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As a small business owner your time and wallet are likely stretched thin, especially right now, and you might be asking yourself if you really NEED insurance. Making sure that you’re covered allows you to take smart risks on your business, protects you from property and other damage and gives you a safety net in case of an accident involving a customer or employee. So what are the different types of business insurance that you need to be looking at?

GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE
As a small business owner, you may be legally responsible if another person gets hurt or incurs damage to their property while at your business or because of something you did. General Liability insurance provides insurance coverage for your business in the case of claims made by others including bodily injury, property damage, or personal injury.

ERRORS & OMISSIONS INSURANCE
Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance is useful if you or your employees provide a service that a client could claim is inadequate or tied to negligence. For example, if you are a real estate agent, you may find yourself facing a lawsuit if a homeowner finds defects in their new property after closing. This homeowner may allege you did not disclose the defects and try to collect based on the diminished value of the home.

WORKERS COMPENSATION INSURANCE
Workers compensation insurance protects your employees and your business from work-related accidents, illnesses, and even death. Workplace injuries happen in even the safest of workspaces. Even if the employee has health insurance, you are responsible for medical costs for a job-related injury or. The worker is also to a percentage of their wages if they are unable to work due to their injury or illness. These costs are covered by workers compensation insurance.

COMMERCIAL AUTO INSURANCE
Commercial auto insurance covers vehicles used for business and the people who drive them. If you or a driver of your business vehicle causes an accident that injures another person or damages their property, they can file a claim on your policy and bring a lawsuit against you or the driver.

College students are usually focused on getting to class, maintaining good grades and graduating on time. Student life insurance policies are an issue that they’re unlikely to contemplate

But there are some circumstances when a college student should weigh buying life insurance. It can provide an extra layer of financial protection for a surviving family. Consider the situations below.

STUDENT LOANS
Many college students pay at least part of their education with student loans. For federal student loans, the amount owed is canceled in the event the student dies before paying off the debt. That doesn’t happen with private student loans, which are more like traditional loans and still must be paid off. These types of loans also typically require a co-signer, who becomes liable for paying off the loan if the student dies.

In some cases, the loan’s repayment schedule is accelerated after a death or can even require immediate repayment in full. This may put the co-signer in a serious financial bind as they struggle to pay off the loan or damage their finances and credit rating in the process. A student life insurance policy will pay off the remainder of the loan in the event of a student’s death and protect the co-signer financially

COVERING DEPENDENTS
It may not be the norm, but it’s certainly not uncommon for an undergraduate to get married or have children while in school. There are also many cases of older, married students who have delayed the start of their education or are returning to college after time off.

Here, too, life insurance offers financial protection to a spouse and dependents by paying off student loans and other debts as well as funeral expenses if the student dies. Depending on the policy, it can also provide financial support for the student’s children.

PROTECTING PARENTS
Student loans aren’t the only way to pay for a college education. Parents of students can finance their child’s education through various methods, including home equity credit and 401(k) loans. If the student dies prematurely, these debts still need to be paid off, which can take a heavy financial toll on a family. A term life insurance policy on the total amount of their expected college debt will help cover these expenses.

College is expensive. To cover family members in the event of a student’s untimely death, a life insurance policy provides financial protection from unpaid loans and other debts. Give us a call at (760) 271-6651 to talk about life insurance options for every stage of life, including college.

Most people have heard of a 529 account, but there are other ways to save for your child’s education. What if your children decide not to go to school? What if they want to use that money for real estate, starting a new business or taking a trip overseas?

TAX ADVANTAGES
Life insurance offers certain tax advantages. In the event of your death, your family can choose to use the income tax-free death benefit to pay education costs. And with some types of life insurance, you can take loans against your policy without tax penalties.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Be sure to take into account these additional features when planning for your kids’ college funds, available with certain types of life insurance:

• Guaranteed cash value, so you know a certain amount of money is available
• Access to your money, so you can use it for tuition and other educational expenses
• Market participation, so your policy’s value has the potential to grow based on the performance of investments in your policy

TERM AND PERMANENT LIFE INSURANCE
If you simply need to pay for your child’s college expenses in the event of your unexpected death, consider term life insurance and you can choose the length of time you need coverage and the amount of death benefit you need.

