Posted on

The Necessity of Buying Final Expense Life Insurance: What You Should Know

It’s not always a pleasant thing to consider, but if you are over fifty, you are probably going to want to start thinking about what you want to happen to you after you pass, and how you are going to cover the cost of your final expenses. It’s not a fun thing to take time out of your busy life to deal with something so morbid, but your family will thank you for having prepared for the worst.

Cemetery costs can be very high, with the average price tag of funeral – including a casket and vault – running over seven thous and dollars. If you include the costs of funeral expenses like funeral notices and flowers, the costs begin to rise to as high as ten thous and dollars, which is a hefty price that your loved ones would be better off not having to deal with unexpectedly.

There are a lot of high costs associated with being buried and with cemetery services, and you may not always have time to plan ahead. For example, if you choose to pre-pay for your funeral expenses, some funeral directors will offer a price guarantee, allowing you to lock your price in at the current rate and potentially save money, but this is not always an option for everyone, especially if their passing comes unexpectedly or at a time of financial insecurity. With how pricey hospital bills can be for end of life care, it is more important than ever to plan ahead.

You may want to consider whether or not you want to cremate your remains, though this remains a less popular option among Americans. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, in 2011 only 42% of adults chose to have their remains cremated. This is a personal decision that should be made with your loved ones, but it is worthwhile to know all of the options available to you. According to the same NFDA statistics, the average cost of a funeral – including a vault – is around $7755, but that does not include miscellaneous costs like flowers or obituaries. By comparison, to cremate your remains may cost as little as $1500.

Depending on whether or not you want to cremate your remains or be buried in a cemetery, there are options available to you in the realm of final expense life insurance, which you should strongly consider, even if you are in excellent health. This kind of life insurance policy will pay out and cover your cemetery and funeral expenses, and can cost as little as ten thous and dollars. There are options available for everyone, and a final expenses life insurance plan can save your already bereaved loved ones a lot of money, saving them stress and grief in an already unpleasant time.

You have undoubtedly planned ahead for medical or automobile emergencies by buying health and car insurance, so if you’re over fifty, even if you’re healthy and intend to live forever, it’s not a bad idea to look into final expense life insurance – your loved ones will thank you.

Posted on

Bad Driving Practices That Will Give Your Insurance Agent A Heart Attack

I love my career. As an insurance agent in California, I get to work with many different people. Some people prefer to work in person and are very diligent at bringing the necessary paperwork. We develop close relationships and I enjoy getting to know them and their families. I also have clients who want to keep up with all the latest technologies and are full of joy to learn our office provides paperless documents. Here are stories about two of my favorite clients, Sheryl and Mike.

The Best Coffee in Los Angeles

While driving down the interstate to discuss reevaluating her family’s finances and insurance policies with me, my client Sheryl gives me a call. She was already in route and wanted to verify I was in the office. Now Sheryl is a very prompt individual. She is highly organized. Sheryl is one of my most valued clients because she believes in following everything to the letter. She has never been involved in an accident, has an excellent college and retirement plan, and takes ample insurance coverage. All of her insurance paperwork and pictures are filed electronically and updated whenever she makes new purchases. She is also a very frugal individual.

So it alarmed me a bit as she called, but she assured me she was wearing her seatbelt and using her Bluetooth which was hooked up in her truck. She told me she was passing a new coffee shop that opened and heard it was the best in Los Angeles. After I said, I’d like a cup, all I could hear was a skidding noise and horns honking. I asked Sheryl what was going on, she replied that she had to cut across the highway because this cup of coffee could probably save her on her premiums and she couldn’t afford to be late for our appointment, nor pay another toll.

Going Green to Go Red

So, my client Mike is a conservative and laid back fellow. He’s likes to treat himself well and have a good time. I was surprised to hear from Mike not long ago as he told me he was in a new relationship and believed he was falling in love. Mike really wanted to impress his new girlfriend as she was an environmentalist and always talked about green efforts.

So, without ado, Mike enrolled in the Beverly Hills Library and started taking a few computer courses to brush up on his skills. He figured he would start by recycling efforts at home and trying to reduce paper waste. He’d heard a lot of his friends were going paperless with their bills and paying them online, so he wanted to verify my office did the same. I told Mike we sure do and he can even print his insurance cards and we would not need to mail them. Mike was ecstatic. So I helped walk him through everything online and he was ready to go.

