Do You Need Insurance Roundup

How much of your income do you spend on insurance?  If you think about all the different things you could potentially buy insurance for, it’s amazing we have any money left in our paycheck to buy groceries or pay the rent.

Types of Insurance

I made a quick list of some things that you can insure – your trip, pet, wedding, home, car, life, mortgage, appliances, phone, apartment, jewelry, health, TV, computer, and identity.  I’m sure if you thought about it for a few minutes you could come up with even more ways to spend money on insurance.

What exactly are we insuring against?  You name it, you can probably buy some form of insurance for it.  Here are some of the things we worry about and the kinds of insurance we buy to protect us financially from them occurring:

• Car Accidents (Auto)
• Home Damage (Flood & Fire)
• Sickness (Health)
• Major Injury (Disability)
• Getting Older (Long Term Care)
• Faulty Electronics (Extended Warranties)
• Dying (Life)
• Inability to Pay Bills (Mortgage Protection)
• Aging Appliances (Home Warranties)
• Identity Theft (Credit Monitoring)
• Losing an Engagement Ring (Policy Riders)
• Canceled Flights (Travel)

Once again, the list could go on for a while.  I wonder if there are some people that actually buy every type of insurance possible and if they have any money left over at the end of the month?

Do You Need Insurance?

So do you really need all those different kinds of insurance?  What exactly do they all cover, how much do they cost, and how important is each one? 

Of course, the thing about insurance is that we’re not really crazy about paying for it, at least until the time comes up when we actually need it.   At that point we want to make sure we get our money’s worth, since we’ve been paying for it all along. 

Insurance Insecurity

Deciding whether to buy insurance, which type to get, what deductible to choose, etc is never very much fun for me.  Often times I don’t feel 100% happy with whichever decision I make about getting insurance for our family.  I’ve had cases in life where I didn’t buy any or enough insurance and then regretted it later.  I’ve also experienced buying insurance then looking back on my decision and thinking I’d made a mistake and feeling like I’d wasted money. On the flip side, there have been occasions I was supremely thankful that I had insurance.

So given this feeling of uncertainty, and sometimes unease, with buying insurance – this week we’ll start taking a look at various types of insurance.  We’ll cover the basics behind the purpose they serve and offer some food for thought about why you might, or might not, be a good candidate.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to start thinking about insurance today. For now, just check out these personal finance articles from around the web.

Personal Finance

• Revisiting the Costs of Dog Ownership @ Lazy Man & Money
• 10 tips to avoid money worries @ Brip Blap
• Budgeting for Unexpected Expenses @ PT Money

Investing

• How to Replace Your Income, One DRIP at a Time @ Frugal Dad
• A First Look At Asset Allocation @ The Digerati Life
• 7 Things to Invest in for 2011 @ Invest It Wisely

Real Estate

• A Tale of Foreclosure and Financial Ruin @ Five Cent Nickel
• Buying Foreclosures in Canada @ Million Dollar Journey
• Is Now the Right Time to Buy a House? @ Cash Money Life
• Home Inspection Tips & Checklist @ My Two Dollars
• Planning on Buying a House? Put in the Legwork First! @ Free From Broke
• Why We Didn’t Buy The Most House We Could Afford @ Money Reasons
• 5 Tips to Save Money on Housing @ Sweating The Big Stuff
• Walk Away from An Underwater Mortgage? @ Suns Financial Diary

Career

• Five Tips to Help You Land a New Job @ Bargaineering
• The Hidden Job Market @ Free Money Finance
• What Factors Contribute to Your Level of Career Satisfaction? @ Money Ning
• 10 Ways to Lose Your Job Using the Internet @ Moolanomy

Taxes

• What You Need to Know About Tax Losses @ My Dollar Plan
• How to Pay Tax On Your Retirement Accounts @ Good Financial Cents
• 10 Things To Know About Tax Planning @ Canadian Finance Blog

Also thanks to Fiscal Fizzle for including my post Why You’ll Never Start an Emergency Fund in the latest carnival of personal finance.

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

All posts by Ben Edwards