I'm Chris and I help people
Properly insuring yourself is serious business. I'll show you what to look for and what questions to ask about insurance.
It's more than just price. Don't overlook the true purpose of insurance because which is to protect your financial best interest.
It's important to understand why your insurance rates constantly increase. I'll tell you what other insurance companies are afraid to.
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Well, to put it bluntly– yes. Yes, your rates are probably going to go up after an accident. I know — you don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. Anyone who tells you differently is either afraid to tell you the truth, or doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
To understand why rates go up after an accident or claim, you first need to have at least a general understanding of how insurance companies determine their rates to begin with. Trust me, it’s not as cut and dry as you think.
I was recently asked this question by one of my clients, and thought I would share the answer here for my readers.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier articles, there are a lot of things that go into homeowners and auto insurance rates, one of them being credit. I’ve heard a lot of complaints from people who don’t like the fact that insurance companies use credit in their underwriting. Some people have absolutely no idea that it’s used in the rate at all.
“Not cool bro! Why does my rate go up when my car is getting older??”
I literally get this question 2 or 3 times a week, so of course, I wanted to address it here for all of my readers.
First things first, even though it’s called car/auto insurance, it covers more than just your car. It should technically be called “auto-owners” insurance, similarly to how home insurance is actually called “home owners insurance”.
As I’ve mentioned before, there are a lot of variables that go into insurance premiums, and with auto insurance, it’s no different.
The insurance company is much more concerned with you crashing into someone and causing them (or yourself) bodily harm, or death, than they are about your car. A car can be replaced. A life, might not be able to.
You may have never though of this, but it only takes one year of paying for custodial long term care to wipe out a significant portion (if not all) of the retirement assets that took you decades to accumulate.
New studies by the National Association of Health Underwriters and Medicare have suggested that more than 70% of all retirees who live to 65 years of age will need some form of long term care in retirement. That number is simply staggering.
The main reason for that is, people are living longer. Modern medical science has become quite good at keeping us alive longer.
The problem is, there’s a difference between living longer, and living well isn’t there?
As mentioned in some of my other articles about how insurance companies determine their rates, it’s important to understand what can impact your insurance score.
What many people don’t realize is there are actually insurance companies that are in business solely to insure customers with bad insurance scores and loss history. These companies are known behind the scenes as “sub-standard” carriers.
So why does this matter to you?
A Medicare Supplement (a.k.a Medigap) plan is an insurance policy that assists, or supplements the benefits in Original Medicare Part’s A and B. It doesn’t have anything to do with Medicare Advantage or your Part D prescription coverage — it only works with Original Medicare Part’s A and B.
As I mentioned in the article that compared Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, there is some cost-sharing in Original Medicare in the form of deductibles, co-pays and coinsurance. The job of the Medigap plan is to eliminate some, or all of that cost-sharing.
It’s also important to understand what Medigap plans don’t cover. In general, they don’t cover dental, hearing, or vision, and they don’t cover prescription drugs either however in some cases Part B and your Medigap will cover drugs related to serious diseases like cancer and/or H.I.V..
Similar to Advantage plans, some (but not many) Medigap plans also offer a health club reimbursement feature.
Medigap plans revolve around Medicare Part B meaning that when you take Part B you should also enroll in the Medigap plan at that time (unless you have other coverage like group employer coverage, retiree coverage, TriCare, or Medicaid)
Why?
Just like any other bill that’s ever been passed by any president, Democrat or Republican, the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare” has it’s good parts and it’s bad parts. Almost every time I do a Medicare 101 program, one of the most commonly asked questions is, “How does Obamacare affect Medicare?”
This is obviously a very hot topic as it relates to Medicare eligible seniors, and with the new health insurance market places taking effect on October 1st, I thought I would take some time here and go over exactly what impact “Obamacare” has on Medicare. There is a lot in this bill, but for now, I’m going to focus on the components that should show the biggest cost savings in Medicare.
The first thing you need to understand is that Medicare is not a part of the new health insurance marketplaces. The marketplaces are for individual coverage, not Medicare, or Medicare Advantage.
Despite rumors and speculation that Medicare will be destroyed or gutted by “Obamacare”, it will actually improve Original Medicare, and prolong the life of the Medicare Trust Fund which has most recently been reported by several outlets to have been extended to 2029 with the recent improvements which have already begun to lower the costs.
Several things in this bill make these improvements possible. Let’s take a look.
Medicare Part D drug plans can be very confusing if you’re new to Medicare, but the process of finding the best Medicare Part D prescription plan doesn’t have to be. All you need is an internet connection and you can find the best part d drug plan in about 5 minutes.
Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about my video, or if you have any questions okay.
Independent insurance agents have the best products and the best customer service — period.
Independent agents have access to a wide range of products and insurance carriers. This means they can find a solution that fits the needs of their clients in an unbiased fashion. You see, not every insurance professional does business this way.
If you were going to purchase a new truck, say it was a Ford in this example. You walk into the Ford dealership and are immediately approached by a salesman. You walk over to a truck you like and then start discussing the exact specifications you’re looking for in that truck. You know you want an extra cab and something that is 4×4. You also want your new truck to be dark blue, with a sprayed in bed protector and fog lamps.
When it comes down to talking about price, do you think that the Ford salesman would tell you that right down the street there was a Dodge dealer who had a truck that matched your exact specifications, but for $4,000 less? Of course not. Why? Because that salesman’s job is to sell Fords and Fords only. Of course he is going to try and position the Ford as if it was the best truck on planet earth.
The same can be said for insurance agents. When you speak to a AAA, State Farm, Allstate, Geico, etc., sure you are talking to a licensed insurance professional, but, who you’re really talking to is an employee of their respective company. An employee whose job it is to only sell it’s company’s products.
If you’re not a savvy insurance shopper, you may not even realize that you are not getting unbiased, objective advice when talking to one of these employees. That is a problem.
You see, there are three main categories of insurance professionals. Let’s take a look.
Imagine for a moment your family without you. Would they be able to pay their bills comfortably, or would they be scrounging around, struggling? I’m asking the question because a common theme I’m starting to see when meeting with clients is how they severely under-value life insurance.
This is not a sales pitch folks. Those of you with a mortgage, spouse, and/or children, or anyone who depends on you financially, I’m speaking to you here– you need life insurance. Period.
I’ve literally had people say to me, ” I won’t need any money if I’m dead and I’m not here to make my spouse rich if I die”
People have said those exact words to me and it’s absolutely ridiculous! Are you serious? This is your family we’re talking about! Your children! Dealing with the death of a family member/spouse is hard enough in and of itself, now imagine the stress of having to deal with financial hardship on top of that.