One afternoon, I get a call from Mike. Mike had received a ticket the night before. I asked him what had happened and he replied he was on his way to the airport to make a business meeting. He was running behind and speeding. However, he didn’t want to take a chance on being pulled over without his insurance card and left the one I walked him through printing online at home. Mike got pulled over for speeding and pulling his insurance card up online at the same time. Mike talked the officer out of the ticket for not having his insurance card as he h anded the laptop to the officer and told him he was holding his paperless version. However, Mike did get the speeding ticket.

Posted on

Don’t Touch That Butterfly

When I ended my last post we were discussing some of the weird facts about the state of California. We discussed the riparian brush rabbit in some depth. We even had the opportunity to talk about my favorite subject, the covert activity of one brush fire b andit. I am sure the authorities are all over that by now. Your days are numbered buddy.

It never ceases to amaze me how a blog about insurance can be so topically broad and yet still have impact. There are multitudinous topics that have both humor and depth, that need to be explored. Okay, everyone needs insurance. Honestly everyone is Los Angeles needs to be doubly insured. With that being said, who wants to read 500 words or more of me telling you how important it is to be insured? I didn’t think so. You do, however need to be reminded; at least at some subliminal level that insurance is important. Consider yourself reminded.

Normally, I am all over the place when it comes to making these posts, but today, I am thinking I have some subject matter that may take up the majority of my time with you. Did you know that in Pacific Grove thare is a law on the books that imposes a $500 fine for “molesting a butterfly” (their terminology, not mine)? That’s right; you can literally be fined $500 for physically harassing a butterfly. Help me underst and this. For those that actually like to allow butterflies to light on their h and or finger, you could be coughing up $500. You guys in Pacific Grove are taking your butterflies a little too serious for me.

Personally, the law would never directly impact me because I am not one to play with insects. As far as I’m concerned, we live in two different worlds; they don’t bother me and I will definitely not bother them. However, I know everyone is not like me.

I wonder what happened to make putting that law on the books necessary. I am sure that they were not up there just sitting around looking for laws to put on the books and someone said, hey, let’s charge people $500 for touching butterflies. Then again, who knows? Fines are a town’s number one revenue generator. The local people would know better, but someone from a place like Pacific Palisades will probably not be aware of the law and end up on the wrong end of a citation pad.

Alright, let’s take some time to wrap our heads around this for a minute. There is all kinds of violence going on (making health and life insurance very necessary) in the state, and this town is so bored that they literal post a law to their books that charges a person five big ones for touching a butterfly, you got to be kidding me.

I am actually thinking about contacting the mayor’s office in Pacific Grove and getting an official statement on what prompted the writing of that law. What kind of people do they have down there that makes them feel the need to protect the butterfly to such an extent? Right when I think I have California figured out.

Posted on

So Not True

You know it can be easy to pigeonhole people. People tend to stereotype other people, it is a natural tendency. This is not something that humans like to admit about themselves, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s true. I used to have this impression of people in California, especially those people who lived in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. Movies, magazines, and TV commercials portrayed Californians as stuck up and unapproachable. How many people know that I should not have allowed the media to influence my impression on anything?

Well, here I am with this notion of all these stuck up people. I mean, who else but stuck up people could live in towns with names like Brentwood Hills and Pacific Palisades, except stuck up people. Needless to say, my first trip (as an adult) to Los Angeles was quite interesting. I got off the plane with an attitude. Who do these people think they are? In Texas, what we call uppity people really chap our hides. That means stuck up people draw our ire. So, I am in Los Angeles giving everybody, including the cab driver, attitude.

After a while of engaging people I realized, hey, these are some pretty cool and laid back people. Are there some people that are walking around believing that the world revolves around them? Yes, but there are narcissists in every geographical location. Here I am eyeballing and mean mugging (looking angry) everyone, with no cause. I learned a valuable lesson that day. I learned that everyone deserves a chance to express who they are as a person before someone develops an opinion about them. I can’t imagine what the people that I encountered on that day was thinking about me, but it could not have been too good.

