Adult orthodontia is big business. More 40-something year old parents have finally gotten all their children out of braces and now it’s their turn. Some middle-agers are just now becoming metal mouths because they are at a point in their life when they can finally afford it. Still others opt for the wires because after starting over after a divorce they are finally ready to get that gorgeous straight smile!

If you’re considering taking the plunge yourself, here are a few bits of information you should know before making a decision. There are basically three types of braces moms and dads are opting for: standard metal, clear brackets and invisible. The standard ones are the most cost effective and you can even change the color of your rubber bands like all the hip, cool kids are doing. Clear brackets are a bit larger in size than the metal ones. Depending on your bite you may not have enough room to get the clear ones on your lower teeth, at least not initially. The wires are still metal and you can see the braces on your teeth, they’re just not as noticeable. Drawbacks are they are slightly more expensive than the metal brackets and when it comes time to take them off, it’s takes a bit more effort and is consequently a little more uncomfortable. Lastly there are the invisible braces which go behind your teeth, not on the front like most. It takes a while longer to correct your smile and is the most expensive type.

Speaking of expensive, you should on plan on spending about $4,000 for your braces. Clearly you will find some orthodontists who will do it for less, and some for more. It really depends also on the length and severity of treatment. If you have orthodontia insurance coverage, some plans cover up to 50% of the total costs. Most orthodontists will allow you to make monthly payments. You’ll be required to put a down payment on your new beautiful smile.

One thing you may not hear during your initial consultation, yet other adults who have gone before you will testify to is that when you initially get your braces put on your teeth – it hurts! It hurts a lot and for along time! With children they tell them it may be a little uncomfortable for two or three days and to take Ibuprophin as needed for pain. That’s not the case with adults, although they may give you the same instructions. Think about it. Children who get braces have their permanent teeth for generally three months or three years. Those big teeth haven’t become too accustomed to hanging out in their current location.

Adults, on the other hand, have had those permanent teeth affixed in their mouth for 20-35 years prior to getting braces. They don’t move as easily or as willingly. One mother shared that she was glad she had left over heavy duty pain meds from her c-section five years prior. She lamented that she felt like an elephant was sitting on her head for 10-days straight. Further, she continued she’d rather go through another 52 hours of labor than to get braces put on again.

This is not to frighten you. It does get much easier and you even forget you have them on. When you get adjustments every eight weeks or so, you’re normally a little tender for 24-36 hours, and aspirin does help. The severe pain is just initially when you first get them on. Ask for pain meds. Do not let them tell you to take a few Tylenol and you’ll be fine in three days. You’re in for a rude awakening if you believe that.

But in no time at all, average 18-24 months you will have a Hollywood smile and it will have all been worth it! Open wide – who’s next?

Affordable health insurance - it seems, especially today, those words just don’t belong together in the same sentence. Health insurance monthly premiums have become the biggest single expense in our lives - surpassing even mortgage payments. In fact, if you have any permanent health problems, such as diabetes, or have had cancer at one time in your family history, your monthly cost could easily be more than the house and car payment combined.

Shopping for affordable health insurance can certainly be an eye-opener. If you have always had a health insurance benefit where you work - especially a state or federal employee - and now have to buy your own, you may not be able to afford the level of health insurance coverage you have become used to.

Affordable health insurance, however, is definitely available -if you know how and where to look.

When you are looking for affordable health insurance, you want the lowest cost per year that will fit your budget, of course. But, even more importantly, you want a company that has a good record for paying without fighting with you on every detail. Just as there is a car for just about any budget, there is also affordable health insurance. You may not be able to afford a “Cadillac” policy - but then you probably don’t need all the frills anyway.

Shopping for health insurance on the internet is the easiest and best way to find affordable health insurance. Here are five reasons why.

