In the past, when it was time to enroll our medical insurance plan, we always selected the option with the least amount of premium and usually it was the HMO plan. For us, the decision was rather easy to make: Both of us are in good health and the only time of the year that we actually needed to see a doctor was the annual physical. And the kids, they also have their annual checkup and once in a while, they may need antibioc for infection, and that’s it. Since we don’t see doctors a lot and none of us is on any kind of medicine, we want to lower our premium, even though it may mean some restrictions on how we could choose a doctor if needed.

Starting this year, however, my employer changed the way health insurance plans were offered in order to reduce costs and “let employees actively manage their health and their health care costs” as the my employer put it. Instead of giving us several options with different premiums, the only health plan we could use in 2013 is a plan from Cigna Health that comes with a Health Savings Account (HSA), which is also quite new to us since we never have used a HSA account before.

What is an HSA Account?

If you are not familiar with HSAs, here are some highlights of what they are and how they work:

• Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are tax-advantaged medical savigns accounts that were created in 2003 for individuals to contribute pre-tax dolloars to cover part of the cost of a high-deductible health plan.
• To set up a HSA account, you must participate in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). For 2013, the minimum deductible is $1,250 for self-only coverage and $2,500 for family. 
• The IRS has established pre-tax contribution limit to a HSA account at $3,250 for a self-only HDHP plan and $6,450 for a family plan.
• Contributions to an HSA account can be used to pay for qualified medical expenses without paying taxes during the year before reaching the deductible limit. There will be a 20% tax penalty on distributions from an HSA that are not used for qualified medical expense.
• An HSA account is independent to your employment and money in the account is yours that you can take it with you after the termination of employment. Unlike Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), leftover money in an HSA account is rolled over to the next year and can be used to cover future medical expenses.
• Earnings from contributions to an HSA account will grow tax-free, just like an IRA account, and after the age of 65, there will be no penalty for withdrawal from an HSA account for whatever uses and only income tax will be paid for the distribution, again just like an IRA account.

Benefits of an HSA Account

Since I didn’t have any other choices in terms of health insurance, I had to go with an HDHP with an HSA account. But after doing my research, I came to the conclusion that an HSA is actually a better choice for us for several reasons:

• Comparing to the traditional health insurance plan I had last year, we saved about $2,000 in premium by switching to an HDHP with an HSA account.
• Even though the new health plan has a $3,000 annual deductible for the whole family, I don’t expect we can reach that limit, barring any kind of emergency, since we mostly use heath insurance for preventive care and that is 100% covered by the insurance.
• Even if we reach the deductible limit, there’s a still a out-of-pocket maximum. 
• My employer contributed $1,200 seed money into the HSA account, which is free money for us and effectively reduces our deductible. 
• We can contribute up to $5,250 before-tax money (2013 contirbution limit $6,450 minus $1,200 employer contirbution) into the HSA account, which lowers our current tax bill.

Of course, the tax-free contribution to and tax-free growth of assets in an HSA is one of the most appealing reasons for us given our low medical expenses. Whatever we have in an HSA account now can be used later for medical care when we need it or even retirement

HealthEquity HSA Account

In our case, we didn’t have the freedom to choose which HSA administrator to use for our HSA account. The one that is provided by my employer is HealthEquity. For the health care part, we received a HealthEquity debit card that we can use to pay for our medical expenses. Even though any expense before reaching the $3,000 deductible limit is our responsibility, we are advised by our employer and HealthEquity that we should not pay those expense up front, except for co-pay which is a fixed amount for every visit. Instead, we should ask the health provider to bill the insurance company and we pay the bill after receiving it from the insurance since the negotiated price between the insurance and the provider is usually lower than the up front cost of service, as we were told.

As for the investment part, HealthEquity actually has a few nice, low cost funds to choose from.

