To protect yourself financially and to make sure you are fully covered, setting aside time to review your estate planning documents is imperative.  You should ideally review these documents every year or two.

You may want to considering the following:

Do you have enough life insurance coverage?  Perhaps you bought life insurance at 10 times your income 10 years ago when you had your first child.  Since then you have had two more children and have had considerable increases in wage.  Is your life insurance policy from 10 years ago still enough?

Is your beneficiary still appropriate?  Much can happen in our personal lives over the course of several years.  People die, married couples get divorced.  Perhaps you had your father as your beneficiary 10 years ago, but he has since passed away.  Maybe you had your spouse as the beneficiary but you have since divorced.  A few months ago, a wealthy man’s death made national news because he still had his ex-wife as his beneficiary.  His current wife was taking the ex-wife to court to try to get the money she claimed should rightly be hers.  The death of a loved one is hard enough on its own without fights over money.

Has your health changed significantly for the better?  If you were a smoker when you bought your life insurance policy or you were overweight and you have since stopped smoking or lost weight, for example, it may be worthwhile to get quotes for new life insurance policies to see if you can get a cheaper rate.  You may also be able to call your current insurer to see if they can give you a better rate based on your healthier lifestyle.  (Many require signed confirmation from your physician.)

While you are analzying your life insurance, you may also want to review your will and trust.  Your assets change as do your personal relationships; if there are any significant changes, you want to make sure to update the document.

One of the most responsible things you can do is to buy life insurance to protect your loved ones financially in the event of your death.  In addition, you need a will and trust to dictate who will care for your children and inherit your money.  However, once you have both of these documents in place, your job doesn’t end there.  Take some time every year or two to make sure your life insurance policy as well as your will and trust are current.

Originating post: Have You Reviewed Your Life Insurance Policy and Will Lately?

Have You Reviewed Your Life Insurance Policy and Will Lately? is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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Before you panic over the high balance left unpaid on your medical bill, rest assured that this notice is not the final word on your medical claim. There are several steps you can take to find out why your claim was denied and correct any mistakes. Take a minute to calm your fears and then start working your way through these suggestions:

Inspect your explanation of benefits for errors.
One of the most popular causes of a denied claim is an error in claim information. Your doctor’s billing office has to input a great deal of information when billing your insurance company, and mistakes sometimes happen. Check basic information such as your name, your insurance information (sometimes claims are submitted to old expired insurance companies instead of the patient’s current insurance company), and your date of birth. If you find an error there, call your medical provider. They can correct their error and re-submit the claim with the appropriate information.

Call your insurance company’s customer care center.
The customer service folks will be able to explain to you exactly why your claim was denied. In some cases there was just an error in processing, and your claim can be corrected. In other cases, you may have received a service that wasn’t covered by your insurance. Either way, you will need to know why your claim was denied before you can escalate your claim to an appeals department.

Write an appeal letter.
On your explanation of benefits, you can usually find the address of your insurance company’s appeals department. You will need to submit a letter appealing the initial decision of their claims department. In this letter you should explain why you believe the claim should be honored. Provide documentation supporting your stance on the matter: letters from your provider, copies of your medical bills, and any information about pre-authorizations you might have requested are all great things to include. Take care to be timely with your request; your insurance company will limit the length of time you can appeal their decisions.

Have you been successful in challenging a rejected claim?

Originating post: Tips For Challenging A Rejected Medical Claim

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Whole-of-life insurance

This type of policy pays out an amount of money, known as the ‘sum assured’ when the policy-holder is either diagnosed with terminal illness, or dies – thus the premiums for whole-of-life insurance are amongst the steepest, because it offers a guarantee of payout. Many whole-of-life insurance polices also involve the insurance provider investing a certain amount of your monthly premium into a savings fund. As it will be your money that they are using, it can be wise to investigate how well the company’s funds have performed as investments in the past, before deciding on a company to go with.

Term insurance

This pays out if the policyholder becomes terminally ill or dies – much like whole-of-life insurance. The major difference is that it only pays out if either of these events occurs within a previously agreed time span. While this may seem less appealing, the person taking out the policy – not the insurance company – decides the agreed period that the policy will cover. Thus it is simply advisable to opt for an agreed length of ‘term’ that suits your personal circumstances.

