As I watched interviews and footage from Hurricane Gustav, I was saddened by the fact that so many people’s lives in New Orleans could once again be left uncertain. One lady being interviewed held up her house keys and said that it took her 3 years to re-build after Katrina and she had just gotten her new house keys on the day that she once again had to evacuate her home.

As this hurricane season continues with Hurricane Hanna, it is hard for me to understand how people have the courage to re-build in the same location after such disasters. However, it is understandable that people don’t want to leave a place that they call “home.”

However, people do need to make sure they are prepared before disaster strikes. Although you may have homeowner’s insurance, it is best to know what your insurance company offers with regards to coverage. Often times the damage that is caused by a hurricane or natural disaster may not be covered at all.

Some Things that ARE Typically Covered:

Personal Property – Think how much money you have put into purchasing all of the belongings that are located in your home. Your furniture, electronics, clothes, etc. is covered in case something happens such as a fire burns down your home.

Personal Liability – Having people over your home puts you at risk in case anything happens to someone else while they are they. If you are held personally liable for something that happens to another person in your home, often times homeowner’s insurance will cover this liability. This type of incident would be if your neighbor fell down your deck stairs they could potentially take you to court for damages.

Natural Disasters – Only some damages caused my certain natural disasters are covered. These happen to be damage from windstorms, hail, lightning, and volcanic eruptions (now that one really surprised me)!

Some Things that are Typically NOT Covered:

War, Nuclear Accidents, Terrorism – The act of terrorism is new on the not included list. Before September 11th, many insurance companies did cover damages by terrorism. However, insurance companies became clear that they would not cover them after September 11th made the threat appear more real.

Natural Disasters – The more at risk you are for a natural disaster to occur, the more likely it is that your insurance will not cover you. Many insurance companies do not cover people for hurricanes and earthquakes. If you live on the Gulf Coast, insurance companies know that your risk of damage from a hurricane is fairly large and will not offer coverage for you in that area. The same goes for California and earthquake insurance because this is an area where they are typically expected to occur.

Mold and Water/Flood Damage – When you buy a home, you want to make sure that there is no mold damage before you purchase the home because you will end up paying for these to be fixed by yourself. Check out this article on Geezeo about Flood Insurance (which you should definitely consider purchasing if you live in regions affected by hurricanes).

I used to live in Illinois when I was younger and became terrified of the tornados that would occur during the summer months. I loved the area a lot but the one thing that stops me from potentially moving back is my fear of tornados. However, at the same time it puts some perspective on why people stay where they are despite the risks.

When choosing your home, make sure to have it inspected if you have any questions about the property beforehand. Also, if your real estate agent is doing their job, they should be able to tell you the history of the house and if previous residents have had any trouble with floods, mold, etc. It is much better to make sure you are covered for anything potential that may happen, than to find out when it is already too late that you are not.

Photo: Jari

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The answer to this question is that it depends! It is always tempting to purchase the insurance at the car rental desk because you would rather be safe than sorry. And also that sales person on the other side of the counter makes it seem so necessary…even it if isn’t.

When we are faced with a convincing sales-pitch, regardless of if we have done the research or not, sometimes we actually believe that we need something we don’t. Don’t let this happen to you!

Renting a car under the age of 25 is difficult to almost impossible. If you are able to rent through certain companies, the insurance that you pay for is definitely at a premium under 25. Make sure you do your research before you even look into renting a car. If you know that you will need a rental car, do the necessary pre-work so you don’t end up paying extra per day.

You have several options that you should consider when renting a car:

1. Buy the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) through your car rental insurance – This can cost you anywhere from $5 - $20 per day (on top of what you are already paying for the rental car itself). Keep in mind however, that this may be a duplication of what you already have.

2. Check Your Own Auto Insurance – Ask your insurance policy what they offer for renting cars. However, be careful because sometimes this isn’t a complete coverage and you may want to supplement it with something offered by the rental insurance. Even if your auto insurance says that they do not cover anything with rental cars, at least you checked first and know for future rentals.