• American Funds Growth Fund of America (GFAFX)
• American Funds American Balanced (BALFX)
• Baron Small Cap Fund (BSCFX)
• Dodge & Cox Income Fund (DODIX)
• Dodge & Cox International Stock Fund (DODFX)
• Dreyfus Smallcap Stock Index (DISSX)
• Dreyfus Appreciation Fund (DGAGX) 
• Fidelity Blue Chip Value (FBCVX)
• Fidelity Capital Appreciation (FDCAX)
• Harding Loevner Emerging Markets (HLEMX)
• Laudus International MarketMasters (SWOIX)
• T. Rowe Price Equity Income Fund (PRFDX) 
• Vanguard Large Cap Index Signal (VLCSX)

The one that I selected is Dodge & Cox International Stock Fund (DODFX). I knew this fund pretty well, having own it in a non-retirement account for years. Since right now the investment portfolio in the HSA account is rather small, I don’t see the reason to diversify just yet because I want to grow the account fast, even though it means more volatility.

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Most of us understand why we need life insurance. We know that our families depend upon us for dozens of things, and we want to make sure they could maintain a comfortable lifestyle if we passed away. But even though people realize they should buy life insurance, they put off a decision because they think coverage will be too confusing or cost too much. It can be difficult for regular consumers to know which life insurance policy they should buy when they want affordable rates and secure coverage.

Top Life Insurance Buying Tips

• Term insurance costs less because an insurer only has to assume the risk on your life for a fixed amount of time, and not your whole life. If your need for life insurance will not last forever because you plan on saving money in other ways or paying off your debts, a term life insurance policy may work well for you!
• You can purchase some term policies with a Return of Premium (ROP) rider. This means that an insured person who survives the policy will get all of their premiums refunded. The rider (option) costs a little more, but means a substantial check will come back at the end of the policy contract. Consider paying a bit more per month for 20 years, and then getting a huge chunk of it back at the end of the policy!
• If you want some permanent life insurance to cover you during retirement years, consider mixing 2 policies for the best policy at the lowest price. A younger family may choose a larger term policy for immediate coverage, along with a smaller face value whole life policy that can be paid off over several years. The term policy will cover the young family. The whole life policy, with lower rates at a younger age, can be part of retirement planning.
• Stay healthy. We cannot control every health issue, but most companies offer lower rates for people with good health habits. A normal weight, non-smoker will have a much easier time finding inexpensive life insurance rates than an obese smoker.
• Shop around for the best rates. It is very easy to compare the top life insurance companies in your area with online life insurance quote forms.

The Importance of Comparing Life Insurance Quotes

Remember that life insurance rates will vary by many individual factors. An applicant’s age, general health, zip code, and the amount of life insurance will affect premiums,but do not assume that every company will be about the same price.

This article was written by Barbara Waltz, an industry expert and one of the founders of a well known insurance blog.

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Insurance is one of those necessary evils that people feel they must have, but resent paying for – especially during tough economic times. The law demands we have automotive insurance and most mortgages require a homeowner’s policy. With the current recession, the coverage that tends to get the ax first in the cost-cutting process is health insurance. All too often that happens against your will if your health benefits are tied to your job and you get laid off.

Given all these factors, most people don’t even consider life insurance an option. That may be a mistake. There are a number of good reasons to have a life insurance policy in tough economic times, regardless of how young and healthy you may be.

• Young people are exactly the ones who should be taking out life insurance policies. You’ll get lower premiums, which you may be able to lock in until age 65. That means a significant long-term savings. Additionally, you’ll easily qualify if you are young, healthy, and have no pre-existing medical conditions.
• No one likes to think about it, but even the young can die. If a life insurance policy is in place, the benefit will help your heirs take care of your debts that might otherwise leave them struggling financially, or it could simply help to defray the exorbitant cost of burial in the United States.
• Life insurance policies also give the insured peace of mind that their major goals will be addressed in the event of their untimely death. With adequate benefits in place, the insured individual can be confident their children will be educated or their spouse will be financially secure.
• An affordable life insurance policy can also offer peace of mind to those who do not have health coverage. In the event of a catastrophic medical incident that results in death, you won’t be leaving your loved ones with the mountain of medical debt that inevitably piles up for the uninsured in the American health care system.
• Life-insurance policies can also be forward looking. Many newer policies are drawn up in such a way that later in life they can be converted to deliver long-term care benefits in the event that you become disabled in old age. This not only will spare your loved ones the cost of your care, but it will also give you greater control over your own destiny for the entirety of your life.

