Smartphone Insurance 101

Smartphone are expensive and easy to lose, break or stolen, this is why smartphone or cellphone insurance is in demand nowadays. Smartphone insurance covers lost, stolen or damaged phones. However, you should take note of the following information about this kind of insurance:

1. Deductible can be as much as the cost of the smartphone - iPhone 6S with a 2-year contract from Sprint is priced at $199.99. The Sprint’s Total Equipment Protection insurance costs $11 per month. Unfortunately for you if you lost or break your smartphone the insurance deductible will be $200.

This happens since carriers heavily subsidize smartphone prices if you purchased it with a contract. The retail price for an iPhone 6S is about $650. Installment plans, which often require no upfront payment for the phone, they simply spread its cost out over your contract term.

2. The Insurance Company will Determine the Replacement Smartphone - Your insurance company will have the final say on the replacement smartphone it may be of the same make and model, it maybe of different color or type. It may also be refurbished.

3. Carrier companies can dropped you from your plan for making a claim - Most insurance providers limits customers to two claims in a 12-month period. This can be a problem for people that are particularly accident-prone. The trouble is, those are the people for whom cellphone insurance makes the most sense.

Here are Cellphone protection plans:

AT&T -
Monthly fee: $7.99.
Deductible: $50-$199, depending on device. They offer declining deductible program that can give you 25% to 50% less.

AppleCare+ -
Cost: $99-$129 for two years of coverage.
Covers: Damage (two incidents) and phone malfunctions.
Deductible: $79 or $99 per incident, depending on model.

T-Mobile -
Monthly fee: $10.
Deductible: $20-$175.

Sprint -
Monthly fee: $9-$11
Deductible: $50-$200, depending on device.

SquareTrade -
Cost: $119 for two years of coverage.
Covers: Damage and phone malfunctions.
Deductible: $99 for all claims.

Verizon -
Monthly fee: $7.15 (smartphones), $5 (basic phones, tablets).
Deductible: $99-$199 (smartphones), $49-$199 (basic phones, tablets).

Ride-hailing Insurance For Uber, Lyft and other Transportation Network Company (TNC) drivers

If you are an Uber, Lyft and other Transportation Network Company (TNC) driver you'll need more than your personal auto insurance because there are gaps in the coverage.

TNC services three Drive Period. 
Period 1:
App open – waiting for a match. 
Period 2:
Match accepted – but passenger not yet picked up (i.e. driver is on his/her way to pick up the passenger).  Period 3:
Passenger in the vehicle and until the passenger safely exits vehicle.

Ride-hailing coverage like that one that Mercury Insurance offer is design to fill the gaps and provide TNC drivers with insurance coverage that will protect them throughout the entire drive cycle. So if drivers get into an accident in any portion of the drive cycle and are liable they will be insured up to the limits of coverage purchased.

Mercury's ride-hailing insurance increases drivers' personal auto policies to cover Period 1 through Period 3 of the drive cycle, this will fill the gaps and gives the driver protection not provided by ride-hailing companies. Their ride-hailing insurance will also fix the insured's vehicle in a covered loss if those coverage have been purchased from Mercury.  In addition, if the policies provided by both the TNC and Mercury include coverage for the insured's vehicle, then the Mercury policy will pay for any "gap" between the higher deductible on the TNC policy and the lower deductible on the Mercury policy.

What To Do With Your Tax Refund?

You get tax refund when you overpaid the government it's not a bonus money since you earned it through hard work. After filing your taxes you'll find how much refund you're gonna get. If you have a huge tax refund, normally people will buy a new car or that new UHD TV that will blow your mind or a new game console. But if you're smart, just use it to pay off some of your debts. If you have no outstanding debts, then you can start or add some in your savings account.

You can also diversify your portfolio, save for your retirement, start a college fund for your children or add money to your emergency fund. However, you wouldn't want to gamble that money away. That will be a complete waste. Check out the Infographic below on "How to Make the Most of Your Tax Refund"

Click here for proceed to the Infographic

California Legislature approves $15 minimum wage increase, will be highest in the US

California lawmakers approved a sweeping plan on Thursday raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next six years. This will be the nation’s highest statewide minimum wage and it will take effect by 2022.

The Assembly passed SB3 with a 48-26 vote. The the Senate voted 26-12, people cheered the move and "Si se puede" can be heard from the gallery above. The legislation now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown, who is expected to sign it into law after previously working out the plan with labor unions. Brown will sign the wage hike into law in Los Angeles on Monday.

Democrats who control both legislative chambers in California praised the move as a boon to more than 2 million of state’s poorest workers. Opponents complained it was rushed and did not include a wide group at the negotiating table. Business owners and economists fears that the yearly increases will be tied to inflation and will make California hostile to business.

The state of New York was considering a similar move.

Under the plan, California's hourly minimum wage would increase from the current $10 to $10.50 on January 1. Businesses with 25 or fewer employees would be given an extra year to comply. Increases of $1 an hour would come every January until 2022. The governor could delay increases in times of budgetary or economic downturns.

California’s current $10 an hour minimum is tied with Massachusetts for the highest among states. Los Angeles, Seattle and other cities have recently approved $15 minimum wages, while Oregon officials plan to increase the minimum to $14.75 an hour in cities and $12.50 in rural areas by 2022.

In New York, Gov. Cuomo and state lawmakers continued to negotiate Thursday over Cuomo’s proposal to gradually raise the state’s minimum wage from $9 to $15 by the end of 2018 in New York City and by mid-2021 elsewhere in the state.

