Playing It Safe: Why Insurance Is A Business’ Best Friend

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Insurance is not only a key pillar in life, but it is also a key component of your business. It can be the difference in your business succeeding or failing. The following contributed post is entitled, Playing It Safe: Why Insurance Is A Business’ Best Friend.

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We’ve all heard the expression, “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst,” right? Well in business this means taking out insurance policies as protection against potential risks – which brings us right back around to this blog post’s focus on this unsung hero of entrepreneurship: insurance! Get ready – here comes risk-free growth in business!

Photo by Vlad Deep on Unsplash

Protect That Cash Flow

Money makes the business world go around, and nothing throws a monkey wrench in its wheels like unexpected expenses. From natural disasters and lawsuits, to broken equipment costs and broken trucking accidents causing casualties – insurance is there to provide relief in such instances. Did trucking accidents cause casualties? That’s what insurance is for. The office floods and ruins all the new computers? Insurance can help with that too.

Save Yourself Some Stress

Business emergencies can be very stressful experiences. But knowing your operations are insured will relieve at least some of your tension during an already chaotic situation. Insurance protects against sudden financial strain so you can focus on getting back up and running more easily – so if you’re looking for some added peace and quiet (who doesn’t?!), consider purchasing at least one policy today!

Plan for the Future

Insurance can be seen as an investment for the future of your business. It serves as a safety net that gives your financial protection in case of disaster and can make your company more desirable when selling it as having insurance can make even the riskier company attractive to potential buyers.

Give Your Employees Peace of Mind

Your employees are an essential asset to your business. Without workers’ compensation insurance in place to offer protection and provide peace of mind to them during a working day, their focus may suffer significantly. Workers’ comp insurance will allow your team members to rest easy knowing you have their backs – giving everyone some relief at nighttime!

Trust Me, Your Customers Will Thank You

When things go awry in business, the last thing you want is for customers to bear the cost. By having appropriate insurance in place, customers know any issues will be taken care of without incurring extra expenses; making it win-win for both of you!

Attracting Big Fish

Do you want to partner with larger businesses or clients? Many will require that you have insurance before even taking a meeting – meaning not only does insurance protect but it opens doors!

Avoid Legal Complications

Insurance can often be more than a smart choice: It may also be legally mandated. Liability and workers’ compensation insurance are both required in many areas by law, making compliance an invaluable way to avoid unnecessary legal trouble – just think of all those awkward courtroom scenes!

Conclusion: It’s a No-Brainer, Really

While insurance may appear like just another expense for businesses, it should actually be treated as an essential tool. Insurance protects cash flow, offers employee peace of mind, helps present you as credible to customers and attracts larger clientele. So don’t wait: get insured now so your business can flourish safely!

Breaking It Down: The Insurance Coverage You Need For Each Stage Of Your Life

“However you define the stages of your life, you’ll need to ensure you’re insured.”

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Health/Wellness. Insurance is a critical piece of all our financial healths. Interestingly it’s not always seen as the most exciting aspect of the financial world. Learning about how it can help you and your loved ones however, can shed light on its importance. The following guest post is entitled, Breaking it Down: The Insurance Coverage You Need for Each Stage of Your Life.

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Lives can be marked by milestones, decades, ages, and more. However you define the stages of your life, you’ll need to ensure you’re insured. There are many different types of insurance, but you might not need all of them at once. The type of insurance you need depends on your stages in life and your age. You’ll need to continuously adjust your insurance coverage as you make your way through life. Here are the different types of coverage you need for each stage of your life.

Every Stage

There’s one type of insurance you’ll need for every stage of your life, no matter how old you are. Health insurance is necessary for everyone, including babies, children, and the elderly. Children will be covered by their parent’s health insurance, but as soon as you reach the age of 26, your parent’s health insurance will no longer cover you.

If you’re over the age of 26, you’ll need to get your health insurance either through your employer or the health insurance marketplace. While it’s not illegal to forego health insurance, healthcare costs can be expensive and ruin your finances if you ever need emergency medical attention. The monthly premium is well worth the cost to help you avoid financial strain if you ever need to visit the hospital.

Driving

As a teenager, one of the most important milestones is getting your license. However, you can drive a car without insurance. If you’re in an accident, your car insurance may cover some or all of the cost to repair your vehicle. It may also cover damage to another person’s health or car.

Renting an Apartment

Moving out of your parents’ house is a big deal, but you shouldn’t forget to keep yourself and your friends covered in case of an accident. Renters insurance covers everything from natural disaster damage to accidents that happen within your home. It can even cover your hotel stay if something happens to your apartment that was out of your control.

