Do You Need Long-Term Care Insurance?

December 4, 2018

No one likes to think about growing old. In fact, many people pretend that it’s never going to happen. But instead of fearing the inevitable, it’s better to plan for it.

In addition to starting to save for retirement at an early age, it’s important to think about what you’re going to do if your health starts to decline. According to AARP, by the time you hit 65, chances are 50-50 that you’ll need long-term care (LTC) due to chronic illnesses, disabilities or other conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease. And it’s not cheap; if you pay for it yourself, you’re looking at an average annual cost of $140,000.

LTC insurance can help. LTC insurance is different from health insurance, which you’ll still need. It helps cover costs that your regular health insurance won’t, such as help with daily activities like bathing, getting dressed and eating. These services may be provided in your home or at a nursing home or assisted living facility.

Unfortunately, LTC insurance is cost-prohibitive for many due to poor planning on the part of insurance companies. When these policies were first introduced, insurers greatly underestimated the amount they would pay out in claims. People were living longer, but they weren’t necessarily staying healthier, so insurers were paying for care longer than they had anticipated. In addition, insurers thought people would prefer to receive care in their homes, but many opted to move into more expensive assisted-living facilities.

As a result, many insurers stopped offering LTC insurance. In 2000, 125 companies were selling standalone LTC policies; by 2014, only 12 companies were. Those that still do sell them have raised their premiums drastically. For example, earlier this year, Mass Mutual announced it was raising premiums on existing policies by 77 percent. Today, premiums average $2,700 a year.

There are options you can consider if you can’t afford LTC insurance. Maybe relatives can help with your care. Maybe you can pull some equity from your home. Maybe you can build up your savings even more and plan on paying for future LTC out of pocket.

But if you have a family history of Alzheimer’s or simply believe LTC insurance would bring you more peace of mind, it may still be your best bet. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you start looking for a policy:

• Begin your search in your 50s or early 60s at the latest. Prices rise sharply as you age. You can pay 10 percent more for a policy when you buy it at age 65 rather than at 64. Keep in mind that you won’t qualify for coverage if you wait until you actually need care because then you will be considered as having a preexisting condition.
• Shop around. Like with any other major purchase, it’s important to do your homework and research your options. If the process sounds daunting, you might want to consider getting assistance from an insurance agent or broker.
• Look into group rates. Premiums may be more affordable if you qualify for a group rate through an employer-sponsored plan or plan offered by a professional organization you belong to. Before you sign up, be sure to read the fine print and find out if you can keep the policy if you leave the organization.
• Consider a joint policy. You may get a better rate by purchasing a single policy that covers you and your spouse or another family member. The discount is typically 30 percent off the price of separate policies. If you’re interested in going this route, you’ll want to find out what the maximum benefit is for everyone under the policy and consider whether that will be enough for both of you.

If you do purchase an LTC insurance policy, be sure to keep all related paperwork safely stored on InsureYouKnow.org along with all your other important documents. It’s the best way to make sure you can find them quickly and easily should the need arise.

5 Tips for Finding the Perfect Real Estate Agent

November 23, 2018

For most people, buying a house will be the biggest purchase they’ll ever make. It also will be their most important. They will spend most of their non-working hours in their home. They will raise their family there. And they may tie up a significant portion of their net worth there.

In other words, it’s not a purchase to be taken lightly.

Luckily, real estate agents are available to walk you through the homebuying process. From showing you potential properties through signing the closing documents, your agent will help you navigate the often unpredictable real estate market. But as the real estate industry continues to grow and more and more agents enter the field, how do you select the right one for your home purchase?

Here are a few tips to help you find the perfect real estate agent:

• Ask your friends and family for recommendations. For many agents, referrals are their bread and butter. They go out of their way to provide outstanding service not only because they want to please their current clients, but also because they know it might lead to future clients. Ask your friends and family members who represented them when they bought their house and how they felt about the experience. Be sure to ask them to share both the positives and the negatives.
• Research agents online. While about 33 percent of homebuyers find their agent through a personal referral, another 26 percent find theirs online. You might want to start with online reviews on Zillow or Redfin. If you find a negative review, don’t write the agent off immediately; instead, look to see how the agent responded. Don’t forget to look at the agent’s website, where you can find a short bio or other valuable information.

