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Employer Life Insurance Most employer-sponsored life insurance is term insurance. Like homeowner’s or car insurance, it doesn’t gain any cash value. More than likely, it will only be in effect as long as you work for the company. The amount of coverage the company will issue you is based on a flat amount or a percentage of your gross earnings. Many times, that percentage is one, one and a half or two times your annual salary. If you die or are dismembered in an accident, the policy will pay twice as much. That’s called double indemnity. Even that amount, though, falls far short of what insurance professionals recommend if you’re married, have children and own a home. Most insurance professionals suggest between 10 to 20 times your annual salary. “I decided that my family needed $75,000 to live on per year,” she says. “We figured out we needed a couple million in insurance to bank and live off the interest. That’s a conservative approach and a more expensive one. But don’t just take what your employer has. Get more, depending on your needs. A $10,000 check won’t help anyone.” Say Debbie R. If your company offers additional voluntary insurance for a fee and you’re in good health, you might be better off leaving that offer on the table. Insurance companies charge employers a higher premium on those policies because they have to accept every employee that wants to sign up, including ones who smoke, are overweight or have a family history of diabetes or cancer. So, they adjust their prices accordingly. If you’re young, in good health and don’t smoke, you can probably get a better policy on your own for 30 percent to 50 percent less than you can get through work. Company-sponsored voluntary insurance usually will go up in price every five years; individual policies on the private market routinely offer price locks of 10, 15 and 20 years. Your employer is never going to buy you enough insurance to cover your needs — not even close, the question is, ‘Do I get it at work and pay for it myself, or get it outside and pay for it myself?’ It’s always cheaper on the outside. The drawbacks are that you’ll probably have to go through a medical exam before you’re approved, and you won’t have the convenience of having the premiums deducted from your paycheck. But you will have lower premiums and a policy that can last a lifetime. |
October 2022
Interesting Facts:
In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world’s nuclear weapons combined. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out. The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet. The “pound” key on your keyboard (#) is called an octotroph. (Freak Millennials out by saying “Octotroph” instead of “Hashtag” the next time you’re trying to be hip. Such as “Octotroph BlowingMyMind!”) |
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Preparing For Hard Times! Rarely do we accurately
predict and anticipate what we consider to be economic good
times or bad times. Like the days when the rain begins
late in the day and you didn’t think it was necessary to bring
an umbrella. While we can’t always predict or guess what might
transpire, we can do certain things to help ourselves and our
families in the event of hard economic times that we cannot
and did not anticipate. As with insurance and other forms of
preparing for the unexpected, rarely can we cover all
potential concerns. What we can do is prepare sufficiently to
get us through a temporary, and hopefully, short term
emergency situation.
Here are some recommendations that will help you survive unexpected hard times, whether the hard times are worldwide, nationwide or if you are between jobs: 1. Hoard cash. While under normal circumstances, many families live with credit and debit cards, but as Floridians and other persons living in hurricane prone portions of the eastern United States have found, there are times when your checkbook or credit card can be useless. If there is no electricity, or if businesses can’t verify your check or credit card then you’re in trouble. You also could find situations where your savings and retirement resources are not accessible. You should plan on having cash to buy gas, groceries, and other temporary supplies. 2. Reduce debt. National surveys show that the average American family has about $8,000 in credit card debt spread over several credit cards. That means those same families spend hundreds of dollars each month paying credit card debt and high interest rates on purchases they made months, maybe years earlier. Getting out of debt, or even reducing debt, will mean that you have one less financial obligation to worry about if you have to face any hard times. 3. Slash spending. Most of us go about our daily lives knowing that we will have more income next month, whether it’s from employment or retirement savings. But, if that source of income is suddenly reduced significantly, you can survive by stopping all spending except emergency spending. Many routine purchases, such as clothing, home repairs and improvements, can simply be put on “hold” until the financial situation gets better. The more successful a family’s wage earner has been, usually means there is more money being spent on luxury items, which can abruptly be put on hold during a financial emergency. For long term financial security when the economic hard times are over remember that, when necessary, you can cut spending and live on less than you do normally. |
Did you know… October is National Book month? I really hate it when doom and gloomers say, “No one reads anymore.” I read millions of words a day on blogs, news websites, Facebook, texts, fast food menus, ridiculous e-mail forwards and more. I know what they mean to say is “No one reads books anymore,” but I find that equally offensive. I love reading books, too. I think it’s time we showed the world that there are still plenty of book lovers out there. October is National Book Month and I’m asking everyone to pick up that book they’ve been “meaning to read” and read it. Or go to your local bookstore, roam around a section, pick a book with the most interesting cover, and read it. Or drop by your local library, ask the librarian for a suggestion and read it. Can the Stock Market keep
going up?
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Would you like to be able to Safeguard your account from losses and still be able to get stock market type returns? Call my office today!
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