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We are living in an almost fully digital world and it’s becoming more of a challenge to protect yourself online. In order to protect your personal data against the growing identity thieves, it’s important to take steps to minimize your odds of being victimized. The overall goal with these steps is to build as many effective obstacles and tripwires are possible with your personal data. This type of strategy is bound to frustrate and discourage identity thieves that are attempting to access your information. This will lead them to either give up entirely or look for another target whose data is easier to obtain. 

Steps to Protect Yourself

• Set-Up Passwords
  • Passwords are needed to protect your data. Not having a password on your computer or smartphone – and on all financial accounts, too – is akin to leaving your home with the door wide open.
• Mix Up Your Passwords
  • Mix up your passwords in order to keep intruders from getting into additional accounts of yours that use the same passwords. Don’t include your name or your birthday in any passwords.
• Stay Away From Shady Websites and Links
  • If you suspect a link isn’t legitimate, don’t click on it, and never type in your username or password on an unfamiliar login screen.
• Never Give Out Personal Information
  • No legitimate organization (such as the IRS) will call and ask you for personal information—like a bank or credit card PIN number or Social Security number.
• Establish Fraud Alerts if Needed
  • With fraud alerts, financial services, or data security companies normally text or place a phone call to consumers if there is a suspected security breach or if spending on a card or account doesn’t match up with your habits or recent location.
• Limit Your Exposure
  • Limit the number of credit cards you carry in your wallet, so if it’s stolen you can minimize the impact.

Takeaway

It’s important to never take the security of your personal data for granted. Identity thieves are always out there and ready to strike whenever the opportunity presents itself. They will always aim for those who are labeled as unprepared and most vulnerable because this is where they see gold. Ultimately, it is up to the user to stop identity theft from occurring. 

Want to add identity theft insurance to your coverages? Reach out to your local agent to find out more. 

Halloween is a special day of the year that many people young and old get excited about. However, Halloween poses more dangers than scary masks and fake blood, so you need to stay safe and protect what you care about. Here are some useful tips for staying safe, having fun, and avoiding insurance claims!

Safety When Driving on Halloween Night

It’s a given that you need to be more vigilant and pay attention to your surroundings when driving at night. Threats ahead are more difficult to see, and incidents like wildlife running into the road can happen suddenly. But on Halloween, there is more than just wild animals walking along the roads. First, depending on where you are driving there may be trick-or-treaters out for a stroll. There could also be teenagers getting up to no good, playing pranks or hanging out in wooded areas. Even if you are driving on an empty road or in a place with no houses around, remain on alert.

Young adults and adults celebrate Halloween, too, and drunk drivers are another threat to look out for when you are driving on Halloween night. Scan the road for anyone who is driving erratically, and do not be afraid to place a call to a non-emergency phone line.

You do not want a night that’s supposed to be full of spooky fun to turn into a real life nightmare, where you have to make an unfortunate auto claim. However, in the event of an accident, remember your agent is only a call away. Calling your insurance agent is one of the first things you want to do after an accident occurs.

Trick-or-treating Safety

If you’ll be spending Halloween with your children, there are some important safety precautions you can take to ensure you have a fun yet enjoyable holiday. If your children will be trick-or-treating in yours or a friend’s neighborhood, make sure you and/or another adult are present at all times. Gone are the days that kids can just be turned loose to get candy from strangers’ homes. Even if your children are older, it’s still risky to let them walk alone – especially on Halloween when predators may be more likely to be out.

If you wish to be extra precautious, you can have your children’s candy scanned at your local police department – to make sure there are no harmful objects or substances inside the pieces. Even if you don’t go this far, still glance over your child’s bag of candy before letting them begin eating. If you see any candy wrappers that look damaged or otherwise off in any way, it’s safest to simply throw the candy away.

If you’ll be passing out candy from your home, make sure all walkways and steps are clean and well-lit. Children may get excited when there’s a bowl of candy ahead, and it’s possible they could trip and fall and get hurt if the path to your door is dark or has debris. Avoid a potential insurance claim by ensuring your home is safe for little monsters and witches to visit.

