Investing In Individual Retirement Accounts

It is now a common understanding amongst masses that post retirement social security income and other benefits may not suffice. Generally people belonging to higher strata of society i.e. those having higher incomes only receive a meager thousand to fifteen hundred dollars a week. The kind of expenses one has to bear on basic requirements like gas, food, housing, insurance etc. it is impossible to break even leave aside any thoughts of savings. It is in such a situation that individual retirement accounts come in handy as an investment choice for people who plan to have a good retired life.

Types of Individual Retirement Accounts
The most traditional investment accounts have a provision of investment prior to tax deduction although the upper end of amount that can be invested is capped. This kind of accounts are lapped up by people who pay high amounts as taxes as post investment they fall in the income group liable for lower taxes. There is a catch though-The money invested is liable for taxation once its brought into use after retirement; however the taxes are much lower due to the post retirement tax benefits that one gets in the old age.

Then are the Roth Individual Retirement Accounts named after Senator Roth who contributed in planning these accounts. Over here the investor can invest the money available with him post taxes. Although investing in these accounts doesn't help an individual to save in terms of taxes at the time of investment but it automatically means that he would not be required to pay taxes on the invested money once he decides to withdraw them post retirement. Also the cap on the amount of money that can be invested is higher than that in the traditional retirement accounts.

SEP IRA and SIMPLE IRA are kind of accounts in which the employer also contributes or invests on behalf of the employee. The SIMPLE IRA allows employer as well as the employee to invest together in the individual retirement account. Most employers provide what they call as match plan for this kind of account which means that whatever sum is invested in by the employee shall be matched by employer upto a fixed percent. It provides fabulous advantages to the employee as the amount procured at the maturity of the account is quite higher than the original amount put in by the employee.

Besides the above mentioned Retirement accounts there are many other lesser used but nevertheless good retirement options. An expert's advice in investment or maybe even attending a class would do an individual a lot of good for choosing the right kind of option from the available choices. With an eye on future planning, one should always go for wise investment options so that the lifestyle of the person goes on smoothly even after retirement as it used to be before retirement.

Life Insurance

If you are looking for guaranteed acceptance term life insurance quotes, then you may be out of luck. In this day and age there are so many potential health risks and diseases that it's virtually unheard of for an insurance company to give guaranteed acceptance term life insurance quotes or whole life insurance quotes, without some type of exclusions, restrictions or waiting periods written into the policy, such as the type of insurance policy you see on television for elderly people. Read the following article and you'll see that illness or poor health conditions can strike anyone at just about any age.

There are many times in our lives that we believe that something may have happened for a reason. There are other times that this cliché may seem over used, but there definitely are times when unexpected things happen, sometimes these happen to benefit us. Some think these things are simply coincidence, while others believe that it is fate. Still others believe that it may be divine intervention, whatever you choose to believe, I know that it has changed the lives of both myself and my son.

Shop and Compare multiple Life Insurance quotes for free.

My son and his wife had been married for nearly two years and his wife was six months pregnant at the time, with their first child, when he thought that it would be a good idea to purchase more life insurance that they currently had. He got quite a few different life insurance quotes online and finally narrowed it down to two different companies that had low rates. He found out that, although the life insurance quotes that the got were low, companies that offer these low premiums required the most thorough health examinations. This wasn't didn't worry my son though as he'd been active in many team sports throughout high school and college and had always seemed to be very healthy. He is in excellent physical condition and is rarely ill.

He went to see the doctor to get the life insurance examination. He is only 27 years old and has never smoked cigarettes, so the life insurance quotes were very affordable. He took the form with him that the insurance company wanted the examining physician to complete and return. The insurance company wanted blood tests in addition to the thorough physical exam.
The physical went fine, but when he got the blood work back he found that his cholesterol was extremely high. The doctor was concerned about such high readings for a person that was so young. He told my son to to stay on a strict diet for the next month and then they would test him again. The doctor wanted to be certain that the test wasn't measuring a cholesterol spike because of poor eating the day before the test. The doctor told my son that if the level didn't come down significantly he would be forced to go on medication in order to avoid heart problems.

