it. Make sure you carry adequate liability.
Health Insurance
Along with auto insurance, I have the same recommendation for health insurance to raise your deductible because when you have an emergency fund in place you can save money on your monthly payment. And after a certain period of time you end up saving the whole amount of the deductible from the monthly savings anyway. If you are self-employed you can save money using an MSA (or Medical Savings Account). I will post on tax tips in the future and more will be included on the MSA then. But for now, the MSA is a tax deductible medical savings account for medical bills that works with a large deductible.
Life Insurance
This is a must if you are married and have a house. If you were to die without life insurance and the two of you have a mortgage together your spouse would be responsible for the amount. Chances are she was depending on your income for this which is why you are protecting her by taking out life insurance. However, if you both are working and have no debt (no mortgage, loans, cards, etc.), she really isn't depending on your income. In this situation it is not vital to have life insurance.
Life Insurance is to replace lost income due to death. It is actually more like "death insurance." There are 2 types of Life Insurance: Term and Cash Value.
Term insurance is for a specified period, is substantially cheaper, and has no savings plan built in. Cash Value insurance is normally for life and is more expensive in order to fund a savings plan.
A common misconception about life insurance that it is permanent need. That you will ALWAYS need life insurance.
What I recommend is for you to get a 20 or 30 year term life insurance and invest the monthly savings into a diversified portfolio of mutual funds (ex. 25% growth, 25% growth & income, 25% aggresive growth, and 25% International).
I encourage you to price a plan for Cash Value and Term and the difference will most likely be a great deal. Usually a plan for Cash Value that is $100 will be for about $10 or $15 with Term. If you save and invest the other $90 per month for the entire term of 30 years you will have $314,546.77 at the end of it. You will be self insured and no longer need to be sinking payments into a life insurance savings plan.
These are 6 Basic Types of Insurance
Homeowners or Rental Insurance
Auto Insurance
Health Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Long Term Care Insurance
The ones that I am going to highlight today are the first four: Homeowners/Rental, Auto, Health, and Life Insurance.
Homeowners/Renters Insurance
When you own your home, it is a must to have homeowners insurance. If you are renting, you NEED rental insurance. It is extremely cheap (usually about $10/month) and if you do not have it you are no longer covered under your parents insurance.
Auto Insurance
I recommend that once you have your emergency fund, you should raise your deductible. The reason for this is because you will save a lot on your reduced monthly payment. Be smart with that and save it up so that it becomes your "Car Emergency Money" that will pay for the deductible when you have to pay it. Make sure you carry adequate liability.
Health Insurance
Along with auto insurance, I have the same recommendation for health insurance to raise your deductible because when you have an emergency fund in place you can save money on your monthly payment. And after a certain period of time you end up saving the whole amount of the deductible from the monthly savings anyway. If you are self-employed you can save money using an MSA (or Medical Savings Account). I will post on tax tips in the future and more will be included on the MSA then. But for now, the MSA is a tax deductible medical savings account for medical bills that works with a large deductible.
Life Insurance
This is a must if you are married and have a house. If you were to die without life insurance and the two of you have a mortgage together your spouse would be responsible for the amount. Chances are she was depending on your income for this which is why you are protecting her by taking out life insurance. However, if you both are working and have no debt (no mortgage, loans, cards, etc.), she really isn't depending on your income. In this situation it is not vital to have life insurance.
Life Insurance is to replace lost income due to death. It is actually more like "death insurance." There are 2 types of Life Insurance: Term and Cash Value.
Term insurance is for a specified period, is substantially cheaper, and has no savings plan built in. Cash Value insurance is normally for life and is more expensive in order to fund a savings plan.
A common misconception about life insurance that it is permanent need. That you will ALWAYS need life insurance.
What I recommend is for you to get a 20 or 30 year term life insurance and invest the monthly savings into a diversified portfolio of mutual funds (ex. 25% growth, 25% growth & income, 25% aggresive growth, and 25% International).
I encourage you to price a plan for Cash Value and Term and the difference will most likely be a great deal. Usually a plan for Cash Value that is $100 will be for about $10 or $15 with Term. If you save and invest the other $90 per month for the entire term of 30 years you will have $314,546.77 at the end of it. You will be self insured and no longer need to be sinking payments into a life insurance savings plan.
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