Health Insurance
It does not matter if you purchase your own health insurance or are covered through your employer. Your health insurances’ primary job is protecting you from hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential medical bills. It does not matter if you have doctors office copays or if you have to pay for each visit out-of-pocket, what truly matters is that after your deductible and out-pocket maximum is reached you no longer have to pay for medical bills. Talk to anyone who has faced a serious medical condition, be it insured or uninsured. They will tell you not to learn the hard way.
Life Insurance
Life insurance might be the most cut and dry of all the things you can insure. You buy a policy in exchange for an amount of money to be paid to your loved ones in the event of an untimely passing. There are very few bells and whistles to get caught up in to lose sight of the big picture. Where people tend to walk astray is falsely thinking they have enough coverage. Life insurance gives you one last chance to provide for your family. If you get it wrong then your family will have a much more uncomfortable road ahead of them. You need to leave enough money to not only cover the tangible, accountable items but also the intangible value of your time, guidance and wisdom that will be absence from your wife and childrens lives.
Car Insurance
We all know we have to have car insurance, but chances are you are not always aware of why it is so important to not just be insured, but not be underinsured. Yes, you are insuring the physical value of your automobile. You get into an accident your auto policy will be there to make sure your car gets fixed and back on the road with limited financial contribution on your part. While replacing or repairing an automobile is a significant cost, it is not the biggest risk being insured. That belongs to the potential harm you can do to others if you are ever involved in a serious accident. If your coverage isn’t sufficient to cover the necessary medical expenses, you could find yourself paying for the remaining medical bills out of your own pocket.
Homeowners
This is probably the area where the big picture theory takes hold the most. When you purchase a homeowners policy it is very apparent what the ultimate goal is. You are covering the total cost to replace your home and the contents it contains. That is it. You know what is at stake and your primary concern is making sure that is protected. Homeowners coverage serves as an example of how to approach other types of insurance policies.
Disability
The most overlooked and neglected of all the coverages. Disability offers protection if you ever are unable to work and provide for yourself or your family, be it short or long-term. As far as the big picture is concerned you either have coverage or you don’t. Like life insurance, there are very few upfront distractions to blind you from the main purpose of the policy.
It’s very important to always keep in mind the number one reason you are purchasing insurance, regardless of what you are insuring. Copays, low deductibles and multi policy discounts are nice, however they are not the driving force that lead you to seek coverage in the first place.