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Friday, January 22, 2021

15 Common Questions About Life Insurance

 


 

Life isn’t one-size-fits-all – and neither is life assurance .


Planning for the longer term can feel exciting and scary at an equivalent time. Whether you’re buying your very first policy or planning for subsequent chapter of your legacy, it’s common to possess questions.


Here are some common questions you would possibly be wondering. (Want a more personalized answer – or a quote? ask your local ERIE agent.)


  • How much life assurance do i want , anyway? 

variety of things – including your age, debts, monthly expenses and number of youngsters – can influence what proportion life assurance you'll got to comfortably plan for your future. an area insurance professional like an ERIE agent can offer you a free quote supported your unique needs. As a general rule of thumb, the experts at LifeHappens.org recommend purchasing a policy worth 10 to fifteen times your gross income. try our free life assurance calculator for a personal , no-obligation estimate you'll do right reception .

  • Isn’t life assurance really expensive?

 Purchasing an policy worth many thousands of dollars may sound like an upscale proposition. But the reality is, life assurance is cheaper than you'll think. With Erie Family Life, a $250,000 life assurance policy could cost but $15 a month1.

  • Do i want a checkup to get life insurance?

 Not always, but do expect to answer certain questions. Generally speaking, it’s more likely you’ll need an exam as your age and/or the quantity of coverage requested increases. for a few life assurance policies, your insurer would require a quick checkup , more commonly mentioned as a paramedical exam. It’s almost like a basic physical. A paramedical exam professional will measure vitals like your height, weight, temperature and vital sign . You’ll even have to possess blood drawn and a urinalysis test completed.

  • Can I purchase life assurance without a health exam?

 Not all life policies require you to urge a paramedical exam. Life policies below $100,000 typically require you to only complete an application (with the assistance of your agent) before it's reviewed by an underwriter2. trying to find more coverage? Ask your local agent about ERIExpress Life. If you’re between the ages of 18-55, you'll be ready to get an instant-issue term or whole life policy with up to $500,000 in coverage by answering several application questions without having to finish a life assurance paramedical checkup 2.

  • Why should i feel about life assurance if I’m young and healthy?

 life assurance may be a smart purchase at any age. albeit nobody depends on your monthly income, a life assurance policy will cover your funeral expenses and debts — including student loans. And there’s another advantage of buying a policy at a young age: lower rates. Because insurers price policies supported risk (and children have a far lower deathrate than older groups), your rates are generally less costly if you’re young and healthy. Buying a policy when you’re young and healthy makes it easier for you to shop for more coverage within the future. Plus, you’ll have a policy (locked in at an excellent rate) now, do you have to ever need it.

  • I have a policy through work. Isn’t that enough?

 As a part of an overall benefits package, many employers offer some sort of life assurance coverage to their employees. Since this coverage is usually purchased by the employer, it’s an excellent benefit to possess . But it’s still knowing hold your own personal life assurance policy. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, the coverage provided by your employer won't be enough to support your family within the event of your death. Employer-provided life assurance often covers you for a coffee set amount — like $50,000. Additionally, your coverage are going to be lost if you're taking another job or end up unemployed. Read more in our related story on why it matters to possess life assurance outside of labor .

  • I don’t work outside the house . Why should i feel about life insurance?

 Being a stay-at-home parent may be a full-time job. And while your work might not generate an income, it does significantly reduce your household expenses. consider all the additional costs related to child care, transportation and meal preparation that might be incurred if you were not around. simply because you don’t bring home a paycheck doesn’t mean you aren’t making a big contribution to your family’s bottom line. Read more about life assurance for stay-at-home parents.

  • What’s the difference between term and permanent life insurance?

 Term life insuranceprovides coverage over a hard and fast period of your time . Term life assurance may be a cost-effective choice to provide protection for the loved ones you allow behind. With this sort of policy, you'll select a term which will cover you once you need it most — like the time it'll take your children to succeed in adulthood. Permanent policies, like whole life policies, provide coverage over your entire lifetime.2 meaning your family and beneficiaries are covered for the duration of your life. Whole life assurance accumulates cash value, too, providing you the choice of borrowing against it within the future.3

  • I’m a cragsman . are you able to still cover me? 

Assessing risk may be a key component of underwriting a life assurance policy. Dangerous hobbies — like skydiving, hiking or vehicle racing — cause you to inherently riskier to insure. However, simply because you’re an adrenaline junkie doesn’t automatically mean you can’t get life assurance . Before supplying you with a quote, your insurance broker may ask you to fill out a written questionnaire to know more about your hobby. In many cases, you’ll still be ready to get insurance. Just expect to pay a touch extra to account for the extra risk.

  • Can I “stretch the truth” a touch in my life assurance application to urge a far better rate? 

When applying for a life assurance policy, you’ll get asked questions on your occupation, health, family medical record and potentially risky hobbies. While your answers to those questions may impact your insurance rates, you ought to always answer them truthfully. Misrepresenting your health status or other important information in your application could end in negative consequences which may affect your coverage.

  • Couldn’t my family just crowdfund my final expenses if I pass on unexpectedly? 

