For over 20 years I have worked personally with Dave Ramsey, his listeners and team members to help them make important and informed decisions about their insurance needs and the most cost effective ways to address them. Through the years I have responded to over 10,000 of Dave’s listeners regarding their insurance questions.
This blog contains many of the most frequent questions and answers since they provide an excellent resource to Dave's specific advice on very specific insurance questions. I hope you find this information to be a valuable resource that you can refer to many times in the future as you progress along your financial path. Click on the category noted which relates to your question so that you can see the posting currently available. If you do not see your question or still have concerns please don't hesitate to use the "Question Widget" noted on this site for further information or call us toll free at (800) 356-4282.
Many people are surprised that the advice from Dave and I doesn’t always involve the purchase of insurance as the only alternative. Insurance is a key component of any family's financial plan but it can also be a drain and a detriment if the wrong plans are purchased. Implementing the plans and approaches that Dave and I recommend, most importantly, the establishment of an emergency fund, will help reduce a families overall insurance costs and allow them to focus their dollars on more important things such as getting out of debt and growing wealth.
Many disability insurance companies place limits on the coverages they will offer to applicants based on their age and occupation. Regardless of your age, Dave Ramsey recommends first checking with your employer to see if a group plan is available. Bear in mind that, even through a group plan, there will likely still be limited coverage available if you are over age 60 since most plans only pay benefits to age 65, which is still considered normal retirement age for actuarial purposes. Therefore, if you do purchase a new disability policy beyond age 60, most plans will only pay benefits if you become disabled up to age 65; after that, it is usually only for one or two years.
Our office is located in Nashville, TN, and we serve all of Dave’s listeners across the country from that location. We are licensed to provide all insurance services in all fifty states and, for over 20 years, have provided our clients with a selection of plans that is broader and more expansive than local neighborhood agencies while still offering accountability and personalized service.
No matter where you reside, you can compare rates online right here on our website, or call us toll-free for personalized assistance from one of our knowledgeable Guides.
When a child is added to a Family plan with Zander, they will receive the same benefits offered to their parents up to the age of 18. After that point, they are still eligible for lost wallet protection, restoration and recovery services until age 26 as long as they can still be claimed as a dependent by their parents.
Federal law restricts our ability to offer personal information monitoring for those over the age of 18 without their consent. However, the child would have the option to enroll in an individual plan on their own, allowing them to take advantage of the full breadth of our services.
Home title fraud is a prevalent and terrifying form of identity theft. Cyber thieves target homeowners by scouring electronic records for homes that have accrued equity, then file the paperwork to change the ownership of the home to themselves. They can then use your equity to take out large personal loans in your name – they can even sell your home without your knowledge. Most people are not aware that title theft has occurred until they receive a foreclosure notice in the mail.
Zander Identity Theft Solutions covers all types of identity theft, including home title fraud, and now offers home title monitoring as part of our Elite plan. This proactive monitoring alerts you to any suspicious activity involving your home’s title, helping you detect and stop fraud before it escalates. While other plans may offer protection against home title fraud specifically, there’s no need to purchase a separate program. If you are a victim of home title fraud and are a Zander ID Theft Solutions member, our restoration and recovery agents will work to restore your identity to its pre-theft status, ensuring full support every step of the way.
The primary function of a credit freeze is to stop any access to your credit report, which can be a very valuable tool to help protect you from identity theft. However, while they might seem like an ideal way to combat identity theft, it is not comprehensive enough to serve as your only line of defense.
Your credit is accessed (for legitimate reasons) more often than you probably think. If you place a freeze on your credit report, then every time you sign up for utilities, activate new cell phone service, or apply for insurance, you will have to “unfreeze” your credit, which could take up to 48 hours. Then you have to go through the trouble of placing the freeze again after each transaction. It’s not exactly a convenient process.
Aside from the trouble of repeatedly placing and removing these freezes, the risk of identity theft goes far beyond credit. Thieves are always finding new ways to exploit your information in unique and terrifying ways, through medical ID theft, employment fraud, utilities fraud, Social Security fraud, and more. None of these types of fraud are credit-related and would therefore not be thwarted by a credit freeze.
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, and serves as a reminder to make sure you have the right life insurance coverage to ensure your loved ones are protected if something were to happen to you.
Studies show many Americans are woefully uninsured. According to the 2019 Life Insurance Barometer Study, 43 percent of households do not have life insurance. Tragedy can strike in many forms and without a moment’s notice. Leaving yourself and your family uninsured and unprotected only compounds the profound loss of a loved one.
Andrea Pirtle of Nashville experienced this firsthand when tragedy struck her family. When her son was just five weeks old, Andrea’s husband passed away suddenly with no life insurance. As a newly single-income household, Andrea was left to face not only the heartbreak of that devastating loss, but also the overwhelming expenses of her husband’s funeral, medical expenses, costs associated with raising a child, their ongoing house payments, and more. The combination of this emotional and financial stress was debilitating, which is why Andrea now champions the importance of life insurance in protecting your loved ones.
Assessing your life insurance needs is a small investment of time to prevent months and possibly years of unnecessary struggle for your loved ones Your policy needs may change over time – a checkup every few years is worth the time. Your life insurance policy should provide the financial amount your family would need to supplement the loss of your salary –– keeping in mind mortgage payments, any outstanding debts, and potential future expenses such as funeral and college. Make sure you are choosing a policy that gives you the lowest rate for the coverage you need. The best way to do this is by comparing quotes.