My son called me to let me know about how the physical for the life insurance quotes went and about his high cholesterol level. He was aware that my because brother had died of heart disease at the age of 45, and that his children had high cholesterol levels, His second test may come back the same. It did. Forunately, because of the life insurance quotes and physical examination, we were able to find out before it was too late.

The doctor immediately started him on medication. The doctor thinks that they have avoided an early stroke or heart attack because they caught the problem in time and because of the use of the medication. By looking into life insurance quotes when he did, my son may have prevented an early heart attack.

Although you may not find guaranteed acceptance term life insurance quotes or guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance quotes, there's always a chance that you may be accepted. It doesn't cost anything to get a free quote. Why not do it now?

Online Secured Loan

Money gets becoming the security of an individual day by day. However, it is not possible for everyone to stand on the same financial podium. To fight away from the situation, many banks, lending institutions and financial companies are offering secured loan across the UK. That helps to improve the financial status of the residents. This loan can be accessed via online assessing by the borrower whereby the individual may save his time and energy. Online secured loan is affordable and reasonable for the responsible borrowers.

For the purpose of availing the online secured loan, the individual has to place a valuable asset of his own as collateral. The collateral plays a pivotal role while availing the secured loan. If an individual do not want to produce collateral, then he has another option of an unsecured loan.
As the online secured loan makes collateral provision, the interest paid on the loan amount is quite low for the borrower. Further, negotiable paybacks make the loan a friendly one and extended repayment terms in addition. However, the online secured loan amounts to a minimum of £ 5, 000, but keeping the requirement of the borrower in view the lending institutions have increased the amount up to £ 75, 000. Availing the amount for the period of 5 to 25 years helps the borrower on easy repayment with monthly instalments.

The commercial institutions in the UK have been paved the way for the borrowers who, due to some personal reasons, could not maintain their good credit history. Now onward, the individuals having adverse history i.e., bankrupts, arrears, defaulters, CCJs and IVAs etc., can also avail the online secured loan. Through the facility they can recover from their unfavorable status.

Online secured loan is an authentic loan procedure. By placing the collateral, the borrower can raise a good amount of money for his personal need. The need, whether of borrower’s home improvement, for wedding or for debt consolidation, versatility of online secured loan works in every walk of life. Instant accessing online escapes the borrowers from the useless running here and there for the secured loan.

Medical Insurance

There has to be a way to counter the rising medical costs. Medical insurance is one of them. And supposing that you do not have this insurance as yet, you need to give it a sober thought. This policy will cover the major costs incurred on major health problems that anyone can face.

It is known that in today's busy and stressful lifestyles, even a healthy person's health can go for atoll any time. With so much of unhealthy eating habits, you can never be sure of any disease growing within and when the symptoms may surface. Seasonal changes and change of physical environments also have a profound effect upon our health. This needs good consideration so that you be careful. One of the important measures to be taken is to go for a medical insurance so that you can at least cover the regular visits you might have to make to the doctor. Visits to the doctor also serve as good preventive measures. This is so because regular check ups make you confident of your health and you know where you are going. This can cover your major medical expenses, apart from hospitalisation, when needed.

Online availability of insurance quotes has made the job much easier, This is because not only is this quick, but also the processing is fast and you can avail to quotes from as many insurance companies as you like. This further helps to compare them so that you can strike upon the deal most suitable to your needs. While you take a medical insurance for yourself, also do not ignore your family. In fact there are so may policies which are especially designed for you as well as your family, not to speak of the discounts you get thereof. Give a sober thought to this.

My Home Is Not Selling!

