Something the insurance companies won't tell you

[10thzodiac]

FYI: According to Blomberg Investment Manager "Top Dog" second year in a row financial seminar I recently attended:

The average American life expectancy for males is now 86 and females 88.

The average nursing home stay is five years.

Why the secrecy ? To sell you more insurance than you need based on outdated actuary tables.

Basically life insurance is to protect a young family who would loose the bread-winner income.

Why buy expensive long-term nursing home insurance when a five year policy is cheaper and all you will need ?

I made both of my children who have young families take million dollar term-life insurance policies. How expensive is it ? If you are young, probably a 20 year policy will be far less than a weeks pay per year.

If I live past the ages 72-79 my "term" life insurance companies win (I get zero), but if I don't up to 2/3 million. Actually I don't need insurance, I have no young family. I'm betting I'm going to die and the Insurance companies are betting I'm not. Get the idea ?

BTW, we got a free steak dinner attending the seminar, that's why we went.
We average one seminar-dinner per month. We love this Country :D

[Zulu 36]

10Z wrote: The average American life expectancy for males is now 86 and females 88.

Do you know why males die sooner than females? Because they want to. :D

[ggyoung]

Anything to get away from the wife.

[yellowwing]

Our best mathematicians don't work for NASA. State Farm and Mutual of Omaha pay them very well!

[10thzodiac]

Anything to get away from the wife.

The wife says she doesn't want any of my insurance money, when I kick she said she going to write me a check and let me take it with me http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/09.gif

[10thzodiac]

Our best mathematicians don't work for NASA. State Farm and Mutual of Omaha pay them very well!

Amen ! I just received a settlement check from State Farm after me and another State Farm insured had a head on collision. The settlement was 14,000, our share afterward was 5,000. The attorneys got a third and State farm took the rest in subrogation. I had to buy a new car; my mint 1985 Toyota Celica GT was totaled. I figured I still had another 200,000 miles left on the old Toyota
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/02.gif

I'm not going to renew with State Farm next year, three out of five drivers in Chicagoland have State Farm. In the above accident they told both of us it was our fault, WTF http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/11.gif

How's that for self-serving arithmetic ?

[mrbsox]

I'm going to (carefully) step out on a limb, and agree with Cpl. 10thodiac on this issue.

(in my opinion) STATE FARM SUX !!

I had a claim with them years ago, and they basically runied us. Wound up costing them MANY thousands in the long run, but the only person who really won anything was our lawyer. Then they dropped us in a manner that made it VERY EXPENSIVE for us to get insurance for MANY years.

They will NEVER get another penny of my money, or from anyone I have any influence with.

[Zulu 36]

Well, everyone has to remember that insurance companies are in business to make money for their owners not provide a bottomless goldmine for account holders.

Having said that, yes, many insurance companies do everything they can to avoid living up to their contractural obligations.

Personally, I have all of my insurance through USAA and have for many years. I have always had an excellent relationship with them. Thus far they have always met their obligations.

For a long time USAA was restricted in its membership to military officer candidates/cadets, military officers, FBI agents, and a few others. My ex was an officer candidate when we hooked up with USAA and once a member always a member.

However, in the past decade or so, USAA opened membership to Senior NCOs, then Junior NCOs, and now nearly anyone in the military. FBI agents and the others lost eligibility unless they were already members or are former members.

Currently membership is open to:
Children of USAA members.
Active-duty officers and enlisted personnel.
National Guard and Selected Reserve officers and enlisted personnel.
Officer candidates in commissioning programs.
Recently retired or separated military personnel.
Former USAA members.Their rates are very competitive and they are very flexible in dealing with active duty people and all of their transferring about (as you would expect).

I know this doesn't help some folks here, but anyone who is eligible should check into USAA and price shop with other companies. It's a good chance USAA will be the low bidder.

http//:www.usaa.com (http://www.usaa.com)

[10thzodiac]

Here is a very little known insurance gap:

Building Code Coverage

If your home suffers damage the insurance company is only required to repair the actual damage. Here is the rub, the building code says you exceed the percentage of damage that can be repaired, you have to rebuild.

Could you imagine paying the difference between the two ?

I live in a flood plane and I would never be allowed to rebuild my home, period.

Since 1971 it has only flooded once here (creek in back) in 1987 and I suffered little to no damage. Since then, They have been built a unbelievably huge retention pond upstream.

Code insurance wasn't available back in 1971, but I'm maxed out now. Although I would still loose a percentage not covered and who would want to buy a lot where you couldn't build ? There is a empty lot that has never been built on down the street, it has been bought and sold quite a few times with no one ever building on it.

Unless it rains for forty-days and forty-nights I'll be okay.

[Zulu 36]

10Z, funny you should bring that up. I was just on the phone with USAA this past Thursday setting up an account in my name (due to divorce), and was going over the homeowner's ins with the rep.

We were discussing premium payments and one of the things she brought up was building code insurance. We were already maxed, but she was pointing out that cutting it was the only way I could significantly reduce my homeowner's insurance premium. She wasn't pushing that I drop, it was just part of the overall discussion. I didn't drop the code insurance, of course.

As you point out, that is an important piece of homewoner's insurance coverage these days.

[10thzodiac]

Zulu 36, Back in the 70's a neighbor (next town) was on TV because he had to rebuild and his mortgage was such he'd be better off walking away from his home than paying twice for something he didn't own anyway.

