Nevertheless, many people rightly feel that we as taxpayers should not have to be on the hook for poor business choices made by financial institutions. However, I am not going to discuss who is to blame or even how to fix the problem (I will leave that to people more qualified than I am), but instead I will give you a few ideas on how you should look at your personal insurance options given the current climate of economic uncertainty.

To do this I will look at four different types of insurance that you may or may not have. These will be auto, health, life and home insurance. There are ways you can structure your insurance policies that can save you money while maintaining the coverage you need.

Auto Insurance

If you drive there is no way you can get around having coverage for your car. That being said there are ways you can reduce your auto insurance premiums. The easiest way to do so is to get a free quote (see the left hand sidebar of this page). Beyond that I have previously outlined 11 insanely easy ways to reduce your auto insurance premiums by 40%. Hopefully you can find some new ideas to help save you even more money.

Health Insurance

Losing your job can have a double blow on your finances if you also lose your health coverage at the same time. Obviously, you will want to find a new job as soon as possible but until you do, you may need to consider paying for your own health coverage.

Many people consider health insurance as optional at least for the short term. However, you never know when an accident or disease may strike, so it is a good idea to stay covered at all times. You can find out which companies are offering good deals on individual health insurance coverage in your state just by using the free quote option on the left hand sidebar.

Life Insurance

This is another type of coverage that many people consider optional, and in certain cases I think it is. If you don’t have any dependents (e.g. kids or a spouse who does not work) then you really don’t need any coverage beyond your funeral costs. This is especially true of things such as children’s life insurance which is totally unnecessary for 99.9% of all families.

Another important thing to consider when thinking about life insurance is whether to opt for term or whole life coverage. With the current market conditions it may seem tempting to build cash value with a whole life plan but I still think term life makes more sense. If you are not sure, you can always get a mix of both coverage types to hedge your bets no matter what the future throws at you. You can find great deals on life insurance coverage by getting a free quote on the left hand sidebar.

Home Insurance

If you have a mortgage you probably already have homeowners insurance, since most lenders will require you to have it. You need to make sure you have enough of it and that you are paying as little for it as possible. Essentially, you want to make sure you have enough coverage to cover the costs of rebuilding your home should the unthinkable happen. You can do this by getting a few contractors to give you quotes on what they think it would cost to rebuild. It may be less than you think, due to the oversupply of builders left over in many areas due to the housing crisis.

The reason why you don’t need to cover the full cost of your home is that we are assuming that the land your house is built on still has some value as well. To pay as little as possible for that coverage you can simply get a free quote from the left hand sidebar.

So there you have it, a few simple ideas on how you can maintain all the coverage you need at prices you can afford. I expect to see increasing competition over the next year in the consumer side of the insurance industry. This means you should get a free quote for each of your insurance products every 6-12 months to make sure you are continuing to pay as little as possible. To see if you paying as little as possible right now, just select one or more of the free quote options listed to the left of the screen.

Hopefully, Hurricane Gustav will not cause any damage or at the least far less than Katrina did. However, the problem with Hurricanes and other natural disasters is that you can never be entirely sure when and where they are going to hit.

This is what makes having proper home insurance so important. Now, if you live in the likely path of Hurricane Gustav it is probably too late to buy a policy that will kick-in, in time. I can only hope that your loved ones and your property remain safe and unharmed.

On the other hand, if you live in an area far removed from Gustav don’t think you are home free. There are many possible disasters that could befall you as well. From fires to tornadoes to blizzards (OK maybe not in August) and more. The point is you should always be protected, no matter where in the country you live.

The easiest and cheapest way to do this is to get a free home insurance quote, which you can do easily just by using the form below:

You will be able to find the best deals from homeowner protection in your home state. Finally, as a reminder that is timely given Hurricane Gustave; home insurance policies in the United States generally do not include flood insurance. This usually has to be bought separately from the Federal Government. So if you do live in a flood prone area make sure to get this protection as well.

In the mean time lets just hope that Gustav does not cause anything like the damage and destruction that Katrina did.

The most expensive cars in declining order were the following: 10. Chevrolet Cobalt two-door, 9. Nissan Sentra/Mitsubishi Eclipse, 8. Suzuki Forenza, 7. Nissan Sentra SE-R, 6. Acura RSX, 5. Scion tC, 4. Mitsubishi Lancer, 3. Hyundai Tiburon, 2. Subaru Impreza WRX 4WD, 1. Cadillac Escalade EXT 4WD.