Endowment insurance

This offers something comparable to a savings scheme incorporating life insurance and has elements in common with both whole-of-life and term insurance policies. Under an endowment insurance policy, you will decide on a term period for the policy to cover, which is usually no less than ten years. Should the policyholder fall victim to death or terminal illness during this term, the policy pays out; but if this is not the case, they receive a sum of money referred to as the ‘maturity value’ of the policy. Again, as with whole-of-life policies, a proportion of the monthly premiums is invested, with anything earned as a result of the performance of this investment being added to either the insurance payout or the maturity value, as required.

Joint insurance

This is a policy that a couple signs up for together and which usually pays out on the death of one of the couple – at which point the policy ceases. Therefore, were the other half of the couple to die, dependents would not receive anything under the terms of such a policy.

*This article contains sponsored links. Please see my disclosure statement.

Originating post: A Look At The 4 Types of Insurance Policies

A Look At The 4 Types of Insurance Policies is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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There are many different types of insurance available today. Carrying some types of insurance is a no-brainer while other types of insurance may seem a little excessive to you. If you have a family, however, there are certain insurances that you must maintain.

Health Insurance
With the costs of preventative health care skyrocketing higher and higher each year, every family should have health insurance. If you’re among the lucky ones who can count on their employer providing healthcare coverage, you can avoid some of these chunky premiums. However, if your employer doesn’t provide this coverage or pay for it, you must find a way to secure your own coverage. Having regular access to medical care is just too important to be left to chance.

Life Insurance
Ideally, you should have life insurance coverage for both parents in a family. Even if only one parent works outside of the home, the other parent is still performing a very valuable task. If the worst happens and one parent is taken from the family, the remaining parent will want their family’s routine to continue as much as possible. Life insurance benefits could replace the income of the working parent or give the working parent the funds to get help running the household. Getting over the loss of a parent is bad enough without having to ride out a financial crisis, too.

Homeowner’s or Renter’s Insurance
Families who live in a home they own should carry coverage (and are probably required to carry coverage by their mortgage holder) to protect their home and its contents in the event of a catastrophic event. Imagine for a moment the trauma of watching your house go up in flames. Now imagine not being able to replace you and your family’s belongings. Although being able to replace clothing and household items won’t relieve your distress, it will help you get on the road back to normal. Families who rent their homes should purchase renter’s insurance to cover their belongings.

Originating post: Insurance Needs When You Have a Family

Insurance Needs When You Have a Family is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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Review your coverage.
It’s common to keep your coverage from year-to-year or car-to-car, but that’s a mistake. Take a step back every couple of years to see if you still need or want everything you have. If you’re driving an older car or driving less, you may want to consider increasing your deductible or removing your comprehensive and collision coverage, which can lead to significant savings.

Pay up front.
If you’re on a budget, it’s convenient to pay your annual auto insurance premiums monthly, but the real budget-friendly option is paying it all at once. Car insurance companies often charge $5 – $10 “convenience” fees for the monthly premium payments, and that means up to $120 per year in their pocket instead of yours.

Shop around.
All of the major insurance companies’ websites are easy to get a quote from, so take an hour and see if sticking with your current insurer is costing you more than it should.

Get good grades.
This one is for students and parents of students only, but can be a big saver. If you have a straight-A student on your insurance policy, call up your insurer and let them know. They don’t follow your child’s progress in school, but they will often have discounts available for good students.

Be a safer driver.
We’re all tempted these days while behind the wheel by cell phones, navigation systems, and MP3 players, but distracted driving has been blamed for as many as 80% of all automobile accidents in the US (depending on who’s statistics you use). Reducing your distractions by doing little things like presetting radio stations, reducing (or eliminating) phone calls, and not texting.

If you follow these few tips, you should be well on your way to putting some of those hard-earned dollars back into your pocket.

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Originating post: 5 Tips For Saving On Your Auto Insurance

5 Tips For Saving On Your Auto Insurance is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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One other important preparation for the arrival of your new family member is an re-analysis of your insurance needs. Taking the time to re-evaluate your insurance coverage and requirements may not feel as exciting and fun as your both baby-prep tasks; however, you’ll be glad to know that you’ve prepared for your baby’s impending arrival fiscally, as well as emotionally. Consider these types of insurance as you look over your situation:

Life Insurance – If you and/or your spouse don’t have life insurance, now is the time to buy it. You will want to know, with all certainty, that your little bundle of joy is financially cared for if the unthinkable happens and he loses one or both of his parents. The loss of a parent is difficult enough for a child to endure, without having to worry about where he will live.

