Insurance; is it worth the money?

WHY, AND WHAT INSURANCE TO GET

Insurance is a necessary evil in today's society. If you were unfortunately robbed or involved in an accident, could you afford to replace all your lost or damaged items?

Insurance is to protect you if something bad happens. That being said, finding the right insurance may be difficult, so here’s what insurance you’ll need for what, what to look for in your insurance and why you want it.

RENTER’S INSURANCE

Anyone that’s going to rent an apartment or house NEEDS renter’s insurance. This’ll protect all of the stuff in your apartment/home in the event of a robbery or if they’re damaged. On top of this, you’ll probably need other types of insurance for things like natural disasters, but this really only applies if you own your home. Homeowners insurance is practically the same thing, just for a house.

More Information

HEALTH INSURANCE

Health insurance is what saves you when you get your medical bill. Nowadays you can stay on your parent’s health insurance until you’re 26, so it shouldn’t be of concern for most of you quite yet. If that doesn’t quite work out, then colleges often have their own health insurance programs and there is also always government-funded health insurance. Keep in mind that this only goes for people in America, since other countries have different systems it may be different, depending on where you live.

More Information

CAR INSURANCE

There are lots of different types of car insurance which may or may not be needed, based on your situation. First off is liability insurance, which protects other people’s things and health in the event of a car crash you caused. Then there’s personal injury protection (you can figure that one out on your own), collision insurance which protects YOUR car and things in the event of a car crash. Then there’s comprehensive insurance which protects you from “Acts of God” (so if lightning strikes your car or a tree falls on it, you’re covered). Finally, you have uninsured insurance which is an oxymoron that protects you from people who are lacking liability insurance.


More Information

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN INSURANCE

LOW PREMIUMS

Your premium is kind of like your bill. Always look for an affordable premium alongside a good insurance policy (a good insurance policy for you, everyone needs different things covered remember, that part is up to you) or you’ll go broke.

LOW DEDUCTIBLE

Let’s say you go to the hospital and come out with a $1000 medical bill. Now let’s say you have a deductible of $500, this means that once you pay the first $500, the insurance company will cover the rest.

Keep in mind, low deductibles typically mean higher premiums and the same for the other way around.

COPAY

Your copay is a percentage of your medical bill that you have to pay. Typically it isn’t all that expensive, but everything can add up easily.

HOW TO BUY A CAR THE RIGHT WAY

When you’re buying a car, it’s pretty easy to waste money. The end goal of whoever is selling the car to you is to make money, so it’s in your best interest to minimise the amount spent.

Find a car

For this, just try to find a few cars that suit you. Remember that you need to have a spending budget and that some cars cost a lot to fix when things go wrong (and they will!), keep that in mind because a cheap car may cost more in the end because of the cost of repairs. Once you have a solid list of cars, go test drive what you think would be best and make a decision out of the bunch. But read the rest of this page before you make a decision.

Find the best price

The one place, out of anywhere you should go, is Kelley Blue Book (KBB). You can see not only the average cost of your ideal car, but they also throw in lots of listings for the same car in your area. 

Get a quote

You can do this over email or in person, just make sure you remember that they’re trying to make money however they can here. They’ll often try to get you to pay a fair bit more than you actually should, so make sure you know how much you’re willing to spend based on the average price of that car (which you find on KBB). If you just can’t haggle with the dealer to get the price you want, just leave. 

Trading in your old car

When trading in an old car, you need to look at two basic numbers: Trade-in price and the dealer retail price. Dealers will try to get your car from you at the cheapest possible price, so make sure you know how much it’s really worth. You of course can’t sell it to them at their retail price, but work towards that neighborhood. CarMax is a great place to go to for appraisals.  

Before signing off on your new cars

Make sure you read whatever they hand you. Dealerships tend to throw in hidden fees that they won’t tell you about and they can get real pricey sometimes. Definitely make sure there’s no shady business going on with your paperwork. Ask their finance manager about the different fees, if any of them sound pointless, get rid of them. Typical fees are like sales tax and documentation fees. They’ll also try to sell you warranties and additional coverage so unless you really need it, say no.