As with all insurance coverage, the most important thing is to do your research and to understand all the terms of any policy before signing on the dotted line. Remember that if you have multiple policies with one carrier, you generally get discounts on your premiums. Consider consolidating your homeowners, auto, and life insurance policies to maximize your coverage while minimizing your costs. Above all, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’re too young to need life insurance. Now is the time to lock in the coverage and to make sure your loved ones are protected should the unthinkable occur.

This is a post by Chris Wilson who is an insurance editor. He writes about various insurance topics.

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Insurance can effectively help you in protecting yourself and your family from the future losses. In today’s world everyday you face so many risks. Insurance can minimize the potential risks like risk of being disabled due to an accident, risk of death, risk of property damage and so on.

In order to secure your future with the help of insurance, first you should know about the different types of insurance that are available in the market. Nowadays, numerous types of insurance policies have filled the market. But, the most important ones that every individual should go for are given below:

• Life Insurance: If you buy a proper life insurance policy, then you can protect your family members from the financial hardship that may occur due to your sudden death. If you insure your life and something bad happens to you, then the insurance company will offer the amount of death benefit to your family members. If you survive after completion of the insurance term, then also you receive survival benefits.
• Auto Insurance: It is utmost essential for you to buy an auto insurance policy if you own any vehicle. Auto insurance can give you compensation in case of collision. In case of an accident, not only the vehicle and the driver, but also the people who were in that car at the time of accident and the third party injured in the accident; get coverage under the auto insurance policy. You can also insure your car to protect it from natural calamities and incidents of theft.
• Home Insurance: You can protect your home from natural disasters, incidents of fire and theft by opting for a right kind of home insurance policy. If you are a homeowner, then you can buy any homeowners insurance policy. But, if you don’t own a home and live in a rented house, then also you can insure your place by opting for a Renters Insurance Policy.
• Health Insurance: In order to secure health care facilities for yourself and your family members, you should go for health insurance. Health insurance policy can provide you coverage not only for the chronic diseases, but also for the medical treatments and hospital stays in case of an accident.
• Disability Insurance: Disability insurance can tremendously help you in case you meet an accident and are unable to work. If you have a disability insurance policy, then you are sure to get financial support in the days of disability in the form of insurance coverage.

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Last February, I had a little incident on the way to work: I was pulled over for speeding out side our house. After delaying my court appearance for almost three months, I eventually went to see the judge and settled my case. The price was a fine of $220 plus two points. I got some suggestions on how I can eliminate the points and prevent my auto insurance premium from going up after posting my story, but lot of things have been going on and I never got time to follow any of the suggestions. So the points stay. Naturally, I expected that our auto insurance premium could go up due to the incident.

Yesterday, the car insurance renewal package from Ameriprise arrived and to my surprise, not only the premium for 2008 doesn’t increase, it actually comes down a little. In January 2007, when I switched our auto and home insurances from Liberty Mutual to Ameriprise, the premium for a half-year coverage of our two cars was $559, one car with full coverage and the other liability only. The new rate for 2008 is $555 in total, with the $4 reduction from our Odyssey.

Well, it’s always possible that if I didn’t have that incident and hadn’t been assessed two points, my rate could be lowered even more. I don’t know if that would really be the case, because in the past 10 years, I almost never saw my rate go down even when I didn’t have any violation. It either kept going up (like my first insurer Amica which eventually forced to switch provider) or stayed the same (Liberty Mutual). So I was pleasantly surprised to see a bill the same size as last year. At least it won’t make me regret for not taking an action

*Photo from Safeauto.

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