Leave a legacy!

With the passing of a great Hoosier philanthropist (Mr. Cook) this past week, it got me thinking about leaving a legacy.  What will the future generations remember about you?  Will they remember that you supported the baseball teams for 20 years or that you helped add on to the church building?  You don't have to be a billionaire to make an impact and leave a legacy that your grandchildren will be proud of, you just have to plan a little bit.

Let's say you love basketball and you want to build a basketball court in your hometown park ... you don't have enough money to build the park and it will take you 20 years to save it up. 

What happens if you die before the end of that 20 year period?  Will someone else continue to pay into your dream account that will someday get the park a new court?  Probably not ... and the money you were saving toward it will be lost in the estate once you are gone.

A better idea is to take out a life insurance policy on yourself that names the park (or a fund set up for the construction of basketball courts) as beneficiary.  When you die, no matter if it's next week or in 30 years, the charity, club or institution that you support will receive a gift in your name that will be a legacy your grand kids and the community will brag about for decades.

How to Save Money on your Auto Insurance!

This is a topic that we hear discussed on TV ads all the time.  Isn't it weird how every company claims that customers who switched saved hundreds? 

How could every company be the cheapest?  Can you still have the coverage you need and get it cheaper?  Well the answer isn't too far off what your mom and dad told you when you were younger ... You never get something for nothing! 

First off, the TV ads you see are based on the people that switched and reported their savings ... so if 5 people saved and average of $500 when they switched and they told the company about it, then the company could use in their advertising that people who switched saved an average of $500.  That doesn't mean that everyone will save that much or even if the ones that did kept their same coverage.

If you want to save money on your auto rates you can simply cut your coverages to the state minimums and remove the physical damage coverage from your auto.  That will save you monthly ... of course if you hit someone and put them in the hospital, your insurance will run out quick and you'll be paying out of pocket for their broken bones, head wounds and nursing care, not to mention you'll need a new car so you can get to work and pay those new bills.

Insurance is about managing risk, and you have to decide if your risk of financial ruin is more important than a few dollars a month.  If you think your current insurance is too high, ask your agent if he would suggest cutting anything ... I tell my clients this one hint, if you have a car that is 10 years old or older, look up the blue book value to see if full coverage is worth it.  Many times the value of these older cars is so low that full coverage won't get you a whole lot if you totaled the car, so you can switch to liability only and save quite a bit. 

Personally I would never recommend that you lower your liability limits, because one mistake on your part would put you at risk financially with consequences that would last for many years.

J

After the Storm!

After a thunderstorm blows through, I always feel lucky.  First off, if I'm there to see the end of the storm then I survived it ... plus there is a feeling of calm once nature is done beating you down.  Of course there are times that I will have damage to deal with and sometimes my community will be suffering in the wake of what ever has blown through Southern Indiana this time.

In recent years because I'm in the insurance field, I find myself looking at the damage done by a storm and accessing the possible cost and such.  Even if I don't know the people who's home, or yard I viewing ... I will still try to imagine the cost and coverage that they would need (or perhaps not need) and what the out come would be for them in different scenarios.

It's a fun exercise for me, but the same thoughts are unnerving for the person with a storm loss.  Are you covered?  How much will this cost you?  How long will you need to wait for the repair?  As an agent I would recommend that you review your coverage each year and ask those questions.  Most of you won't remember the answers at first but it's important that you get your agent thinking about it because it's their advice that you rely on to protect your family from loss.

No one really wants to take time out of life to spend it talking about storms, wrecks, and death, but just an hour a year to review your coverage and ask (or answer) tough questions about the risks you and your family face can make all the difference when something happens to your home, or auto or even the loss of a life.

J

I WON THE LOTTERY!!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!  I don't even buy a ticket most weeks ... and I never check the numbers until days later! This is sooooo cooool !!!! I can't wait to claim it and buy something stupid!  Don't call me at work this week because I'm sooo over working and I'm totally out of ....

     GOT YOU!          Happy April Fools Day! 

Most folks don't know that the new years celebration in the late 1500's in France was a week long starting the last week of march and ending April 1st ... when this was changed by Gregorian monks around 1582 the bulk of the population forgot to check their facebook accounts for several years and didn't get the word that New Years was now only one day and on January the 1st!  So those in the know would play jokes on the "fools" that didn't know!

This good to know info may or may not be true and was brought to you buy your favorite insurance agent in Greene County Indiana - no it's me Jason!