Buying a Home

When you buy a home, you’ll ditch the renter’s insurance and get homeowners insurance. Renters insurance and homeowners insurance function, in the same way, protecting your finances from sustaining damage if there’s ever an accident, theft, or natural disaster.

One significant way that homeowners insurance differs from renters insurance is your insurance will pay to repair or replace your home if there’s damage resulting from fire, theft, or a weather event.

Getting a Pet

Getting a pet doesn’t require you to get any insurance. However, it’s a good idea to give your pet their health insurance so you aren’t stuck with a hefty bill if they get into an accident. Pet insurance covers the cost of surgery, health-related issues, and even accidents such as swallowing a foreign object.

Pet insurance can help you save thousands of dollars if your pet ever needs to visit an emergency vet. Typically, if your pet needs medical attention on a weekend or an emergency visit in the middle of the day, you’ll need to take them to a vet that specializes in emergencies, especially if your regular vet’s office isn’t open. These facilities often charge more for their services, but pet insurance can help you offset costs while ensuring your pet lives a healthy life.

Your renters or homeowners insurance may also cover the medical costs of visitors if your pet happens to bite someone while protecting their home.

Starting a Business

If you start your own business, you won’t qualify for employer-sponsored health insurance and will be responsible for purchasing your own. The good news is your insurance premium can be deducted from your taxes using a tax software. Coverage protects against financial loss from bodily injury, medical expenses, lawsuits and property and equipment damages.

Depending on the type of business, there might be other types of business insurance you should have, so you must do your research so you can protect your business and personal finances. Types of insurance you might require are:

● General liability insurance
● Commercial property insurance
● Business income insurance

If you’re not sure what type of insurance you’ll need for your business, consider working with an insurance agent that can help keep you covered no matter what. You

Starting a Family

You can start building your family at any stage in life, but no matter how old you are, you’ll need to take a look at your current insurance coverage. As soon as you decide to start a family, consider getting life insurance, which will provide your spouse and family with financial stability if you pass away. Life insurance can be especially beneficial if your spouse doesn’t work and relies on your income to pay major bills.

The 30s Through 50s

When you’re in your twenties, you might only need a few types of insurance, including renters insurance and health insurance. However, as you get older, you’ll need other types of insurance that will allow you to put down more roots.

These decades are the perfect opportunity to begin thinking about retirement, especially if you have an employer-sponsored retirement plan. However, it’s important to remember you’ll need more than money to have a good retirement. You might also want to consider long-term care insurance that will help you avoid paying out of pocket for a nursing home facility or long-term care.

Retirement

During retirement, your major source of income is your savings or pension. As an elderly individual, you can expect more medical costs than in your younger years, so it’s important to invest in quality health and life insurance plans.

Final Thoughts

You’re going to require insurance at every stage of life, but it’s up to you to know what’s available to you and decide what’s best for you and your loved ones. One type of insurance you should have, no matter how old you are, is health insurance. While you might be young and healthy, you never know what could happen, so it’s important to keep yourself covered at all costs to avoid high medical costs and protect your finances.

Matt Casadona

Matt Casadona has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Psychology. Matt is passionate about marketing and business strategy and enjoys San Diego life, traveling, and music.

Is Your Business Insurance Fit For Purpose

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key component of your business is its insurance. Your business insurance can help you stay open and generating profit for a long time. The following contributed post is entitled, Is Your Business Insurance Fit For Purpose.

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There is a lot that needs to be considered when looking for insurance for your business. Depending on the nature of your company, there are going to be various policies that you may require. In this blog post, we are going to focus on some of the main ones, helping you to find a policy that is fit for purpose.

Insurance for your office
Office property insurance, also known as business owners insurance, is something that is widely considered a necessity for all businesses. It is vital to have all areas covered to ensure that you do not experience a massive loss in the case of an unpredictable event or circumstance at your office. If you don’t have one of these policies already then you certainly need to look into getting one.

Office insurance will cover you, your employees, the building, the equipment and more. Therefore, it is certainly worth its weight in gold. Moreover, policies such as this one are pivotal to giving you peace of mind. You know what if something happens which is out of your control – you won’t lose everything.

Nevertheless, finding the right policy for your business can be a very difficult, complex and frustrating process. After all, there are so many different policies available. Obviously, in one sense, this is great because it means that there is a lot of choice. However, for most people, it simply confuses them as they don’t know what to go for. The best thing to do is to make a list of the aspects that you need to be covered by your policy. These are your requirements and you will not go for an insurance policy if these are not covered.

Protecting yourself if something happens to a key person
This is one area of insurance that a lot of businesses have a tendency to overlook. However, have you ever wondered what would happen if one of your key owners or employees fell ill? It would have a serious impact on your company, right? Well, there is insurance in place to assist with this, and it is something that we certainly recommend considering carefully.

