The Insurance Maze: How You Can Save Money on Insurance-And Still Get the Coverage You Need

by Kimberly Lankford

Book Overview

Before You Buy Another Insurance Policy Read this Book!Without proper insurance-health, auto, homeowners, life, disability, or long-term care-an unexpected event can quickly derail your financial... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1419526944
• ISBN13: 9781419526947
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Kaplan Business
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.7" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Must-Read for Anyone Wishing to Protect Themselves

I've always held the opinion that the insurance industry, including government-run programs like the NFIP, is just one giant scam. Unfortunately, as I grew older I also came to the painful realization that I needed insurance, to protect my loved ones and myself. This book is a must-read for anyone wishing to understand insurance, to purchase insurance, to save money, and to avoid getting scammed. It's a well written book that covers the following personal insurance types: - health insurance (incl. a separate chapter for retirees) - homeowners insurance - auto insurance - life insurance - long-term care insurance - disability insurance The book utilizes the Q & A format and is very effective at covering things most insurance consumers would like to know. I bought this book 4 years ago and every now and then I still flip through it, esp. when I'm about to buy a new policy or change an existing policy. The stuff here is very easy to understand and extremely practical. One thing I wish the author had emphasized more is how to avoid scams. But she gives you enough information to arm yourself with so that as long as you have a brain, you'll know how to deal with the greedy insurance industry and their government backers.

Feel like a mouse in a maze when shopping for insurance?

You're not alone. In addition to taking a bite out of our budgets, insurance may be one of our most perplexing purchases. Kimberly Lankford, Columnist for Kiplinger's Personal Finance, gives us the ins and outs of the insurance business. Some of you may have read the review I wrote of[...]The FIT Chapter of that book is about saving money in food, insurance and telephone purchases ... a category which eats about [...]of the average American family's budget. This book takes the insurance category a step further, telling us how to save money in each of these categories: health insurance, homeowners insurance, auto insurance, life insurance, long-term care insurance and disability insurance. Harvard Law and Medical Schools conducted a study which proved that nearly half of all Americans who file for bankruptcy do so because of medical expenses. Most of us might conclude that these Americans obviously didn't have health insurance. Here's the shocker . . . ¾ of these people had health insurance. It isn't enough just to have health insurance - you need to have the right coverage at the right cost. Health savings accounts lower premiums, save big money in taxes and help you build up a retirement stash. To make the most of your health savings account, toss the debit card and don't use the money for current expenses. Instead, keep enough money in a money market account to cover your deductible. Retirees can get big benefits from an HSA. For those of you over 65, be sure to check out the government's online calculator at[...] to find the plan that will cost you the least. Homeowners Insurance - In this category, most people are underinsured because they don't change the amount of their insurance coverage as the value of their home increases. Think an insurance company can't drop you for filing a claim? Wrong!!! Filing even several small claims can get your coverage dropped. To make matters worse, insurance companies share info through a giant database called CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange). A California study found that 62% of the top 13 companies refused applicants with just one or two claims in the past three years. Everyone should have at least a[...]deductible, and just cover the value of your home not including the land. In the event of a fire or other loss, you would still have the land and would be able to build a new home on it. Many people deduct the cost of a home office, not realizing they potentially lose more money than they save because of the automatic loss of a huge chunk of their coverage for the office in the home. Everyone should buy an umbrella policy, which costs very little for a lot of coverage. Auto Insurance - Kim tells us "One of the easiest ways to free up more than [...] from your budget is to attack your auto insurance." Shopping around can save you a bundle in this category. You should look at deductibles, discounts, redundant coverage, and your credit score. You may not

Everything you need to know

As newlyweds with a new home, new car, and plans to start a family, we realized that we had to re-examine our insurance needs. After browsing through a bunch of other books on insurance, we found that this really covered everything we needed to know in clear, simple language. We learned some things that really surprised us in every category of insurance and this book really helped us make the right choices for our situation. We anticipate saving quite a bit of money after following the advice in this book, rather than just blindly selecting the insurance policies that we either already had, or that friends/family recommended. Highly recommended as a great overview guide to insurance.

Very Useful Book

I hate Insurance. I hate the whole idea of an industry that is built upon fear. But my mortgage lender requires me to insure my house, the Department of Motor Vehicles makes me insure my car, my wife insists that I have a life insurance policy, and it would seem irresponsible not to provide my kids with health insurance as long as I can afford it. If you add it all up, we all spend a lot of money on insurance -- and the question really isn't if you should be buying insurance, but if you are buying the right insurance at the best price. This book will help you answer those questions. Kim Lankford has an insiders perspective on the insurance industry (having begun her career there) and she knows how to write -- she's the authoeor of the a regular "Ask Kim" column in Kiplingers. Lankfrod gives you the inside scoop on your best options for coverage with real-life examples, resources, and tools to find your best deals. Reading this book taught me some valuable lessons about the hidden costs in health insurance plans, and how to make the most of a health savings account that is going to help me build a sizable stash of tax free money. The book is also full on unintuitive insights into life insurance prices, auto insurance pricing, and tricks to minimize potential problems when you make a claim. This book is well worth the money you will spend to buy it and the time you will invest in reading it.

Smart Buy

The book is a great description of the subject, and it clearly defines insurance customers' options. Very current and spans several types of insurance. After spending years caring for a chronic disease, I thought I knew everything about health insurance, but this actually taught me a few things that can cut my bills. Great glossary and list of internet resources will help keep the reader up-to-date on numbers and trends.