3. Check With Your Credit Cards – Often times your credit card will cover you when you put the rental car purchase on that specific card. Make sure to call your credit card ahead of time to be sure what it offers (and for how long the offer lasts) to make sure. Each credit card usually has different restrictions and these restrictions can change over time so check each time before you rent a car!

For example my mum recently found herself needing to rent a car in England for over 3 weeks. She found a loop-hole in renting using her credit card as her car insurance. One credit card would only cover her rental for about 15 days. To get around this, she decided to go back to the rental company location half way through her trip and switch it to another credit card.

4. For Business Travelers, Check What Your Company Offers – Even though it might not be your money you are spending, you can save your company money by checking how they may cover you when you rent a car. Often times companies are so used to their employees renting cars that they provide full coverage to avoid any confusion or extra charges.

If you discover that you do need to purchase from the rental car insurance because you aren’t covered otherwise, make sure to not get sucked into something you do not need. Rental companies will try to get you to sign up for anything and everything they can.

Consider each option they offer you and make sure you think you actually NEED it. If they offer you something that also protects your passengers, but you know nobody will be in your car but you…then obviously this option isn’t necessary (no matter how appealing they might make it sound). Although individually the insurance might not seem like much per day, but it definitely adds up to a considerable amount of money that could be spent elsewhere!

Photo: Álvaro Daniel González Lamarque

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Recently I wrote about the Gardasil vaccine in an article on Geezeo titled Health Insurance Coverage. Although I have already discussed this topic, it still causes a lot of debate among people. Either families are willing to pay the large amount of money that their health insurance does not cover for the vaccine or they will shy away from the cost and leave the rest up to fate.

In case you do not know, Gardasil is the vaccine that is now being offered for girls and women ages 9 to 26 years old. This vaccine will help protect them against 4 types of HPV (a sexually transmitted disease). One important catch with this vaccine is the fact that often times insurance companies will not cover the cost. What makes this even worse is that you must receive 3 shots over time in order for the vaccine to work effectively. It really is not cheap; each shot for me cost $350 per shot…that is with none of it covered by insurance.

The new twist in this vaccine story?…Researchers are now running test to see if boys and men should also receive the vaccine to help prevent the spread of HPV. Girls will benefit from the vaccine by the chance that they may be protected from HPV and Cervical Cancer. However, boys will not benefit at all from the vaccine, but instead will hopefully protect girls from being infected.

With many parents not being able to afford the vaccine for girls, the next question is: where would they find the extra money to give it to the boys as well?

Vaccines are extremely important, but many parents say that they would be unwilling to give the vaccine to their sons if they knew that it did not provide them with any benefit but that they would still have to suffer through the possible side effects. It is understandable of course.

Another problem that they are finding with the Gardasil vaccine is that parents find the money for the first shot, but are unable to complete the other two making the vaccine unsuccessful. This is something that you should really think through before getting the first shot done. The hospital even made my mum and I go and talk to the financial advisor at the hospital just to make sure that we would be able to find the money for all 3 shots with the insurance not covering it at all.

So the biggest question is whether you would be willing to pay for a vaccine if your insurance would not cover it? And on top of that, would you pay for a vaccine that would have no benefit for your son, but would in turn be beneficial for other girls in the long run?

For many, these questions are not easy to answer. Some people struggle to find the money and others may have more than one child that might need the vaccine leading to 6 or even 9 shots that need to be paid for!

The Gardasil vaccine is not the only medical vaccine or procedure that often times insurance companies will not cover. And we are forced to make a tough decision between not receiving them at all or by possibly putting ourselves in financial debt because of them.

Photo: Belén

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I have had my share of bad luck with cell phones (as I’m sure many people have). Dropping them, leaving it on the back of my car in the rain, having it ring while it was on silent, batteries dying, you name it. Everytime something happened, my cell phone company told me that there was nothing they could do because I didn’t have insurance with them. I ended up paying a lot of money to replace phones every time.

Now that I do have insurance, I pay $5 a month just to have the insurance. So far nothing has happened to my phone (fingers crossed), besides the fact that the battery died and I have had it for less than a year.

However, batteries are not covered under insurance because the cell phone companies know that this is probably the most likely to go. More than likely you are going to have to replace your battery before your 2 year plan has expired. The catch?…batteries are only covered under warranty for a year and then they are not covered even if you have insurance. A new battery can be anywhere from $30 or more depending on your phone.