When looking for this type of insurance, you need to carefully consider the key person disability risk to determine what level of cover is going to be the most suitable for you. The policy will protect you from the monetary loss that you would experience if a key employee, business owner, or executive was to experience a disabling illness, injury, or accident. You will receive a cash benefit that is designed to help you through this difficult period. This can cover the likes of keeping your business viable, any overtime pay you need to cover staff working longer hours, and the cost of training and hiring a replacement.

Advice for all business policies
It is crucial that you read everything in the policy. This sounds like an obvious point but it is something that a lot of people overlook. It’s understandable; after reading through five different policies you may want to skip a couple of lines. But don’t do it – you may end up regretting it.

When searching for a policy it is important to look around on different websites and compare different deals. You can even use a price comparison website if you find it easier. This is good because it will give you a basic understanding of the price options available, and it will also help you narrow down your search in order to find the best deals and make the best savings. You should also look at ways to secure your premises, as this can then result in your premiums being lowered as well.

In addition to finding the best-priced policy that covers all the aspects you require, it is also highly important that the company you buy the policy from is credible and has a good reputation. In order to decipher whether this is the case, you should type the name of the company in a Google search box and then go to the relevant comment forums. If people have been dissatisfied with the service that they have received then they will be more than happy to express them and to warn people from using the insurance company in question. Nevertheless, remember to use the comments as a whole – you want a general overview. If there are 60 good comments and one bad one, don’t acknowledge the negative review as it is likely to be a one-off.

Insurance To Consider When You Run A Business

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Just as with your personal life, insurance can play a key role in the continued health and success of your business. The following contributed post is entitled, Insurance To Consider When You Run A Business.

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When you run your own business it can be very rewarding and exciting. However, as your company grows so do your responsibilities for buildings, people, vehicles and lots of other things. You’re the one in charge and also the one who is to blame when things go wrong. So it is important to protect yourself, your business and your employees in the right way.

Commercial Buildings And Contents Insurance

Accidents happen and it is important to be prepared for everything. Also, businesses normally hold a lot of high ticket items in their stores, factories or storage facilities so are a big target for thieves. So when you take out insurance make sure all of your high ticket items are covered as well as making the place as secure as possible. It’s also important for building insurance as disasters can happen at any point from weather or faulty wires so it’s best to be covered for all scenarios.

HGV Lorries And Truck Insurance

As companies get bigger you could have a heavy goods vehicle involved in your business that will move your products for you and distribute them to where they need to go. As it is work-related you will need to make sure you have the right insurance for HGV trucks and lorries. The standard car insurance won’t cut it and there are different rules about driving such a big and dangerous vehicle. There are also added benefits from some insurance as you can only drive a certain amount of time until you need to stop. You may miss delivery times but you can have third party insurance so someone can take over and you can be on the road longer. Read this to make sure you are getting the right type of insurance you need.

Employees Protection Insurance

As an employer, you have to look after everyone that works for you from the high ups to the cleaners. So it is important you have insurance to protect yourself in case that someone becomes ill or injures themselves as a result of working for you. It also needs to cover former employees as they may also be able to claim if they can prove they were ill as a direct result of your company or negligence. There are lots of rules and regulations around health and safety as it is such an important thing that you need to be on top of as soon as you start employing people. So being insured fully and by the right company will help you if things ever go wrong. The pandemic has seen an increase in safety concerns so it is a very hot topic right now. You want to be protecting your employees at all costs.

There are lots of other different types of insurance you may need to consider depending on the type of business you have. Different business sectors have different rules and requirements depending on what you are working with. These are the basis for all companies to consider.

How To Make Health Insurance More Affordable

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Health/Wellness. A major personal cost depending on your stage in life and circumstance is healthcare. Most people don’t understand their premiums and how to manage the costs but it can be done. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Make Health Insurance More Affordable.

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Pixabay. CCO Licensed.

Getting insured is the best way to afford healthcare – but what if you can’t afford health insurance? While rates can be expensive, there are a number of cheaper insurance options out there. Here are just several ways in which you can lower the cost of health insurance.

Check if you’re eligible for Medicare or Medicaid

There are federal and state programs in place across America that could help to pay for some or all of your health insurance. These are only eligible to certain people however.

Medicare is eligible for those over 65 and those with disabilities – while you must still pay a contribution, this program could allow most of your insurance to be paid for you. There are a number of different plans out there ranging from Medicare Plan A to Medicare Plan G. These each offer a different level of coverage.

Medicaid is meanwhile eligible to those with a low income, pregnant women and people with certain disabilities – participants pay little to nothing for coverage providing they meet requirements. This is largely state funded, unlike Medicare, so can vary a little from state to state.

