All Forum Posts by: Mark S.

@Patsy Waldron, thanks for sharing.  I had pet insurance for my previous dog and he ran into a whole host of issues, so I've definitely seen the positives from it.  On the flip side, paying the premiums each months has felt "wasteful" for the past couple of years.  Since it's an accident and illness policy only (nothing preventive covered), as long as he's healthy, I don't get any use out of it.  It might be different, to @Colleen F. 's point, if it did cover some preventive care and I was just paying a tad "extra" for the just in case scenario.  @James Triano, yes I could do a higher deductible and lower the premium, but only slightly (like $10/month - but deductible would jump from $100 to $500).  I've actually set up an auto-savings feature on one of my accounts starting in the new year to put $100/month aside into "his" account - just over double the monthly premium I'm paying now.  If something comes up before funds have accumulated, I can take money from other places.  Really is a tough call, because with my luck, the second I cancel the policy is when he'll get sick / have an accident.  I've done the math based on my time with them so far and I've paid over $1,200 in premiums and only got reimbursed just over $300 in claims.  Hindsight is always 20/20, but I'd be about $900 "to the good" if I self-insured (at least up until this point).  If I knew the premium would be locked in, that'd be one thing, but it's gone up twice since I've had the policy in the past 2.5 years.  Anyway, thank you all for your thoughts.  Interested to see if any others chime in.  Happy holidays.

MassMutual is definitely high cost. I've heard great things about them as an insurer, but they really aren't very big in the asset management space. You must have worked for a fairly small employer to have them run the 401(k) plan.

Tek Chai , that is probably my favorite book of all time. EXCELLENT read. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to change their "financial blueprint." It's been years since I've read it. I think it's time for me to re-read it and "get my mind right."

No way you're getting cups that cheap at Costco. Usually Ollie's has better deals, but still in the $.30s range. Costco is usually between $.30s - $.50s, but I get your point.

@Julie Marquez, I struggle with this at times (see my recent post on Pet Insurance).  One thing I've done over the years is come up with savings/investment goals, strive to achieve those, and then simply track expenses (versus the traditional "budgeting") just to be sure my spending isn't totally out of whack.  Otherwise, I'd drive myself CRAZY.  I know people that are far worse than me about being frugal.  I try to find a balance: set savings/investment goals, track expenses, give myself an "okay" to spend on things that are important to me (as long as goals are met), cut back on things that aren't important to me.  

One of my biggest pet peeves is feeling like I've been ripped off for something - no joke, I actually called my TV provider one-time over $.01 because they said the tech coming out was no charge and then they billed my account for it and credited back all but a penny.  Yes, my time is worth much more than the phone call I made, but it was the feeling of getting taken.  There are other, better examples over larger dollar amounts, but this just provides a point.  Goodluck.

I'm talking about your PERSONAL pets, not tenants.

First let me start off by saying that this thread is for those animal lovers that have pets and consider those pets to be a part of their family. I don't really need to hear from the cold-hearted, non-animal loving people that will say horrible things like, "Who cares? It's just a dog." Those people can stop reading now and move on.

I've been thinking a lot lately about whether or not to continue with the pet insurance I currently have for my dog. The policy I have covers accidents and illnesses: $100 annual deductible, 90% reimbursement, no cap, chronic conditions covered, routine items that aren't accident/illness not covered. Currently, the premium is about $43.72/month or almost $525/year. Premiums have, and likely will continue to, go up to keep up with costs of veterinary care.

Initially, I got the policy so that I would never have to make a decision between my wallet and my dog. Let's say I was faced with a decision of, "Well, it'll cost $2,500 for the procedure but he'll only have about 6 more months." It's not about whether or not I can afford the out of pocket cost (for many people, this is a major factor for them in purchasing the insurance; luckily, for me, this isn't an issue) but more about having to make that difficult decision. I would do anything for my dog, like most pet owners, but this isn't a situation I want to find myself in. For this reason, I convinced myself that pet insurance was the way to go. The more I think about it, however, it seems that I may be better off by self-insuring and instead of paying the monthly premiums, just put those funds into a liquid savings account. If he stays healthy, I didn't "waste" money on premiums. If he doesn't, the funds are set aside. If he gets sick/has accident right after I cancel the policy (if I do) and funds aren't built up yet, I can still afford it. It just kills me to think of paying $5,000 in premiums (probably more as costs go up) over a 10 year period for something I may never use (or not use as much as I paid in). On the flip side, I've been reading a lot of articles about veterinary technology advances and how many things can be done these days, but they come with a corresponding price tag.

I feel like if I'm going to cancel the policy, I should do so now while he's young and healthy instead of waiting until he's older and premiums are much higher (when I'll likely end up having a better chance of using the policy at that time). Ultimately, it's a personal choice. I'm just wondering how intelligent minds would approach the issue and what those animal lovers have done/are doing with your pets.

I look forward to hearing everyone's feedback. Thanks.

So, I wasn't really sure where to post this (debated on putting it in Personal Finance forum - and if I don't get any responses here, maybe I'll re-post there) but it seems off-topic to me, so I'm trying here.

First let me start off by saying that this thread is for those animal lovers that have pets and consider those pets to be a part of their family.  I don't really need to hear from the cold-hearted, non-animal loving people that will say horrible things like, "Who cares?  It's just a dog."  Those people can stop reading now and move on.  

I've been thinking a lot lately about whether or not to continue with the pet insurance I currently have for my dog.  The policy I have covers accidents and illnesses:  $100 annual deductible, 90% reimbursement, no cap, chronic conditions covered, routine items that aren't accident/illness not covered.  Currently, the premium is about $43.72/month or almost $525/year.  Premiums have, and likely will continue to, go up to keep up with costs of veterinary care.  

Initially, I got the policy so that I would never have to make a decision between my wallet and my dog.  Let's say I was faced with a decision of, "Well, it'll cost $2,500 for the procedure but he'll only have about 6 more months."  It's not about whether or not I can afford the out of pocket cost (for many people, this is a major factor for them in purchasing the insurance; luckily, for me, this isn't an issue) but more about having to make that difficult decision.  I would do anything for my dog, like most pet owners, but this isn't a situation I want to find myself in.  For this reason, I convinced myself that pet insurance was the way to go.  The more I think about it, however, it seems that I may be better off by self-insuring and instead of paying the monthly premiums, just put those funds into a liquid savings account.  If he stays healthy, I didn't "waste" money on premiums.  If he doesn't, the funds are set aside.  If he gets sick/has accident right after I cancel the policy (if I do) and funds aren't built up yet, I can still afford it.  It just kills me to think of paying $5,000 in premiums (probably more as costs go up) over a 10 year period for something I may never use (or not use as much as I paid in).  On the flip side, I've been reading a lot of articles about veterinary technology advances and how many things can be done these days, but they come with a corresponding price tag.  

I feel like if I'm going to cancel the policy, I should do so now while he's young and healthy instead of waiting until he's older and premiums are much higher (when I'll likely end up having a better chance of using the policy at that time).  Ultimately, it's a personal choice.  I'm just wondering how intelligent minds would approach the issue and what those animal lovers have done/are doing with your pets.

I look forward to hearing everyone's feedback.  Thanks.

Congrats!  

IMO, Personal Capital is more sophisticated than Mint (haven't used Mint in a while, so it's possible it has improved).  If you're more concerned with budgeting and tracking expenses, I'd say go Mint.  If you're more concerned with the overall bigger picture (Net Worth), with the ability to drill down into certain details where needed, I'd say go Personal Capital.  You could also just do both, see which works for you (maybe both!), and go from there.  Best of luck.