1. You don’t need a local agent to help you submit the claims for health insurance. The medical provider does it for you. You save money because the health insurance company saves money by not paying the agent commission. This could amount to an 8% to 12% savings to you.
2. All the top health insurance companies are at your fingertips on the internet. Most local agents can only quote you from the few companies that they represent. They may not offer you what is best for you financially or health-wise but only what they happen to have available.
3. Health insurance companies have to be extremely competitive because it is so quick and easy to compare them with their competitors on the internet today. In the past you would have had to visit physically eight to ten agents to do a similar comparison. Most folks just didn’t have the time or desire for that.
4. You can change your coverage, deductibles, and payment options with just a few clicks rather than going through the paperwork delay with a local agent (and then finding out he/she made a mistake - more delay).
5. Charging to a credit card means you aren’t going to forget a payment and be without insurance. Also, it gives you another 30 days before you actually have to pay. Also, many companies today give an additional discount for “auto-pay”.

The key, however, to finding affordable health insurance is realizing that the purpose of any health insurance is to protect you from a major financial loss - not to protect you from spending small money on clinic visits and sliver removal. These small expenses may be cumbersome but they generally will not hurt you. It’s the $100,000 heart operation that will break you. That’s the financial disaster health insurance was originally designed to prevent.

Also, keep this in mind. Health insurance, as with any insurance, is a gamble. You are gambling that you will draw out more than you pay in. Your health insurance company is gambling they will pay out less. The odds are in their favor for two reasons. They have all the facts for millions of families to average out, so they know the risk in advance. Also, they get to set the rules and the prices. The higher you set your deductible, the more risk you take. This is not a bad thing at all. You will most likely be the winner in the long run.

Yes, finding affordable health insurance is much easier than most people think.

Taking more of the risk with higher deductibles, spending a little time on the internet comparing eight to ten different companies, and deleting coverage that you will not likely need (such as maternity for many folks) will make it very possible to find your own affordable health insurance.

Tags: Affordable Health Insurance

Making a wise decision on which Health Insurance Policy to buy may seem like a confusing task, but if you consider just these five most important items you and your agent will both find that you are a Savvy Buyer! These items are your KEYS to picking a policy that’s right for you:

1. The Insurance Company’s Rating

Ask your agent for the Company’s A.M. Best rating. If the company is highly rated at this national rating registry, then the company will have literature showing their rating with an explanation of what it means. Choose only companies that have an A or A+ rating.

2. The Insurance Company’s Record of Complaints at your State Board of Insurance

Every large company will have some complaints. Avoid companies that have a high number of unresolved complaints. Ask your agent for the phone number for your State Board of Insurance. If he will not give it to you, this is a warning signal! You can also look up the number in any directory of your state’s agencies. No matter what your agent says, CALL your State Board of Insurance and ask them for the record on any company you are considering.

3. The Limits Shown On Your Health Insurance Quote

Check your quote to see if you are comfortable with the benefit levels. You can usually change several levels to fit your needs and budget. For example, a higher deductible will cost less each month. Also, many plans give you a choice to split your medical bills with the Insurance Company either 50/50 or 80/20 (with them paying 80%). Then they will have an amount (your stop loss) where they will take over at paying 100% of your covered bills for the remainder of the year. These deductibles and other levels start over every year in most plans. Some plans, though, have a “per cause” deductible. Such a deductible means that you will be responsible for bills up to that deductible for each accident or illness. Make sure you are aware of this distinction, so you can choose a plan that’s right for YOU!

4. The Limits Revealed Within The Policy

Ask your agent for a sample policy, and then check two sections: The Benefits and The Limitations and Exclusions. Many of your benefits are actually limited in the Benefits section. For example, diagnostic testing or outpatient treatment may be severely limited. These days, you could have a serious disease such as cancer, and never go into the hospital for it. You could rack up thousands of dollars in medical bills for the diagnostic and follow-up lab tests and MRIs, and then have surgery, chemo, or radiation therapy all on an outpatient basis.

