Life Insurance: the very basics.

What is Life Insurance:

Life Insurance is an insurance policy that pays the beneficiary money (death benefit) after the insured dies.

There are two basic types of Life Insurance: Term Life and Whole Life. Over the years insurance carriers have introduced modified policies - Universal Life, Indexed Life, etc. This is not meant to be a comprehensive tutorial, I am sticking to the basics.

Why should I buy life insurance?

Keep this in mind;  Life Insurance is not purchased for benefit of the insured, it is purchased to provide financial assistance and security for your loved ones after you die.
To pay for funeral and end of life medical expenses
To pay off debt
To provide money to raise children/ provide for their education
To pay estate taxes
Guarantee Insurability
Etc.

What is Term Life Insurance:

Term Life Insurance is like renting an apartment - you sign a lease - during the term of the lease as long as you pay the "rent" you get to "live in the apartment" - when the lease is up, the landlord can increase the rent and if you don't like it you move on...
Here is an example: you purchase a 20 yr $100,000 death benefit policy for $550 a year - as long as you pay the premium (rent) the insurance company (landlord) agrees to pay your beneficiary $100,000 after you die (apartment.) At the end of 20 years the insurance company (landlord) can increase the premium (rent), if you don't want to pay the premium the policy ends (you move.)
Term Life is often used as a temporary needs insurance. The kids will be gone in 20 years so you only need the death benefit until they are out on their own, the house will be paid for in 30 years, etc.

What is Whole Life Insurance:

Whole Life Insurance is like purchasing a home - you take out a mortgage and make your payments for the life of the mortgage and when the mortgage is paid off, you own your home.
Here is an example: you purchase a $100,000 death benefit policy for $1500 a year. You make all of your payments and at the end of the mortgage term you still have $100,000 death benefit.
Whole Life is often considered "permanent" insurance because it is designed to cover the whole life of the insured.

So which is better - it really does depend on YOU, your needs and your budget.

Life Insurance is not one size fits all - as your life changes your needs change. Talk to your insurance agent, most agents love to help their clients be better educated and make informed choices on their insurance coverages. 

Snow days

With the windchill at -27 this morning I really did not want to venture out this morning but Chanel 6 KQWC's question of the day - "How will you be spending your day off of school?" got me to thinking about how I used to spend snow days "back in the day" on the farm.

We would bundle up in our snowmobile suits, boots, gloves and face masks and head outside for one or several of the following activities, in no particular order:

1. Building a sled run - we would pack snow on the porch steps and down the sidewalk running into the front yard and then pour water on it to make it really slick so we could sled all the way through the yard down to the road.
2. Building multilevel snow forts and tunnels connecting them in the snow drifts and then chasing each other through them and snowball fights and jumping off of the machine shed or hog house roof onto the snowdrifts.
3. Dad and Mom would pull us on a toboggan or the mini fiberglass boat with "the Bomb" through the pony pasture and the fields around the house. "The Bomb" was an old, green 4 door sedan, I think it was a 4 on the tree - we called it "The Bomb" because we thought it was going to blow up anytime.
4. Riding snowmobiles and often pulling someone on said toboggan or boat.
5. Playing in the haymow - building forts and tunnels with the bales and playing hide and seek or some other made up game that involved crawling through the tunnels and popping into and and out of the numerous escape holes to keep from getting caught.

Sometimes we would just hangout in the house - playing army with Loren's plastic soldiers, building them forts with bricks; the precursor to Legos, Lincoln Logs and empty wooden spools (the kind sewing thread used to come on.) We also played board games and cards - my favorite was War! We might each do our own thing - I'd play Johnny West and/or Barbie or read.

So how did you send your snow days?

Technology and the aging (cluttered) mind

I haven't posted a new blog in several months - not because I was SO busy, but because I couldn't get into Blogger.  I would log into my work Google account and try to get into Blogger - and it would tell me you don't have a blog - do you have another Google account?? I'm like, no.... and would get so frustrated that I would want to spit, so I would give up for a week and say try again later. Somehow, I have more than one Google account for work, I am certain it was user error since I had no idea what I was doing when I set "it" up - and I found out today that I have my computer set to automatically update my IE version - and Blogger/Google doesn't like IE11...  I have tons of patience and a wide/long stubborn streak - I will EVENTUALLY figure things out.

I wrote down which account got me here on a post it note & it is stuck to my monitor. Eventually, after a bit of research, I will delete the "bad" accounts and I think I will try to get back to IE9 since the upgrade to 10 & now 11 have been creating numerous issues - what is compatibility mode? Maybe I can convince one of my kids to do it for me..

FIRE - facts and prevention

Attended a Continuing Education class this morning sponsored by SERVPRO of Burlington today.
Learned a few interesting things about Fire Losses:
Did you know there are 1.4 million house fires in the US each year?
Leading causes:

• Cooking - 42% ($ 876 million property damage, 331 deaths and nearly 5,000 injuries)
• Portable (space) heaters - 17%
• Electrical - 6%
• Smoking - 5%
• Dryer - 4% - when did you last clean your dryer vent (all the way from the dryer to the outside)
• Candles - 3%

Generally, a fire that burns more than 10 minutes causes catastrophic damage. The cost of cleaning/ replacing/repairing personal items, carpets, walls and ceilings and getting rid of the odor can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, and you could be out of your home for several weeks or months.