Having a home that is listed for a long time presents a number of different problems for a home seller. Least of all is the stress associated with having a long-term listing and not being able to move on with life. Most sellers will need to sell their homes before they can purchase another home and this presents difficulties if work has required a move and housing needs to be dealt with quickly. However you still want to sell your home for a decent profit and not get taken to the cleaners on the price. Price, in fact is usually the biggest factor when a home isn't selling quickly. One must ask themselves if the home was priced correctly? Usually a home is priced in accordance with comparable homes in the area that are currently listed or have recently been sold.

There are a variety of other reasons that home may not be selling. It can take a trained eye to spot them or sometimes they are fairly glaring things. One truth is that dirty or unkempt homes do not sell quickly. People like to see that the home they are buying is well taken care of. A feeling of neglect in respect to the home can speak of other areas of neglect that could adversely affect the opinions of buyers. If certain things have been neglected, then what else has been as well? This is the way buyers think and unfortunately it is sometimes unjustified, but opinion is opinion and that is hard to change. Make sure that you listen to any feedback that your realtor gives you about the home and change the things they suggest. Remember this is what they do for a living so their opinion should be valued.

Another unfortunate aspect of a long listing is the fact that a home gains a bit of a stigma just by being listed for a long time. Buyers and realtors alike start to wonder if there is something wrong with the home. Regardless if these is or is not, just the rumor that there could be can be a huge drawback to a sale. Selling a home is a tenuous game that relies heavily on the impression that a home makes when first listed and on a reasonable price for what is being offered. The last thing any home seller wants is to make a bad impression when their home is listed be it for improper pricing or problems with the home itself, something like this is hard to recover from.

Best Term Life Insurance

When you want a complete and pure life insurance cover for you or your family members then the term life insurance is your best bet. Term life insurance is considered to be the original form of life insurance and is regarded as pure insurance protection because it builds no cash value. Term life is also the most affordable type of life insurance if compared to permanent life insurance such as whole life, universal life or variable universal life insurance. As the term life insurance builds no cash value that means your term life insurance ill not offer you a return on your investment and your money is not returned at the end of the term.
Still, the term life insurance can be the best way to insure one’s life and to cover the risk in certain conditions. People opt for term life insurance when they need protection for a certain period of time. In general the term life insurance may not be the most sensible insurance option if thought over practically, especially for those who are looking at insurance as an investment option. But there are circumstances where term life works out well than whole life insurance policies that carry a much higher premium compared to the term life insurance.

The term life insurance is suitable to people having a considerable amount of debt and young children to support, or for young couples who need to have life cover. In such cases it is very difficult to pay the premium of a whole life insurance. Term life policy comes as an answer to this people. The premium of a term life is much lower and affordable compared to the whole life and for the specified period of time there is a sense of security for the person who is insured. Worst come worst, after insuring for term life the insured were to die the amount insured is paid to the family and this money in such a situation will be exactly what the dependants need. The biggest benefit being the fact that term life insurance can provide fairly large amounts of coverage with relatively low premiums.

The coverage of the term life insurance can be decided according to the amount of debts the family is having, or the number of dependents and their financial needs in case the unexpected happens. The term or insurance term can be decided on the time your children or dependents will take to become financially self-sufficient. You should also consider your financial needs and those of your dependents.

There are many companies that offer the term life insurance. It is advisable to look for the company with reputation of answering the claims in short time with no hassles to the dependents. You can ask for online quotes from these companies to get multiple quotes so that you can decide between them. As the term life insurance is for a specific period of time, take the cover for the most crucial period when you have many responsibilities to shoulder. In all, the term life insurance is the best way to get the insurance cover in low premiums and to plan ahead.

Improve Your Financial Footing

Unpaid debts are a big menace to the borrower. They lead to various problems for the borrower in the future and can worsen his credit score. it is very important to remove these debts. For this purpose, debt consolidation services can be employed.
Debt consolidation services can be employed to remove debts that have been created due to missed repayments of multiple loans taken up by the borrower. Two or more debts amounting to more than £5000 can be consolidated using debt consolidation services.