Other items that may be limited are your hospital room rate and intensive care. Your hospital room rate should be at least average semi-private and your intensive care benefit should NOT be tied to your room rate, but should, instead, be covered as whatever is an average ICU rate for the area of the hospital, also. Some policies limit the ICU benefit to 3 times the regular room rate, when ICU can cost you 10 or 20 times the room rate each day. A short hospital stay with a limit like this in your policy can cost you literally thousands of dollars. A long hospital stay with a limit like this in your policy could drive you into bankruptcy. Even if your policy says it takes over at 100% after $5,000 of covered medical bills, the important term here is “covered” medical bills. If the policy only pays three times the room rate for ICU, then the rest of the ICU bill is considered an “uncovered” charge!

Look out for these types of limits!

Also, be sure to check the Pre-Existing Conditions Limitation if you already have any medical conditions, and ask your agent if the Company will be excluding your conditions permanently on your policy.

5. Pay the Insurance Company, Not the Agent, & Follow Up!

And lastly, make your check payable to the Insurance Company, and then follow up to make sure it was received. When you get your policy, check the Schedule of Benefits to verify you got the coverage you ordered, and then check to see if any special Amendments were added to your policy to exclude any of your conditions. If an Amendment exists, these conditions will always be excluded from this policy, even after the Pre-Existing Conditions Limitation expires.

Following these five tips will help you choose a health insurance policy which will protect you from catastrophic medical bills. You may think, “Isn’t that what any health insurance policy is for?” Yes, that is the reason for buying any health insurance policy, but, unfortunately, many policies fall short of actually providing this protection! Be sure to take the time to choose wisely when it comes to your health insurance!

Tags: Health Insurance

When someone dies, there will typically be an identifiable financial loss. It might be the primary income for a family. Or, it might be the intrinsic value of the person who was responsible for the care of children or a feeble adult.

It could even be a company business associate who spearheaded the sales division or someone who took charge of its operation when senior management needed to be absent.

This is sometimes referred to as the human life value of the deceased party. The value itself is usually based on the future loss of income (i.e. salary or paycheck), the future cost of replacement (i.e. child caring or adult caregiver), or the immediate net loss to the company while it struggles to replace the key employee.

For many people, the loss of income is the primary reason to buy life insurance. Losing the paycheck of either deceased spouse will leave most families in a tenuous situation because this usually means their normal lifestyle becomes vulnerable to readjustment.

In the postwar fifties, the primary breadwinner was usually the father. Mother did the cooking and cleaning, while father went to the office. Mom was there when the kids came home from school. And Dad was working 9 to 5 in order to bring home the paycheck.

Today, of course, women participate equally in the workforce. While there continues to be a discrepancy in the amount of earned income between the sexes, nevertheless, the money Mom brings home is vital to the financial well-being of the family.

It is no secret that personal debt per capita in the U.S. is higher than ever. The latest data reveals we are in a negative savings posture, which is something that hasn’t occurred since 1932. Any reduction in take home pay can potentially devastate literally hundreds of thousands of families.

This scenario is grim enough while both parties are alive. The reality of what happens at the death of either breadwinner is frightening to say the least.

Life insurance is an important financial asset. In fact, it should be the primary asset for families that might experience severe lifestyle disruptions in the event of someone’s death.

Unfortunately, life insurance is frequently misunderstood by the very people it can help the most. One reason is because life insurance doesn’t benefit the insured party, who is typically the person paying for the life insurance. After all, the insured party will be dead and unable to witness the undeniable family value of the death proceeds.

Ironically, the second reason for this misunderstanding is because some life insurance has a cash surrender value. This means if the owner of the policy decides to stop paying the premium an amount of cash is returned provided the death benefit is surrendered.

It’s important to recognize there are only two types of life insurance: term and cash value. Term is always cheapest in the early years, but becomes prohibitively expensive when one reaches the age of 70, or thereabouts.

Of course, this is before the normal or expected time of death, so it is highly unlikely that a term policy will actually pay the death benefit unless, of course, one dies prematurely.

There are many types of cash value policies to include the classic whole life, universal life, variable life and universal variable life. The competitive marketplace has produced an overwhelming number of hybrids each one created for a specific reason that was initiated due to government intervention.

This article will not attempt to describe each type of policy. The important message here relates to the extraordinary value of life insurance itself… not any particular policy type.