Long-Term Care Insurance Are Too Expensive

If you check out the prices of today's long term care insurance, I'm sure you'll ask who can afford them? They are just too expensive for the regular working class like us.

Long-term care insurance policies pay back policyholders a daily amount for services to assist them with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, transferring (to bed, chair, etc), housework, shopping for groceries or eating. Unlike traditional health insurance, long-term care insurance is designed to cover long-term services and supports, including personal and custodial care in a variety of settings such as your home, a community organization, or other facility.

In Pennsylvania, premiums have gone up as much as 130%, yearly rates have exceeded $8,000. So why are they so expensive? President of Rosenthal Wealth Management Group Larry Rosenthal said that nowadays, people are living longer and aren't necessarily living healthier. So insurance companies left the market since there are little or no profits and those that remain have increased premiums significantly to keep up with costs.

Here are some alternatives way to pay for Expensive Long-Term Care Insurance:

Short-term care insurance - this policy is like long-term care insurance, however the benefits are typically capped at one year. This policy is more affordable and they may also be available to older seniors or those who aren't otherwise eligible for long-term coverage.

Life + long-term care insurance - the combination of long-term care coverage and life insurance may help consumers avoid the type of rate increases currently being experienced in Pennsylvania.

Long-term care annuities - These annuities require a hefty upfront payment, but if you need long-term care, your overall cost may be lower than what you'd spend on insurance premiums.

Health savings accounts - For those who have an eligible high-deductible health insurance plan, a health savings account offers a way to put money aside tax-free for medical costs, such as long-term care.

Home equity - Retirees without significant investments may still own a valuable asset: their house. Tapping into home equity through a line of credit, taking out a reverse mortgage or selling a house outright are some of the ways people can use their property to pay for long-term care.

Pensions or Social Security - Depending on the size of your monthly payments and the amount of care you need, paying for services monthly out of a pension or Social Security benefit may be option.

Medicaid - if all else fail, and a person's income and assets have been depleted, the government will step in to pay for care. Medicaid won't pay for assisted living, but it will cover nursing home care and many states also pay for home health care services for eligible people.

2016 Car Insurance Rates Rankings by State

The state with the most expensive car insurance premiums in 2016 goes to Michigan, they bag the top spot for third year in a row in the Insure.com’s 2016 state-by-state comparison of auto insurance premiums. Michigan average car insurance premiums is at $2738.
The 2nd spot goes to Montana at $2297, while New Jersey is in third with $1905.

Florida is the 8th spot they are paying an average of $1,654 annually for insurance, $329 higher than the nationwide average of $1,325.

Maine grabbed the No. 1 spot for the cheapest car insurance at $808 annually.

The rates are based on the average for the 20 best-selling vehicles in the U.S. in order to present more accurate rates for the average driver, without high-end sports or luxury cars skewing the data.


National average     $1325
1     Michigan     $2738
2     Montana     $2297
3     New Jersey     $1905
4     Louisiana     $1842
5     Oklahoma     $1778
6     DC             $1773
7     California     $1752
8     Florida     $1654
9     Maryland     $1610
10     Rhode Island     $1608
11     Delaware     $1607
12     Georgia     $1559
13     Texas             $1510
14     West Virginia     $1456
15     Wyoming     $1421
16     Colorado     $1393
17     Connecticut     $1367
18     South Carolina     $1353
19     Arkansas     $1345
20     Alabama     $1337
21     Massachusetts     $1325
22     Pennsylvania     $1305
23     Kentucky     $1295
24     New Mexico     $1277
25     Mississippi     $1277
26     Oregon             $1267
27     Minnesota     $1257
28     Nevada             $1221
29     North Dakota     $1200
30     Nebraska     $1188
31     Arizona     $1188
32     South Dakota     $1168
33     Washington     $1168
34     Tennessee     $1145
35     Kansas             $1135
36     Indiana     $1113
37     Alaska             $1078
38     Utah             $1061
39     Missouri     $1056
40     New York     $1050
41     Hawaii       $1049
42     Illinois     $1035
43     Virginia     $1020
44     Iowa        $989
45     North Carolina     $987
46     Vermont     $942
47     New Hampshire     $941
48     Idaho       $935
49     Wisconsin     $912
50     Ohio        $900
51     Maine       $808

Donald Trump Health Care Reform Plan ( TrumpCare )

Donald Trump has repeatedly promised that he will not let people die on the streets. Today he has released his Trumpcare health care reform plan. His aim is to broaden the access of health care to the people. He is also for abolishing the individual mandate, which under Obamacare requires all Americans to have health insurance.

Donald Trump laid out his plan to reform the U.S. health care system after repeatedly pledging to repeal and replace Obamacare with something much better.

He posted his seven-point plan on his website (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/healthcare-reform). Besides, scrapping the individual health insurance mandate he also promised to allow competition over states lines for health care plans, and block grant Medicaid to the states, this will let them follow through on his prescription to "eliminate fraud, waste and abuse to preserve our precious resources."

He will also make individual health insurance premium payments fully tax deductible.

His plan clearly is in line with conservatives. He will also "reduce the number of individuals needing access to programs like Medicaid." "The best social program has always been a job and taking care of our economy will go a long way towards reducing our dependence on public health programs."

His plan also requires "price transparency" to let patients to "shop and find the best prices" for their medical care and removing the barriers to entry that currently make it more difficult for cheaper drugs from overseas to enter the American health care market.

He also calls for "reform our mental health programs and institutions in this country. Families, without the ability to get the information needed to help those who are ailing, are too often not given the tools to help their loved ones. There are promising reforms being developed in Congress that should receive bi-partisan support."