This Life Insurance Awareness Month, take a moment to ask yourself––if something were to happen to you, is your family protected? If your answer is no, it’s time to decide today to guarantee you and your loved ones a better, safer and more peaceful tomorrow.
Learn more about our 2019 Life Lessons Scholarship winner, Taylor Collins.
September is Life Insurance Awareness Month, and a good time to make sure you have the right coverage to ensure your loved ones are protected.
Studies continue to show many Americans are woefully uninsured. According to the Life Insurance and Market Research Association (LIMRA), 30 percent of households––roughly 37.5 million people––do not have life insurance, and approximately 50 million households recognize they need more life insurance.
Tragedy can strike in many forms and without a moment’s notice. Leaving yourself and your family uninsured and unprotected only compounds the profound loss of a loved one.
Andrea Pirtle in Nashville came to this very realization when tragedy struck her family. When her son was just five weeks old, Andrea’s husband passed away suddenly with no life insurance. As a newly single-income household, Andrea was left to face not only the heartbreak of that devastating loss but also the overwhelming expenses of her husband’s funeral, the medical expenses, costs associated with raising a child, their ongoing house payments, and more. The combination of this emotional and financial stress was debilitating, and Andrea now champions the importance of life insurance in protecting your loved ones.
Assessing your life insurance needs is a small investment of time to prevent months and possibly years of unnecessary struggle for your loved ones.
Depending on your life stage, your life insurance policy needs may change over time. A checkup every few years is worth the time.
Your life insurance policy should provide the financial amount your family would need to supplement the loss of your salary––keeping in mind mortgage payments, any outstanding debts and future needs like funeral and college costs. Shop around for rates––don’t stop with the first quote you receive but compare options to make sure you are choosing a policy that gives you the lowest rate for the coverage you need.
This Life Insurance Awareness Month, take a moment to ask yourself––if something were to happen to you, is your family protected? If your answer is no, it’s time to decide today to guarantee you and your loved ones a better, safer and more peaceful tomorrow.
For more information, visit our term life insurance web page.
The SDIR acts as an offset and actually helps reduce your cost, taking part of your benefit amount and discounting the cost since it will integrate with social programs such as social security and workers’ compensation. If you qualify for payment under a social plan, the insurance company will reduce the amount paid to you by the amount of monthly benefit you receive from the social program. For example, let’s say you have a disability benefit of $7,200 and $1,800 with your SDIR. You are guaranteed to get the total monthly benefit of $9,000, but the $1,800 SDIR may not all come from the insurance company. If you receive social security or workers’ comp payments, your rider will simply “top off” those payments to get you to $1,800 in benefit. The real advantage is that, even if you don’t receive social security or workers’ comp for your disability, you will still get that entire $1,800 SDIR benefit in addition to the $7,200 disability benefit.
Long-term disability (LTD) is a crucial part of your overall insurance plan, and many companies will try and load you up with benefits since they sell one product at a time and do not take an overall view of your financial strategy. Dave recommends that you have a quality LTD plan without overspending on it, since it that would dilute your ability to pay down debt and grow your savings. You also need to remember that the chances you’ll ever be out of work due to disability is still limited, so it is important to balance the expense with other priorities, such as term life insurance, health insurance, retirement planning, etc.
The own-occupation rider is a nice benefit to have, but not crucial depending on your line of work and budget. Many people who work in non-specialty fields overpay for this benefit since there are few disabilities (outside of the most severe) that would limit you from performing the principal duties of most occupations. This rider was primarily marketed to specialty physicians when it was introduced, and the experience has gone poorly for the insurance companies.
With Zander, the own-occupation rider is offered as an optional benefit; Dave typically only recommends it based on the room in your budget and where you are in the Baby Steps. However, Dave would not recommend spending money on it if you do not have your emergency fund established and are still struggling with debt – it is not a priority over those issues. With older policies, the own-occupation rider may already be included. If this is the case for you, unless you are finding a plan with similar coverage or your budget has gotten really tight and you need to remove the rider to fund other priorities, consider keeping what you have.
The combination of life and long-term care insurance policies is sometimes referred to as a “hybrid policy.” These are created by purchasing a cash value life insurance policy and a rider that allows the cash value of the policy to be used for long-term care (LTC) expenses. Conceptually, and from a sales perspective, these hybrid plans seem to make sense. Looking more closely, however, there are serious flaws. First and foremost: the life insurance plan that these additional coverages are coupled with are cash value type policies such as whole or universal life. Dave is adamantly against these types of plans, and coupling them with an LTC benefit does not increase their appeal. In most cases, these added benefits are inferior to plans you can purchase independently and are simply not worth the risk. Many of the LTC benefits in a hybrid plan are limited to either the amount of benefit paid, the types of services covered, or the length of benefit period.
Both types of protection are important enough to warrant their own policies. Dave recommends that you buy a term life insurance policy right away if you have debt that your estate cannot pay and/or if your death would put your family’s financial well-being at risk. As you attack debt and grow savings, you are actually reducing – and, eventually, eliminating – your need for life insurance. Your need for long-term care insurance, on the other hand, is increasing during this time. Incurring an expense for life insurance when it’s no longer needed so you can keep your long-term care protection makes no sense! In short – you need life insurance and long-term care insurance at different points in your life, and getting them combined is an expense you just don’t need.
Get more information on long-term care insurance or get a free, instant term life insurance quote.