So, what can you do to protect your family and home?

• Never leave cooking food unattended - cooking causes 90% of kitchen fires and unattended cooking is the primary cause of these fires.
• IF you use a space heater-
• Automatic shut off if tipped over
• Thermostatic controls
• Cord/plug in good condition
• If using an extension cord, make sure it is heavy enough to handle the load & in good condition.
• NEVER cover the cord with a rug
• Keep it away from curtains, blankets, flammables.
• NEVER leave it on when you are not in the room.
• Clean the lint filter in your dryer after EVERY load and clean the vent pipe to the outside at least once a year (4x a year is recommended, but lets be real here!!)
• Have your furnace serviced every year - check the heat exchanger for cracks (20 yr life expectancy.)
• Check your water for leaks (10 yr life expectancy.)
• Have working fire extinguishers in your home (make sure one is in the kitchen and on each level of your home.)
• Make sure your smoke detectors work.
• NEVER leave a burning candle unattended.
• Clean your fireplace, wood or pellet stove chimney EVERY year.
• Don't over load your electric circuits.
• Make sure the electric service into your home (from the street) & in your home (both the breaker box and wiring) are adequate for your needs. Families today are electricity junkies - computers, coffee makers, TVs, game systems, blow dryers, hair straighteners, electric razors. A home built prior to 1960 might still have the original 60 A service coming in from the street, even if there is a 100 A breaker box and more than likely it still has the old black wiring. Many older homes might even have knob and tube wiring - check your attic and basement.

What do you do, if despite all your precautions, you do have a home fire. After you have called the fire department and your family is safe, call your insurance company & then call a reputable restoration company like SERVPRO of Burlington. The faster the restoration company can begin work, the better.

This is NOT an ad for SERVPRO of Burlington, but we have worked with several restoration companies and we like SERVPRO of Burlington because they can do ALL of the work. The have their own construction crew, and work with reputable contractors for the plumbing, electrical, flooring and HVAC work  They coordinate the work to be done and make sure it is completed correctly and in a timely manner. That doesn't mean they won't work with your plumber or HVAC guy, they will, but if you don't have one, they do!

Some like it hot!

I was asked for a couple recipes this weekend:
Jalapeno Popper Dip/Spread
8 oz cream cheese ( I use low fat)
1/2 c plain yogurt (Greek works, too & I use low fat)
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese (NOT the shaker cheese)
4 oz pickled, sliced jalapenos, drained
Topping:
1/4 c panko or bread crumbs
1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese...
1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese
Mix 1st 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Pour in greased baking dish.
Mix topping ingredients together in a bowl and sprinkle over dip.
Bake in preheated 350 oven for 20 minutes or until bubbling and cheese has melted and browned.

Jalapeno Cheese Loaf:
1 loaf frozen bread (or fresh)
1 c chopped Jalapenos (I used canned, drained)
3/4 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 c chopped red, yellow and orange peppers
1 Tbs oil
1 TSP black pepper
Thaw or prepare bread dough.
I put the thawed dough in my mixer with the dough hook attached. Add peppers and 1/2 c cheddar cheese, mix well.
Oil a 9" round or square cake pan.
Form dough into a ball and place in cake pan, cover and let rest 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
Bake bread for 30 minutes. At the end of baking time, turn off oven, sprinkle the top of the bread with the remaining cheese and black pepper. leaving bread in oven , close door and let sit in the oven for 20 minutes.

Please Note - for both of these recipes you can adjust the "heat" by using mild, regular or hot jalapenos.

Everything is better with Bacon!

I love recipes.
I love bacon.
I search Pinterest for recipes that I want to try "someday."
I subscribe to an email that offers cookbooks for my Kindle.
My friends post recipes on their Facebook walls that I share on my timeline.

I ran across this recipe on Linda Parker's blog - parkersgeneral.blogspot.com last night and I just had to share it.


BACON-WRAPPED ONION RINGS

Today is National Onion Ring Day, so I thought I'd share a sinfully delicious onion ring recipe.
1 lg. onion
I cut this into kind of thick rings.
Wrap each ring with a slice of bacon. You can even use turkey bacon if you want, but why would you? Put them on a baking sheet and freeze for at least an hour.

Remove from freezer and dredge through this mix:
3 c. bread crumbs
3/4 c. flour
1/3 c. corn meal
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

Beat 1 egg with 1 c. ranch dressing.
Dip dredged rings through this and again through the crumb mix, making sure the rings are completely covered. You can gently press flour mix to any bare spots.
Heat oil to 375'-400'. Fry rings for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove to paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Serve with BBQ sauce or additional ranch dressing.

Mobile Ap Available for Allied Clients

Allied has launched a mobile ap for their clients.
Allied’s Mobile App is available free of charge on the Apple App Store^SM (for iPhone®, iPod touch^TM) and Google Play^TM for Android^TM devices*. Once the App is downloaded, users will utilize the same username and password information currently used to access the Member Center on alliedinsurance.com for easy access.