Websites like GoFundMe provide a platform for users to invite online donations to hide funeral and burial costs, or to fund other memorial wishes in honor of a beloved who passed. But crowdfunding is not any substitution for all times insurance. Unlike a life assurance policy, the quantity of cash you’ll raise is completely unpredictable — and should be further reduced by fees and taxes.

  • What may be a life assurance beneficiary? 

A beneficiary is a person or entity designated to receive the funds from your life assurance policy within the event of your death. Your beneficiary are often an individual , business, trust, charity, church or maybe a faculty . An policy can have quite one beneficiary.

  • How do i select a beneficiary?

 Choosing a life assurance beneficiary depends largely on how you’d like your life assurance benefit to be used upon your death. If you've got young children, naming a spouse or close loved one you trust as your beneficiary and memorializing your wishes could also be a method to supply for your children’s care in your absence. Grown children could use the insurance benefit to assist buy college. Ask your ERIE agent about the way to leave your benefit to a charity, school or church. In those cases, it’s recommended to possess your gift be according to a longtime pattern of giving or support. Read our related article on the way to choose a life assurance beneficiary.

  • Could I be the beneficiary of a long-lost life assurance policy? 

It’s estimated that $1 billion in benefits from forgotten and lost life assurance policies are sitting unclaimed in America. In light of that statistic, it’s possible you'll be a beneficiary to a life assurance policy that you’re unaware of. Organizations just like the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, which operates missingmoney.com, allow you to conduct a fast search online. Learn more in our related blog story on the way to locate a lost life assurance policy.

  • I don’t have kids. Why should i feel about life insurance? 

the necessity for all times insurance isn’t limited to oldsters . Whether you’re entering adulthood or nearing retirement, everyone can enjoy owning a life assurance policy. Beyond providing for youngsters , a life assurance benefit are often wont to cover expenses like funeral costs or pay off any outstanding debts.

How NOT to Drive in Winter Weather

 

 



Winter driving has its challenges. But throw an inexperienced — or inconsiderate — driver into the combination , and your daily commute can get far more difficult.

It’s always aggravating when other drivers put you in danger . Getting stuck behind a driver who is spinning their tires or not listening isn’t just annoying… it’s dangerous.

Related: The 7 Biggest Winter Driving Myths, Debunked

Winter driving involves quick deciding , patience and a touch little bit of know-how. Below you’ll find ways to identify a rookie winter driver — and the way to avoid looking like one yourself:

6 COMMON MISTAKES OF WINTER DRIVERS

1. Tailgating: Usually, drivers tailgate because they need the car ahead of them to travel faster. this is often never OK, especially within the winter months. It takes longer to return to a stop within the winter, so you ought to always put more distance between you and therefore the car ahead. Impatience on the road rarely pays off – tailgating just puts you et al. in danger .


2. Speeding: Speeding can get you into trouble quickly. confirm you’re never driving faster than what's safe for the conditions. In snowy or icy conditions, that probably means driving below the regulation . The faster you are going , the more likely you're to lose control or slide into another car. Expect traffic to maneuver a touch slower within the winter and permit overtime to urge to your destination.


3. Getting stuck: Driving through deep snow may sound like fun, but likelihood is that it'll leave your tires spinning. For your own safety, know when to remain off the road altogether and drive carefully to avoid losing traction within the first place. After all, getting stuck is straightforward – getting out isn’t.


4. Ice on the windshield: If your car has snow or ice on the windshield, it are often tempting to save lots of time by letting your wipers or defroster remove it as you drive. But driving without full visibility is like driving blindfolded. Use a snow brush or ice scraper to clear your windshield entirely whenever you drag the wheel. (And don’t just clear a touch “window” you'll see through!)


5. Snow on the roof: If you’ve ever driven behind someone with snow on their roof, you recognize it are often an accident waiting to happen. If your car is roofed in snow, take the time to clear your roof before you tackle the windows. You’ll keep snow from falling in your field of vision and from hitting the drivers behind you.


6. Driving with high beams on: this will be frustrating in any condition, but some people think that prime beams will increase your vision during whiteouts or heavy snowfall. In fact, fog lights and low beams will do far better . Learn what to try to to if you grind to a halt driving during a whiteout.
Just like other people's driving, winter weather are often unpredictable. But even the safest, most experienced drivers can get into an accident. That’s why it’s important to possess the proper insurance to guard you and your vehicle. study the extras available with every Erie Insurance auto policy.

How to Prevent a Dryer Fire

 

 



Laundry is a component of life’s weekly grind. But did you recognize that dryers cause roughly 15,500 home structure fires, 29 deaths, 400 injuries and $192 million in direct property loss each year? What’s more, most dryer fires happen within the winter.


WHAT CAN CAUSE A DRYER FIRE?

The most common explanation for dryer fires is failure to try to to a radical cleaning. Because a lint trap isn't a foolproof method for catching all the fuzzy stuff from clothes, lint can gradually build up and erupt within the component or exhaust duct.

