Also, if something happens and you become uninsurable, such as a childhood cancer diagnosis, that is the ONLY way the person will ever be able to get life insurance. Life insurance is for the people you love, and being unable to get it can have serious financial ramifications for survivors.

Besides disability insurance through the job, everyone should also have an independent policy that they pay for themselves. Get one with the first job you get after school, before you become uninsurable. Pay that premium even if you go hungry at the end of the month. It will be dirt cheap if you get it in your teens or twenties, and you can’t count on being employed when you get hit by that bus. Also, the income should you collect from it is tax-free, unlike the income from an employer-provided disability insurance policy. Upgrade your coverage as your expenses mount, too.

And above all else, do NOT buy disability insurance from Unum-Provident. They are documented crooks who routinely deny coverage, or decide to cancel coverage on the flimsiest pretexts. Check out the insurer BEFORE you buy, and research the matter on how to get a good policy. It needs to be for your work, not ANY work.

Last year my dh got pneumonia. He coughed a lot and cracked a rib. Doc said no lifting for 6 weeks. His job said, must be able to lift 50 lbs., don’t come to work until you have a doctor’s release.

It turned out we had disability insurance tacked onto the employer’s health plan. We didn’t plan on it, but we certainly needed it! I was 9 months pregnant at the time and I don’t know what we’d have done without it.

And we didn’t have it to begin with because I didn’t think we needed it – dh is relatively young, no health problems, with an active lifestyle.

I’d love to see you do a series on life insurance. Particularly insurance for children – no, you don’t need to replace their income, but for a couple starting out, a small policy would pay for the funeral and leave of absence from work/getting relatives out to the funeral, etc. It seems like a good idea to me (5k or 10k).

Would you say this book applies to young singles as well? It doesn’t look to me like that advice is couple-specific…maybe just a marketing gimmick?

Thanks,

- Dave W

My car loan in 3.9%, and my mortgage is 5.75%. Friends who bought such things at nearly the same time as me through their bank are paying WAY more.

I’ve given away a lot of books, and paid the postage for them. I have a large number of credits in my account but nothing I can spend them on.

What kind of books are easily available on paperbackswap?

- Dave