• Check out credentials and certifications. Just like doctors, real estate agents often have specialties. If you want someone who specializes in the buyer’s side of a real estate transaction, you may want to limit your search to agents who have earned the Accredited Buyer’s Representative designation from the National Association of Realtors. These agents have met specific educational and work experience requirements and have proven experience representing homebuyers.

• Look at agents who know the area. If you’re targeting a specific neighborhood, you may want to find an agent who has extensive experience with properties there. He or she will know about local schools, commute times, recent sale prices, and quirks that may be common with houses in that area, like older plumbing or foundation issues.

• Interview your potential agents. After you’ve narrowed down your list of potential agents, set up interviews with each of them. You’re going to be spending a lot of time with your agent in the next few months, so you want to make sure you choose someone you’re comfortable working with. Ask them about their experience and specialties. Be sure to find out how many current clients they have so you can make sure they won’t be too busy to give you the attention you’ll need throughout the homebuying process.

Once you have found the right agent, the homebuying process should go smoothly. After you’ve closed on your dream home, be sure to store your mortgage documents on InsureYouKnow.org. Don’t forget to include other important paperwork like home warranties or pest inspection certificates. If any issues arise with your new home, you want to be able to access those documents and resolve them quickly.

How to Save for Retirement by Decade

November 2, 2018

Saving for retirement for daunting. When you’re saving for something like a down payment on a house or a new car, you can have a pretty accurate figure in mind. But when you’re saving for retirement, it’s hard to know how much you’ll need. There are so many unknowns: How old will you be when you retire? Will you have any major health issues? What will your tax rate be? How long will you live?

It’s easy to want to throw up your hands and decide to worry about it later, but that is the exact wrong thing to do. Thanks to the power of compound interest, it’s important to start saving as early as possible and keep saving for as long as possible.

Not convinced? Look at the numbers. Assuming an 8 percent rate of return, if you start investing $250 a month at age 25, you will have $878,570 by age 65. If you start at age 35, you will have $375,073. And if you wait until age 45, you will have $148,236.

It’s time to stop procrastinating and develop a savings plan.

If you’re the type who likes to have an exact target, we have good news. Fidelity Investments has developed age-based milestones to help you travel the road to retirement. By biting off your savings plan into manageable chunks, you can keep track of where you are and feel more confident that you’ll get to where you need to go.

Fidelity recommends you aim for the following targets by age:

• By age 30: Have saved the equivalent of your annual salary
• By age 40: Have saved three times your salary
• By age 50: Have saved six times your salary
• By age 60: Have saved eight times your salary
• By age 67: Have saved 10 times your salary

The ultimate goal is for you to have saved enough by age 67 to be able to maintain your current lifestyle in retirement. Your personal goal may vary; if you’re planning on living modestly in retirement, you may need to save less, and if you’re planning on traveling extensively, you may need to save more.

The age at which you retire also plays an important part in your planning. If you want to retire earlier, at age 65, you will need to have saved 12 times your salary. If you wait to retire until age 70, you will need to have saved eight times your salary.

Those numbers probably still sound daunting, but they’re a good starting point. After all, the hardest part can be taking that first step.There are a number of ways you can save for retirement, including participating in a 401(k) plan offered by your employer and/or contributing to a separate IRA. No matter how you do it, be sure to store all your important retirement documents at InsureYouKnow.org. That way, when it’s time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, you’ll know how to access all the money you’ve painstakingly saved for years.

6 Reasons You Should Hire a Lawyer to Write Your Will

October 15, 2018

It’s easy to procrastinate when it comes to writing your will. Not only is it unpleasant to think about your own death, but also determining how to distribute your assets sounds like a complicated process. You may not even know where to begin.

But begin you must. Creating a will and storing it somewhere safely like InsureYouKnow.org is one of the most important things you can do for your loved ones. A will ensures your wishes are carried out as you intended and your family is provided for and protected once you are gone.

Luckily, writing a will is actually a fairly simple process—especially if you get professional assistance. While you may be tempted to write one yourself using one many of the do-it-yourself kits available online, hiring an attorney who specializes in estate planning usually is the wisest decision.