If your cell phone breaks and you DO happen to have insurance, there is usually an additional deductible that you must pay. Not only that, but if your cell phone needs to be replaced often times you get one which is not as high-tech and not brand new but instead re-furbished. So basically although you pay for the insurance each month, you may not get top quality…so, what is the point?

Unless you have an extremely expensive or high-tech phone (a Blackberry or iPhone for example) it may be a waste of money to even be paying for the insurance. Over your 2 year plan, you are paying an additional $120! That is a lot of money that could have gone towards something else.

It is a personal choice whether or not you take out insurance on your phone. Usually the cell phone provider will give you up to 14 days after taking out a plan to decide if you want it.

My suggestion is that during these 14 days you take the insurance coverage contract home with you and read through it 100%. Weigh the pros and cons of the plan to see if it is right for you. Although this seems tedious, it will give you a sense as to what is covered or not and what additional fees you may incur.

Obviously I am one of those individuals who is willing to pay $5 a month because I am too scared what might happen without the coverage. But like I said, it is a personal decision and many people decide to take a risk and not purchase insurance which can be very cost-saving in the long-run.

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It is a pain to pay for health insurance, that’s for sure. In England they have universal health care. Although you have to pay for it the health care in the United States, it definitely has its benefits.

A few years ago in England my grandfather went to the hospital for a routine surgery on his knees, a surgery that the doctors would later tell us that he shouldn’t have had. After the surgery things just got worse and eventually we had to let go. However, if he was provided better advice and care, he would have never gone through with the surgery.

Here in the United States we often run into similar problems but not for the same reasons. The advice sometimes offered by doctors in the U.S. stems from the fact that they are being paid by companies that provide them with medications and products….often this is referred to as Medical Marketing. Both hospitals and doctors need funding, but sometimes they risk too much to receive it.

According to Dr. Robert Steinbrook who recently wrote for the New England Journal of Medicine:

“Most physicians in the United States have financial relationships with the industry, ranging from the acceptance of meals to the receipt of large sums of money for consulting, speaking, or conducting research.”

Not all doctors are influenced by those that pay them a lot of money, but some doctors are and your life could be at risk. Make sure you know where your doctor comes from and who they may work for. Although they might not disclose this information to you, make sure your doctor is one that is highly recommended; especially if you are having a major surgery.

Being a recent marketing graduate, I never thought of how serious marketing can be from the health perspective. When you think about it, walking into a doctor’s office you may see several pamphlets and hand-outs which discuss different medications and options you can “benefit” from. I think it is safe to say that if your doctor has these lying around then more than likely they are probably sponsored by the pharmaceutical company or manufacturer of the product.

When it comes to medications that your doctor may prescribe you, ask if there is a generic brand. The generic brands are made up of exactly the same composition; they just do not carry the name with it that they can market to doctors. Often times doctors are paid large well-known companies to prescribe patients with their particular drug. This could mean that you are paying a premium for something that you can get much cheaper (just because of the brand name on the package!).

It is really scary to think that the doctors we go to for advice and help and sometimes even put our lives in their hands could be so influenced by an outside force…maybe even put your life at risk.

Obviously for a routine check-up you are probably okay with whatever doctor you have chosen. But if you have recently received news that you might need surgery or something is more serious may be wrong with you, it is always best to have a second opinion. This second opinion should be someone who is not connected with your doctor (or sometimes even hospital) at all. Insurance companies will often give you advice on whom to go to for a second opinion if you call and tell them what you are looking for.

When I sat down and thought about how much marketing effects the world (commercials, advertisements, etc.) it really hit me how it can influence it in the completely wrong direction, causing more harm than any good. Unfortunately I still love marketing (otherwise I wouldn’t have made it my major), but it is always good to see both sides of a situation…especially one so serious.

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It was only about 4 years ago that I was a teenager and never really thought too much about how my driving affected others. With technology on the rise and touch phones such as the iPhone becoming increasingly popular, teens are spending more time paying attention to anything BUT the road.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to single out the teenage population as many other generations have fallen prey to distractions while driving as well (smoking, eating, multi-tasking, texting, etc.). But in my opinion, it is best to target a population before the bad habits continue even further.