Debt consolidation services provide suitable guidance to the debtors to remove their debts and improve their position. They are to take a loan under debt consolidation services to remove their debts. This loan helps the borrower in paying off all the earlier debts that he owes to various lenders. Now with all the debts paid, the borrower just has to repay only one loan which he borrowed and is called the debt consolidation loan. This loan is taken at a lower rate of interest thereby saving money of the borrower.
As a part of debt consolidation services, advice is also given to the borrowers to be careful while spending in the future. the usage of credit cards should be made minimum and careless and lavish spending should be avoided.
Debt consolidation services provide numerous benefits to the borrowers like:
• Debt consolidation services unify all the debts of the borrower and it is paid off in a one time lump sum payment
• The borrower just has to pay one single monthly installment instead of multiple installments.
• The interest rate is lower for the debt consolidation loan which saves the money of the borrower
• Debt negotiation also helps in saving the money of the borrower and this money can be used elsewhere.
Therefore, after looking at the various advantages it gives to the borrowers, it can be safely concluded that debt consolidation services should be employed to remove the unnecessary burden of debts of the borrower.

Home Insurance: Buy To Cover Your Luxury Home

Second home is bought by people in UK mostly for giving it on rent to people who come to spend their holidays. Hence it is very important to take perfect precaution to keep your second home protected as it is your first home and it is also a very good source of income for you. Second home is also a real luxury to afford it and something that you have worked probably very hard towards. Second home insurance enables you to provide the proper protection to your second home or holiday home.Your second home can have the same risks as your primary home from fire, theft, flood and riots etc. so home insurance policy for your second home is the most essential thing to buy for the protection of your second home. Second home insurance provides for the following cover-Building cover: second home insurance provides cover for your building structure which will include swimming pool, summer houses etc.Contents cover: your second home insurance can also cover for the belongings of your home thus giving you added peace of mind.Legal cover: it will provide valuable legal protection to your second home as part of your insurance.Personal valuables: it can be covered by your second home insurance at an extra cost, which can provide added peace of mind. This can include valuables such as laptop, camera and any especially valuable item in your second home.

However it is important to check that any second home insurance policy before making a commitment to buy that it will provide you the covers that you require for your home. Different insurance companies offer policies for second home insurance with varying terms and conditions, so it is advisable to compare both premiums and coverage before making a decision. The cost of cover will vary on the level of cover you take out as well as on the property itself and the purpose for what it is used. Sometimes insurance companies do not extend whole coverage to the second home so it is better to check the terms and policy details before you commit to a second home insurance policy. As you begin to research about the best policy of second home insurance, you can do it well through internet. Online you can search for the second home insurance policy within no time and even without expending a lot of money. The quotes for second home insurance are available free on the internet. Hence you can search the suitable second home insurance policy for your second home and enjoy the real pleasure with security.

Car Title Loans: Do You Know The Value Of Your Car

Car is a property which not only serves the purposes of commuting but also can be used for extracting funds by pledging it when necessary. But if you pledge your car and apply for any loan scheme you might be derived from using it, but considering car title loans facilitates you to retain the ownership. In car title loans, the individual or car owners have to place the car’s title certificate as security instead of the vehicle. The lenders will keep the title as security in case the borrowers fail to repay the amount. As the car owners have to pledge the certificate or title of the cars, so it falls into the category of secured loan. In this loan scheme, the lenders give the borrowers a written title agreement, where the various features of the loans are mentioned. In the car title loans, the amount is approved based upon the value of the vehicle. Lenders after approving the application, offers a quote to the borrowers and on the spot approvals. In this loan plan, the owner enjoys the freedom to ride his car until he repays the loan within the pre-determined date; when repaid full amount then he again own the ownership of the car.

Individuals who carry the following mentioned principles are eligible to borrow car title loans, and they are as follows: •Applicants should have attained the age of 18 years•Applicants should produce proof of residential address•Applicants should furnish details of his incomeIf any applicant holds the mentioned criteria then loans are approved without any delay. Car title loans are advance against a slightly higher are of interest for the reason that they are typically advanced without the regard to borrower’s ability to repay or credit score. The repayment tenure is short term and is structured to be repaid in less duration extending from 14-31 days. Car title loans welcome person from every financial community to subscribe the privileges of the loan.

