| Hating to bet against
myself makes all insurance an ill-defined concept to me. Having wondered for
some time how many people felt as I do. Expense not withstanding, most people
don’t have a problem with basic insurance. But these days you can’t
escape the potpourri of insurance offerings. There seem to be insurance plans
for every possible occurrence. How do you feel about betting against yourself
one hundred percent of the time?
This much is guaranteed, no
other industry can boast quite as much chutzpah as insurance. This group of
monetary vultures really does want a portion of every dollar earned. I’m
waiting for business insurance for lemonade stands, destruction insurance for
the parents of toddlers, and art insurance for the priceless drawings found
taped to the refrigerator doors of proud grandparents. Is this how we want to
spend our money?
There is one other certainty.
Insurance companies have wormed, threatened, cajoled, bought, befriended and
lied their way into every nook and cranny of our lives. They have persuaded
lenders not to make loans without proof of insurance. They finally bought
enough political clout to have auto insurance be mandatory. Have you wondered
why? If you answered ‘follow the money’ you are absolutely
correct.
These companies are huge. So
huge that they can now hold the medical, legal and building businesses,
mortgage companies, and even the state you live in hostage. Professionals all
need to be protected by Errors and Omission Insurance. Retailers all have some
sort of liability insurance. There is theft, mistake, and rot protection.
Virtually no stone is left unturned; there is protection available for every
potential disaster.
How did we let this happen?
Whatever happened to the normal risk of doing business, or just living? We were
sucked in under the guise of being safe, and we bought it. But are we as safe?
Perhaps we should take a look and actually work out the numbers.
How often are minor accidents
not reported, or you went to traffic school instead of paying a ticket, all
because the rates would go up? Or you didn’t use your insurance because
the deductible was higher than the repair bill. This is not unique to car
insurance. The higher the risk, the greater the cost and the more wiggling by
the insurance company to get out of paying the loss.
Of course it helps to remember
that insurance companies develop some of the biggest real estate projects in
some of the most expensive locations in the world. In the last few years many
of these same companies have gotten into the investment game, offering life
insurance as Mutual Funds. If you were to buy those funds yourself you could
increase your yield ten-fold. Why then are you letting the insurance company
collect interest that should be paid to you?
Try to remember who reaps the
rewards of these multi-million dollar investments? Certainly not the people who
faithfully pay their insurance bill every month thinking that they’re in
good hands.
Mega-sized insurance companies
have made billions off the individual wage earner by scaring him to death about
imaginable dangers. Think about that the next time an insurance bill comes up
before the legislature. The truth is you can’t own a piece of the rock,
the British have owned that rock for years and it is not for sale.
The key to buying rental, home
and auto insurance is the prudent and practical balance test. If the home or
motor vehicle you are about to insure would cost more than the deductible to
repair or replace, and you know for an absolute fact that you would replace it,
insure it for full value.
Buy medical, dental and vision
insurance with major trauma in mind. In other words, insure yourself against
long term, debilitating or deadly diseases or events. Learn all you can about
alternative health care, its costs and effectiveness. There is no cure for it,
so don’t run to a doc-in-the-box for a shot when you contract a common
cold there are a number of incredibly effective herbal remedies for these and
other minor ailments.
Use your insurance dollar for
serious, life threatening diseases and accidents only, you’ll save money
and insurance can get back to providing what it was designed to do furnish, a
protective umbrella against disasters.
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