Indeed, there are very few, if any recipients of a life insurance death claim that have asked an insurance agent what “type” of policy had been issued. The fact of the matter is the tax-free death proceeds provided a welcomed amount of cash at exactly the time when money was needed the most.

This, of course, is when the income of one of the breadwinners was unexpectedly and abruptly cut off from the family forever. The type of policy is not important to the survivors. The only thing of importance to the survivors is that the policy was actually in force at the time of death.

Tags: Life Insurance

Life Insurance. What does this mean to you?

For some it means security, knowing that their family or business is safe should they unexpectedly pass away. For others it conjures up images of pushy salesmen and confusion about what they are buying.

By learning about the different life insurance policies available you can make an informed decision that will give you peace of mind and satisfaction with your responsible decision.

There are three main types of policies. Here is a brief explanation of what they mean:

Whole Life

Whole life insurance is a permanent insurance. This means that the policy stays in effect for your ‘whole life’ as long as premiums (payments) are up to date.

The cost of whole life insurance premiums will usually be more than the cost of an equivalent amount of term insurance because the cost is averaged. While the cost of term insurance goes up with each renewal, whole life insurance never needs renewing. Instead of paying smaller premiums when you’re young and high premiums as you age, whole life premiums stay the same.

In some policies a savings option can be added which can be used to borrow against.

Universal Life

Universal life insurance is another form of permanent insurance. Like whole life the policy is in effect until you die. You never need to renew the policy (regardless of health) and the premiums will never go up.

Universal life also incorporates other financial services including a savings plan that can be made in addition to the policy. Otherwise the policy can be surrendered in exchange for the savings that have accumulated. Policy owners can often choose from many options including adding another person to the policy, managing their own investments or using the savings to cover the costs of premiums.

Universal life insurance is the most expensive option because of the amount of flexibility and options.

Term

Term insurance is the least expensive life insurance policy option. Term insurance is selected for a certain period of time (term) such as; 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or 20 years.

Term insurance is a good choice for young families with dependants and high debts (such as a mortgage) that they will be no longer be responsible for in 15 to 20 years when the policy ends. Term insurance has no cash value – it cannot be borrowed against or cashed in. If the policy ends and the individual wants to renew the policy the cost of premiums will be higher.

Using term insurance to cover the basic financial requirements of an individual while also instituting a separate savings plan may reduce the need for insurance later in life.

Policy Riders

Depending on the needs of an individual there are other options that can be purchased with certain insurance policies.

The additions to the life insurance policy are called ‘riders’. This includes adding a spouse, including disability income insurance, Accident and Sickness (A&S), Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) as well as customized choices for taking loans or cash payouts on certain policies.

Talk to an insurance broker who will explain the benefits of each feature and recommends only what best suits your needs. With a bit of understanding you can make the most responsible choice with your money and be confident your family or business is provided for.

Tags: Life Insurance

Why do we turn a deaf ear when we hear the words ‘life insurance’? While nobody wants to contemplate a scenario that would require you to use it, have you ever envisioned your life – or your family’s life – if the worst was to happen and you didn’t have insurance?

Do I Need Life Insurance?

The purpose of life insurance is to guarantee an income to your spouse and children if you were no longer able to support them. This is the scenario you should think about; if something happened to you today would your family be able to live in their current home? Would they have enough money to maintain their current lifestyle? Would the cost of a funeral become a burden? Would the remaining spouse be able to support the family with little stress or would the combination of financial burden and loosing you cause unendurable hardship for them?

If you have saved and invested and prepared in other ways, you may feel certain that despite dealing with grief your family would have no financial concerns. But that is rare. Young families especially are at a disadvantage when debts are high, responsibilities for caring for children are costly, income may not have reached its full potential or one partner is no longer bringing in an income and in most cases savings are low.

This is the scenario that requires a family to purchase term life insurance.

Why Should I Get Term Insurance?

