Melendez Insurance Blog

How to Age Gracefully With Your Parents and Plan for the Future

Son Giving Senior Parent Financial Advice In Home Office Have you ever read the children’s book Love You Forever, where the mother cares for her growing son until, as a grown man, the son cares for his aging mother? The story depicts a parent/child role reversal that many experience in real life. Talking about aging with parents can be difficult. But being honest about the topic is important. To help guide the conversation, here are four common concerns you may face with an aging parent and tips on how to address them. Decide on Living Arrangements Early Multi-level homes or complicated floor plans might make everyday living difficult and dangerous for aging parents. Discussing it sooner rather than later, while parents are active and not in a distressed state, can help them ease into the idea of new living arrangements like a one-story home or assisted living facility. If parents insist on staying in their current home, consider homecare and installing assistive equipment, like handrails, as needed.… Read More

What Happens If I Outlive My Term Life Insurance Policy?

In the vast majority of cases, you won’t get a payout when your term life insurance policy expires. The exception is a return of premium policy, which returns all of the money you paid over the years back to you. However, the premium is usually much higher for this option than it would be for the average term life policy. To avoid losing the premiums you’ve paid out over the years, you might consider converting your term life policy to a permanent policy like whole life or universal life. For many, life and financial circumstances might have made a term life policy the best choice in the past. Now might be the right time to change to a permanent policy. The differences between a term life and permanent life policy A term life policy tends to be more affordable, but only covers you for a specific amount of time. Policy lengths can last from as little as five years to as long as 30 years.… Read More

The Ultimate Guide to Fire Extinguishers

FireExtinguisherAfter a close call in my apartment–who knew olive oil is bad for high-heat cooking? – it dawned on me that I had never used a fire extinguisher. I’m no fire chief, but learning on the fly while your smoke detector is blaring seems like the wrong time to figure that out. Fortunately, I removed my smoking pan from the heat before anything could ignite—but the experience left me reeling. Don’t wait until the heat of the moment to wonder about fire extinguishers. Here’s what smart homeowners (and renters) need to know. Do I need a fire extinguisher? Short answer: Yes. It’s a good idea to have at least one, although many experts, like the National Fire Protection Association, recommend having a fire extinguisher on each floor. Place yours near an exit, in an easy-to-grab spot. A fire extinguisher can make a big difference in an emergency, but it can’t replace your most important safety tools: working smoke alarms and a fire escape plan.… Read More

How to Set Up a Home-Based Business Office

Homepreneure-e1376337238809There’s no denying that home-based businesses are on the rise. Right now, it’s estimated that there are 38 million home-based businesses that generate $427 billion a year in the United States. Perhaps you already have an idea for a home-based business—and maybe you’ve even thought through the risks as well as logistics like buying business insurance. If so, you’re probably focused on one of the more enjoyable aspects of your new enterprise: setting up your home- based business office. Whether you have a spacious wing of your house or simply one end of your kitchen table, it’s your space. Not sure where to start? Then read on to get some tips to set up your home-based business office. Supplies for your home-based business Set a budget and stick to it. Chances are you don’t have an abundance of funds if you’re just starting out. That’s why it’s important to create a budget and commit to it.… Read More

Why Is My Home Insured for More Than I Could Sell It For?

ReplacementValueImageWhile the market value of your home is commonly based on tax assessment records, real estate appraisals or the recent selling prices of similar homes in your neighborhood, your homeowners insurance limit is based on what it would cost to replace your home if it was completely destroyed. This is frequently a different figure from what your home could fetch on the open market. Erie Insurance uses a program called Home Cost Estimator to determine how much it would cost to rebuild a house from the ground up. “The estimator uses information about a dwelling’s characteristics to determine the estimated replacement cost,” says Terry McConnell,vice president, Personal Lines Underwriting, at Erie Insurance. “The information is pulled from several sources to come up with a very close approximation of what it would cost to reconstruct a house.” Factors affecting a home’s reconstruction value Many different factors affect how much it would cost to reconstruct a home.… Read More

