Insurance Insights

I have previously written a post about replacement value of your belongings.  This post is about the replacement cost of your home. (you can see the other post here: http://blog.mannogroup.com/2010/04/27/replacement-cost-vs-actual-cash-value/)

Here is a conversation I have with many people.  I ask “How much would it cost to rebuild a similar home in the event of a total loss?” Many people respond with something about “what they can get for their house in today’s market.”  In this real estate market, more often than not there is a large disparity between the market value and replacement cost of your home.  The market value is what you could expect to sell your home on the open market.

Regarding the replacement cost of your home, let’s look at an example of a fire damaging most of a house, causing it to be inhabitable, and forcing the homeowner to knock down the house and rebuild.  So far, we have already incurred two large expenses, and we haven’t even rebuilt the house:

1) Loss of use: If you can’t live in the house, where do you live?  Your homeowner’s policy should have coverage to pay for you to rent a house or apartment somewhere.  To demolish an existing house and rebuild could take months or even over one year.  This coverage is separate from your Dwelling coverage on your home, and is a function of the dwelling coverage.
2) Removal of debris/demolition of existing home:  This could be a very large expense.  Think about it for a moment.  Half of a house is standing.  Sure a bulldozer could come through and remove much of the debris, but what if the foundation was damaged and needs to be replaced?  This could be a VERY costly expense.  This coverage is typically lumped in with the Dwelling coverage on your policy.

These two events can be very costly, and every homeowner should be aware of how these coverages work.  If your “dwelling” coverage seems to high, take a step back and think about the possibility of having to replace your entire home.

Besides just the cost of rebuilding a similar home, some carriers have “extension” coverage options.  For example, if over time building codes and regulations change in your city, causing the cost of rebuilding a home to increase by 25%, there are ways to have an extension of coverage built into your policy, sometimes as much as 25%, 50% or even an unlimited amount above and beyond your Dwelling coverage.

If you would like to review your current coverage to see if your family is protected properly, call me any time at 708-646-9280.

Hello friends!

A friend of mine gave me a really fun idea, and I am thrilled to get this contest going.  I have organized a bookmark design contest for kids age 12 and under.  The deadline for submissions is March 1st.  One winner will be selected, and I will print a few thousand of the winning design to give away.

If your children would like to enter, please go to our website www.mannogroup.com and click the link for the bookmark contest details.  The PDF has all of the details and rules for the contest.

I will be handing out bookmarks at the Downers Grove Public Library Foundation’s Miniature Golf Fundraiser on April 15th as well.

ALL kids that enter the contest will receive 5 bookmarks with the winning design.

The GRAND PRIZE winner will receive a $50 gift card to Anderson’s Bookshops (Downers Grove and Naperville), as well as 25 copies of the bookmarks to give to their friends.

I hope your kids will be excited about entering this contest.  I am thrilled to be hosting it!

Happy drawing!

~Tom

Hello friends!

We are less than a month into 2012 and I have a few bits of exciting news.  As an active member of the community, I found a few opportunities to help out with some awesome events happening in the next few months.  I hope to see you at one of these!

• I am honored to be a sponsor of the Naperville Jaycees’ 2012 Mardi Gras event on Saturday, February 11th at the Judd Kendall VFW in Naperville.  Tickets can be purchased at www.naperjaycees.org for $45 each.  Ticket includes food from Heaven on Seven (excellent!), beer, wine, HURRICANES, and live music!  There will also be myriad silent and live auction items.  You don’t want to miss this party!
• I am also sponsoring the Downers Grove Library Foundation Miniature Golf Fundraiser on Sunday, April 15th at 1pm.  The event is a mini-golf course INSIDE the library!  The Manno Group is sponsoring hole #7.    Come on out and show your mini-golf skills.  Bring the whole family!
• Bookmark Design Contest - this goes hand in hand with the library mini-golf fundraiser.  I will be launching a bookmark design contest for kids age 12 and under.  In a nutshell, a winner be selected from the submitted drawings, and I will be printing a few thousand of the bookmarks to give away at the mini-golf fundraiser!  Stay tuned for more details and the official entry form.

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Attitude is everything.  When we make mistakes, we can either dwell on the mistake or learn a lesson from it.  Nobody is perfect - we all make mistakes.  I don’t keep track of mistakes that I’ve made; it would probably be a really long list.  I bet your list would be pretty long, too.  Instead of getting upset about it, take a step back, discover what went wrong (and what went right) - and make note of it to prevent the same mistake in the future.

If you are in a position of leadership/supervision, how do you handle an employee’s mistakes?  One of my favorite supervisors always asked if I learned something when I made a mistake.  From there, it was a sincere “let’s learn from this and not let it happen again.”

Take ownership of your mistakes.  Kinda like Cameron Frye in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” when he wrecked his father’s Ferrari.  ”When Morris comes home, he and I will have a little chat…”

Who: Young couple aged 30, one child aged 2
What: Contacted me about starting a life insurance program

I met with this young couple last year after they contacted me about buying their first life insurance policies.  They have been married a few years, and also have a 2-year old child.  They live in a townhouse, and like everyone else, they have bills and financial obligations to pay.  Both of them earn an income, and if one of those incomes would disappear, the surviving spouse would have a very difficult time maintaining their lifestyle in their home, and most importantly, maintaining the life of their child.  They knew that life insurance was an important next step for their financial health.

While reviewing various life insurance options, they decided to also review their automobile & homeowners insurance.  We discovered that they could get better coverage with over $500 in savings per year!

