The Millennial’s Guide to Buying Insurance
September 1, 2020On average, United States citizens report a 51% discrepancy between the life insurance coverage they have and the amount their families would need in the event of a tragedy. For millennials, this number is even greater, with only 10% reporting an adequate amount of life insurance. As millennials continue to grow up and start families, it’s important to understand both how to buy insurance and why insurance is necessary to protect loved ones.
What is Insurance?
Insurance helps alleviate the risk of serious financial hardship in case of accidents or other unexpected events. If you own a high-dollar item like a home, car, boat or piece of jewelry, your insurance policy is in place to protect your monetary investment in case it is damaged, lost or destroyed.
Some types of insurance protect people rather than possessions. Medical insurance, for example, assists with the costs of illness prevention and treatment.
While ideally, you won’t experience a major loss that would require insurance, it’s impossible to predict when accidents may happen. With that in mind, insurance helps to protect your loved ones and valuables in case something unexpected occurs. Here are a few things to consider when buying insurance.
3 Tips for Buying Insurance
1. Know what you need.
While it’s great to buy insurance at a competitive price, it’s more important to make sure your needs are met. For example, if you own a car, you’re required by law to purchase liability insurance coverage, which assists with the cost of damaging someone else’s property. If you have an accident, insurance saves you from footing the bill entirely out-of-pocket as long as the damages are covered under your policy.
You can also choose to buy additional insurance coverage. For example, collision coverage helps pay for damages to your own vehicle after an accident. This type of coverage is sometimes optional, but when buying insurance, consider whether paying the monthly premium might be less expensive than covering your vehicle damages out-of-pocket after an accident.
2. Compare pricing from different carriers.
After you’ve determined the types and amounts of insurance you need to buy, take the time to compare plans from multiple carriers. You can do this through independent research, but it’s often easier to work with a third-party organization like SouthEast Insurance.
SouthEast Insurance works with more than 40 insurance carriers to find the best rates on coverage. They scout the best deals on more than 20 different types of insurance, from necessities like auto and home coverage to miscellaneous policies including pet and umbrella coverage.
The company aims to find you the best coverage at the best price, whether that means bundling products together or choosing individual carriers. Because they work directly with each carrier, their quotes are real, not estimates, and are personalized to your situation. After submitting a request, it normally takes about 10 to 15 minutes to receive a quote.
If you aren’t sure how to begin researching insurance policies, working with a company like this is a great way to narrow down your options without spending hours of unnecessary time and energy. The best part is, it doesn’t cost anything to receive a quote from SouthEast Insurance, and there’s no pressure to buy!
3. Cover all your bases when buying insurance.
At the very least, it’s important to invest in the necessities: home insurance, auto insurance, life insurance and health insurance. These help to cover your most valuable assets, as well as to ensure you and your family can receive medical attention when you need it.
Beyond the basics, however, you may want to consider a variety of insurance types. If you own a vehicle other than a car, like a boat or a motorcycle, you can have it covered. If you lease a space, renters insurance protects lost or damaged items in case of an event like fire or burglary. From earthquake insurance to wedding insurance, you can protect many of your major investments with various types of coverage.
Don’t just stop at the minimum when it comes to buying insurance coverage. Make sure to research what your policy does and doesn’t cover, and invest in additional protection if your current policy doesn’t include everything you’d like to insure.
Ultimately, buying insurance is about protecting the people you care about, as well as yourself. While we can’t predict accidents, we can be prepared for them. Once you’re covered, you can rest easy knowing your and your loved ones will be shielded from many types of financial stress, and that your most important belongings are safeguarded.
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