Health Insurance – Health insurance is another important necessity when you have children. Maybe you were able to get by before simply visiting the doctor once or twice a year and paying the cost out of your own pocket. Well, now that just isn’t a good option. Babies, even healthy ones, have to go to the doctor’s office a lot.

If you are fortunate enough to have health insurance, make sure you let your carrier know when your baby arrives. Odds are that he will be covered with his mother for the first thirty days. However, you’ll want to add him to the plan as quickly as possible to avoid any lapses in coverage after that initial period of time.

Disability Insurance – Having a reliable source of income is never more important than it is when you have a baby depending upon you for everything. The breadwinner(s) in your family should have disability insurance in place, just in case they find themselves unable to work. In a perfect world, you should plan to have disability coverage for short-term and long-term disabilities.

Originating post: Evaluating Your Insurance Needs When the New Baby Comes

Evaluating Your Insurance Needs When the New Baby Comes is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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When one spouse’s income is necessary to maintain their current lifestyle – For some families, this could be a household where both spouses work to maintain their current standard of living. For other families, this is a household where one spouse works and the other cares for the children. In either case, however, the entire family would be disrupted if one or both of the adults were no longer able here to provide for the family.

When there are children in the family – If you have children, you can almost certainly expect that you would want to replace the income your children won’t have if something were to happen to you. You wouldn’t want your surviving spouse to scramble to take care of your children. And, if both parents were to die, you certainly, wouldn’t want your children to be financial orphans.

Likewise, there are also a couple of situations that normally don’t require you to have life insurance.

When you are single and without children – In this case, if you died no one would have to shoulder a financial burden. You might consider a small life insurance policy (these are commonly part of your employer’s benefits package) to help pay for your funeral arrangements. Other than that, you probably don’t need any life insurance.

When you are considering insuring your children – Since children aren’t income-earners in most families, they really don’t need life insurance policies.

When you are a couple that don’t have any large debts – If you don’t have children or any large debts to speak of, many couples don’t need a lot of life insurance. Although one spouse might be emotionally devastated at the loss of the other, financially speaking, he would probably be able to continue to provide for himself.

Originating post: When You Need Life Insurance and When You Don’t

When You Need Life Insurance and When You Don’t is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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Before you choose a policy, there are a few key components that you should understand. Although there is no magic number that you should aim for when estimating your required coverage amount, understanding the components that make up your insurance policy will help you make an accurate estimation of your own needs.   

Homeowner’s insurance coverage typically consists of four different areas of coverage: dwelling, other structure, personal property, and loss of use. 

The dwelling portion of your homeowner’s policy insures your house. This is the coverage that will pay for damage to your house in the case of damage caused by storms or fire. Keeping an eye on the cosset of construction in your area will guide you in determining the amount of coverage you need here. You should make sure that your policy would allow you to build a comparable house in your neighborhood in the event of a total loss. 

The other structures portion of your homeowner’s policy protects other improvements you’ve made outside of your home. Typically this includes sheds, detached garages, and sidewalks.  

Personal property is one of the other key facets of your homeowner’s coverage. This can be the one that makes it a little tricky to determine your amount of required coverage. First, you should know if your policy covers replacement of lost or damaged property at the property’s replacement value or fair market value. This difference can make a big difference in your premium, but can also greatly reduce the benefit of your policy. Second, you should take care to evaluate the value of your belongings, once a year or so. If you’ve recently purchased several big ticket items you ay find that you need to raise your coverage amount.

If your home becomes uninhabitable while repairs are being made, you’ll be glad to have the loss of use portion of your homeowner’s coverage. This coverage will pay for your living expenses while you are out of your home. 

Finally, if you are concerned about some other type of coverage that is unique to your situation, you should discuss those concerns with your insurance agent. Special endorsements can be added to your policy to guard against the effects of inflation, guarantee replacement of your house, and specify the coverage of certain pieces of property.

Originating post: Keys to Making Sure You and Your Home Are Covered

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