On the other hand the following vehicles were the cheapest to insure: 10. Ford Explorer 4WD/GMC Sierra 1500 4WD/Toyota Highlander/Toyota Sienna, 9. Dodge Grand Caravan/Ford Freestyle 4WD, 8. Buick LaCrosse/Chevrolet Uplander/Ford Escape/Volvo V70, 7. Honda Pilot 4WD, 6. Chrysler Town & Country LWB, 5. Buick Rendezvous/Honda Pilot, 4. Ford Freestyle 4WD/Subaru Outback 4WD, 3. Buick Lucerne/Buick Rainier 4WD/Honda Odyssey, 2. Buick Rendezvous 4WD, 1. Ford Five Hundred 4WD (now the Ford Taurus).

So what can you do if you own one of the more expensive cars? Well be sure to read my 11 insanely easy ways to reduce your auto insurance premiums by 40%. Following even a few of these tips can reduce your premiums by more than the car you drive.

Moreover, you could always be paying less than you do now by getting a free auto insurance quote. Get one right now and find out if there is a cheaper insurer out there for you:

However, as an average bank customer, you don’t have to worry. Why, you ask? The answer is simple: deposit insurance. In the United States the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures all accounts up to $100,000. That means that even if a bank goes under, your money is safe up to that limit.

Better yet, you don’t have to do anything to get insured. All banks in the United States are required to be part of the FDIC insurance scheme. In fact, the whole thing works so well that even if you were a customer of a bank facing failure you would still have access to your money within 24 hours.

This is a vast improvement of the situation that existed before the FDIC was created in 1933. Before, that time if you were the customer of bank that failed you lost everything. That is why you used to get runs on the bank.

Now of course you don’t have to worry about losing everything. However, if you have more than $100,000 with one institution you do face some risk because amounts over this amount are not insured. The solution of course is (at least from a risk point of view) is to spread your accounts around at a few institutions should you be fortunate enough to have more than $100,000 to deposit at the bank.

Not to worry though, I am going to expose these myths for what they are. However, to find out what they are you will have to enter your name and e-mail address below. Then over the next 7 days the 7 myths will be exposed.

OK, I’ll give you a hint as to what some of the myths might be. For example, find out whether or not your car’s color really affects insurance rates. Or find out if you are liable for damages to your car if you aren’t the one driving. Or, even if you need auto insurance in the first place (I’ll give you another hint; you do).

These exposed myths take you beyond simply saving money on your car insurance and will help you become a more savvy auto insurance buyer. Trust me, you will want to read all about the different things people believe when it comes to their auto policies.

So enter your details below and find out what they are today:

On the other hand, if you don’t want to find out what the 7 myths are I will still give you a way to at least save money on auto insurance. Just select your state below and you can find companies offering deals in your neck of the woods.

War Risk Insurance

As you can probably guess by the name, war risk insurance protects individuals and companies from damages caused by war. These types of insurance policies have exploded in size in recent years due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These policies are very useful if you plan to operate in a war zone but otherwise you probably don’t need this kind of protection.

Terrorism Insurance

What can you do if you are worried about the next 9/11? Well you could consider terrorism insurance which will cover loses related to terrorism. Sounds useful right? Well maybe, but keep in mind that there has been fewer than one terrorism incident a year in the United States over the last 20 years and none since September 11th.

Therefore, the odds are pretty low that you will ever need this kind of insurance. Nevertheless, many people are worried enough about the threat of terrorism to shell out money for it.

Kidnapping Insurance

Finally, if you are an important politician or rich business person there are also insurance products for you. One of the more common types is kidnapping and ransom insurance. Essentially, these polices will cover the costs of paying a ransom if you someone in your family should happen to be kidnapped.

These policies are especially useful if you are operating in dangerous countries or even war zones. But, most people will probably never need one of these policies. Still it is good to know that you could get it if you really wanted it.

Well there you have it a few insurance products that can help you in this dangerous world. However, if you are like most Americans you should probably just focus on getting basic insurance products like auto insurance, life insurance, health insurance and home insurance.

This is where longevity insurance comes in. Essentially longevity insurance is like an annuity, but one that only starts paying out once you reach a certain age (usually 80 to 85). It can help protect you should you be fortunate enough to live longer than you originally budgeted for.

Seems good on paper right? Well longevity insurance may or may not be a good idea depending on your retirement goals. First, of all you only get the money if you live past the age the longevity insurance starts. So, you will have to live for several years beyond the start of the annuity, before you recoup the amount invested.

Second, if you happen to pass away before the policy kicks in you and your heirs get nothing. Therefore, for some people it may be better just to invest the money they would have spent on the policy.

Finally, there is always the risk that the insurance company will go out of business. Again, in that case you would be left with nothing. Thus, if you do opt for this kind of policy make sure you research any company offering it before buying.