How Robust Is Your Home Insurance Cover?

Make sure that you are not one of the many people who are out of pocket each year because they took out home insurance cover that did not meet their needs.

For example, 1 in 3 get burgled and yet estimates show that over 20% of all household goods are not covered by your home insurance; equally accidents such as flood damage are increasingly common – the question is, are your home and possessions covered?
What does your policy cover?
A standard policy should cover: flood and storm damage; fire, smoke and explosions; subsidence and third party damage.
Does your policy cover the market value of your property or full rebuilding costs?
The market value of your home could be considerably lower than the rebuilding costs – especially in the case of listed buildings. English Heritage require that if more than 40% of the historic structure of a property has survived you need to restore the whole property – given the building restrictions on listed buildings, that could be very expensive.
Are accommodation costs included if your home is uninhabitable?
The last thing you need in the event that your home becomes uninhabitable is the added emotional and financial strain of having to pay for temporary accommodation while the status quo is brought back in line?
Home contents
If you are a tenant does your landlord have contents insurance?
While landlords are required to have building insurance, they may not have contents insurance or it may be limited – if you are a tenant you may require your own policy.
What is the replacement policy?
The most basic level of cover is indemnity insurance, which replaces like for like – if your TV is 3 years old you can claim for the value of a 3-year old TV. Some insurance policies replace new for old, so regardless of the age you will get a new item.

Does your policy cover items that you take away from your home?
Some policies cover any items that you take away from home such as watches, jewellery – think about how much the contents of your handbag, or your car etc are worth, particularly if you use a laptop.
Is your garden covered?
Many people have a great deal of money invested in their gardens from expensive plants and features to gardening equipment stored in the shed – make sure your policy covers this area.
Make sure you insure for the right value
One of the major mistakes people make with their home insurance policy is to underinsure - write a checklist of every item in your home to ensure you have insured for the right amount. You also need to ensure high value items are covered – most policies set a maximum value on individual items.
Don't be one of those people who fail to keep a policy up to date as your circumstances and possessions change – make sure that your policy covers you for that diamond solitaire engagement ring, the new 42 inch plasma TV and any other expensive purchase that you may acquire over time.
Have you made reasonable efforts to install any of the security measures available today?
A common reason for claims not being paid is that policyholders failed to implement security measures required by the policy – make sure you comply with the terms of the policy.
One final piece of advice is: NEVER ASSUME THAT ITEMS ARE COVERED – if you are unsure, always check your policy.

Mortgage Loans

Be very, very vigilant when applying for a mortgage. Being complacent in such a process can harm you financially. Plan well and be watchful, regardless of it being your first or tenth mortgage application. The legal terms and conditions followed during such processes can have huge impacts on the finances of the borrower. Being ignorant can lead to serious consequences. The legal clauses involved in mortgage borrowing processes keep on changing frequently, with constant modifications and manipulations. It can make even long-prevailing rules outdated before you say the word 'mortgage'.

