Take Care of Your Financial Goals Now

Spring is the perfect time to start tackling some of your financial goals for the year. And if you don’t have any financial goals set out for yourself thus far, it’s the perfect time to start.

It’s funny, really. This year my partner and I said we should begin budgeting in 2019. It seemed like a great enough goal for both of us to nail down financial stability and good practices. And here we are, three months through 2019 without having done any budgeting.

So the other day, she looked at me and said “Can we start our budgeting since it’s the beginning of April? We really need to.” And I was all for it.

So here we are, just beginning. Even though we’re late, at least we’re still sticking to the original plan. Better late than never, right?

Budgeting is probably the best place to begin when it comes to getting your financial life in order. I mean, it’s the basis of everything regarding finances simply because it means if you can budget, you can stick to the basics, and then you can start handling bigger items.

After a few months of this, I’m gonna suggest tackling insurance that we don’t have. The two biggest ones I know we both need are life insurance and disability insurance.

It’s probably pretty smart for both of us to grab life insurance policies while we’re still young, single, healthy, and without kids. That’ll help with landing a cheaper policy here and now.

But when it comes to disability insurance, we’re a bit more uncertain on where to begin. It’s not at the forefront of our minds when it comes to financial planning, but we both know the benefits and how helpful it could be down the road.

So, I advise you to begin checking of your own list of goals or at the very least drafting such a list for you and your family. Spring means growth, renewal, and new life. Well, do those things for your finances and you’ll see your family grow and have new life breathed into it. While it’s not the most fun at first, you begin seeing why it’s important to budget down the road, especially because you’ll have control over where all your money goes and you’ll be conscious of the overspending you do when eating out or tossing cash at entertainment.

Just like all things great in life, it takes a bit of work at first (and discipline). Stick to it, though, and you’ll begin to see why it’s worth it in the end.

What to do following a serious car accident

We all hope it never happens to us, but car accidents do happen. In fact, there are over five million car accidents per year! The majority of those accidents aren’t very serious and don’t have any serious injuries, but a small percentage do cause significant injury or damage. If you or a loved one is ever involved in a serious accident, here’s some things you should consider following the accident.

1) Medical care and bills. The most important thing to do in the case of a serious car accident is to ensure that you’re able to heal from injuries as quickly and efficiently as possible. Many serious car accidents can lead to broken bones which can be treated in a couple days at the hospital before healing up at home. However, more serious internal injuries or injuries requiring surgery can require you to stay in the hospital for an extended period of time. Medical bills can mount quickly in these situations and it’s important to have health insurance and to know what you’re covered for to make sure that you not only get better, but that you have minimal medical bills when you’re discharged.

2) Work absences. Many serious car accidents can mean you’ll be out of work for a short, or sometimes, extended period of time. It’s important to have disability insurance to cover any loss of income that results from having to miss work due to your car accident. Various levels of coverage are available, and it’s available for short term or long term disability situations.

3) Vehicle repair or replacement. In many cases, a serious car accident will result in the vehicle being “totalled”, meaning that the cost of repairing the damage would cost more than the car itself is worth. In that case, depending on your coverage, your insurance company will provide some type of payout to help you purchase or put money towards a new vehicle. Keep in mind, depending on your insurance and the laws of the state you live in, your insurance may also have to pay for any damage done to the other car as well which may result in higher monthly premiums moving forward.

Being in a serious car accident is a scary, stressful experience, not to mention a painful one. However, taking care of these three items, medical bills, work absences and vehicle repair or replacement can help make sure you get healthy and back on the road as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

Top _____ Reasons to Have Disability Insurance

Paraphrase!

Human nature being what it is, we tend to underestimate the chances that misfortune will come our way. Our internal monologue goes a little something like this: Who me? Die? Never! I don’t need life insurance. We often apply the same faulty logic when it comes to disability insurance. We just don’t think it could happen to us. Here are 5 reasons we should reconsider:


Find out now: How much life insurance do I need?


Disability insurance provides you with cash flow if your disability keeps you from earning a living. Sounds pretty great, right? Below you’ll find our top 5 reasons to have disability insurance.

1. It may be as simple as opting in at work
Though the practice seems to be on its way out, many larger companies still offer disability insurance as part of employee benefits packages. Often, this insurance is free to you when you opt in, but some employers offer low-cost options with employee-paid premiums. If you have the option to get disability insurance at work, consider taking it! Buying disability insurance on the individual market can be pricey, but as an employee you’ll get access to group rates. (If you’re a service-disabled veteran, you may be eligible for disability insurance through the VA.)

2. Social Security can’t do it all
But wait? Doesn’t Social Security offer disability insurance? Yes, it does, through both Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income. The problem, though, is that these benefits can be slow to arrive and probably won’t meet all your needs. It can take over a year to start receiving Social Security Disability Insurance – if your application is approved at all. When it comes, it might not be enough to replace what you were making before.

3. Even office workers can become disabled
Think disability only happens to coal miners and people with other dangerous, physical jobs? Think again. The act of sitting down all day, staring at a computer and typing can be its own risk factor (I’m sitting up a little straighter as I write this). What if you develop a repetitive stress injury and can’t type? Now that’s a scary thought.

4. Your dependents need your income
If you’re single, childless, footloose and fancy-free, you might not need disability insurance – provided there’s no one who depends on your income, like an elderly parent. If you do have dependents, you’ll want to protect them with disability insurance the same way (we hope!) you’re protecting them with life insurance.

Find out now: Types of Life Insurance

5. It’s not as expensive as you might have heard
Disability insurance premiums can cost as little as 1% of your income, and the insurance should cover two-thirds of your income, year after year, should you develop a long-term disability. That doesn’t sound like too much to pay for peace of mind – and security for your family.