On the last Saturday before Christmas, a political cartoon with a seasonal theme. And very on-topic for what’s been been happening to the unemployed through congress’ inaction.
A Guest Post today from Crystal –
Life insurance is little more than an afterthought for many young people. With their entire lives ahead of them, few if any responsibilities and minimal consideration of their own mortality, life insurance seems like little more than a way to waste money and not have fun because of it.
However, full-scale adulthood eventually sets in. In what seems like no time, many people marry, have children and make a number of other personal and financial commitments that all depend greatly on their continued health.
These people often take out life insurance policies to protect those they love from economic disaster regardless of what may happen in the future. It appears that at a certain point, life insurance becomes necessary in the lives of many people, but at what point? Just how old do you have to be to start thinking about life insurance? 30? 45? Should you apply for a policy from your deathbed?
The answer is it’s never too early, once you have responsibilities, that is. No matter how young you are when you have a family that depends on you, their needs will remain the same in your absence. The unpredictable nature of life often leads to unexpected consequences. Check out the official AAMI website at http://www.aami.com.au/life-insurance
The next person to meet with an untimely demise will not be the first, and so it is always advisable to ensure the security of those you love should tragedy strike in the form of a speeding bus.
Getting a life insurance policy at a fairly young age also saves you money. It is actually better to get life insurance the younger you are, as insurance companies will see you as a safe risk and offer you an excellent rate provided you don’t have the health of someone much older.
Waiting until you are a certain age or until you already have health problems could result in much higher premiums than you would have otherwise paid, and even the risk of outright denied coverage should you develop a health issue or lifestyle habits deemed uninsurable before applying.
Life is uncertain, and so it is important to have a viable contingency plan for virtually any foreseeable event. As soon as you are in a stage of life where others depend on you for their survival, you should consider taking out a life insurance policy.
A life insurance policy helps protect those who would have great difficulty providing for themselves in the absence of a policy holder of any age. If you can find some room after the party budget, you should certainly consider it.
Let’s start this week with an old post I just discovered. From Mormon Dems, A Minimum Living Standard in the World’s Wealthiest Country. An interesting view on the poverty myth, and why we need a higher minimum wage. This issue will be with us for some time, I’m afraid.
Today’s roundup is named for the storm coming through the NorthEast. It’s the first big storm of the season, looking at 8 inches before it’s over. The supermarkets were a madhouse, the bread and milk all gone. Amazing.
At Wealth Gospel, Ben wrote What People Living on Less Than $1 a Day Taught Me About Money. What’s frightening to me is that half the world lives on less than $1300/year, The median US income is over 20 times this figure.
On Yahoo Finance, the question is asked and answered – Could You Be Oversaving for Retirement? Could you? Sure. But the article doesn’t suggest that we are, only that the target that planners suggest, 80% of pre-retirement income, is a flawed number. The actual savings for the average 55-64 year old is just under $70K. You think they save too much?
Len Penzo offered 100 Words On: Why Frugality Has Its Limits. And he’s right. You can squeeze your spending only so much. It’s increasing earning that should be more of a focus.
We’ll close with Financial Samurai’s Asset Allocation Review – How Much Richer Do You Feel In This Bull Market? The market is up nearly 29% this year, but not everyone gained from this stellar move. Are you richer?
This week, much of the focus of the political cartoons surrounded Santa and consumerism around the holidays. I’ll pass on that for now. For me, low wages are still an obsession. I’m not a fan of the Occupy movement, only because their message was too disjointed. But I do think the minimum wage needs to rise. At least to get back to the level of the late 70’s adjusted for inflation.
Today’s subtitle is CVS VS RiteAid deathmatch.
I used to be a casual CVS shopper. Bath tissue, toothpaste, the usual stuff. Then I met (on line, of course) Erica who hearts CVS.
And after following her site for a bit, I upped my game. By knowing as many as 3-4 weeks ahead of sale, it was easy to plan visits for the best deals. Her forum also offers the T’s&C’s for coupon redemption, and strategies to maximize your saving. Not too far from my house there are also a number o Rite Aid stores. Fear not, Erica hearts Rite Aid as well.
Now and again, I’d go to Rite Aid as well, and the time seems good to offer a few comments to contrast the two. A friendly ‘deathmatch.’
Let’s start with Rite Aid – The rebate deal is called +Up Rewards. For example, the weekly ad might have toothpaste on sale for $2, with a $1 +Up reward. The reward isn’t taken off the price at the register, it’s loaded to your Rite Aid card, and is redeemed on your next purchase. The reward will expire after 14 days if not used.
CVS – A similar rebate method, the reward is called ExtraBucks, but it’s given as a coupon, i.e. a piece of paper you have to present to use it. It has an expiration date about 30 days out, although the two CVS stores closest to me both said they honor these up to six months after expiration. The ExtraBucks are also valid immediately.
It’s a close call. Easy to lose an ExtraBucks coupon, but also easy to forget your +Up Rewards are expiring. This makes CVS the winner for me. I’ve caught great sales at Rite Aid only to find my +Up Rewards have no good sale coming up in the next two weeks. With CVS, the Extrabucks are set aside for the next deal, not spent for the sake of using them up.
These purchases are all for household needs, the bath tissue, toothpaste, laundry soap, bar soap, etc. So long as you know what the normal price is for these items, you can time your purchases to catch a sale, and use some Sunday paper coupons. I’m aware of the extreme coupon folk that have made the news. Safe to say, I’m not that obsessed. 5 minutes with coffee and the Sunday paper and the good coupons are set aside. Another few minutes each week to look at the next weeks sales and see what I’ll buy on the way home Monday. The ten minute effort can be $25 in saved grocery money. (Note – the images above from Erica’s site link back to her. Click the image to see what deals she’s finding this week.)