The statistics for teen driving are extremely scary and there has to be a way for parents and others to correct the path of destruction before it gets any worse. According to AAA, car accidents involving 15-17 year old drivers cost society more than $34 billion dollars! These expenses include medical and property damages as well as other related costs for 2006 alone!

So, how can you keep your children and others safe?

Here are a few tips:

SET AN EXAMPLE – Don’t show your kids what it is like to drive by e-mailing on your Blackberry or always being on the phone. Teens will learn quickly from what they have seen their parents or other family members and friends do.

SEATBELTS – I know that when I was younger I hated my seatbelt and didn’t really truly understand what it was there for. Explain to your children when they are young the importance of seatbelts and how they can be life-saving. Hopefully it will become a routine they don’t even have to think about. I automatically put on my seatbelt regardless of how long the trip.

INSURANCE - Car insurance is expensive no matter what. Put a teen behind the wheel and the price can skyrocket your rathes…sometimes by 50% - 100%! You don’t want to have to pay higher rates just because your teen is not being safe or smart behind the wheel. Make a deal with your teenager. Make sure they are following all your rules before you hand them those keys to your car! Give them the information they need to keep their insurance rates low. Some of these things include having a safer car, keeping your driving record clean (no tickets or accidents), or even doing well in school! Depending on your policy, your child could be awarded just for being a good student.

DRIVERS TRAINING CLASSES – There are tons of extra classes outside of the basic drivers education that offer teens a greater variety of learning such as driving in the rain, sleet, and snow. Skills such as what to do if you are broken down on the side of the road are also often taught. These classes can range anywhere from $60-$200 but may be extremely beneficial.

CURFEWS – In some towns there is a mandatory curfew and teens are not allowed to be out driving around past 10:00pm. However, even if your town does not have a curfew, often times it would be best if your teen had to be home at a certain hour so you knew where they were. I suggest letting them know that they can bring their friends home too (if it is feasible for you). This way they aren’t all driving around doing nothing. I know when I was in high school if we couldn’t find anything to do we would just drive around with our friends. Now that I look back on it?…How dumb and a huge waste of gas!! Make sure your teens have a trip with an actual purpose in mind.

TALK – Don’t just hand your teen the key to the car as soon as they get their license. Lay down the ground rules and make sure they understand. Tell them not to become another statistic. Maybe read them some of these…

• In a survey conducted for AAA, it was found that 15-17 year olds were involved in about 974,000 crashes that injured 406,427 people and killed 2,541 in one year alone (SCARY)!

Reader’s Digest reported some more surprising statistics:

• 87% of teen deaths involve distracted drivers (this includes radios, eating, texting, talking on your cell, etc.).
• Adding 1 passenger increases the fatal crash risk by 48%. A second passenger increases the fatality risk by 158%.
• Speeding is a factor in 35% of crash deaths involving young drivers.

All of these statistics are really scary and get you thinking about what you might be able to do to prevent this from happening. Obviously you aren’t going to have complete control over what happens…but at least you can take a step towards making things safer on the roads.

Photo: Wally Irwin

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Imagine being out of work for a few months or even years! How would you get by without income? I know many of us (if not all of us) never want to find out. But if it does happen, it is best to take preventative action.

Not everyone has disability insurance and some may think they will never need it. However, disability insurance may be more important than life insurance due to the fact that you are more likely to get injured than to die (although neither is pleasant).

According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and an article on MSN.com, “Every year, 12% of the adult U.S. population suffers a long-term disability. One out of every seven workers will suffer a five-year or longer period of disability before age 65, and if you’re 35 now, your chances of experiencing a three-month or longer disability before you reach age 65 are 50%.” These statistics are greater than you would think.

Only being 22 years old, disability insurance has never even crossed my mind. I always assumed that it was for older people closer to the age of retirement.

Our partners on MainStreet.com explain that long-term disability insurance usually costs about 1% - 3% of your yearly income and protects you against the loss of your ability to get income. This seems minimal to me when you think about how much it can save you if something critical happens.