Talk to your employer

Many employers offer health insurance to employees as a company benefit, often making contributions to help lower the cost. If your employer does not offer this, you could try talking to them about the possibility of setting up a scheme. Even if they contribute only a tiny amount to it, it will still save you some money and it has tax benefits for your employer.

Join organizations with health insurance perks

Aside from working for a company that offers health insurance, you may also be able to gain access to cheap health insurance by becoming a member of certain organizations. This includes state farm bureaus, university alumni associations and automotive clubs such as the AAA.

Raise your deductible and use a HSA

A high deductible plan can also save you money. The deductible is the amount of money you’re willing to pay out of your own pocket before asking an insurer for help in the event that you need to pay for healthcare. It could mean that you still end up paying for most minor healthcare, but you’ll still get some assistance if you need major treatment such as surgery.

A HSA (Health Savings Account) could help you to pay your deductible. This is a savings account in which your earnings are contributed on a regular basis. The main benefit of such accounts is that you don’t have to pay tax on any earnings that are put in these savings accounts.

Start living more healthily

Health insurers tend to ask a number of questions about applicants’ lifestyle in order to get an idea of how healthy you are. If you smoke, drink heavily and do little exercise, you could find that your rates are higher – this is because there’s a greater risk you’ll need to claim insurance for healthcare.

While you can lie about your lifestyle to gain access to cheaper rates, this could backfire if you’re found out. Start living more healthily so that you can honestly take advantage of cheap insurance – less health problems could also mean less health insurance claims in the future, which means cheaper future rates.

7 Things To Consider When Looking For An Insurance Policy

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Financial Literacy/Money. A key component of one’s financial health is insurance. In fact for many people, insurance is a vehicle for building wealth. As with anything money-related, there several factors to consider. The following contributed post is entitled, 7 Things To Consider When Looking For An Insurance Policy.

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Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

If you’re looking for a new insurance policy and don’t know where to start then don’t worry, you have definitely come to the right place. Whether you’re looking to insure your car or you want to insure the belongings in your house, you need to be sure you’re doing as much research as possible when it comes to taking out a new policy. From setting yourself a budget to reading the terms and conditions, the more you do the better. With that in mind, here are 7 things to consider when looking for an insurance policy:

  • What Are You Insuring?

One of the first things you need to think about when it comes to looking for an insurance policy is what you’re actually going to be insuring. Whether you’re looking for travel insurance or you want to insure your new laptop, you need to know exactly what it is your policy is going to be covering. This means not only thinking about what you’re insuring on a whole but also thinking about the specifics. Do you want to cover accidental damage? Are you travelling long term? How old is the item you’re insuring? The more questions you ask the better.

  • Have You Done Your Research?

Another important thing to consider is whether or not you have done enough research. Insurance can be incredibly complicated and if you’re not doing your research properly, chances are you’re going to get caught out. From legitimate providers to the average cost per policy, the more clued up you are the better. For the ultimate guide to taking out insurance, you can visit this site here.

  • Have You Looked At Several Different Providers?

When it comes to choosing a provider, you need to ensure you have several different options to choose from. Whether you’re choosing a policy based on price or value for money, having a number of different options will make the process a lot easier.

If you’re struggling to find these options, you might want to consider using a price comparison site. Not only will they round up all of your choices in one handy report but they will also detail all the features of benefits of each policy side by side. For more information when it comes to using a price comparison site, you can visit this site here.

  • Do You Have A Budget?

Another important thing to consider is whether or not you have an overall budget. Although you can’t necessarily set the price of your insurance, you can choose your policy based on the amount you can afford to pay each month. In most cases, you may find that you pay a lower premium for less cover. For the best insurance rates, you can visit this site here.

  • Have You Read The Terms And Conditions?

Once you have chosen the policy you want to take out, it’s important you’re reading the terms and conditions. In order to get a clear idea of the cover you’re going to receive, the more in-depth reading you do the better. Whilst it may take some time to sit through everything, you need to be sure you’re choosing the right policy before you sign the paperwork.

If you’re unsure and find you have a lot of questions, you might want to consider picking up the phone and speaking to an expert. Not only will they be able to advise you of the best possible policy to take out but they will also be able to talk you through each and every one of the benefits you will receive. Again, it might take some time but it will definitely be worth it.

  • Do You Need To Speak To An Expert First?

Finally, you need to think about whether or not you need to speak to an expert first. Whilst you can speak to the insurance providers directly, they’re going to be working on commission and at the end of the day, a sale will be the most important thing to them. If you want an unbiased opinion, speaking to an expert might be a better option.

Whether this means speaking to someone online or visiting your local advice beaurea, the more information you have the better your decision will be.

Are you looking for a new insurance policy? What do you need to consider before you choose the right policy for you? Did we miss anything off the list? Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.