The purpose of all insurance is to protect yourself or your family against the economic impact of a tragedy. Insurance is not to help you budget moderate-sized fixed cost, but to protect you against the truly ruinous.

Business Insurance

Insurance is an essential part of running any business. If you are working a small business you need more than just property insurance. Taking out the right insurance will help protect your business and minimize its exposure to risk.

Your insurance necessities will vary according to the type of business you are operating, but you should be aware that some forms of insurance are compulsory, such as workers’ compensation and third party car insurance.

LIFE INSURANCE

For most people, the purpose of life insurance should be to replace the financial contribution made by a family member.

Life insurance can be pure insurance, which pays only on the death of the insured, or cash value insurance, which also has a savings vehicle. Most people who need life insurance are better off with pure insurance and saving for retirement through other vehicles.

Proceeds from life Insurance covers three types of expenses: replacement of the policyholder’s income or work, estate taxes, and burial costs. When you consider the amount of insurance to buy, consider the following:

1. Most of the life insurance should be on a family member whose salary is important to the family budget.

2. Consider a relatively small life insurance policy on a stay-at-home parent to cover child care and other expenses.

3. Don’t buy life insurance on children. Instead, buy life insurance on other family members for the benefit of children.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Don’t go without this. Most people have it at work, but if you don’t you will really save big by going for a group policy. When comparing policies, consider deductibles and what is or isn’t covered. When given a choice, choose one that covers the huge, debilitating conditions over one that is good about routine immunization, but that balks at the larger, more expensive claims.

Health insurance comes in three types, though many policies mix and match traits of the three.

Fee for service, the most expensive, allows you to go to almost any provider and covers almost anything that is medically necessary. You don’t have a primary care physician who has to approve visits to specialists.

Preferred provider options (PPO’s) allow you to self-refer to any provider in the PPO’s list and generally cover a wide variety of services recommenced by those providers. Some PPO’s cover other providers, but with a larger co-payment.

AUTO INSURANCE

In most states you are required to have auto insurance and you don’t want to be without it.

Basically, you buy auto insurance for two purposes: to insure against liability you have to others and to insure against damage that others do to you or your car.

You need to have liability insurance. How much you need depends on how much you have in assets.

Whether you need insurance to protect your own car depends on your car and how detesting it would be to replace it.

HOMEOWNERS’ INSURANCE

The purpose of homeowners’ insurance is to care for you against damage to your home and property from natural disasters.

Insurance companies offer different ratings of insurance and assign these ratings with codes starting with the letters “HO”. While these ratings are fairly standard, they do vary a little with companies, so check with the company to see what policies cover.

When comparing policies, consider differences among deductible, coverage of property other than the house (sheds, garages, etc.), and percent of loss covered. Consider also whether the policy covers resale cost or rebuilding cost. Rebuilding usually provides better coverage, but is more expensive.

For most people, the purpose of life insurance should be to replace the financial contribution made by a family member.

Life insurance can be pure insurance, which pays only on the death of the insured, or cash value insurance, which also has a savings vehicle. Most people who need life insurance are better off with pure insurance and saving for retirement through other vehicles.

Proceeds from life Insurance covers three types of expenses: replacement of the policyholder’s income or work, estate taxes, and burial costs. When you consider the amount of insurance to buy, consider the following:

1. Most of the life insurance should be on a family member whose salary is important to the family budget.

2. Consider a relatively small life insurance policy on a stay-at-home parent to cover child care and other expenses.

3. Don’t buy life insurance on children. Instead, buy life insurance on other family members for the benefit of children.

In most states you are required to have auto insurance and you don’t want to be without it.

Basically, you buy auto insurance for two purposes: to insure against liability you have to others and to insure against damage that others do to you or your car.

You need to have liability insurance. How much you need depends on how much you have in assets.

Whether you need insurance to protect your own car depends on your car and how detesting it would be to replace it.