Here are 6 reasons you should hire a lawyer to write your will:

1. Your estate is complicated. If you have a very simple estate, you may be able to write your own will. But in general, that applies to a small pool of people. If you have significant assets, minor children, your own business, or other complicating factors, you definitely want to let a professional handle your will.
2. You don’t want any mistakes. When it comes to your will, you want to make sure all your i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed. From getting the wording exactly right to making sure all your documents are properly signed and witnessed, there are a lot of steps involved in creating a valid will. Make sure it’s done right the first time so your loved ones aren’t dealing with a headache later.
3. You want to save money. True, hiring an attorney isn’t cheap. Generally speaking, a lawyer will probably charge around $1,000 to draft your will—and it might cost more depending on your circumstances. But a lawyer also will talk you through various tax strategies that can save you and your family money in the long term.
4. You need more than a will. When you use a basic template or create your will online, you’re getting a will. End of story. But an attorney will help you create a comprehensive estate plan. This will include your will along with a number of other important documents, such as a health care power of attorney and a financial power of attorney.
5. You don’t know all the laws. Legal documents are complicated. Different states have different requirements. And the laws are always changing. There’s a reason lawyers are paid the big bucks: They know the laws, and they stay on top of them. A lawyer will worry about the details on your behalf.
6. You haven’t thought everything through. You have a basic plan for your assets. You know who’s getting the house and how your savings will be divided up. Great! But who’s going to take care of your dog? What happens if you outlive one of your heirs? Lawyers have seen all these situations play out in real life and know how to address them in your estate plan.

Once you’ve created all your estate plan documents, it’s important to store them in a safe place and let your loved ones know where they are. At InsureYouKnow.org, we promise to keep all your critical files safe and secure. Simply upload your documents to our portal and let someone you trust know how to access them. Life is complicated; we help you uncomplicate it.

I Lost My Wallet! Now What?

September 24, 2018

It happens to the best of us. You set your purse on the bench next to you and leave it behind when you get up to chase down your toddler; it’s gone when you return. Or you take out your wallet to pay for something, get distracted, and forget to put it back in your pocket.

Whatever the case, you lose your wallet. Now what do you do?

It’s not easy to replace everything in your wallet. Some of the more sentimental items, like the movie ticket you saved from your first date with your now-husband, will be gone forever. But luckily, you probably can get new prints of any photos you were carrying—and you definitely can get new credit cards and a new driver’s license.

Here are the steps you should take if you lose your wallet.

1. Cancel your debit and credit cards. If you have a debit card, the first thing you want to do is report the loss to your bank since the card is directly tied to your checking account. Then start calling those credit card companies. Make sure you log on to InsureYouKnow.org, where you’ve smartly stored all the information you’ll need for each card: the name of the issuing bank, the bank’s customer service number, and your account number. Don’t forget about any store cards you might have.
2. File a police report. Obviously the police don’t have time to track down every stolen wallet. Nonetheless, it’s important to report the loss. That way, if someone tries to steal your identity using the information in your lost wallet, you have proof of the incident. Be sure to keep a copy of the police report for your records.
3. Replace your driver’s license. This step is a little more involved. You most likely will have to head down to your local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and handle this in person. The DMV will probably encourage you to file a police report, which is another reason you want to complete the second step; some states may even waive the replacement fee if you provide proof your wallet was stolen.
4. Replace your other cards. From your health insurance card to your warehouse club card, there’s a good chance you carry more cards in your wallet than you think. It’ll be a process, but you need to contact all the companies associated with those cards and request replacements (and yes, that includes your library card; you don’t want to be hit with a bunch of late fees months after you thought this nightmare was over).
5. Place a fraud alert on your accounts. To further protect you against identity theft, you’ll want the three major credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to put a fraud alert on your file. You only need to call one of them; the company you call is required to notify the other two. It’s a good idea to order a copy of your credit report from each company to make sure everything looks right. Remember, you can order a free copy of your credit report from each of the three bureaus every 12 months at annualcreditreport.com.

Losing your wallet is a hassle—and that’s another reason why it’s important to store your vital financial information and other documents on InsureYouKnow.org. Being able to find the information you need quickly and easily will save you a lot of time and headache.

