A new report by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) says most Americans do not appreciate the threat of cybercrime and are not buying insurance against it, despite its low cost. Americans have embraced the Internet of Things, with three out of five surveyed reporting connected technology in their homes and one-quarter in their vehicles in...
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Quick Guide to Renters Insurance
In a sense, renters insurance is homeowners insurance — without the building. If you rent a house, flat or apartment, you are not typically responsible for insuring the building. But most other features of homeowners insurance do apply to your situation as a renter. Like homeowners insurance, renters insurance includes three key types of financial...
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Obesity and Life Insurance: Extra Pounds May Cost You More
Almost a third of Americans are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity not only affects quality of life, but it also increases your risk of experiencing heart disease and diabetes, along with some types of cancers, and ultimately, early death. Besides these things, obesity also costs you more. All the...
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Not Your Granddad’s Life Insurance Policy
With variable life insurance, the cash value portion of your policy is invested directly in securities in the insurer’s portfolio.[/caption]Traditional permanent life insurance policies provide death benefits and a savings feature. Other types of life insurance also do that, and more. When you buy permanent life, you are buying two types of financial protection. The...
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Life Insurance 101: What Happens When a Policy Matures?
When you’re playing Monopoly and you pull a card saying your life insurance policy has matured, you collect $100. In real life, if your policy matures, you’ll probably get a lot more. A permanent life insurance policy will remain in force for the insured’s whole life or until the policy’s maturity date, as long as...
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Term Life Insurance: A Bargain-Hunter’s Dream?
The average cost of term life insurance has been dropping over the last several years. If it’s been a while since you’ve updated your coverage, consider adding a term life insurance policy to your financial portfolio. Value Penguin, a provider of consumer information, recently released a study of average term insurance costs by age. For...
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How Much Do Speeding Tickets Cost?
Speeding tickets cost you a lot more than you think. Every year, about 41 million Americans, or one-fifth of drivers, get them. Speeding tickets cost drivers more than $6.2 billion in fines, according the U.S. Highway Patrol. Speeding tickets are big business, too. StatisticBrain.com reports that the average annual speeding ticket revenue per U.S. police...
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Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
In 2012, financial losses due to personal identity theft totaled $24.7 billion, over $10 billion more than the losses attributed to all other property crimes measured in the National Crime Victimization Survey. Identity theft affected about 7 percent of Americans in 2012, but not all of them suffered a financial loss. About 14 percent of...
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How to Protect Yourself from Social Media Liability
Should you worry about the content of your teen’s tweets or your spouse’s Pinterest posts? All it takes is for one tweet to veer away from commentary to defamation, or one image to invade another’s privacy, and you could face a lawsuit. The liability portion of your homeowners policy covers you for certain types of...
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4 Ways To Use Life Insurance for Charitable Giving
Life insurance does more than protect families from the financial costs of a breadwinner’s untimely death. It can also help individuals make a substantial bequest to a favorite charitable organization and possibly enjoy a tax break as well. There are several ways life insurance can help you make a donation to a cause you believe...
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