Staying in on Halloween

If you are spending Halloween at home and do not have any children around, there are still some safety precautions you can take. If you have pets, keep them inside for their safety. There may be strangers who want to harm them in the name of Halloween, but they could also just get frightened by the commotion and run off. You also need to protect your home and possessions. Make sure your garage is securely shut, or if you leave your vehicle outside, that its doors are locked and any enticing electronics or other personal items are taken inside the house. Double check that your home’s doors are locked, even if you plan to stay in all evening. Thieves and vandals often take advantage of the Halloween commotion to perform their nefarious deeds. If something happens, you have insurance in place to protect you, but you certainly don’t want to have to use it, so take proper precautions on the 31st.

No matter what you’re doing this Halloween, you can stay safe and avoid having to make a claim. But if you need us, our agency is only a phone call or email away!

Home inspections are a visual assessment of a home’s physical structure and mechanical systems. This includes the roof, ceiling, walls, floors, windows, and doors. The home inspector has a list of items to go through while checking the home. They will typically check if major appliances remain functional, check the heating and air-conditioning system, look over the plumbing and electrical system throughout the home, and look around the attic and basement areas if the home has them. 

The overall goal of the home inspection is to uncover any underlying issues that may not be presentable to the naked eye. Inspectors will not tell you if you are getting a good deal or offer an opinion in regard to the sale price of the home. 

Exterior Inspection May Include:

• Chimney
• Roof
• Gutters
• Exterior Surfaces (brick, vinyl, etc.)
• Windows and Doors
• Foundation
• Property

Interior Inspection May Include:

• Attic
• Bedrooms, Living Rooms, and Dining Room
• Bathrooms
• Kitchens
• Ceilings, Floors, and Walls
• Fireplace
• Basement/Foundation

The Report

The home inspector will provide an extensive report back to you. These types of reports will contain checklists, summaries, photographs, and notes. There may be an estimate of the remaining life span of major systems and equipment throughout the home, as well as the roof, structure, paint, and finishes. The information listed will include recommendations on repair and replacements for the home. Keep in mind that a home inspection is not a pass-fail exam.

Looking to invest in home insurance? Reach out to your local agent for more information!

The first step in planning your retirement is thinking about retirement goals and how long you have to meet those goals. Next on the list is to look at the different types of retirement accounts that are available for you to help accumulate the money needed to fund your future. As this money is saved, you will need to invest in it to see it grow. Unfortunately, there is a surprise that no one likes: taxes. If you’ve received tax deductions over the years for the money you’ve contributed to your retirement accounts, a significant tax bill awaits when you start withdrawing those savings. 

Timing Your Retirement

The best way to time out your retirement is to break it up into different components. A multi-stage retirement plan must integrate various time horizons, along with the corresponding liquidity needs, to determine the optimal allocation strategy. As a general note, rebalancing your portfolio over time as your time horizon changes will be beneficial. As an example we could say that a parent is wanting to retire in two years, pay for their child’s tuition when they turn 18, and move to Florida. Looking at this scenario to form a retirement plan – the best strategy would be broken up into three separate periods. Two years until retirement (contributions are actively being made to the plan), saving and paying for tuition fees, and the move to Florida (regular withdrawals to cover the living expenses). 

After-Tax Rate of Investment Returns

Everything is always dependent on the type of retirement account you are holding. Investment returns are typically taxed, but this could be different depending on the retirement account held. The actual rate of return must be calculated on an after-tax basis. Determining the tax status when you begin to withdraw funds is a crucial component of the retirement-planning process. 

Estate Planning

Another key step in creating a well-rounded retirement plan is estate planning. Each aspect of a well-rounded retirement plan requires expertise from multiple sources, such as lawyers and accountants, in that specific field. Life insurance is also an important part of an estate plan and the retirement-planning process. Ensuring that you have both life insurance and a proper estate plan protects your assets from being distributed properly. A carefully outlined plan will aid in avoiding an expensive and often lengthy probate process. 

Need to know more about making your retirement plan? Reach out to your local agent today to learn more. 