Large Losses Are a Threat to Every Business

UmbrellaPolicyMany trends in today’s business world are exciting and encouraging. Unfortunately, the number of lawsuits and high-dollar awards in liability cases are not one of those positive trends. Here are a few recent news headlines from around the country: Pennsylvania hotel sued for concussion from shower slip. Fatal two-truck accident case in New York results in $3.97 million settlement. Virginia victims get settlement checks (about $9 million) over toxic drywall. There’s no way to prevent lawsuits like these entirely, but you can manage the impact. A business catastrophe liability policy serves as financial protection, or a cushion, against a legal judgment for a covered loss, beyond the limits of your underlying insurance policies. A business catastrophe liability policy functions in a similar fashion to a personal catastrophe liability policy.  Personal catastrophe liability —commonly known as “umbrella” – coverage can provide an extra layer of liability protection over and above your auto and homeowners policies in the event that a covered claim is made against you (or a covered family member).… Read More

Use Just a Tiny Percent of What You Already Spend to Protect Your Kids

LifeInsForKidsDo you know how much it takes to raise a child these days? Are you sitting down?That would be almost a quarter of a million dollars.  It costs $245,000 to raise a child born in 2013 until they hit 18, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. This is not about a luxury upbringing. This is no Kardashian-esque baby outfitted in cashmere onesies. This is not about a privileged college education, because these numbers do not include the cost of college. That’s extra. Add on about $18,000 a year for public and $41,000 a year for private college. This number—$245,000—is a place to live, food, clothes, health care…the basics. You’re here to take care of these expenses now. But what happens if something were to happen to you? If an average middle-income family is spending around $13,000 a year on their child,that money would have to come from somewhere. That’s where life insurance comes in.… Read More

How to Insure Fine Art

InsuringArtMost of us will never own a Picasso or a Rembrandt. But we may own (or someday own) a pricey piece of art. And that brings up the issue of how to insure fine art. When you think of separately insuring a pricey item, many people think of engagement rings and other kinds of jewelry. But extra coverage can also come in handy for anything from a valuable stamp collection to an expensive fur to—you guessed it—fine art. Typically, your art coverage is included in your personal property limit on your homeowners policy or renters policy. That should be sufficient for the vast majority of people who own fine art. Yet maybe you inherited or bought a piece by a real master. If that’s the case, you’ll want to consider a separate endorsement for your fine art. Even if your fine art is covered under your homeowners or renters policy, you may still want to endorse it under your policy.… Read More

Five Common Tax Breaks for Business Owners

tax-breaks-for-business-ownersMany people today are enjoying the benefits of being their own boss and running their own company. According to the U.S. Census, there are currently more than 5 million companies with fewer than 20 people actively operating in this country. Whether you freelance or you have created a company that employs others, you can take advantage of a variety of tax deductions on your business income. Owners of large corporations have accountants and tax experts working for them, but many small-business owners and freelancers cannot afford that added expense. If you complete your tax returns on your own each year, make sure that you are aware of the tax deductions you can use to save. Some of the most common business deductions are listed below. Home office According to Entrepreneur Magazine, approximately 52 percent of all businesses in America are operated out of the business owners’ homes. The home office deduction, therefore, is one that may be useful to many.… Read More

What Road Salt Does to Your Car

roadsaltdoestocarThe Chicago Winter is here. And with it comes difficult driving conditions like whiteouts and black ice. Road salt definitely helps makes the roads safer. A study conducted by Marquette University found that de-icing winter roads with salt reduces accidents by 88 percent and injuries by 85 percent. Each year, state and local agencies spend more than $2.3 billion on snow and ice control operations. Yet there are some definite downsides to road salt when it comes to your car. Read on to learn exactly how road salt works—and what road salt does to your car. How road salt works Salt—a.k.a. sodium chloride in scientific terms—lowers the melting point of water. So while water normally freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, water needs colder temperatures in order to freeze when it’s exposed to salt. The more salt you add, the lower the temperature needed to freeze water is. The water that results after salt is applied to ice is known as “brine.”… Read More