Further compounding the matter is that the incontrovertible fact that many of us now install dryers outside of their basements. This typically leads to dryer vent pipes being for much longer . Those longer vent pipes have a greater likelihood of being twisted and turned to accommodate the structure of the home—and that makes spaces for lint to gather .

WHAT COULD HAPPEN IF MY DRYER CATCHES ON FIRE?

Kevin Sippy, an insurance adjuster in ERIE’s Wisconsin Branch, inspects about five dryer fires per annum . One particularly bad one happened when a customer laundered an item containing a kind of rubber not meant to be dried at a heat . When she turned the dryer to high, the fabric combusted and caused a blaze that destroyed $44,000 worth of property.

VIDEO: Watch how quickly a dryer fire can spread

In another instance, a customer suffered $200,000 of property damage from a fireplace that started after she took her laundry out of the dryer. That customer washed towels that had been soaked during a sizable amount of sanitizing solution. She then placed the towels, which still had traces of the sanitizing solution, within the dryer. When the towels dried, they ended up spontaneously combusting and causing a fireplace that burned through a whole floor.

“We literally had to gut the house,” says Sippy, who changed his own laundry habits then fire. “Now, I never dry anything above the low setting—I’d rather take a touch longer to dry my clothes than burn my house down.”


9 TIPS TO STOP DRYER FIRES

1. Clean out the lint. “It starts with cleaning out the lint filter whenever you employ the dryer.” says John Hall, Ph.D., division director of fireside Analysis & Research for the National Fire Protection Association. He also advises clearing out the vent pipe to scale back the prospect of fireside and to take care of the efficiency of the dryer.


2. Install with care. make certain to follow the manufacturer’s instructions when installing the vent pipe. Use a brief , straight pipe that’s an adequate distance from the wall. By reducing the bends within the dryer vent pipe, it creates fewer opportunities for lint to collect . If you've got to vent your dryer over an extended distance, consider investing during a dryer vent fan. These automatic electric devices speed up airflow through the duct whenever you switch on your dryer to stay things moving along. A dryer vent fan should be installed by a licensed electrician.


3. filter out combustibles. Move any flammables like cleaning supplies distant from your dryer. Also regularly sweep out dust within the areas around and underneath your dryer.


4. choose a solid metal dryer duct. Research shows that flexible foil or plastic ducts can sag and cause lint buildup at low points. Metal ducts of any variety don’t sag, and they’re more likely to contain any fires that might start.


5. Read tags. If the care label reads dry low, don’t turn the dryer up to high. Also use caution with certain items like bath mats, padded bras and bibs—they may contain rubber that shouldn’t be exposed to hot temperatures.


6. Exercise extra caution with flammable liquids. Wash clothing stained with volatile chemicals quite once—and definitely prefer to line dry over machine dry.


7. Use your clothes to diagnose problems. Clothes that not feel dry or that are extra hot to the touch after a traditional dry cycle are a telltale sign that something’s wrong. Before doing subsequent load, check for a plugged vent and clean out any lint.


8. Don’t dry and dash. close up your dryer if you would like to exit during the laundry cycle.


9.Give the outdoor vent a peek. confirm that the outdoor vent flap isn’t covered by snow or debris.
Another way you'll protect your house is with the proper homeowners insurance. Talk with an insurance professional like an Erie insurance broker to find out more and obtain a free quote.


This story was originally published in 2013. it had been updated with new information on Jan. 13, 2020.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Tips for Taking and Studying for Your Driver's Test

 


Taking your driver’s check is one among the most important and most fun milestones in your life, however it are often one among the scariest, too. With such a lot of rules to recollect, several new drivers panic before the test. to assist you out, here ar some simple tips from dmv.org.

Practice Like excellent
Nobody is ideal, however your driving will come back pretty shut. though it are often simple to chop corners and break the foundationsonce there’s no pressure, rolling stops and broken speed limits will quickly become unhealthy habits. Treating each observe drive just like the real check can assist you excellent your skills and think about going into the check each key elements en passant. If you recognizewherever you’ll be testing, it’s particularly helpful to observe on those roads.
Respond to Criticism
Learning to drive is nerve wracking, thus having your educator stomp on the invisible brake from the rider seat is way from a confidence booster (Don’t worry, we’ve all been there). However, with additional years of driving expertise, it’s vital to concentrate and reply to your instructor’s recommendations (even if they are available within the variety of holding on to the seat for pricey life). As you approach the check date, raise a accredited driver to critique or grade every ride as if he or she was your check examiner. Simulating the check and every one of its elements beforehand (parking, stopping, turning, ever-changing lanes, even being critiqued) can assist you feel additional relaxed on the day of the check.

Know Your automobile
Make sure {you take|you're taking|you ar taking} your driver’s check within the automobile you sometimes drive or are most snug in. rather like the comfort you get carrying your favorite jersey, it’s a similar with cars. finding out and basic cognitive process whereverevery a part of} your automobile could be and what it will is a crucial part of the check, even supposing it looks like the simplest. Before the check begins, it’s a decent plan to have already got your mirrors and seats adjusted to your desires. you ought to additionallyconfirm your automobile is up to par with all safety standards before the check.

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