Expecting the customer to be familiar with rules and regulations related to mortgage is an unreasonable assumption. However, knowledge of basic rules is always expected and can be very helpful in flawless processing. Moreover, it helps avoiding scheming lenders. Independent financial advisers can be the key to selection of best mortgage available. They provide neutral and unbiased advice. Financial advisers can provide vital information on general as well as specific mortgages, depending on the requirements. One such organization is known as Independent Financial Advisers. It represents independent financial advisers across the UK. You can ask for help from such organizations in locating a local adviser anywhere in the UK.It is general practice for lending organizations to offer valuable advice in the term of repayment forms or in methods of charging interest forms, etc. However, you need to be very analytical while differentiating between a useful advice and marketing of products.Confusion for those applying for mortgages increases further because of the huge number of terms and conditions associated with them. Mortgages are available for literally every use possible and for different category of borrowers. People who are going to buy homes for the very first time in their lives can have a first-time buyer mortgage. On the other hand, those planning to benefit from the equity in their home but not repay the amount received, can take a reverse mortgage. Right to buy mortgages is available to the council tenants only, who are planning to buy council homes for themselves. Then comes in the part of deciding on the amount of mortgage to be borrowed. The amount of mortgage allowed will differ with the lenders and the type of mortgage taken. The risk involved is also a deciding factor which can reduce or increase the amount of mortgage allowed to the borrower. Mortgagors have to cover some percentage of the mortgage as a deposit. As deposit increases, the amount of mortgage increases. If you are unable to arrange deposits, you can take a 100 percent mortgage, where no deposit is required. The borrower can apply online or make a personal visit to the lender. Some lenders offer discounts if you apply online.Credit report is another crucial factor while applying for a mortgage. You need to have a copy of the credit report from any of the main credit reference agencies, like Equifax or Experian. Any discrepancies present in your credit report must be immediately sorted out.Property is one of the main factors while deciding the actual amount of mortgage. It depends on cost report provided by surveys and valuations. You can request for a revaluation in case you feel the measurements are erratic.One erratic step can cause you your property. It is not possible to foresee the future, but one can at least provide well for the future. Taking well-informed steps can help rope off the harmful effects of mortgages.

Know The Types Of Car Insurance

Accept the fact that buying an insurance for car is not an that people in UK are concerned deeply about. People are more interested in buying insurance for their health, life, travel, etc. than buying car insurance. It is for last few years, curiosity as well as requirement of buying an insurance for car has been here in the mind of car owners. Buying an insurance may not be as important as getting your life and health insured. But sharing the truth, insurance for your car is also of great importance, simply because the increased presence of uncertainty in our life has made it a necessary to have. Everyday, we come to know about the frequent occurring road accidents and damages caused by it in our city. Thus, buying an insurance for our car is a wise solution, as it will assures some sort of financial help when your car meets an insurance.

Before you buy a car insurance policy, it is important that you come to know the types of insurance policies available. Commonly, there are three types of insurance policies for cars – Third Party Only (TPO), Third Party Fire & Theft (TPFT) and Comprehensive (Fully Comp.). The Third Party only insurance policy covers you, the policyholder, against the damage of vehicle of any third part. For example, if you are driving car of any of your friend, and meet an accident. Then, according to this insurance policy, your injured friend and damaged car will get the insurance cover, and not you. Third Party Fire And Theft (TPFT) also acts the same way like Third Party Only (TPO). A Comprehensive policy plan, as its name suggests, covers all car related damages and physical injuries of persons sitting in the car. Even if the car is stolen or meets a fire accident, it will be covered by the Comprehensive policy of car insurance. It requires some considerations when you are thinking of which insurance you ought to buy. Buying an appropriate insurance for your car should depend upon the circumstances you have. For example, if you are young and have got an expensive car to drive, you ought to go for Comprehensive Policy, as it will covers all all related damages and injuries.

Secured Loans

Loans have almost become an inseparable part of the British life. These ‘monetary assistants’ have completely encroached upon the minds of the people. There are ample choices available in the UK financial market – right from credit cards to big secured loans.With lenders getting more liberal and offering more concessions to the borrowers, the loan market is expanding at a faster pace. One research estimates that Britain's personal debt is increasing by £1 million every 4 minutes. The borrowers cannot ask for more. Besides, they no longer fret over the restricted uses of a loan. With wide availability of loans in the UK, borrowers have now ample choices.