With permanent life insurance, you may be able to take withdrawals or loans against your policy’s cash value, which can continue to grow tax-deferred. This may be an option if you’ve maximized your 529 plan, which also offers tax-deferred growth and tax-free withdrawals for higher education expenses. Talk with your agent about how you may be able to use permanent life insurance to help with college expenses.

If you have questions about how to best use your life insurance portfolio to provide for your children’s education please reach out to us at (760) 271-6651 or via email.

WHY DO I NEED LIFE INSURANCE?
Life insurance can offer you some reassurance that the people you love will be taken care of if a tragedy strikes. Payouts are tax-free, so that’s one less thing they will need to worry about.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF LIFE INSURANCE?
Term life insurance covers you for a length of time, and is generally the most affordable type of life insurance. If something happens to you within the term (10, 15, 20, or 30 years), your beneficiaries will receive the payout benefit. There are other types of insurance for people seeking life-long coverage, but they tend to be more expensive than term life policies.

Permanent life insurance is a policy that covers you for your entire life, and usually builds “cash value” over time. There are three types of permanent life insurance policies:
Whole life insurance builds value based on a set schedule. You’ll know the exact cash value of your policy at each anniversary. (If you take a loan or make a withdrawal from your policy , the cash value and death benefit will decrease.)

Universal life insurance earns a fixed interest rate on the cash value of the policy. While the interest rate may change over time, it will never dip below a guaranteed minimum rate.

Variable universal life insurance lets you invest your cash value in the stock market, so your policy value goes up or down based on the performance of your investments. The investment subaccount options in VUL policies are not offered for sale to the general public.

Accidental death Insurance is a policy offers you guaranteed coverage**, a minimum of $100,000 in financial protection for your loved ones if you die in an accident, and returns ALL of your premium payments in year 20 if you do not.

HOW DO I DECIDE ON THE COVERAGE AMOUNT?
Think about the amount of coverage you need and the lifestyle you want for your loved ones add up the balance of your mortgage, your credit card debt, and the amount you want to leave your beneficiary (for things like paying for college or paying off loans), then subtract your current savings.
Is the life insurance policy I get through work enough?

Keep in mind that employer policies generally don’t move with you if you change jobs, and go up in price as you age. Many people are surprised to learn that the life insurance included as part of their benefits package is only one or two times their salary. For most people, this amount does not cover their needs.

For help finding the right life insurance policies for you and your family, call us at (760) 271-6651 or get a personalized life insurance quote online.

** Accidental Death policy does not pay if the insured dies of natural causes, including, but not limited to cancer, heart failure, etc or suicide. 
Content: Nationwide Insurance

If you are wondering if things are costing more than they did last year, you are not imagining it! Along with the woes of the economy, insurance companies are also having to make adjustments in what business they are accepting and how they can recover some major losses. There are many carriers changing the way they do business in California.

Why is full coverage auto insurance so much more than I remember? During the first year of the pandemic, most insurance companies offered a 15% reduction in auto insurance because drivers were staying home and driving less. Unfortunately, many allowed their coverage to lapse all together, leaving the insurance carriers without as much collected premium to cover losses. Now that many are back on the road, accidents are on the rise, carriers are short staffed and customer satisfaction is spiraling. Many well known carriers are asking for 6 months premiums to be paid up front instead of monthly installments and some are asking for larger premium commitments up front than ever before.

Did your home owners premium increase? It probably did! For homeowners, the replacement cost of your home definitely increased in the past year, and that will drive your premium up. Building costs, supply chain issues and labor shortages mean that if there is a significant loss in your home, it will cost the insurance company more than last year to make you whole, and they are passing that on to you! Check your statement for replacement cost or dwelling value and compare it to previous years.

If you have questions about your coverage or want to see if there is better pricing available don’t hesitate to reach out, we’re here to help!