Tom Murin

Comments:

• Employees get a "raise" almost every year due to health insurance costs going up since the employer pays most of it (mine pays 80 %, I believe). The total cost of their employment goes up and few employees realize it or appreciate it.

  Post: First Things First

  Link to comment from February 2, 2024

• Have you considered using an FSA (Flexible Spending Account) or HSA (Health Saving Account) for your expected out-of-pocket expenses?

  Post: My Father’s Daughter

  Link to comment from February 1, 2024

• You'd be foolish to decline UM coverage - if your state permits it. In most states it's a mandatory coverage. How much is the UM premium you're complaining about? It's usually quite inexpensive.

  Post: My Father’s Daughter

  Link to comment from February 1, 2024

• I believe you would have made an excellent economist - cost/benefit and utility analysis. Of course, these factors probably helped you greatly in your insurance career (and life in general).

  Post: When It’s Worth It

  Link to comment from January 25, 2024

• Excellent post. I'm probably 5 - 7 years from retirement and have concerns about what my purpose will be. I'm not defined by my work, but it is a large part of my life, for sure. The Tyson quote is a classic. I'll add another "A failure to plan is a plan to fail." I don't recall who said it, but it resonates.

  Post: More Than Money

  Link to comment from January 8, 2024

• "One-third of Boomers have not saved adequately for retirement,those who have the money hoard real estate, making it inaccessible for everyone else" I'm having a hard time understanding how you can place blame on those of us who saved. The real estate is "inaccessible" to those who didn't save?

  Post: Disney or Bust

  Link to comment from April 11, 2023

• To Richard's point, credit scores are used to underwrite risk/rate setting for automobile insurance. It's been proven statistically that higher credit scores are a better risk. A higher score correlates with better driving behavior. Many folks don't like this, but it's true nonetheless. I agree that it doesn't seem fair. I'm also glad that I have a high credit score. Of course, the high score didn't occur by accident.

  Post: Who’s Responsible?

  Link to comment from April 7, 2023

• I doubt a formal class would make much of a difference. You learn personal finance by observation and experience. That's Richard's point. You get a job as a teenager and understand what you have X amount to spend - so you make cost/benefit decisions. Work hard, be conscientious and reliable - and things have a way of working out. It's not by "luck" that many get ahead. You get an interest in personal finance - you read books on the subject. There are excellent sites (like HD) here on the internet.

  Post: Character Building

  Link to comment from March 12, 2023

• You have a wonderful perspective on life. Unfortunately, it's not shared by enough people in my opinion. Farming has a way of keeping people down to earth. The work has to get done. I lived in WI for a time while growing up. We were in the heart of dairy country. Hard work was the norm. That contrasted greatly with the NJ suburbs where I lived when we were not in WI. Helping friends bale hay was some of the hardest physical work I've ever done in my life.

  Post: Priceless to Me

  Link to comment from March 6, 2023

• Flood insurance will be a completely separate policy - it's not an add-on to your homeowner's policy. You should be able to obtain a policy from the same agency as your homeowner's, but the policy will almost certainly be through the federal government (FEMA-sponsored National Flood Insurance Program). There are only a few private insurance companies that sell flood insurance.

  Post: What I Don’t Own

  Link to comment from March 4, 2023