Finding the Right Balance

Do you have the correct balance between your insurance and your investments?

To find the right balance between how much insurance versus investments you should have is a daunting task. This is one challenge that Frank McManus, our Director of Financial Services, can help you figure out. But first, before we go any further, it is important that we define the two identities.

INSURANCE:

• The transfer of a particular risk from one to another.

• Protection from financial loss.

• Protection from calculated and sometimes uncalculated uncertainty.

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INVESTMENT:

• Action or process of making a possible profit on money.

• Action or process of of making a possible profit on purchase.

• Time and energy given to a particular cause.

Without finding the right balance for you and your family, you may be either insurance or investment poor. That's right, POOR! Don't worry, you're not alone. There are many who share your misfortune. Oh, sorry, what do I mean by poor?

Many of us pay an insurance bill every month. Some of us pay multiple insurance bills, but do you really know what those insurances cover? Sure, we all know that your health insurance covers health related expenses. Your homeowner's insurance covers your home. Your Term Life Insurance covers your death. Your disability insurance covers your ability to earn a living. But how many of us have peeled back the onion or looked under the rug in our insurance policies? Do you know that just because you have car insurance and/or homeowner's insurance you can still find yourself in a lawsuit attacking your savings and retirement, just because you weren't properly covered?

We have all heard stories or felt it first-hand that health insurance may not cover everything. How about the life insurance you have through work that doesn't cover the amount of your home or allow your spouse and/or children to live an adequate lifestyle? Or best yet, your disability income being taxed before it gets to you and now you only have 40% of your income, not the 66% you thought you had? And, in addition to that, you may have your spouse taking off work to care for you and may lose that income for that time of care - a double whammy!