Say Goodbye to the Wallet

August 23, 2018

Here at InsureYouKnow.org, one of the most common questions we get is, “Can you store my driver’s license?” That’s followed closely by, “How about my credit card information?”

Often, millennials are the ones asking these questions. People joke about millennials being addicted to technology, and in many ways it’s true. They have no interest in carrying around a cumbersome wallet or filing away paperwork. They’d rather keep everything on their most cherished item: their smartphone.

Their dreams are coming true.

Mobile payment applications like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay are being accepted at more and more stores every day. These apps allow consumers to complete contactless transactions straight from their phone. Gone is the need to carry around a plastic credit card.

Many states are considering replacing traditional driver’s licenses with digital versions. Iowa has already announced plans to switch to digital driver’s licenses in 2019. As more states invariably follow suit, the days of the laminated driver’s license will become numbered.

And of course, smartphones already house more photos than a traditional wallet ever could. There’s no need to print and place photos in protective sleeves when you can show off your adorable toddler with the swipe of a finger.

Farewell, dear wallet.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article on this phenomenon in which six writers reflected on the demise of the wallet. They shared fond memories of wallets from days past.

One woman remembered how she kept a torn dollar bill in her wallet as a reminder of a fun evening she’d spent with a man she had a crush on. “For months, each time I opened the cash sleeve of my wallet, I’d peer down at that half a dollar and feel a renewed hope that he might come around on me yet,” she wrote.

Another wrote about the fake Willie Nelson concert tickets she’d purchased from a scammer and how she ended up having a wonderful night anyway. “The tickets are worthless—they always were—but they hold special value in my wallet as both warning and as a reminder that some of the best memories are made even if things don’t go as planned,” she said.

Sentimental memories like these are irreplaceable, but the wallet is not. The smartphone is indeed on its way to replacing your wallet, just as InsureYouKnow.org can replace your filing cabinet. We’re doing our part to eliminate headache-inducing paperwork by providing a simple, low-cost way to store all your important documents in one place.

You can’t pay for a purchase using our site, and you won’t be seeing “Now accepting InsureYouKnow.org” at a retailer near you any time soon. But yes, you can upload a copy of your driver’s license for safekeeping, and you definitely want to store your credit card and other banking information on the site. That way you and your loved ones will be able to log on to InsureYouKnow.org to find your account numbers, bank names, and other important information when needed. After all, you never know when you’ll lose your wallet or—gasp!—your smartphone.

4 Reasons You Should Check—and Double-Check—Your Beneficiaries

August 6, 2018

The whole reason you got life insurance was to protect your loved ones. But if you’re not careful, your life insurance money may not end up in the hands of the individual you intended.

Naming your beneficiaries sounds like a simple enough process, and in general it is. The problems arise when you don’t provide enough information about your beneficiaries or your life circumstances change (and trust us, circumstances always change).

Here are four reasons you should check—and double-check—your beneficiaries today.

1. Your beneficiary has a common name. According to Ancestry.com, there are 38,313 James Smiths and 32,092 Maria Garcias in the United States. If it’s not immediately clear which James Smith or Maria Garcia you selected as your beneficiary, things can get complicated very quickly. Even if it seems clear to you, it’s better to err on the side of caution. Include Social Security numbers and addresses for your beneficiaries so there is no question about who will receive the proceeds of your life insurance policy. 
2. You get divorced and/or remarry. After a painful divorce, you’ve met and married the love of your life. Congratulations! Unfortunately, your life insurance company wasn’t invited to the wedding. After major life changes like a marriage or divorce, you’ll want to update your beneficiaries. Otherwise, your ex may get a sudden windfall while your beloved spouse ends up with nothing.
3. You have another child. You thought you were done having children. Surprise! In between diaper changes and much-needed naps, be sure to add your new baby to your policy as soon as possible. Note that minors may not receive a life insurance payout. Until your child is an adult, you’ll need to name a custodian, guardian or trust as the beneficiary. Even if your child legally is an adult, you may want to consider establishing a trust to manage the proceeds until your child hits 25 or 30.
4. Your primary beneficiary dies before you do. There are two types of beneficiaries: primary and contingent. The primary beneficiary is the individual who will receive the proceeds of your policy, while the contingent beneficiary is in place in case your primary beneficiary dies. If your primary beneficiary does indeed die before you, it’s a good idea to update your beneficiaries and make sure you still have both a primary and a contingent beneficiary.