Lenders provide secured loans for various purposes. However, the most common applications of these loans can be found in debt consolidation, home extension/improvement, buying another home, investing in business projects, etc. These loans give borrowers a lot of benefits that include a low rate of interest, a loan up to £250,000, repayment over a period of 25 years (maximum), etc. With interest rates starting from as low as 6 per cent, these loans are a wonderful means of borrowing big amounts. Also, the convenience aspect cannot be relegated. Secured loans are widely available and hardly any lender refuses to give such loans unless you have extremely adverse circumstances. Secured loans are loans against the equity in your home. As a homeowner, you can very well utilise the equity in your home and borrow huge money. It is indeed an easy and economical method to take out a loan. In these types of loans, the risk to lender is marginalised and that is why he offers you a lot of concessions. These loans are also available online. You can fill out an online application form and submit it online. Online loan processing takes less time than traditional methods.

Accident Insurance

“A crisis is a close encounter of the third kind.” Being a human being, we never know what is about to occur in our life. It may be possible that today you are prettily sitting in our home, and tomorrow when driving to office you meet an accident, and get severe injuries. Ignoring the possibilities can't make us strong enough to cope with crisis lying ahead, accept this fact. Sensible are those who prepare themselves to face the difficulties. And often when accident occurs you find none or few to help you. Important to add, the most you are in need this time is some kind of financial assurance which would be big help for you. This is where accident insurance appears greatly in handy. Having an insurance covering all kind of accidents is tremendous favour to yourself when you are struck with any financial difficulties. To make the term clear, this is a kind of insurance paying you certain amount of money in the form of compensation when you meet an accident. To attain the compensation, you ought to buy an insurance from an insurance company. Before availing an insurance it is important to know that what all it is going to cover, means what kind of accidents will be covered. Normally, organ loss like hands, legs, etc., car, rail and air accident are covered under the insurance scheme.

The compensation amount you are paid differs from the injuries to injuries caused in accidents. Usually, the amount you get in accident insurance ranges from $25,000 to $1,00,000. Contrary to it if the reason of travel accident is drunken driving, you are refused to be paid any compensation. Likewise, if you are trying some risky sports like car racing, bungee jumping, scuba diving, skiing, etc., you will be excluded from getting any compensation amount by insurer. Reading the policies and guidelines of insurance company may give you avail a good deal at affordable rates. The best way to do some research before availing this insurance is to go online and ask companies free quotes

Are All Insurance Agents The Same?

To get the best deal on insurance, many people consult an insurance agent or broker. But did you know that there are different kinds of insurance agents and brokers-and the one you choose can make a big difference in the type of service you get and the choices you're offered?
Here's the difference:

Captive agents and brokers. Captive agents work with a specific insurance company, and as part of their business agreement with that company, they can offer only that company's insurance products. They may also be required to sell other products from that company, such as annuities and investment plans.

Independent agents and brokers. Independent agents and brokers can offer products from many insurance companies. This helps them better serve your interests, as they can review multiple options to find a policy and rate that's right for you. Insurance rates vary from company to company. Independent agents can put together a customized insurance plan.

If you're ready to contact an independent agent to talk about saving money on car insurance, here are a few things to consider:

Has your life situation changed recently? Many factors determine auto insurance rates, not just vehicle year, make, model, body type and engine size. If you've recently moved, gotten married, had a birthday or experienced a similar life milestone, mention this to an independent agent or broker. You may be eligible to save money on your car insurance.

Is your car getting older? You don't always need the same level of physical damage coverage on older cars as on newer ones. If you drive an older car, an independent agent or broker can advise you on what level of coverage makes the most sense. Raising your deductible could save you money each year, too.

Do you have another type of vehicle that also needs coverage? If you have a motorcycle, boat, RV or other "toy," you might save money by having it covered by the same company that insures your car. Talk to an independent agent or broker about it.

Another plus to working with an independent agent or broker is their ability to offer guidance for all your insurance needs-auto, home, life, business and more. They can customize a package of policies just for you.

Health Insurance For The Whole Family, Including Pets

Nobody would dispute the fact that in these days, you need health insurance for your whole family. But do you also have pet health insurance for those "other" members of your family which are your pets?That question is not as ridiculous as it may sound. Your pets are a part of your family and you can protect them with health insurance. After all, they are living and breathing animals, and are prone to have health problems just like you are. So it only makes sense to protect them with pet health insurance, and you would undoubtedly agree that this is true after you pay the bill to the vet after your last visit there where Rover had a problem, right? When Rover starts throwing up all night or Kitty gets in a brawl with the neighborhood tomcat, you don't just let them suffer and get over it, do you?

