How To Deal With A Claims Adjuster When You Disagree On Price or Scope
October 14, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Insurance
A reader sent this question to us about a water damage claim she is dealing with that occurred in her home. I was a claims adjuster for three years, and I definitely know that adjusters and insurance companies love to pay the least amount possible for a claim, and they try to get away with as much as possible, hoping that the homeowner won’t push back or question their decisions. It’s the job of the insurance company and the claims adjuster to “indemnify” you, which means they have the responsibility to put you and your home back to its original condition. Here is the question from the reader:
How I Pay $85 A Month For My Health Insurance Policy
September 10, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Health and Fitness, Insurance, Politics
Health care is the big topic around the country right now. Politicians want to push a reform bill that many Americans don’t want. Americans want affordable health care, but they are weary about handing it over to the government. In high school and college, I never worried about health care. I was always under my mother’s health insurance policy, so I never worried about it. Then when I got married, my first “real” job paid for 80% of my health care premium, and the rest of it plus the premium for my wife to be added on was taken out of my paycheck every two weeks. I still paid around $240 a month for it, even with 80% of my premium being paid, so I know that health care policies can be very expensive.
Why Rich People Go Broke
August 19, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Insurance, Investing, Spending and Saving
I was reading Sports Illustrated, and I came across this statistic:
78% of former NFL players go bankrupt or are under major money stress due to joblessness within 2 years after retirement. 60% of NBA players are broke within 5 years after retirement.
Does that surprise you? It didn’t surprise me that a lot professional athletes end up squandering their wealth after they retire, but this number really caught my attention. How can it be that almost 4 out of 5 NFL players bo bankrupt? I think there are several reasons for this:
Reduce Your Financial Risk During This Recession
February 26, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Credit and Debt, Insurance, Planning
The best thing you can do for you and your family during this economic recession is reduce the risk in your life. This is not the time to be taking uncalculated risks with your money, your career, or your future. Here are three ways you can reduce the financial risk in your life today:
Eliminate As Much Debt As Possible: Put together a plan to start reducing your personal debt. There are many different strategies to reduce your debt. If you have a bunch of debts with similar balances, then start paying off the one with the highest interest rate first. If you have a bunch of debts with a large range of balances, then start paying off the smaller ones first to get them out of the way. Read my plan to get out of debt here.
How To Save Money When Buying Life Insurance
January 13, 2009 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Insurance
Like many other products and services offering lower prices due to harsh economic conditions, consider buying term life insurance this year. The rates on term life insurance are lower than ever. A male, non-smoker at the age of 40 can expect to pay $400 or less per year for $500,000 in coverage.
At Money Crashers, we only recommend term life insurance over permanent life insurance such as whole life and universal life insurance for these reasons:
- We do not believe that you should mesh your investments with your insurance policy.
How To Protect You and Your Family From Financial Ruin In A Recession
December 5, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Economy, Insurance, Planning
The media is saying we’re in a recession, because they love to strike fears in the hearts of Americans. We tune into news programs more when bad news has struck. Think about how many news programs, newspapers, and magazines you consumed during the 9/11 attacks. We love bad news. This is why the media was calling the economic downturn a recession from the beginning. Recession sounds so much darker and desolate than a “down economy” sounds. Call it what you want, but you still need to wake up every day, put your clothes on the same way, and make a living. There are three phases that all families should go through with their finances, and they are:
Are You Paying Too Much For Life Insurance?
September 3, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Insurance, Investing
For those of you who have life insurance, and for those of you who are looking to buy life insurance for the first time, here is a fair warning from your faithful Money Crasher’s host. It’s easy to get ripped off, just like every other insurance product on the market. The problem with life insurance, is that the actual product differs, and each one yields a different commission amount for the agent selling it to you. There are only so many ways to slice auto, homeowner’s, and health insurance. Agents can up-sell you on them by offering bonus coverages for extra premium, but the product is essentially the same. Life insurance does not work this way. Allow me to explain:
5 Steps To Prepare For A Natural Disaster
August 12, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Insurance, Planning, Real Estate
The Iowa floods, the California wildfires, the earthquakes and typhoons in Asia, and the hurricanes in Florida and the Gulf make us cringe thinking about them. Mother nature is a powerful beast. She does not discriminate, and she does not give warning. We can all relate to going through a natural disaster or know someone who had to go through it. Unfortunately, there are those that do no prepare for the worst. An essential part of being financially secure is planning for the worst. The emergency fund is part of this plan, and taking steps to financially protect yourself from natural disasters is also part of that plan. Here are five steps to help you prepare for a natural disaster.
Selling Your Life To a Stranger Is Creepy
July 10, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Insurance
Check out this article on MSNBC about a guy who sold his life insurance policy to an investor for a lump sum of $125,000.
Is it just me, or does this creep you out a little bit? Knowing that someone will profit from me dying doesn’t sit well with me. I would be looking over my back and sleeping with one eye open for the rest of my life.
What do you think? Would you sell your life insurance policy for a quick $100 grand?
31 Ways to Be Frugal And Save Money
April 1, 2008 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Budgeting, Insurance, Spending and Saving
Lately, I’ve been hearing tips from friends about how they save money, reading articles about saving money, and trying to come up with ways to save some money around the house. So, I decided to put together a comprehensive list of ways that we save money around the house and in our daily lives. There are 31 suggestions, one for each day of the month.
- Buy and install a programmable thermostat. Set the thermostat higher when you are gone during the day and cooler when you are at home at night.
- Use Coupons wisely. Only clip coupons for items that you consume on a regular basis.