There are a few other things to keep in mind when it comes to naming your beneficiaries. First, remember that your life insurance policy is a contract, and as such, the life insurance company is obligated to give the proceeds of your policy to whomever you named as your beneficiary no matter what another document says. In other words, your life insurance policy supersedes your will. Make things easier on everyone and be sure your wishes are reflected correctly in both documents.

Second, you can name multiple primary beneficiaries. To keep things simple, it’s a good idea to assign percentages to each beneficiary rather than a set dollar amount.

Finally, as with all estate planning, communication is key. According to Consumer Reports, 1 out of every 600 people is the beneficiary of an unclaimed forgotten or misplaced life insurance policy. Make sure your loved ones know you have a life insurance policy. Tell them you have uploaded it to InsureYouKnow.org, and let them know how to access it. The last thing you want is for all your careful planning and preparation to go to waste.

Last Will vs. Living Will: What’s the Difference?

July 19, 2018

After you sign up at InsureYouKnow.org, the first thing you’ll want to do is compile a list of all the important documents you want to upload and store on the site. Most likely, at the top of your list will be your will. But take note: You should have two wills, a living will and a last will.

So what’s the difference?

A last will and testament is the document most people think of when they think of a will. It provides instructions on how to distribute your assets when you die. This is where you explain who gets your house, your cash, or any other valuables. There are a few different types of last wills, including simple wills (for uncomplicated estates), testamentary trust wills (for estates that involve a trust), and joint wills (for two individuals who want to leave their estates to each other), but they serve the same purpose: to ensure your estate is distributed as you desire.

A living will is very different from a last will. This document has nothing to do with the distribution of property. Rather, a living will is a type of advance directive that spells out the medical care you would like to receive in the event you become incapacitated and cannot communicate your wishes on your own. In other words, a living will provides a way for your loved ones to know your preferences regarding the following:

• The use of CPR if your heart stops beating
• The use of mechanical ventilation if you can no longer breathe on your own
• The use of feeding tubes if you can no longer eat or drink on your own
• The use of antibiotics and other medications
• Organ and tissue donation

According to a recent study published in the journal Health Affairs, less than one-third of U.S. adults have completed a living will. Of the 795,909 adults included in the study, 36.7 percent had completed some type of advance directive, including 29.3 percent who had completed a living will. While it’s not an enjoyable experience to sit down and imagine yourself in a situation where you can’t discuss your care with your doctor yourself, it’s incredibly important that you do so as an accident or other unexpected situation can occur at any time.

Of course, it does no good to write down your wishes if no one knows. You also have to tell your loved ones the document exists and explain where they can find it if the need arises.

“As I like to say, the form is only as good as the conversation and the shared understanding that goes along with it,” Dr. Rebecca Sudore of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Reuters Health. “Some people do fill out these forms with families or lawyers, and then the forms sit in the dusty recesses of a back drawer and they are not available or shared with family and friends, especially before they are needed.”

Creating—and sharing—a living will can help your loved ones tremendously in case of a crisis. Do them and yourself a favor by completing one today and uploading it to InsureYouKnow.org. The peace of mind you will be giving your loved ones far outweighs any momentary discomfort the task may bring.

Protecting Your Privacy

July 2, 2018

In today’s world where personal information is the most valuable resource, some companies are finding it difficult to keep their promises to users to protect their data. Here at InsureYouKnow.org, keeping our users’ information safe is our No. 1 priority.

Our commitment to protecting your privacy will never waver.

Take the case of WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app. When Facebook purchased WhatsApp for a cool $22 billion back in 2014, the pairing seemed destined for internet history. The number of WhatsApp users jumped from 450 million at the time of the purchase in February 2014 to more than one billion by February 2016, just two years later.

Unfortunately, as detailed in a recent story in The Wall Street Journal, the honeymoon quickly came to an end.