So, what can we conclude? Longevity insurance could be part of your retirement planning but it should not be the biggest part. It should not be a substitute for retirement saving and investing. However, if you do plan on living a long time and are not certain your savings will see you though, longevity insurance may be for you.

If you get hurt or injured in a foreign country you will of course have to seek medical attention. This will cost money. If you don’t want to be out of pocket thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars you want these costs to be covered by your insurer.

Most people who plan active summer vacations like cycling through France or mountain climbing in the Canadian Rockies will of course have already planned on getting travel medical coverage. This is due to the fact that people who participate in active vacations are more likely to get hurt and thus need medical attention.

However, everyone needs to consider getting travel medical insurance. If you think nothing can happen to you just because you plan on relaxing on a beach in Acapulco, think again. You could get sick from food poisoning or get into a car accident or any other number of potential accidents.

These unfortunate circumstances would also lead you to seek medical attention. And yet again this would cost you money if you don’t have medical insurance. So save yourself the risk and get some travel medical insurance.

Costs will vary depending on your destination, level of desired coverage, types of activities planned and length of your stay and of course your overall level of health. Make sure to read all the fine print before buying any plan and make sure your insurance plan covers you for the entire duration of your trip from the day you leave until the day your arrive back home.

Keep these tips in mind and you can enjoy a worry free vacation.

However, he does not want the mandatory health insurance to come from government, so presumably he expects people to buy it from private insurers. Thus, the system he envisions would probably resemble something along the lines of the fact that all drivers are required to have valid auto insurance.

So does his idea make sense? Well lets look at some figures provided by The National Coalition on Health Care. Currently, almost 47 million Americans lack health insurance or roughly 16% of the total US population. Of people lacking health insurance, 40% (almost 19 million people) have a household income over $50,000 a year.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find any information on how many American earning over $75,000 lack proper health insurance, but given the numbers above it could well run into the millions. If true, this would certainly lend credibility to Newt’s argument that these people cost the system money.

However, what we don’t know is why people who earn over $75,000 choose not to get coverage. Is it an issue of affordability or personal choice? I am sure for some people it is an issue of affordability, especially if they are self-employed (hence have to pay the full health insurance costs) and have a preexisting or chronic health issue.

However, some people choose not to get coverage because they would rather spend their money elsewhere. Therefore, it seems bizarre that Gingrich, who has tended to support free market initiatives, would interfere with people’s individual spending choices. Unlike, auto insurance (you can choose whether or not to buy and drive a car) there would seem to be no way to opt out of his health insurance mandate.

This makes his scheme seem rather similar to a universal health care scheme, the only difference being is who pays what, the individual or the government. Then again maybe having universal health care wouldn’t be so bad after all. At the very least, it would reduce the conflict between providing good medical service and trying to increase profits.

What do you think? Leave your comments below.

This one is much tricker to answer since it depends on a whole host of factors. Let’s look at a few them to help give you a better idea of much you may need.

The first thing to consider is the direct costs of your death (e.g. your funeral). Do you want to be buried or cremated? Do you want a large funeral or a small one? Costs can easily range from as little as $1,000 to $10,000 or more. Decide what you want and prepare for that.

The next thing to consider are your debts. Do you own your own home? Do you have credit card debt? You probably want to have enough life insurance to cover the costs of all your debts, as well as the direct costs of your funeral. Any savings you may have had, will go towards paying your debts first, before any money goes to your heirs.

The next important thing to consider are your financial assets and alternative income sources. If you have a lot of money in the bank or in other relatively liquid assets such as stocks or bonds, you probably don’t need as much coverage. You heirs can use these to help replace the loss of your income.

Moreover, you need to consider your spouses income. If you and spouse earns roughly the same amount as you, you don’t need as much coverage as when you are the sole or primary breadwinner. The loss of the primary earner in a family is much more financially traumatic than losing one of two roughly equal earners.

Finally, you need to consider other things you may want your money to do. For example, you could have a larger life insurance policy and leave some money to a charity or a church. You may also want to consider leaving enough money for your children’s college fund. Or for that matter to the school which you attended.

So taking all these things into consideration, how much will you need? My general thinking is that most people should have a life insurance policy that pays out roughly 20X their current salary. So, if you earn $50,000 a year you should have a $1 million dollar policy.

However, this is overly simplistic because it does not take into account your own personal financial situation. Therefore, I strongly recommend you use a life insurance calculator tool like the one MSN money. It will give you a more nuanced view of what you may need, but be aware you should probably only use the number it gives you as a base. With life insurance it is generally better to have a little too much than not enough.

To find out how much different options are likely to cost you please use the free life insurance quote form below. All you have to do is pick you state to get instant life insurance quotes.