I then asked my Farmers (not SF) agent if I was covered. He said insurance companies don't have that coverage (back then).

[DougRagan]

How do you know how much LTC insurance you will need? LTC can be in or out of a nursing home. Add that to the fact that many may avoid a nursing home for several years because of a lack of LTC insurance. How much of a burden does this put on their families?

Life insurance is about more than protecting the young family. Sometimes it is needed for estate planning if set up properly. And even older couples will need a small amount of whole life insurance to pay bills that will be left when one of the two dies. This is why some whole life policies will have term life riders attached. You can have a small amount that you keep for life, while having a larger amount to help in case you die before the kids move out or the mortgage is paid.

The purpose of insurance is to move the risk from you to the company collecting your premiums.

[10thzodiac]

"Ditto" DougRagan http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

According to the speaker at above seminar, the average nursing home stay is 5 years before dieing or getting better. He said only a very low single digit minority stayed much beyond 5 years. Therefore a cheaper five year LTC policy makes sense not to mention affordable.

I bumped into a Wisconsin VA nursing home worker on a plane a few years back, who said, there was no waiting list at their nursing homes and that they were like beautiful resorts. I asked her about the Wisconsin residency requirements to be eligible, she didn't know. Maybe renting an apartment in Wisconsin would be cheaper than paying LTC insurance premiums ? Just thinking out loud.

My 10 year older brother than me at 74 is a frigging basket case. He was recently admitted to a nursing home. I imagine he has no insurance other than what little social security and what his younger wife than me Chicago's Public School teacher insurance provides. They were having trouble keeping up the mortgage before he broke his other leg (2) plus a host of other medical maladies including MRSA, a contagious flesh eating drug resistant streptococcus infection. Approximately 15 years ago she inherited a half million dollars. I hope they had fun driving their new cars & going to Disney World regularly.

In the mean time I changed my telephone number and don't answer my door anymore !

Another overlooked insurance coverage:

Auto Medical Payments
Do you realize if you injure yourself around your automobile they have to pay your medical bills, e.g. cut yourself changing your windshield wipers, breaking your leg getting in or out of your vehicle, etc, and you don't need witnesses either http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/33.gif

[rktect3j]

I'm not buying the average ages, especially for men. The women, maybe as I know in my family they all seem to last into the late 80's and early 90's but the men, nope.

At any rate, I have always held that the true axis of evil was the Doctors, lawyers and insurance people. Man they are just all in bed together. I know people in Insurance, not sales. Their bonus' are ridiculous and of course insurance never pays out 100%. If you need 100,00, get 200,000 or be arse out.

I work in residential construction for the North Shore of Chicago. We DO NOT have a client who is not either a Doctor or lawyer or sometimes both (husband and wife combo). Not one that I can remember in 7 yeras living in this are working outside those fields.

Ahh, the good life.

[drumcorpssnare]

IMO, insurance companies are crooked as the day is long! Years ago, I read an article that made the broad statement, "American insurance companies pay out less than one-tenth of one percent, of all the money they take in."
It went on to explain many reasons as to how they manage to get away with this.
The only one I remember, is this. Many Americans buy life insurance policies on themselves, and fail to tell any of their family members. They assume the insurance company will just pay up. And many policies apparently must be settled within 30 days of the death of the policy holder, or guess what...? The insurance co. gets to keep the $$$.

My friend had his car broken into, and his sound system and CD's stolen. He cautiously phoned his insurance company, asking "What if someone broke into my car, etc." The company asked why he was asking. When my friend answered," Well, there have been some car break-ins in the neighborhood.", they raised his premium! He was livid!

Bottom line...they prey off of the misfortune of others.:thumbdown
drumcorpssnare:usmc:

[ggyoung]

I have been covered by State Farm for over 30 years now and I have never had a problem with them. I have had everything from smoke damnage to 11 car recks. Most of the car recks have been a ack of god. I beleve that the agent has a lot to do with how you are treated.

[10thzodiac]

I'm not buying the average ages, especially for men. The women, maybe as I know in my family they all seem to last into the late 80's and early 90's but the men, nope.

At any rate, I have always held that the true axis of evil was the Doctors, lawyers and insurance people. Man they are just all in bed together. I know people in Insurance, not sales. Their bonus' are ridiculous and of course insurance never pays out 100%. If you need 100,00, get 200,000 or be arse out.

I work in residential construction for the North Shore of Chicago. We DO NOT have a client who is not either a Doctor or lawyer or sometimes both (husband and wife combo). Not one that I can remember in 7 yeras living in this are working outside those fields.

Ahh, the good life.

Joe I'm like you, I'm skeptical too about 86 for males. I'm the first male chronologically in direct linage to break forty in three generations (64). I do have a second cousin, a Marine Peleliu veteran same surname who has to be 86 http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/11.gif

As far as the good life goes, the rich get richer and the poor have children :D

There is only two ways to get really rich, other peoples labor or commodities.

The Marine Corps in Japan said I had to get life insurance before they would even consider letting me marry a Japanese girl. The Insurance company has been saved twice from bankruptcy and the policy is paid up this January '08. It is a 10-k policy worth about 6.5-k if I cash out. I'm debating cashing out before they go under for good ? I had the policy since 1964, 43 years now. I should check their A.M. Best and/or Moody's rating out before I decide cashing out.