Personal finances and insuranceFollow

Well, things are considerably different here in the States in terms of medical coverage, unemployment protections, etc. You're probably better off with savings because you'll need them to maintain your insurance via COBRA, you'll need to pay your mortgage, keep the lights on and all that jazz.

We personally have around five or six months worth of mortgage payments squirreled away in case we need it. That's just mortgage but hopefully we won't both be unable to work at once and the other person can pick up the rest of the bills. I believe the federal government is extending unemployment benefits again so we'd have that as well which could stretch our savings considerably.

One of the biggest issues if Flea ever lost her job would be that our health insurance is through her. I could get us insured through my workplace but it'd cost more and provide less.

I'm so glad for the NHS for providing basic healthcare, I feel for you Yankees. I am also covered by BUPA (private healthcare through my employer) but declined more than the basic package.
What does annoy me in my area is a lack of NHS dental coverage. Which reminds me, I need to have my teeth cleaned. They are a little stained from tea and coffee abuse



My insurance costs me 2% of my monthly take home salary, its not killing me and I like the peace of mind if gives me. The daft thing is, the more insurance you buy, the more discount they give you.

I know that US health insurance costs a LOT more, so I do wonder what I would paying in your country? Whats the standard percentage of salary paid for health insurance in the US?



You selfish man! If I die my parents and siblings inherit a rather nice pot of money. At least if I die I leave a little something pleasant behind me.



Will the business continue if your health fails?

Well thats a surprise. I had you down as an estate agent.

Joph,

Actually I have a cancer policy. You know those things are really inexpensive if you get them before you have cancer.

Lady,



That's no fun. I'll leave clues in my journals that lead to the chest of gold I have buried in the backyard. The rest goes to my nieces and nephews.

Health insurance is a necessity because every practitioner will assume you're insured and charge accordingly

This varies a lot, I find. I'm in the situation of having to buy insurance in the individual market, and while I have fairly deep catastrophic coverage, I also have a very large deductible for basic services where I'm essentially paying out of pocket for anything that didn't start with me being hit by a truck. I haven't had too much trouble negotiating fee for service stuff, but I also have pretty concrete knowledge of market rates for a given service and the ability to just pay immediately in cash.

Did Smash just say he paid for health care... With Cash?! (or maybe even a check)?

Sorry. Couldn't resist... ;)


My general approach on insurance is that it should only be used for things that are rare and expensive (you can't afford if it happens, or it would be a serious financial burden if it did). Insuring income is kinda silly IMO. Saving the money is a better way to go. Investing even more so. That way, if you do lose your job, you know exactly how much you have and can continue living normally on your saved up money (dare I say: Wealth?). If you don't lose your job, you get to keep the money...


Over the course of your lifetime, that 2% of your income will add up to a hell of a lot more than a portion of your income for a year. Ditto for most other things you might insure. High deductible catastrophic health care insurance and car/home insurance are about the only things you really should be spending money on. Basically, everything else you'd be better of saving money ahead of time and paying out of pocket as you go.

He makes a big deal out of my penchant to pay cash for things, so turn about is fair play...

He makes a big deal out of my penchant to pay cash for things, so turn about is fair play...

I do? I think you're confusing my laughing at you using checks to buy minor goods because it seems like such a bizarre Luddite thing to do in 2010, and I freely admit that I don't *at all* understand it. I haven't written a personal check in at least 15 years.

Minor things like LCD HDTVs, refrigerators, washer/dryer combos? New set of tires, or transmission, or other expensive repairs on the car? That sort of thing? It's not like I buy groceries with a check Smash. In fact, I made it quite clear that unless a purchase is over around $300 or so, I pay cash. If it's more than that I'll use a check.

Yeah ok, whatever. I'm happy you don't write checks at the old spaghetti factory or whatever, I still can't comprehend why you wouldn't just pay for the TV with a debit card like a person who lived in a first world country would.

I mean you're paying for checks, right? I realize it's not much, but you're paying someone some amount of money to mail you paper checks you can use to purchase things when, for free, you could just have a card that would accomplish the same thing without having to record what you've written checks for, track when they clear, etc.

Just don't get it. It's not like it's easier to stop payment on a check than it is to dispute a debit card transaction. In fact, it's harder and usually has a cost. What's the benefit???

If you have good credit, wouldn't it be best to put that on a credit card, anyway? Don't they extend warranties by about a year?

There are lots of benefits, assuming you never carry a balance past the interest free grace period. I mean there are lots of fucking ******* insane reasons to use check, I just can't think of any that would apply to Gbaji.