Does anyone else feel bad for Giving Tuesday?
After the lead up to Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving itself, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, that fun day at the airport when you get to buy your son a $2 banana from which he takes one bite and then throws on the floor, and Cyber Monday … now we get to open our hearts and pocketbooks for other people.
What ever happened to the notion of First Fruits?
It’s fair to say I’ve never bought into the hype of shopping, holiday or otherwise. That said, I’m also a big fan of rituals and traditions, which are really just routines by another name and over a longer time frame. Mine probably just look a little different than yours—for instance, the annual insurance audit!
*groan*
I know, I know. Where’s that great deal?
Insurance is one of the least fun parts of adulting, right up there with flossing, eating enough fiber, and getting your news from PBS. As far as I can figure, it’s also one of the only things I buy which I honestly hope I never ever have to use. Like a backup parachute or a safe room … which are, if you think about it, basically other forms of insurance.
Most of us are likely making health insurance choices around this time of year. While you’re at it, why not take a look at your other insurance policies and make sure they’re up to date and competitively priced, too? If you do it while wearing your reindeer antlers and candy cane pajamas—voilà! A tradition is born.
If you have a car, you likely have auto insurance. If you have a home, you likely have homeowner’s insurance. If you have fine jewelry, you likely have jewelry insurance. If you are Betty Grable, you have … leg insurance. If you are so fortunate as to have high Net Worth, you should consider purchasing an umbrella insurance policy.
In some ways, buying insurance is a privilege—it means you have something of value to lose.
Not having anything is looking pretty appealing, huh? Never more so than when you seem to have just carted everyone and everything you do have through airport security.
So, WHY are we buying MORE things? But I digress …
I’m not going to harangue you about auto or homeowner’s insurance because I’m guessing your state and your mortgage company are doing a fine job of that as it is. I will make a plug for two other types of insurance as you look to budget for next year—renter’s insurance and term life insurance. Renter’s insurance is exactly what it sounds like—insurance for renters. I’m a landlady—sans the hair rollers—and nothing personal, but none of my building insurance covers any of your stuff. Even if you think you don’t have anything that valuable, you might be surprised how much it’d cost to replace everything if something were to happen. Our luggage was delayed while traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday and I blanched at the thought of replacing the stuff in those three suitcases. Imagine your kitchen. Even the IKEA adds up.
Also, it’s pretty cheap. There’s your great deal!
Term life insurance is just about the simplest and least expensive kind of life insurance you can buy. It’s called term because you buy it for a certain period of time, say 10 or 30 years. Not everyone needs it, but it certainly wasn’t a coincidence that the hubs and I bought policies after we had our first kid. You pay a set amount each year for the policy and if you die during the term, your beneficiaries get the value of the policy. If you outlive the term, they get nothing. On the flip side, you’re alive!
See? I really don’t want to use it.