If you know the dangers of distracted driving, you avoid it. However as many of us know, you can’t control the actions of other people on the road. Here are a few useful tips for spotting – and avoiding – distracted drivers around you.

If You See a Driver Holding a Device, Get Away

Although in many states it is illegal to use handheld devices while driving, people will still do it anyway and make no effort to hide it. These people may have a phone held in front of their face, or they could be looking down. In either case it isn’t difficult to spot this distracted driver. If you see someone engaging in this kind of behavior in a car near you, the best thing to do is safely figure out how to get away. This could mean slowing down, changing lanes, or any other maneuver you feel you can safely perform. Do not let the distracted driver distract you, but do remove yourself from their path.

Watch for Swerving, Pausing, and Sudden Braking

You’re driving along and the car in front of you begins to waver back and forth across the lines. It could be accidental, but it is likely a sign of a distracted driver. It’s incredibly important to always leave plenty of space between your car and other cars, since the situation can turn dangerous in an instant if a car you’re too close to has a mishap. Similarly, be on the lookout for any car that lags behind after the light turns green. This is typically a sign that the driver’s eyes are not on the road, and this is a car you will want to avoid. Another common sign is if a car brakes suddenly to avoid hitting the car in front of them. This means they weren’t looking and did not notice the other cars slowing down. It can be difficult to avoid being rear ended by one of these distracted drivers, but always be on the lookout.

Practice and Encourage Distracted Driving Awareness

According to the CDC, nine people every day are killed in motor vehicle accidents involving distracted driving. Talk to your friends and family members (not just your children because adults drive distracted, too) about the dangers of distracted driving and how anyone can spot and avoid it on the road. Set an example for others by modeling safe driving practices yourself. You never know what can happen in a single instant. 

With the cooler months slowly setting in, parts of the country are going to start seeing the first traces of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and ice forming over the roads. This can create added challenges to our daily lives, the most important being safe car operation. You can increase your driving safety during these months by doing a few simple things. We have listed a few of these strategies below so you can keep yourself and your family safe when winter weather becomes a problem. 

All in One: Service at an Auto Shop

Before any harsh winter conditions startup, it’s important to have your vehicle serviced to be fully prepared for what the weather can bring. Below is a list of important items to have properly serviced to help your vehicle run at its full capacity. 

• Battery – Battery power decreases as the temperature drops, meaning that it takes more power to start your car in the winter.
• Cooling system – It is recommended to maintain a ratio between 50/50 and 70/30 of antifreeze to water. 
• Brakes – Cold weather doesn’t necessarily hurt your brakes, but a thorough inspection can ensure the best performance when driving in winter conditions.
• Belts, hoses, spark plugs, wires, and cables – These can go bad at any time of year, but if they go bad during the winter you could be stranded in a very cold place for a very long time.

Winter Tires 

The climate of your city can affect your need for winter tires. If you live in an area that does not experience harsh winters, keeping or investing in all-season tires will help you just fine! If you do live somewhere that experiences harsh winters often, it is in your best interest to invest in winter tires to handle all the terrain challenges that come with the new weather wave. In addition to the snow, sleet, and freezing rain, when the temperature is consistently hovering around or below freezing the rubber compounds in non-winter tires will harden, which decreases the tire’s ability to grip the road. This is why winter tires are so beneficial to those who live in areas that are heavily affected by winter weather. Winter tires use special compounds engineered to resist hardening in cold temperatures, which provide better traction in ice, snow, slush, and even dry pavement. 

Pack a Winter Safety Kit

It is important to also have a “winter safety kit” in your vehicle at all times during the winter. If something goes astray or you experience an issue, having these items could help you in a pinch. 

• First aid kit
• Pack of matches
• Flares
• Flashlight 
• Batteries
• Ice scraper
• Warm clothing (jacket, boots, socks, and hat)
• Non-perishable food and drinks
• Jumper cables
• Bag of sand
• Shovel
• Cellphone
• Car tool kit
• Extra antifreeze

If you are interested in learning more about insuring your vehicle, reach out to your local agent today.

