How Can We Really Improve On Our Financial Wellness

We all know the steps we must take to maintain our health and wellness. Getting regular checkups from the doctor, recognizing changes, and staying on top of good habits is essential. In some ways, financial wellness is actually quite comparable. Unfortunately, too many people don’t give their financial wellness much of a second thought and assume that they’re on track without actually checking in.

Since you don’t want any surprises, here are a handful of tips to help you take care of your financial wellness.

Plan for Financial Wellness

To stay on top of your financial wellness, the first critical step is to have a plan. You have to know what sort of expenses you can handle, consider what type of life you want to have when you retire, and prepare for some unforeseeable bumps along the way. This type of planning starts with creating a household budget, and with it – having a healthy amount going to savings each month. Those savings can be a nest egg, your children’s college funds, or for retirement. Whatever your priorities may be, you need to plan so you know how much you should set aside.

Keep Up On The Latest Options

The long-term tracking of financial wellness is often separated from your daily financial considerations. People set up their long-term financial planning, such as a company-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan, and then don’t think about it again. In reality, you should be checking in on what new financial tools are available and relevant to you as the years move on. Maybe you need to look into stocks and bonds, perhaps interest rates have changed, or maybe your employer has offered a new alternative plan. Either way, don’t assume that you can set and forget your financial wellness, you have to check in on it.

Consult Experts And Professionals

While you may want to plan and keep up with the latest trends, sometimes it may become intimidating. Consult experts whose job it is to give advice and check in on your progress, goals, and financial wellness.

If you want to get in touch with experts and discuss your needs and priorities when it comes to your financial wellness, contact Schechner Lifson Corporation today to see how we help!

Does Hitting Financial Milestones Mean You Need A New Policy?

Most people would agree that a 20-year old entering the workforce for the first time has different financial needs and priorities than a 40-year old with a family and a mortgage. What’s more, many people who buy a life insurance policy will seldom think about the terms of it again. However, life insurance policies can be dynamic, your requirements will likely evolve as you get older, and the policy should be checked periodically.

There are some typical financial milestones you’re likely to encounter in your life that will serve as good reminders that it might be time to reconsider your life insurance policy. Keep reading to find out what these might be:

A New Home

Taking on a mortgage will likely be your most significant source of debt in life until it’s paid off. Once you go from renting a home to owning one, the obligations set in. If your income is critical towards paying off that mortgage, the need for life insurance immediately escalates. Use this financial milestone as a reason to upgrade your life insurance policy.

A Growing Family

Another significant expense for a couple is children. It’s reasonable to upgrade your insurance policy to add more of a payout because the costs of raising a child and sending them off to college are steep. The right life insurance policy can ensure that each child will be able to have the funds to go to college, continue to be raised comfortably by your remaining partner, and that all the bills can still be paid.

A Change In Income

A key reason life insurance exists is to ensure that the life your family has gotten used to because of your income can persist forward should anything happen to you. As such, the amount of coverage typically offered will change if you have a significant change in income. If there was a significant pay increase, you’d want to increase your coverage so that level can be matched. If there was a significant decrease, you might want to downgrade the payout of your insurance plan, so you aren’t paying much into it each month.

Want to find out more?

Schechner Lifson Corporation is an independent insurance agency that can offer you help in deciding what level of life insurance policy is appropriate for you and your family. With experienced and caring agents, Schechner Lifson Corporation can make sure you get the right type of plan for you and your employees.

What Did The 2019 Insurance Barometer Study Tell Us?

Taking the pulse of the insurance world is a critical exercise in understanding how the industry is evolving and what customers can and should be doing to stay on top. Life Happens and LIMRA team up to create an annual Insurance Barometer Study, with the results of the 2019 version being published earlier this year. You can read the full 2019 Insurance Barometer Study here, but here are some of the most important takeaways from this report.

Disability Insurance: Not Enough Americans Are Covered

Disability insurance is a critical tool to ensure you don’t descend into debt because of an unavoidable accident that puts you out of work. While some employers offer disability insurance, it is by no means automatic. The 2019 Insurance Barometer Study found that only 1 in 5 Americans currently has disability insurance. You don’t want to be caught by surprise, so make sure you’re not in that group who has ignored disability insurance.

Perception Of Insurance Costs: Way Overestimated

Unfortunately, there are many factors behind households not having the right type of coverage. Whether it be a lack of understanding, paralysis of choice, or not knowing where to start – many Americans may choose to ignore their insurance needs because they don’t think they can afford the expense. To combat this, the 2019 Insurance Barometer Study asked average people how much they thought different policies would cost, and it showed that this perception is, in fact, false and insurance is much more affordable than the average person thinks. For example, a majority of Americans overestimated life insurance cost by a factor of 3, while over 40% of millennials surveyed overestimated the cost of a life insurance policy by over a factor of 5.

Desire To Learn About Insurance: High!

The takeaway from the 2019 Insurance Barometer Study is that the number of American consumers who are eager to learn more about insurance is high. The Barometer Study points to the fact that there are 42 million people who are currently seeking out financial guidance in the United States. More specifically, the ways in which people are learning about these financial tools are expanding, with almost 40 percent looking for financial help do research via social media.

Find out more information about insurance policies by contacting Schechner Lifson Corporation today!

How Being A Caregiver For Family Can Affect Your Finances

Should a family member or loved one require full-time care, the strain on you may become significant, and the decision about what to do, difficult. Whether it’s an elderly parent who can no longer take care of themselves, a family member who was in an accident, or a loved one with special needs, the emotional and financial tolls can be great.

When looking to avoid the costs of hiring a full-time caregiver, many people will choose to take the role of caregiver themselves. While the personal benefits of doing so are immeasurable, many people fail to take into account many of the direct costs that they will still have to incur.

Out-Of-Pocket Costs

Even without paying for a nurse or a live-in facility, when you become a full-time caregiver, you will still incur a significant level of out-of-pocket costs. According to the AARP, these out-of-pocket costs could average nearly $7,000 per year. These costs account for equipment for medical care and comfort, as well as household accommodations.

Lost Opportunity for Income

On top of the direct costs added to your household’s budget, caregivers could potentially lose a portion of their income. Depending on the situation, the caregiver might have to reduce the number of hours they work or even leave their job temporarily.

Insurance Limits

Adding to the financial costs, many insurance policies will have a limit on how much they will pay out during these times of medical hardship. A family who has budgeted for a certain amount of out-of-pocket medical costs will feel the financial effects when those limits are reached, and they are responsible for paying the rest of the accumulating costs.

Benefits

On top of that direct money saved, studies by the American Psychological Association have found that people with family caregivers, rather than professionally hired caregivers, tend to have reduced instances of hospital intakes and lower average hospital stays when they are admitted. Those benefits are hard to quantify in terms of happiness and quality of life. It’s important for families to really weigh all the pros and cons of every arrangement to determine what’s best for them.

If you’re navigating the multitude of caregiving options available for your family member and aren’t sure how your insurance policy will factor in – get in touch with Schechner Lifson today to discuss your options!