CA Guide to Insurance

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2008-11-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

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How much life insurance do you need?

2008-10-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

People often discount the need for life insurance, believing that their family will continue on without their income with only minor lifestyle changes. However, that is rarely true.

Your family has trust and faith in you that you will provide food, clothing, a home, an education, medicine and many other things while you are living. Have you thought about all of the things that your income affords the family? What if that income stops? Will your spouse need to sell your home, will your children need to move away from their friends? What about the extra stuff - what would Christmas be like this year - both without you and what your income provides? Loss of a spouse without adequate life insurance is one of the primary reasons that spouses file for bankruptcy.

Now consider if you and your spouse lose your lives together. What happens to your children? Plan A is that you'll never die. What's your Plan B?

A simple formula for calculating the amount of life insurance needed is to write the letters
L I F E down the center of a blank piece of paper. For "L," list the total amounts of loans and other debt you would like to cover. For "I," list the amount of your income that you would like to your family to receive. This number is typically 10 years of income. For "F," enter the amount for final expenses, including funeral expenses, medical expenses, time for spouse to grieve, etc. The final "E," is for education expenses in today's dollars for your children's future college tuition. This may include education expenses for your spouse, should they need training prior to re-entering the workforce.

What's your bottom-line? Does your work insurance cover it? Most likely there is a significant gap, which is easily filled by visiting with an insurance professional.

For free advice, give me a call or send me an email. Yvonne Kendall 408 371-8181.

Condo Unitowners Insurance

2008-10-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Don't get caught without condo insurance. First off, the condo association insurance doesn't cover any of your personal belongings or building upgrades. If there is a fire, you may need to replace all of your belongings, which could easily be over $50,000 then pay out another $30,000 to $60,000 for carpets and walls and other upgrades.

Also, you should have the liability coverage provided by a condo unitowners policy. What if your dog bites someone or a visitor slips and falls on your stairs? You could be sued for large amounts of money. Are you prepared for that?

Lastly, don't forget to ask your insurance professional about loss assessment coverage. Did you know that you could be assessed for damages to your building that are not even a part of your unit? For example, if a part of the roof blows off in a heavy wind, you may be required to pay an even share for the number of units in your building to cover the deductible, which could easily be $10,000 or greater.

Any other questions - call me at 408 371-8181 during business hours.

I'll be posting occasional tips on various types of insurances in the areas of fire, auto, life, health and small business insurance. Come back soon!