As Halloween approaches, people everywhere are beginning to decorate their houses and front yards as haunted mansions and deserted graveyards. While it is easy to go all out (because who doesn’t love spooky Halloween decorations?), it is important to consider potential safety threats that exist when using significant amounts of electricity to power your decorations. Consider these 5 safety tips as you decorate for this Halloween.

Do Not Exceed Electricity Limitations

It is important to be aware of how much electricity your decorations are using in total and compare that to your home’s circuit breaker limitations. If you overload your home’s electricity, you could cause a power outage or worse, a power surge that could permanently damage your home’s appliances.

Use LED Lights Whenever Possible

While other types of bulbs are not always inherently dangerous, LED light bulbs present the lowest risk of fires because they produce very little heat. Not only this, but LED lights draw power more efficiently than other bulbs and are far less likely to overload an outlet because of that. Furthermore, they are more suitable for outdoor use and last significantly longer than their counterparts.

Only Use Outdoor Decorations Outside

While this might seem obvious, you might be surprised to find that a particular decoration is not recommended for outdoor use. The reason behind this is that an electronic component of a decoration could become damaged by water or wildlife. In the worst-case scenario, this could cause an electrical fire. Before you use any electronic decoration outside, always check the warning labels.

“Child-Proof” Interior Decorations

If you have children, expect that they will try to play with any decoration you have on the inside of your home. Toddlers present a great risk of electrocution because of their tendency to chew on things. Do not leave electrical decorations in places that your child could reach them in order to prevent harm to them. This same principle goes for pets such as dogs or cats.

Make Sure You’re Covered

Even with all of these precautions taken, a disaster can happen in a matter of seconds with unknown causes. It is important that you are protected financially in the event of an electrical fire destroying your home or a power surge ruining your appliances. With Homeowners Insurance, the burden of repair costs on your home in the event of a disaster is lifted. Even if you lose your home, with the right homeowners insurance plan, you rest knowing that you’ll be taken care of. 

So as you plan for the upcoming holiday, consider these five tips to keep you and your loved ones safe during “Spooky Season.”

When you’re a first time home buyer, you might be expecting the process to be more glamorous and exciting than it is in reality. Now, buying your first home is certainly an exciting event, but glamorous? Last time we checked, there wasn’t much glamor about paperwork… If you’re like most people, you will work with a mortgage lender to purchase your new home. Therefore the process of closing on your home will involve an almost overwhelming amount of paperwork and finances, but this is a good thing. It ensures that your investment is made with all the right t’s crossed and i’s dotted. However there is one important thing you must do before you can close on your home, and that’s purchasing homeowners insurance.

Why Homeowners Insurance?

Would it surprise you to learn that purchasing homeowners insurance coverage is a requirement for closing on a home, if you finance through a lender? That’s right. Lenders require you to have home insurance for at least a year in order to allow you to close on your home. The thinking behind this is that by lending you the funds to buy a house, your lender needs an assurance from you that they are not going to suffer a huge loss if something happens to your new home. You see, that new home is an investment for both you and your lender, and when left uninsured, your home is a huge liability for your lender. This is why they usually will not agree to giving you a loan until you have proved that you have homeowners insurance in place.

What Will You Need to Bring?

It is common practice for lenders to ask you to bring your homeowners insurance binder with you to the closing meeting. The binder acts as definitive proof from your insurer that your home and its contents are covered under a policy. Some lenders may accept a photocopy of your insurance documents or a letter from your insurer.

How Do You Know Which Insurer to Choose?

This is where the assistance of an independent insurance agent is invaluable. Just like shopping around for a mortgage lender is a smart idea, shopping around for the best homeowners insurance is also a smart practice. But with your busy life, you probably don’t have time to shop the insurance market. Work with a dedicated independent insurance agent, and they will shop the market for you to find the best policy and most competitive rates.

Many American families consume sugary drinks like soda, energy drinks, sweetened coffee, or fruit juice on a daily basis but do not fully realize the effects these beverages have on their health. In addition to contributing to weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and increasing the risk of heart disease, drinking sugary drinks also has detrimental consequences for your dental health. 

What Makes Sugary Drinks So Harmful? 

