Entries from January 2010 ↓

The one thing most likely to impress your insurance company is that you have taken a number of simple steps to reduce the risk of a burglar entering your home. The result? A reduction in the premium is guaranteed. This can be relatively minor things like deadlocks on the doors or, if there are real risks of robbery or kidnapping, the more expensive installation of a panic room. As with all decisions, it’s a balance between the costs of the work and the benefits in the reduction of premiums. Finally, even if you cannot afford a full alarm system, there are cheap ways of protecting your property. Continue reading →

According to The Beatles, “It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.” So, in 1988, voters in California passed Proposition 103 which, as history tells us, proved to be one of the best Propositions they have voted for. Why? Because it pushed forward reform of the automobile insurance industry. The result? Evidence shows California has the most competitive market in the US with the slowest increase in premium rates. If you ever wondered what consumer protection should look like, California is the model all the other states should follow. Curiously, Illinois is the most unregulated market and the least competitive. Are Californians pleased with the result? Looking at the pattern of increases in the rest of the US, the estimate is that Californian drivers have saved more than $17 billion in premiums. That’s almost $2,000 per driver. What’s not to like about that? With the last year of recession, the continuing low premiums and strong competition between the insurers guarantees better service standards on claims, just when family budgets benefit from low monthly instalments and fast payments if there is an accident. Continue reading →

Everyone wants to be sure his family and loved ones are protected and safe. This is the main reason of so many companies offering you to insure your life. Life coverage is a reliable way to protect your spouse, children, family members and loved ones from financial hardships in case of your death or disability. But besides insurance features, there are more and more policies providing with additional benefits that have money distribution and investment features to the underwriter. And the question is whether it’s reasonable to use insurance as a form of investment or there are better options for this.

Insuring your life as a form of investment

At first sight, having your life insured is a very good thing to do as you accumulate a good amount of money for your family that can be used for different purposes in case something happens to you. But there’s more to it than just that. In contrast with term policies that have no investment options, cash value (also known as whole life) policies have additional benefits, which make them a good investment instrument. These benefits allow withdrawing money from your account after a certain period if time has passed. You can obtain these funds in different ways: Continue reading →