Ok kids, listen up on what not to do in the insurance world.
First – if your employer offers you disability coverage, TAKE IT! The likelihood of an american worker to get disabled is better than 1 in 4 people. You buy car insurance to protect that sweet, sweet ride. You get home owners or renters to protect your cute little patio garden. Wouldn’t you want to protect your income too?
Second – never agree to meet with your family member who is selling whole life insurance. Unless you are so financially stable and you need additional places to dump money into for tax benefits, then don’t bother with a whole life policy. The investment side of the policy will never outperform a real investment opportunity not tied to life insurance.
Third – I don’t care how old you are, if you have liabilities (car, credit card debt, mortgage, etc) over 50k, take out a damn life insurance policy. You and your entire surviving family will thank you.
Fourth – actually read your coverage when it comes to employee benefits. Know what your rights and responsibilities are when you have to file a claim or if you leave your job. Many insurance coverages offer you a chance to retain some coverage after you leave your job or if you are disabled. There are time limits to these provisions and I’ve seen high dollar claims get denied because Mr. BigShot thought he didn’t have to play by the rules.
At the end of the day, rules is rules. Gotta play the game to win.
I work in the finance office of a university.
We have students who are covered 100% by the VA for books/tuition/living stypin.
We still have those students taking out 26K in student loans every term.
Not a banker, but directly involved in a financial institution, specifically loans. So many people determine whether they can afford something based on whether or not they can get a loan. Financial institutions will lend you far more than you really should borrow especially if they have collateral. You can technically afford to make the payments, but little else. You should plan what you can comfortably afford based on your short term and long term goals, not the bank.
Watched a client walk out of my office after I explained the risk in liquidating his 401K to start his own business. He started it with no management experience or business model, real “fly by the seat of his pants” kinda guy. Wanted to start a career flipping houses in a college town, turn them into upscale rentals. Did it in a bad neighborhood and lost EVERYTHING.
Not a professional, but a sibling. My brother had a long standing client of around 10 years get married after only knowing a woman for 12 months. He was almost 55, she was in her early 30s.
55 y.o. man wanted to add her as a signatory on his retirement account. Basically giving her 100% power over the account. A quick soft credit check showed she was not good with money. My brother offered up many different options as to how to give her access to the money but with limitations. He even straight up refused to do it, saying that he needed to think about it for a few days.
The guy came back in the next morning saying he would file a complaint against him if he didn’t set it up. My brother said that he would need to get the documents notarized, and sign a waiver that this is against the institutions advice.
The guy comes back in later that day and finalizes the deal.
You can guess what happened within about 6 months.
The account had around 600k in it to begin with, and she had managed to run off with about 65k before the account was frozen by my brother for review of withdrawls.
The man was fuckin pissed and tried to lawyer up twice. Neither time did it even go to court.
His advice is that if you are married and have investment accounts, just keep them separate unless you REALLY have a reason to give them access. You can totally notify the agency about your marriage, and sometimes in certain situations the spouse can get limited info confirmed for medical bills and such.