Long-term disability insurance typically covers an injury that lasts 6 months or longer where you aren’t able to earn an income.

MainStreet.com explains further that you will not regain all of your income while you are disabled and will usually get about 60% back.

The reason for this is clear – why would an insurance company want to pay you back all of your income? What incentive would you then have to return to your previous job?

Unfortunately, many companies do not offer their employees disability insurance and life insurance appears to be more popular. However, often your company may offer you workers compensation but it will not always cover as large amount as disability insurance and for different lengths of time. Make sure you know what your company offers before making a decision on disability insurance!

Different insurance companies will offer different plans with varying costs. Although it is impossible to predict what the future holds, preparing yourself for the worst possible outcome will be beneficial. Better to sacrifice a small percent of your income now than to lose it all in the future.

Photo: Stuart Whitmore

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If you have a car, then you know that you are legally required to have car insurance. So unlike other insurance policies where you can maybe opt out, this is not the case with car insurance. However, you so still have a choice on which car insurance might be best for you.

There are several ways that you can save money on your car insurance (without necessarily switching to Geico as the commercials say!).

SHOP AROUND
Finding the best insurance really is not that hard. With the internet as large as it is now, you can find everything you need to know on the company’s website. Insurance companies are all over the place; Geico, AllState, Progressive, etc. Just look at what each company has to offer and decide for yourself which one you think would be best.

KEEP YOUR CREDIT GOOD
Watch your credit reports to see what they say and make sure you are paying your bills on time. Although this may seem like a completely separate issue, the reason that car insurances may consider this as important is because they want to weigh the risk that you bring with you. Insurance companies want to be sure that you are going to be responsible.

DRIVE LESS
Often times insurance companies will offer you a discount if you drive less than other drivers they insure. Try using public transportation instead of driving everywhere. With the cost of gas being high, this may also prove to save you even more money.

DRIVE SAFELY
Lets be honest, talking on your cell phone, drinking a coffee, and driving all at once — not that safe! Make sure you are being responsible. Don’t put yourself and other at any unnecessary risk just because your hands and minds are anywhere else but on driving. It’s funny when I drive with my mum we can always tell when someone is on their cell phone because either they are being an inconsiderate driver, driving too slow, or driving way too fast. Also, avoid drinking and driving. You may think you seem fine, but even being a tiny amount above the legal limit can raise the cost of your insurance and put you in other trouble as well.

WHERE YOU LIVE
You will always pay more insurance if you live in an urban area vs. the suburbs. The likelihood of theft in a city is much more likely along with the chance that your car may be damaged. If possible, move out of the city, however, I know this is asking a lot. If you decide to stay in the city, you might as well just accept that you will be paying a little bit more towards your insurance and include this in your budget.

AVOID FLASHY CARS
Often times insurance costs more for red cars…the reason being: they are easy to spot as they speed by you and tend to get more tickets. The same is true for nice sports cars. My brother this morning was talking about how on business twice he got a Mustang when he was traveling on business and both times he got pulled over for speeding (luckily he didn’t receive a ticket!). If you do have one of these cars, try not to speed although I’m sure it is extremely easy in such a nice car!

I know that some of these may seem like common sense, but often times people do not realize why their insurance costs might be higher than their friends or family members. Just keep in mind what you can do to keep your costs low.

Photo: John Pilge

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Travel insurance can cover everything from flight delays and cancellations to unexpected medical emergencies when you are away from home, all the way to rental car damages or lost baggage that may occur.

I was born in England, so besides my immediate family the rest of my relatives live in England. My grandparents can no longer visit us the United States because they are not able to get travel insurance. At their age, it is too risky to travel without travel insurance in case anything medically pertinent happens. The insurance companies will not give them insurance because there is an increased liklihood that something significant could happen.

At around the time of the SARS scare in 2003, my grandmother was hospitalized in Miami, Florida. Not only was she in intensive care, but because of SARS she was also in isolation. Having travel insurance saved her thousands of dollars that she would have had to otherwise pay out of her own pocket.

Travel insurance is not necessarily for everyone, but it is definitely something that everyone should consider when taking a trip.