Beverages like soda—considered the most harmful of sugary drinks—include acids such as phosphoric acid, carbonic acid, and citric acid among their top ingredients. Your mouth naturally contains harmful bacteria that interact with the sugars you consume and produce acid as a result. This acid is harmful to your teeth on its own, but once you add to that the acids found in sugary drinks, the result is an even greater risk of dental damage like enamel erosion and cavities. 

You might think diet or sugar-free drinks are a better choice since they contain little to no sugar. However acid is the key factor here, and diet drinks are still high in acids that can have damaging effects on your teeth.

It’s not just soft drinks that are harmful to teeth. Beverages with high sugar content such as fruit juice or sports drinks still interact with the mouth’s bacteria to produce damaging acids. This means that even if they don’t drink soda, your children can still be at risk for dental damage caused by acid. 

What Can Happen to Your Teeth?

Many people are aware of the negative health effects of regularly drinking sugary beverages, but even casual consumption of these drinks can cause lasting damage to your teeth. Two of the most common dental issues that arise from this habit are enamel erosion and cavities. 

Enamel Erosion

Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, but it can still be damaged. Remember those acids we just talked about? Here’s where they come into play. Both the acid created by your mouth’s bacteria and the acid found in sugar-filled drinks erode the enamel on your teeth. Enamel is the protective layer on the outside of your teeth, so the loss of it leads them to become weaker, thinner, and more susceptible to tooth decay. Some symptoms of enamel erosion include sensitivity to hot or cold foods and discoloration on the teeth. Once it is damaged, tooth enamel cannot be restored.

Cavities

As the enamel erodes it can expose the inner layer of the teeth, called dentin. While this exposure is painful on its own, it also leads to the creation of cavities. Cavities are often difficult to detect in their early stages but once they progress, signs include pain or sensitivity, dark stains, and even holes in the teeth. 

Dental Insurance Offers Protection

If you are concerned that your consumption of sugary drinks has caused conditions like enamel erosion or tooth decay, you need to visit your dentist immediately before the problem progresses – and put down the soda! With great dental insurance, you don’t have to worry about the effect that going to the dentist will have on your bank account. Many people’s employers offer dental coverage, but if yours does not, a private plan is an excellent option. Reach out to your agent today to learn more.

Trying to pinpoint the best time to buy a car can be a little tricky because the timing all completely depends. Depends on what? The market for cars isn’t a written guideline and trying to determine the perfect time to buy will depend on who you ask and when. When beginning your search, it’s a good idea to consider your current own financial situation, budget, and your needs or wants before you choose to buy a new vehicle. Below we’ve pulled together a small list of timeframes when it would be beneficial to look at purchasing your next vehicle.

Day of the Week

Did you know that Mondays are considered the best day to buy a car? Many of the other potential care shoppers will be focused on the responsibilities of their jobs. What does this mean for you? This allows you to have a full look over all of the available cars without the potential for the one you want to be sold while you are still shopping. This also means that the representative at the dealership will give their sole attention to you while you browse.

The End of the Month

Typically, dealerships will set goals to sell a certain amount of cars on their lot per month. If a dealership has yet to hit their sales quota for the month, this may lead the dealership to push their teams for a sale. This gives you a little more room to negotiate on a vehicle by shopping at the end of the month.

The End of the Year

According to the Kelley Blue Book (KBB), often dealerships offer their best deals for car sales at the end of the calendar year. This is why we tend to see so many advertisements shown at the end of the year. Car dealerships prefer to have a smaller inventory of older model cars as they go into the new year. This is a typical practice since the dealerships need to meet their yearly goals.

Shop During a Holiday Weekend

Holidays sales are done quite often by car dealerships. This tends to translate into bigger savings when you buy a car over a holiday weekend. Car dealerships tend to offer higher rebates or limited time financing during these types of sales. The most popular holiday sales are usually Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Black Friday, New Year’s Eve, and Labor Day.

If you are looking to buy a new car soon, it may be time to look at your current auto coverages and see if you could update or add to your policies. Schedule an appointment with your local agent and see what auto options are available.