This post The Best Five Minute Phone Call You’ll Make This Year appeared first on Daily Reckoning.
Dear Rich Lifer,
I love talking about investments that can make you lots of money. But you know what I love even more? Simple strategies that can SAVE you lots of money with very little effort.
After all, even the safest investments carry risk. Meanwhile, some money-saving strategies can end up putting a lot more cash in your pockets with absolutely ZERO risk!
Take insurance. Two weeks ago I answered some popular questions on the topic but one thing I didn’t cover is just how easy it is to shop around for car insurance these days.
So let me ask you: When was the last time you actually DID THAT?
I’ll answer first …
Shopping Around for Insurance
After a year or two, I decided to re-check my options this past week.
And I used a new method this time, which I’ll get to in a minute.
First, as it turns out I’m getting a pretty darn good rate with my current carrier.
But all those commercials and billboards featuring pigs, geckos, and crazy comedian ladies aren’t lying… it is quite common to save thousands if you simply do a little research.
That was my own experience back when my wife and I left Florida.
Back then, and for our new location, Liberty Mutual was able to beat our carrier at the time (Geico) pretty handily, so we switched.
But after we recently changed up our household’s car assortment – and our premiums shot up substantially — I decided to see what else was out there.
At the risk of sounding like an ad, the process literally did take just 15 or 20 minutes with each company I investigated. Yet the savings were massive…
15 Minute Really Can Save You a Bundle
Progressive ended up being 30% cheaper than Liberty Mutual while Geico offered the same basic level of coverage at 58% less cost!
That put thousands of dollars back in my family’s pocket over the next couple years.
These days, I’m in California and back with Geico.
But I do a fresh check every couple of years.
This time, I used a relatively new website to do my check – www.thezebra.com.
After entering some basic info, it came back with quotes from a whole bunch of different carriers.
According to the results, my current policy is a little cheaper than what other places are charging.
However, if it’s been a while since you last shopped for auto insurance, I strongly recommend doing it right away.
You might quickly save yourself a grand or two over the next year.
Here are just a couple things to pay attention to …
Car insurance Variables that You Control
Obviously there’s no way for me to tell you what particular aspects your situation requires, or even what items or choices your state mandates.
What I can say is that you should look carefully at these inputs for two big reasons …
First, you might find new ways to save money even with your current carrier.
For example, a lot of people have roadside assistance through their car’s warranty or AAA, yet they’re paying for the same service on their insurance policy.
They may also be paying for rental reimbursement when they have extra cars that could provide transportation in a pinch.
You might even find that you’re paying for extra medical coverage that is redundant with your healthcare insurance.
Second, you have to use these same inputs when you get competitive quotes.
If your current policy has $500,000 in liability coverage and a $1,000 deductible … there’s no point in comparing it to a quote that has $15,000 and $250, respectively.
It seems like common sense, but you’d be surprised how many people make this mistake. That’s especially true since website quoting tools often use different default inputs.
Call me a geek, but I like using one tool and altering the choices for a while just to get a sense of where the biggest savings come from.
What I’ve personally found is that higher levels of liability coverage cost just ten or twenty dollars more a year. Deductible amounts make a bigger difference since your typical claim is for relatively minor amounts of money.
Obviously, I’ve just scratched the surface of this whole topic. But you don’t have to make it too complicated if you don’t want to.
At the very least, get a little more familiar with what specific variables are currently on your auto and homeowners policies.
Then, use an online web tool to get some competitive quotes.
If you have
Or, take some time and check in with a few big, well-known companies individually.
For that relatively minor investment of time, you might end up getting an immediate return worth hundreds – or even thousands – a year.
To a richer life,
Nilus Mattive
The post The Best Five Minute Phone Call You’ll Make This Year appeared first on Daily Reckoning.