There is one thing that the media was not off on when it comes to Los Angeles, and that is its shopping and fashion influence. You can spend a lot of money very fast in LA. I know that I have. You can buy clothes, jewelry, art and so much more. This is where we talk about insurance real quick. How many know that when you buy nice things there are people who are motivated to relieve you of those nice things without remuneration? With all of the multitudinous trips that I have take to California, I have had several occasions in which some rather expensive items came up missing out of my room. When I notified the hotel manager of the incident and the cost involved, he had me file a formal complaint and in a reasonable time, I was reimbursed for my loss. The thing is the hotel did not have to pay me out of their own pockets (yes, I know that the hotel does not have pockets, work with me here), but they filed a claim on my behalf with their insurance company. It is important to have insurance that can cover all of the contingencies in which you are at risk for loss.

As far as the person who took my property, shame on you. Every time that I am in Los Angeles, I think about looking you up. One day my friend, one day.

Posted on

Why Me?

The title says it all. At some point in our lives, we all ask ourselves that question, “Why me?” If you are like me, your mother answered your question with a question, “Why not you?” Why is it that parents always taught us not to answer a question with a question, but answered 90 percent of our questions with one? That is just a thought that ran across my mind. You will find that I do that a lot. Don’t worry, I checked, and the doctor says it normal. The difference is, with me I am just more open with mine.

So, I have been pondering a simple, somewhat insignificant question in the scope of things. Now considering the fact that this article is tied the topic of insurance and this thought that is running through my mind has nothing really to do with insurance, this may become quite an interesting endeavor. The question I have is, “Do all Californians eat Tofu? I told you that my thought processes can venture some time, and since you are reading this article it is important to underst and that you have to be able to shift gears quick.

Back to the Tofu question, there are many that believe that there are a lot of body conscious people in California, especially in places such as Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Malibu and Santa Monica. They believe that Tofu is the order of the day for these image centered individuals. I have been involved the health and fitness arena for more than twenty years, and I have to tell you that I am not a fan of Tofu in the slightest. I don’t even discuss the topic, that is, until I met this one Californian who decided to initiate his conversation with me by setting the record straight on Tofu. He looks at me and says, “You know that all people from California don’t eat Tofu, right? Sitting there scratching my head, I’m thinking, “They may not all eat Tofu, but there are some more serious issues that concern me about people from California right now.

He begins to go on about how people in Southern California people are quite decadent, eating burritos from the nearest taco shop (really? did he just use the word decadent, to describe a burrito of all things?). Okay, I’m thinking to myself, this guy has some serious issues with Tofu.

Then my psychology background begins to emerge and insert itself into the moment. I am sitting there listening and analyzing every word this man speaks. I decided to ask him about his childhood and the issues he faced as a child growing up. If you think this put the man on edge or in any way upset him, not even close. He positioned himself to be more comfortable and he begins to unleash. By this time my mind is wondering again. Now I’m thinking I wonder if this guy has health insurance. You may be wondering why that matters. It matters because I am serious thinking about billing this guy for taking up so much of my time. I know, I will sell him some health insurance and then I will bill him for the counseling session. As I sat there listening, all I could think was, “Why me?” Sorry mom!

Well, I guess the whole Tofu question will have to wait until another time.

Posted on

Only in Cali

I have had the opportunity to do quite a bit of traveling and I have learned that every town, country, and isl and has its own unique personality. The Caribbean isl anders have a laid back jovial spirit. It is what it is. The people in New York have some serious issues with patience. Everyone seems to be late. The people in Texas are extremely friendly and everybody seems to be early. Did you know that there are places in Texas in which people will pull all the way over, completely off of the road to let someone who’s moving a little faster get by? Right now, everyone that lives in LA is going WHAT?

I pick on Los Angeles a lot. The reason that I pick on Los Angeles so much is because I spend a lot of time there. The people in California are different than anywhere else, and the people in Los Angeles complete different than all of the other people in California. When most people think of California, they think of Los Angeles, but Los Angeles is not a good representative of the rest of the state in any way. A large part of California is dedicated to farming and another significant portion to National Parks. Even with a huge state with close to 40 million people, that much space has to change the dynamic as far as how risks are measured for insurance purposes.