The two founders of WhatsApp, Jan Koum and Brian Acton, are strong proponents of user privacy and avid opponents of advertising. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, on the other hand, have “built a sprawling, lucrative advertising business that shows ads to users based on data gathered about their activities.” Facebook leverages access to user information to sell targeted advertising and does not charge its users for its services; WhatsApp initially carried no ads and charged users 99 cents each year (the company has since abandoned the user fee).

The two business models were polar opposites, in other words.

Knowing that some users would be wary of the merger, Koum and Acton took steps to alleviate any concerns. They vowed not to require WhatsApp users to integrate their Facebook account with the service. They said they would never share user data with their new parent company. Zuckerberg himself said he wouldn’t place ads on WhatsApp.

But the leaders of the two companies quickly clashed over how to produce more revenue from WhatsApp. Sandberg pushed the WhatsApp founders to reconsider their stance on advertising and pursue other revenue models. Zuckerberg wanted them to add special features to the app that they could monetize. In 2016, WhatsApp announced it was updating its privacy policy to begin sharing users’ phone numbers with Facebook. In 2017, company leaders began discussing the possibility of running ads in WhatsApp’s Status feature, which allows users to post photos and videos for their contacts to see.

Ultimately, Koum and Acton were so dissatisfied with the situation that they chose to leave the company they had founded. Acton left in September 2017, and Koum announced his resignation seven months later. Together, the men forfeited approximately $1.3 billion by leaving before their contracts were scheduled to end in November 2018.

We are Team WhatsApp. At InsureYouKnow.org, we only capture the minimal amount of information needed—such as your name and the last four digits of most accounts—and we never, ever sell or share your data. Period. We use Amazon cloud encryption to protect your account so you can rest easy knowing your sensitive documents are stored securely. Anything you upload is password-encrypted, and we do not know your password—only you or someone you share your password with can ever access the documents.

For more information about how we protect your privacy, check out our FAQ page or contact us.

End-of-Life Planning: More Than a Will

June 12, 2018

As the saying goes, nothing is certain but death and taxes. Many of us, however, spend more time making sure everything is in order for the IRS than we do for our loved ones. And when we do take the time to create a will and discuss our burial preferences with our family members, we tend to stop there.

But there are so many more details involved in our deaths than who inherits our collection of first editions and where we want to be buried.

NPR’s “Weekend Edition” recently featured a story on Amy Pickard, whose mother died unexpectedly in 2012. As she handled her mother’s estate, Pickard was overwhelmed by all the questions she couldn’t answer, from what her mom’s smartphone passcode was to how to access her bank account.

“[I had to] become a detective basically,” Pickard told NPR.

Determining what bills needed to be paid and tracking down her mom’s car title would be difficult enough on a good day, but trying to piece together the puzzle of her mom’s life while grieving made things so much harder. It took Pickard two years to fully settle her mom’s affairs.

To help prevent others from going through the same difficult experience, Pickard founded Good to Go!, which offers private parties and consultations to guide individuals through their end-of-life paperwork. Based in Los Angeles, Pickard holds a party at her home once a month where people bring food that reminds them of a deceased loved one and complete a 50-page document she calls the Good to Go! Departure File. By incorporating a relaxed, fun approach that is filled with humor, Pickard makes the process less daunting and more manageable.

The Departure File includes a template for a living will, which addresses the medical care you’d like to receive in the event you are incapacitated and can’t communicate your own wishes, from the use of CPR if your heart stops beating to your preferences regarding organ donation. It also addresses minor but important details such as whether you’d want a TV on or music playing in your hospital room. In addition, the Departure File includes a booklet covering all sorts of information your loved ones will need after you die, such as:

• Contact information for friends and business associates
• Passwords for your email and social media accounts
• Plans for your pets
• Instructions for what to do with your photos, journals, and other personal items
• Obituary preferences (whether you want one and what photo you’d like used)
• The location of letters you’ve written to loved ones to be read after you’re gone

Whether you use Pickard’s Departure File (available for purchase on her website) or create your own document, storing all your data in one place is essential. InsureYouKnow.org is the perfect spot. Be sure to upload this document along with your last will and testament, life insurance policies, health insurance information, and other important files. Your loved ones will be going through enough when you die; don’t make them go through all these unanswered questions as well.