With airline cancellations and travel delays always likely in the forecast, you want to make sure that you are covered for all of the unexpected. Although we would all like to believe that nothing unexpected is going to happen to us, there is always a possibility that something will.

According to MSNBC.com, about 67 million Americans spent $1.3 billion on travel insurance in 2006. This amount is a 20% increase from what was spent in 2004.

Traveling with a family makes cancellations and medical costs much more expensive. Sometimes, travel insurance may even have a family package that will bundle your children with you for free.

There are many companies that offer travel insurance and the policies may differ from company to company. At InsureMyTrip.com, you are able to compare different companies’ plans and costs to one another. Another thing that is offered is an overview of what all of the companies may offer you. Make sure to pay close attention to detail, because often there are things that are not covered such as trip cancellations due to a divorce.

Although the cost of travel insurance may seem like a large investment at the time, you may save a lot of money if something goes wrong with your trip. If you are making a large investment in a vacation, you should make sure that you are covered just in case. It would be a shame for you to lose all of your money just because you may not have been covered.

Travel insurance however is not for everyone. If your trip is short or does not include a long investment, sometimes the cost of insurance is not worth it. Make sure to check out all of your options and seriously consider what is right for you. Even though your credit card may have insurance that would cover an airline cancellation, it would not cover the rest of your expenses if you never made it to your destination.

Photo: Scott Liddell

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With the economy currently in a downturn, people who are planning and saving for retirement are even more worried about how to make ends meet. Those that are already in retirement find it harder to ride out this bumpy downturn in the economy with the money that they have saved.

Retirees are also being affected by changes in health care insurance. Many companies are not providing the same amount of health insurance coverage as they have in the past.

An article from our partners at TheStreet.com by Gavin Magor explains why health coverage changes after the age of 65 and what you can do about it.

Retiree Health Coverage On the Decline
By: Gavin Magor - TheStreet.com

It is not just the retirees of distressed or bankrupt companies such as Bethlehem Steel, Chrysler, Ford, and GM who are finding that the health care that they had anticipated receiving in retirement will no longer be provided.

According to the Kaiser Foundation, back in 1988, 66% of retirees had company health coverage. By 2003 this had dropped to 38%, and in 2007 it was 33%.

With more companies due to announce similar cutbacks before the Medicare enrollment period, company-paid health coverage in retirement seems to be disappearing into the sunset alongside the defined-benefit pension plan.

Not so fast. The perk of health care in retirement may appear to be going away, but the reality for existing retirees and for many current employees is very different.

Early Retirees Still Covered

Despite the headlines, 30% of companies employing 200 or more, including GM, are leaving health coverage in place until retirees reach 65 and qualify for Medicare, so younger retirees have coverage. Of those companies, 23% continue to offer health care for the Medicare eligible.

The issue is that companies have taken differing approaches to the over-65 group.

Health Care Alternatives

Some companies have stopped providing health care altogether for older retirees, leaving them to obtain coverage under Medicare when they qualify. Others have taken an approach that, in essence, results in company-sponsored health care remaining.

Although there are no current statistics available to demonstrate the extent of the trend, there are several examples of traditional industrial corporations that have removed large health care liabilities from balance sheets.

Instead, companies have substituted these expenses with a smaller quantifiable amount that no longer is included as a health care liability and presents the illusion that health care is no longer provided.

If we look at GM, for example, despite the withdrawal-of-health care announcement, salaried retirees or their surviving spouse at 65 will receive a discretionary taxable increase to their pension of $300 per month. This gives a retiree complete flexibility as to where they spend this money and has been said by some to be more than fair as it represents a significant health care subsidy.

As another approach, both Chrysler and Ford retirees over 65 receive an allowance that is paid into a pooled Health Reimbursement Arrangement. This fund is administered on behalf of the company and the retiree and operates as a source of reimbursement of health care expenses. As the account is shared, either spouse can have their medical bills reimbursed from the HRA, to the limit of the balance in the account.

So, headlines aside it seems that in reality companies are continuing to provide health care, albeit in a different form. This may not satisfy the affected retiree but it is significantly better than the alternative.

Continue to read this article at TheStreet.com…

© Photo Courtesy of Kenn W. Kiser

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