We decided on term life insurance that would last 30 years for each of them, and the monthly premiums were around $50 total for both policies.  Thankfully, they are both young and very healthy, and were able to receive the top health rating, making the premiums less expensive.

Hopefully you’re crunching the numbers in your head:  the life insurance is around $600/year, and they just saved $500 on their automobile and homeowners insurance.  Easy math - their life insurance is really only costing them another $100/year!  That is about $8/month, one lunch!

The numbers really put it into perspective, don’t they?

Needless to say, these clients were thrilled when I gave them the news.  They know it’s not about the premium dollars, because they knew they needed life insurance anyway, regardless of the monthly cost.  The monthly savings was just an added bonus.

—-

The numbers in this scenario are from an actual client.  Call Tom Manno today at 708.646.9280 to see if you can uncover some extra dollars for your pocket that you can direct to more important areas of your budget, whether it is life insurance, extra savings for a rainy day, or to increase your retirement savings.

I just used my last thank you card from a package of 50, and I haven’t had the box very long.  That means I have had the opportunity to thank FIFTY people in recent months! It always feels good to say THANK YOU to someone.  That means they gave you something special, or did something for you, or trusted you, or believed in you.  Maybe this is why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (OK the food has something to do with it too).

Have you thanked anyone today?

One of the benefits of working with an independent insurance broker is access to a variety of insurance carriers.  One size does not fit all!I’m excited to announce that we recently added Mercury Insurance Group to our lineup of auto and home carriers! Mercury has been named as one of America’s most trustworthy companies in an article published by Forbes Magazine, making it one of only 10 companies to receive this honor three years in a row (2007, 2008 and 2009).  More than 95% of Mercury customers choose to renew their policies each year, and only exceptional customer satisfaction can produce renewal rates that high.We also added Celtic to our available health insurance companies.  Celtic is headquartered here in Chicago and offers affordable individual health insurance.  We also work with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, United Health One and Aetna.Auto and Home insurance is offered through the Consumers First Insurance Network.

You know the type…they can eat an entire bag of chips, maybe a whole pizza and then wash it down with a 6-pack while never, ever gaining a pound. They have a metabolism of steel that a deep-fried turkey can’t touch. And a bill of health that would make any life insurance exam pro scratch their head in disbelief. So during this Thanksgiving season, I can think of no better way to indulge your not-so-risk-averse side than with these golden delights:

10. Deep fried bacon. Requires no further explanation.
9. Deep-fried Coke. For that deep-down body thirst.
8. Deep-fried Peeps. Not a peep…
7. Deep-fried Twinkies. I’ve had these and they’re every bit as delicious as they sound…with powdered sugar… and ice cream.
6. Deep-fried cheese curds. Here’s lookin’ at you, Wisconsin.
5. KFC Double Down. Because bread just gets in the way.
4. Deep-fried beer. Coming to a bar near you…
3. Deep-fried Cadbury Eggs. Bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk-aaaaaa!
2. Deep-fried jelly beans. This would have made Snoopy’s spread a little extra special.
1. Deep-fried (wait for it…) butter balls.

Today’s topic? The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, aka COBRA. Many people cringe at the sight of these 5 letters. It probably doesn’t help when they’re synonymous with a deadly snake that can kill an elephant in a single bite. But COBRA insurance does provide protection for a lot of people.

COBRA allows you to keep the health insurance benefits you had during active employment if you quit, get laid off, are put on temporary leave or are involuntarily terminated.

Why so pricey? Your COBRA premium costs the same as your previous health coverage, except this time you have to flip the bill for the 50%+ portion of the tab that your employer subsidized as part of your benefits package, plus an additional 2ish% percent for administrative costs.

Here’s how it unfolds:  Your employer gets 30 days to notify COBRA that you’re eligible, and COBRA then has 14 days to inform you of your status. You have up to 60 days after a qualifying life event to enroll, and 45 days after that to make your first payment. Coverage with COBRA is retroactive. And that’s that.

If your spouse has access to health coverage through their employer, you’ll most likely qualify as a “change of life” status for special enrollment. Or consider individual health insurance—you  might even be protected via HIPAA for pre-existing conditions during the switch. In addition, visit www.healthcare.gov to learn about other plans you might be eligible for.

Just remember, you do have some options when it comes to your health insurance. Or any insurance for that matter. Consult with a trusted, licensed insurance broker for the option that’s best for you.

If you think not having insurance is scary, you’re right.  But for an insurance broker like me, it’s downright terrifying.  So in the spirit of Halloween weekend, here’s my list of scary signs you might need insurance:

10. You’re so bogged down with medical bills, you can’t afford your gym membership and your workout consists of groovin’ to Dance Dance Revolution (DDR to the cool kids).

9. After many appointments, you believe DMV license portraiture has improved over the years (after many license suspensions for failing to produce proof of insurance).

8. You find yourself searching eBay for a DIY root-canal kit.

7.  You’ve resorted to hiding valuables in the laundry hamper - that’ll fool ‘em.

6. You drive the speed limit.

5. A deer alarm mounted to your front bumper - now that’s peace of mind.

4. Your future financial plan rests slowly in the hands of a numbered-ball blower and an attractive female with a God-given ability to draw out her vowels.

3. You secretly wonder if that butter knife could double for a microkeratome lasik tool.

2.  Safety orange - it’s the new black.

1. Every trick-or-treater that knocks on your door is required to sign a hold-harmless agreement before they leave said premises.

Hope you enjoyed the list - have a safe and fun Halloween weekend!