Tips For Life

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General Life Tips

• Don't put your true home address in your GPS as "Home".  If a criminal steals your GPS, they will easily be able to find you.

• I have to wear hard contacts to correct my vision, but have always found them very uncomfortable.  There now is a contact called "Synergeyes" that is a combination of a hard and soft lens.  Works Great!  Locally you can see Dr Dickman or Dr Kettler about them.

• You can clean a lot of stains from carpets, furniture and cloths with fingernail polish remover, but be careful to test it on a hidden spot first because it can take out the color too.
• The best time for most people to pray is first thing in the morning.  Once the day is started, you probably will be too busy to hear anything God has to say.
• Set up an automatic savings plan with your bank or investment firm.  There is nothing like it to help you save for the future.

Personal Auto Insurance Tips

• If you have youthful drivers, try to have them drive a low cost car you don't need a loan on and could afford to fix or replace yourself.  That way you don't need to carry Comprehensive or Collision coverage, which is very expensive for a young driver.
• Young drivers with a B or better grade average usually get lower rates.  Tell you children if they don't have a B average they have to pay the increase in their insurance cost.  This will usually get you lower cost, and better grades.
• Owning fewer vehicles than you have drivers may also save you some money if you have children driving.
• Of course, having a great driving record always saves you money.
• As a general rule, the more a car cost to buy, the more it will cost to insure.

Personal Homeowner Insurance Tips

• If you live within 1000 feet of a fire hydrant, it could save you money.  Of course in town, this is normal, but outside town you could save money if you or your neighbor has a pond with a "dry hydrant" in it.
• Wood stoves and other solid fuel heating appliances can raise your insurance cost.  Be sure to check with us before you install one so you aren't surprised.
• If you add a bathroom or finish your basement or add on to your home, be sure we know so we can make sure you have enough insurance.
• Flood and earthquake are NOT automatically included in your homeowner insurance.  If you want flood or earthquake insurance, be sure you contact us to have it added to your policy.
• Identity Theft Insurance can be a little tricky.  It usually pays the cost of getting your records fixed etc. up to a limit.  Often times you also get valuable help from experts on how to restore your identity.  However, it does NOT pay for what the person who stole your identity may have purchased with your credit cards etc.
• Theft of jewelry, silver, guns and collectibles are usually limited to $2,000.  If you have more than that of any special items you should probably schedule them specifically to make sure you have proper coverage.

Life Insurance Tips

• Buy enough life insurance.  It is so important for those you leave behind.  As a rule of thumb, take your annual income, times 7 and add all your debts.  That is the MINIMUM amount of life insurance you should have if you will leave minor children behind.
• Buy life insurance when you are young and healthy.  You'll be shocked how fast that changes.
• Smoking can easily double your life insurance cost.