With so much open country the risk factors change. For instance, living in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills places you in a higher premium bracket. An area that densely populated comes with risks. Actually, the majority of premium costs in L.A County is spent on health insurance (plastic surgery). When you span the vast territory of this great state you will become totally awestruck. The state has some of the most beautiful country sides ever. Don’t get too use to the country sides and the brush, some idiot is going to come along and set it on fire. Thus, everyone is California has super fire insurance. You don’t want to know what super fire insurance is. Well, I will tell you anyway. Super fire insurance is that insurance that has premiums that could actually pay for homes in other states.

In Texas, you can get a 5,000 square foot home for around $800 gr and. I tried to take that same budget to California and you should have seen what they showed me. The cost of living is ridiculous. As stated earlier, there are people in California paying premium higher than that. Not really, but I know it feels like it.

On a different note; I know that insurance is necessary and that it can help a family get back on track in the event of some type of catastrophic event, but there are certain things that money can’t replace. I have viewed some of the faces of people who have lost their homes to brush fires and it makes you feel their pain. Kudos to the insurance agents, adjusters, and companies that work hard to put a smile back on the faces of these devastated people.

Okay, enough of that. California is the only state that could be so culturally diverse and yet have a personality so distinctive and cohesive; even when you consider Los Angeles.

Posted on

Paying too much for insurance? At least you’re not paying for these policies

For many California residents, the multiple forms of insurance are an inescapable cost of living. According to USA Today, the Golden State has the seventh-highest annual car insurance rates ($1,819) in the country, and Covered California announced this past May that the average cost of a st andard health insurance plan on the state’s health insurance exchange will be between $3,648 and $3,852 a year. That doesn’t even include the monthly costs of life insurance and homeowners or renters insurance.

If it feels like you’re spending too much on insurance, one way to look at things is that at least you don’t have to pay the premiums that many celebrities have shelled out to protect some of their prized assets. “It’s Not Unusual” singer Tom Jones saw nothing unusual in taking out a $7 million insurance policy on his chest hair, rock b and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons once had his famous tongue insured for $1 million and singer-songwriter Dolly Parton has $300,000 insurance policy on each of her, well, you get the idea.

Even if you are not the owner of a world famous body part, you might feel better about not shelling out the additional chunk of change for these five rather unusual policies that others have paid for:

  1. Alien Abduction insurance — A woman in the Southern California city of Santee garnered some attention in May when she photographed what appeared to be a UFO hovering behind a historical barn, but is that enough to compel people to seek a policy in the event they encounter extra-terrestrials? The United Kingdom’s Telegraph reported that more than 37,000 people have actually bought such policies, with one of the most famous purchasers being actress Shirley MacLaine.
  2. Supernatural attacks — Whether you’ve read “Twilight” one too many times or have been regularly viewing “The Walking Dead,” British insurance giant Lloyd’s of London does actually offer policies for those who are concerned about vampire, zombie or werewolf attacks.
  3. Asteroid/Meteor insurance — Los Angeles residents reported seeing the bright light of a meteor streak across the Southern California sky this past February. While this might seem like a more plausible policy to take out than some of the others listed here, an object from outer space that l ands on your home would usually be classified just the same as common falling objects here on Earth, like trees. So chances are good that your home is already insured for this type of disaster.
  4. Immaculate Conception insurance — One British company provided a policy for women seeking insurance in the event that they suddenly found themselves pregnant with the son of God. BBC News reported in 2006 that three sisters had been renewing the policy since 2000 before the company canceled it because of complaints.
  5. Improbable insurance — If you are a couple preparing for the birth of your first child, this type of insurance can help with additional costs in the event that the mother has twins, triplets or even more than what you were expecting. In one case, an insured couple actually collected on the policy when the mother gave birth to twins—twice.
Posted on

Cool Facts!

California is the nation’s most populated state. With nearly 40 million residents, California has more occupants than Canada. No wonder Canada behaves so well; no man power. Can you imagine being responsible for forty million people? The Prime Minister of Canada can’t. No wonder the Governors in that state of California are always flipping out. Just kidding! Then there are so many diverse backgrounds to deal with. With California being a “minority” “majority” state, for those that don’t know that means that means the state has more minorities than they do whites, which are the majority in America.

