At one point or another, you are going to need to buy insurance. Before you jump into the process, it is important to have a bit of perspective regarding your goals.
Most people think of insurance from the wrong perspective. At its most fundamental level, insurance is all about risk. When you buy it, you are protecting yourself and family against risk. This is done by leveraging a relatively small amount of money in the form of premium payments into a larger payout should the possible risk turn into a certainty. Put another way, insurance often acts as your rainy day fund.
Contemplating buying insurance is at the top of very few people’s list of fun things to do. That being said, it is a necessary and vital step. This means you need to take some time to think through why you are buying insurance and what you want it to do. There are different types of insurance and different types of policies that are good for one situation, but less so for another.
In general, you should start your analysis with the big versus small stuff overview. Remember, we are insuring against risk. This usually only makes sense for the big stuff in your life. The classic situation is where you buy life insurance on yourself for your spouse and kids. The risk is that something may happen to you and leave them high and dry. The insurance is a way to leverage your situation so that doesn’t happen.
On the other end of this analysis are the small things in life that may seem important, but really do not need to be insured. Renters are often encouraged to by rental insurance for their apartments. In some situations, this makes sense. In most, it does not. Statistically, renters do not tend to have high value items in their home. By high value, I mean the appraisal value, not the sentimental value. If a renter is robbed, there is going to be a loss. That being said, the premiums they will pay on a rental insurance policy are probably going to amount to more in the long run.
Ultimately, insurance is about being prepared for that day of days when the world comes crashing down. In short, we are talking about a catastrophe. If one occurred, what would you need? This is how you tailor your goals for buying insurance and where you should start.