7 Steps to getting your finances secure.
With spring upon us, I figured it would be a good time to go over your financial spring cleaning to do list. If you are married, this won’t be your only to do list. It is important that we are protected from some of the curveballs that life throws at us. Here are 7 chores to get in order for this spring:
1. Check Your Credit Score – You should view your credit score at least once a year (I would suggest 2-3 times per year.) You can do this for free once a year at each of the three main credit sources ( Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) at www.annualcreditreport.com. You need to pay to get your actual credit score, but viewing the report is free. If you view one credit source at a time over a year, you will be able to view your credit score 3 times a year for free.
You will want to review this report to make sure that there are no unrecognized debts. This is especially important for those who have a lot of debts outstanding and for those who are delinquent on a lot of debts.
Are you still not feeling secure? Buy identity theft insurance before you become a victim at www.lifelock.com or http://www.zanderins.com/idtheft/idtheft.aspx
2. Create a Living Will – I have a couple of simple forms on the blog in case you need it in a pinch. Otherwise, I would suggest paying $15.00 on www.uslegalforms.com and getting an authentic last will. This way, you will be sufficiently covering your bases.
3. Auto Insurance – Make sure you are current on your auto insurance. Are there any cuts you can make? We saved 40% on our insurance when we realized that we didn’t need the $1000.00 deductible on our really old cars. Though we are in a rare situation, there are potential adjustments you can make.
Also, are you saving money up to pay one lump sum at the beginning of your next term? It could be the best risk-free rate of return you can get this year.
4. Health Insurance – This is an incredibly important part of your spring cleaning, especially for those who don’t have health insurance. If you are not covered by health insurance, I would advise that you get a quote with an endorsed local provider of the Dave Ramsey show. http://www.daveramsey.com/elp/health-insurance
You can also get a quote on www.ehealthinsurance.com. When I was a small business owner, I used this web site.
5. Homeowners/ Renters Insurance – Again, this isn’t very expensive and could save a lot of grief having this taken care of. Go here to get a quote:
http://www.daveramsey.com/elp/home-insurance/
6. Life Insurance – Nobody likes to think about this, but you will want to be covered if something were to happen to you. I like term life insurance, as our financial planning will have us financially secure in 20 years. Basically, we will be self-insured by then. In addition to that, term life insurance is cheaper than whole (pennies on the dollar.)
How much? You will want to make sure you are covered 10 times your yearly salary. If you make $40,000 a year, you will want to buy $400,000.00 worth of life insurance. Most corporations will offer life insurance up to a certain amount.
Our spring cleaning to do list includes buying additional life insurance for myself and Dana to cover us for 10 times our salary. I received a quote for a $200,000, 20 year term life insurance policy for $19.14 per month. Dana’s quote was $24.80 per month for $300,000, 20 years.
Get your own instant quote at: https://www.zanderins.com/term/instantquote.aspx
7. Disability Insurance – Since we are covering ourselves from dying, we should also cover ourselves for disability insurance. You should get at least 60% of your salary as adequate coverage. I can get good disability for under $25.00 per month based on my circumstances. Please use after tax money here. That way, your benefits money, should you receive it, will come back to you tax free.
Get your own instant quote here: https://www.zanderins.com/disability/disinstantquote.aspx
Optional: 8. If you are over 60 years old, you will want to buy long term care insurance. If you are over 60 years and reading this blog, please email me (I would like to thank you personally…and give you further instructions.)
When you are finished, you can update your information on your JAM Interactive workbook on the “Insurance, Etc.” tab. When you are finished with your to-do list, everything on your sheet will be green…just in time for spring.