For an insurance actuary, dealing with such diversity must be quite a challenge. Insurance actuaries have the tough job of measuring the risks associated with insuring different people in different ways. How does this play out for an actuary that is determining the baseline premiums for a city like Santa Monica or Pacific Palisades, for instance? Wait…who in the world names these cities? I often wonder about that. Don’t get me wrong, I think Pacific Palisades is a cool name, but I would like to interview the person who named it.

Okay back to the actuary. What happens in Pacific Palisades that would have any true negative impact on the insurance premiums in that town? If it seems that I am asking a lot of questions, that is what people do when they don’t anything. Under normal circumstances, Pacific Palisades would get extremely low premiums, but they are in brush fire laden California. Have I ever mentioned the fact that I have this theory that all of the brush fires in California are started by the same person? They say that the majority of these fires are started by campers or someone tossing a cigarette. Personally, I just don’t think that it’s that many dunces in California. Given, there is the possibility that there could be an imported dunce or two from another state.

You would think that people that have any knowledge of this state would know better than to be irresponsible with fire. Okay, granted, some of the fires are started by lightning strikes. Well, I am not going to touch that one. God can throw lightening bold wherever He so chooses.

This leads me back to my original theory. I think that there is this one person that has nothing better to do than to go around starting brush fires. Before you go off trying to debunk my theory, please underst and that I have put a lot of time and thought into this and I have considered all of the possibilities. Just let me make it on this one and we all will be a whole lot happier.

I promise that it was not my intention to spend so much time discussing the Brush Fire B andit. It was my intent to take a couple of shots at Los Angeles. What is a conversation about California and insurance if you don’t take a couple of shots at LA? Maybe I will give Los Angeles a pass this time around; then again, maybe not. If anyone ever asks you to give a valid reason for having insurance, any type of insurance, simply take them on a short trip to LA. You don’t even have to say anything.

Posted on

Live Chat

Meet Jack. He just found out that he can save time and money by using Live Chat for all of his insurance needs at susmaninsurance.com.

Posted on

Headed Out West

Many people have called insurance the necessary evil. No one wants to pay for insurance, but everyone has to. Whether you are speaking about medical insurance or automobile insurance, insurance is quite necessary. If you don’t think so, stop making your premium payments on your medical insurance, and then take a trip to the doctor’s office. Please don’t look surprised when the receptionist asks for more than your usual $10.00 co-pay.

Yes, we all need insurance. I don’t think anyone needs insurance more than the people that live in the state of California. California is an insurance haven. There is earthquake related insurance. There is fire insurance (this is very necessary because at some point in your life in California a brush fire is going to threaten your home).

In California you need travel insurance because nothing is close in proximity. If you live in Los Angeles you will needed health insurance because the smog is going to get you.

While on the subject of Los Angeles we might as well discuss auto insurance, because no one there can drive, but everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere. While on the subject of traffic I have to pose a rhetorical question: How is it that the 2nd largest city in America has road construction going on constantly, but the traffic never improves. This is just a little something that boggles my mind.

I hate to keep picking on Los Angeles, but Santa Monica doesn’t register on the insurance Richter scale like Los Angeles. With that being said, if you live anywhere near South Central Los Angeles, you will need life insurance. Don’t be surprised if the premiums are a little higher than normal. You will soon find out why.

Back to earthquakes; why in the world are people literally making plans on retiring to a state in which the ground moves; frequently! No, really, the ground moves! Maybe, I am not being clear enough, the ground moves. In fact, if I was out there I would need extra health insurance because I would be consumed with postulating when the state will fall into the ocean. Who makes predictions like that anyway? Imagine, you are watching the news and the weather guy says, “Today we have sunny skies and no chance of rain. You can expect the high to be around 92, and by the way, look for the state to total fall off into the ocean. Are you kidding me?

How many parents couldn’t get their kids to go to school after something like that?

The truth is that California is an awesome state and next to San Francisco, Los Angeles is my favorite city to visit there, but even in a gorgeous state like California things happen. No, no one wants to give a company money on a just in case scenario, but the alternative is definitely not a good one.

So, we will have to learn how to fork over the cash and smile, because when that accident happens or that surgery is needed, we will be thinking, “Man, I am so glad I got this insurance.” It is always better to be safe than it is to be sorry.