Obviously, pet health insurance is different from the health insurance you get for your sons or daughters. But it still provides you with a level of financial protection when your pet develops a health problem that needs to be treated.Most of the companies that offer pet health insurance limit their insurance to the most common pets such as dogs and cats. If you want to get health insurance for your pet snake, iguana, alligator or hamster, you may have to look a bit deeper but health insurance, even for more exotic animals is available out there.Typically, your pet's veterinarian probably has health insurance policies available. This makes the most sense because assuming you have been taking your pet to the same vet for years, they likely have historical records about your pet, which can be very valuable when trying to diagnose a health problem. It is worth your time and effort to compare costs and coverage for the various plans that are available, since the costs and coverage vary widely from policy to policy.Most of the pet health insurance plans cover the basics, such as the annual shots, and perhaps an occasional checkup. Most also cover things that the vet will need to do in case of injury to your pet. The insurance plans are usually significantly less expensive than human health insurance plans, typically under $20 per month, and some with very basic coverage even under $10 per month. As with human health insurance, the amount of the premium and coverage varies according to what is covered and how much of a deductible you elect with a given plan.Some of the pet health insurance plans also cover things like baths, grooming, and nail clipping, so you need to decide how much coverage you need, how much of a deductible you are willing to have with the policy, and make a decision accordingly. Like with people, the cost of the insurance is going to cost more for 15 year old Rover than it will for your new puppy Spot, simply because Rover is likely to have more health problems than Spot.Even with all these different options, you can do the math and easily determine that the cost of the pet health insurance is probably going to cost you less than paying your vet on an "a la carte" basis per visit.

Stocks Vs Bonds For Your Retirement Investments

Conventional wisdom holds that stocks are usually riskier than bonds. So, why is that the perception, and is it true? There are differences between stocks and bonds. The fundamental difference is that a bond is set up to be a loan to a company. Stocks, however, represent an actual ownership share of the company.Since a bond is set up as a loan, one advantage to holding a bond is that when you buy it you know the income you will be getting. As an example, if you buy a bond with a 5% yield, it would usually pay a 2.5% dividend every 6 months. When you hold the bond until in matures, you will receive the face value as your final payment. You should remember that holding to final maturity may mean holding a bond for 20 to 30 years.

Now if you don't hold to maturity, risk will start to creep in. If you can't hold the bond to maturity you would have to sell it on the open bond market. There it will be sold at prevailing market interest rates. If interest rates have gone up since you originally purchased the bond, you will get back less than face value you paid for the bond. One other thing to avoid is a "callable" bond. With a callable bond, the company has the right to “call”, or cash out, your bond before it reaches its final maturity date. If interest rates had fallen since the time they issued the bond, the company will reissue the bond and pay less interest with the lower market rates.So with bonds you know what you'll get and when you will get it, but with a stock it's much more uncertain. For this reason most people consider stocks to be riskier than bonds. The flip side of this is that with a stock, you can make much more money, but you can lose much more money as well. Also, a good stock holding may pay dividends for many years, while with a bond after the final maturity date it will pay nothing.Making bonds a part of a retirement portfolio may be a good way to reduce the risk of your portfolio. With a "bond ladder", ( this is where you stagger the maturity dates of your bonds so that they don't all mature at once but instead mature in groups spaced over a period of years) is a great strategy to manage risk.You should keep on other thing in mind. Many average investors won't hold individual bonds, since it requires a fairly large initial investment. The average investor will often buy bond mutual funds for the fixed income part of their holdings. But bond funds act much differently with interest rate swings than an individual bond will. The difference is great enough that if you are holding bond mutual funds you may find that the statement that stocks are riskier than bonds may not always be true.