Term life insurance is the most inexpensive form of life insurance. It is priced based on your age and health and is usually purchased in terms of several years – 1, 5, 10, 20 or anything in between. This form of insurance will provide the highest coverage for the lowest premiums.

While term insurance is not ideal for older individuals since the price goes up substantially with age, it is the perfect solution for younger couples or families who have high debts including mortgages, life expenses and dependants. The insurance can cover you while your children grow and the mortgage is paid off. When the policy expires you should have invested, paid down your debts and no longer have dependants.

Who Needs to be Covered?

Since insurance is actually income protection – providing money if you cannot – you need only cover the individuals who contribute to the family financially. First and foremost the MAIN income earner needs coverage. If the main income disappeared it would be crucial for the insurance to cover the needs of the family.

Second, if any secondary income is relied on to cover expenses that person should also have an insurance policy. This includes the main caregiver if that person is a parent or unpaid family member. Why? Even if they don’t contribute an income, if they were not caring for the children you would have to pay someone else to do it. Insurance would cover that additional cost.

Third, only if you cannot afford funeral expenses (generally about $5000) should you take out an insurance policy on your children. There is no reason for children to otherwise be insured as they do not contribute to the family income.

Now You Know…

If you haven’t taken the time to understand the purpose of term insurance, now you can decide if it is in the best interest of your family to provide this protection. It will give you peace of mind and make all the difference to your family in a time of need.

Tags: Term Life Insurance

Nobody likes shopping for insurance. Medical insurance is especially troublesome to compare and shop. Thousands of medical insurance companies are clamoring for your business. Each of those thousands has hundreds of plans. It’s even more complex because each plan has different expenses, deductibles, and other large and small details. Here are some major points to consider when shopping for a medical insurance quote.

The Premiums You Pay Each Month

There is a major cost associated with a medical insurance quote. It is the monthly cost, also called a premium. As an insurance customer, you pay this premium every month, even if you do not use the insurance. Your medical insurance quote should clearly show the premium cost.

Costs Associated With Each Claim

When you seek actual medical treatment, there are additional costs you might incur. You might be required to pay a fixed amount per doctor or hospital visit. This amount might also be a percentage of the total bill. These incidental costs vary based on the medical problem, your policy, whether the hospital or doctor are in your network, and many more. Be sure your medical insurance quote lists these costs clearly.

The Cost Of Your Deductible

With many medical insurance plans, benefits do not begin until you pay a certain amount first. This is called the deductible, because the insurance company deducts it from the amount for which they are willing to pay benefits. Plans with high deductibles often have lower premiums, and vice-versa. Ensure that the deductible is plainly shown on your medical insurance quote.

Extra Costs Out Of Your Pocket

The insurance may not cover the entire claim amount, even if the deductible has been paid. Patients are often responsible for paying a small percentage of the post-deductible expenses. This percentage can be 20 percent to 30 percent, depending on your policy. Make sure you understand these out of pocket costs on your medical insurance quote.

Getting Treatment Outside Your Network

Some insurance plans pay the most benefits when the patient visits doctors recommended by the plan. This list of doctors is called the network. Therefore you are advised to use only doctors inside the network. That is not always possible, however, if you are traveling outside your network area. In that case, be sure your medical insurance quote explicitly states any differences in network costs.

You can shop for medical insurance and stare at quotes until your eyes cross. It is a very important task, however, and can save you a great deal of money should a medical emergency strike. The best way to compare plans from different companies is to get a medical insurance quote from each one. Then compare the items listed above, as well as the other costs and details. Then you can select the best health insurance plan for your family and budget.

Tags: Health Insurance

There is a storm brewing in America. It has the power to ruin lives directly and indirectly. The storm will wreak more havoc than any natural disaster in history. The name of the storm is not a common name like Katrina. This storm’s name is called “America’s Health Care Crisis.” The early signs are already here, learn why this is happening and how you can take steps today to avoid going bankrupt from healthcare.

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There is nothing worse than to be confined in a vehicle with someone with bad breath. It’s enough to make you want to get out and walk. The only thing worse is if you are the person with the bad breath.

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