Do You Save Money With A Purpose?

By Nick Bautista

Saving is a really great thing. Most people have trouble saving their money because it’s delayed gratification. But, if this first step is hard, the second can be equally so; saving for a goal.  Setting the saving goal can also be the worst offense, as we save to save. You know who you are…. You put your money in the bank and never spend it. If you ever do spend it, it will usually be impulsive because you didn’t know what you were saving for.

The point of saving, is to save for a purpose. Let me preface this first, I used to be like this. I was raised to just save money for the sheer comfort that if something I wanted came up I could buy it. Nine out of 10 times it wasn’t something that I intended to buy, because it was an impulse purchase. I would literally search for things to buy because I had money saved up with no purpose.  A very terrible thing in hindsight.

I never thought about saving for a purpose until I was in my twenties. I realized the money I had saved as a kid, which I still had, actually lost value. I put it in a savings account because my money would be safe and grow. Let’s just say inflation won that battle and I now decide with my wife what each penny is being saved for so I can maximize the value in different ways. We sit down and define our goals either by ourselves or with the help of a financial advisor. Sometimes outside perspective give us new ways to look at things and more importantly how to be efficient for what we intend to save for. Once we started saving for a purpose, the goals became real and gave us incentive to be consistent with our savings.

So I urge you, develop a purpose for why you are saving. Is it for a house down payment, a new car or your retirement? It could even be small scale items, a new TV, a new shirt, date nights or whatever it is you enjoy. Without an end goal in mind we lose focus and either stop saving or forget what it was we wanted.
For simplicity sake, think of a goal, save for it and then do it!

Why Buying Life Insurance at A Young Age May Not Be Practical

By Nick Bautista 

You gotta love the insurance industry. Young life insurance agents going out trying to sell life insurance to young professionals. New agents who pass a simple exam giving advice with no prior experience. Sure there are many who need life insurance but at an age (younger than 30) when young professionals are barely making a living there are more practical things that need attention, just a few include; trying to pay off student debt, saving for a house, and building an emergency fund.

Although there are many reasons most young professionals don’t need life insurance there are 3 circumstances where it might make sense for you:

1. A Personal need – Funeral expenses, so others around you don’t suffer to come up the funds in case you were to die. The average cost of a funeral is $7,000 (nfda.org).

2. Family/Our dependents – Living expenses, would be education savings and would be retirement savings/income. How much do they need if something were to happen to you? Could they live comfortably or will your dependents need to work an extra job to cover expenses and have the same lifestyle they were living?

3. Business needs – You can’t leave your partner out of luck if something were to happen to you. Consider setting up a plan for insurance on each other so he can at least get back what he invested in the company.

If you do have any of the above, then you can find some help from an independent agent and look at how much you can afford. This will be a big factor into the types of life insurance products you should purchase. It is not advisable to go to anyone who is paid to sell you one specific product.

If you are young, not married and have no dependents, then investing your money on life insurance may not be appropriate. Instead, you might consider saving your money for more practical things like, retirement or that first house you’ve wanted. Your money may be better spent in other ways.

3 Reasons Why I’m An Insurance Agent Who Dislikes Insurance Agents

By Nick Bautista

I’ve heard the pitch a hundred times and seen firsthand why we can get a bad name. “I can provide the best service along with competitive prices. Not only will I always be there for you but you can count on me, here’s my cell number. It’s guaranteed, or this is the best price around.” These lame attempts share these three things in common:

1. Pushy – Agents constantly press you to buy something you still don’t completely understand. Most agents aren’t independent and can only offer products from their provider. For example, think about if you only went to Verizon to look at your options for a new cell phone contract. Would you look into At&t or Sprint to see your options, compare coverage and price? Or would you just make a blind decision without shopping around and go with Verizon?

What to do: Ask your agent what other options are available. If he continues to pitch one or the same product then find someone else.

2. Ignorant – As an insurance agent I see other agents selling products that make no sense. They are ignorant to the fact that the products they are encouraged to sell (from top management) are not what is best for you, the client. As consumers don’t know any better and are forced to blindly trust the agent is using his/her judgment to recommend a good product it can leave them in a bad position.

What to do: Ask the agent why he is recommending this product. If it sounds confusing find someone else, period. If it sounds too good to be true find someone else. A good insurance agent should be able to explain things in terms you understand.

3. Talkers – My biggest pet peeve are agents who don’t listen to you. They don’t address your concerns or questions. They are really just about the sale and continue to talk over you or never ask if you understand what they are recommending. Once the sale is closed they completely leave you hanging. It’s more about them showing how smart they are rather than listening to your needs or concerns.

What to do: Definitely find someone else. No need to ask anymore questions, if your agent talks over you he will never truly listen to you. You can tell a talker by an agent who doesn’t ask more than 1 follow up question after you are voicing your concerns. (It takes more than 1 question to be active listening)

So remember, insurance can be shopped around and if your agent is any of the above then it’s time to find a replacement.