Livet kan vara oförutsägbart, och det är det som gör det intressant.
Men ibland kostar det oväntade mycket:
Jag skulle kunna fortsätta, men du fattar. Om du inte har eliminerat alla risker från ditt liv, är det möjligt att något dåligt kan hända, även när du går på college.
Försäkringar finns för att skydda dig från dessa oväntade kostnader, men det betyder inte att högskolestudenter behöver samma typ av försäkring som alla andra.
Genom att hitta försäkringsskydd som bäst passar dina specifika behov som högskolestudent kan du spara pengar och få ett skydd som inte lämnar dig utsatt när du som mest behöver täckning.
Vi börjar här eftersom det här ämnet inte är roligt att prata om. Vad skulle hända om du oväntat dog när du gick på college? Naturligtvis skulle din familj och dina vänner bli förkrossade, men hur är det med din ekonomi?
Forbes rapporterar att den genomsnittliga högskolestudenten tar examen med över $30 000 i studentskulder, och det är bara för en grundexamen. Studenter som tar avancerade examen lånar ofta mycket mer.
Samma studie tyder på att över 2 miljoner studenter från klassen 2018 har samlat på sig över 100 000 dollar i studieskulder.
Om en förälder eller någon annan har skrivit under på dina lån, kan de vara ansvariga för att betala tillbaka dem om du inte är i närheten för att göra det, särskilt om de är privata (inte federala) lån. Detsamma kan vara sant om du har ett billån som någon har skrivit på.
Livförsäkringsskydd kan täcka dessa skulder så att din sörjande medundertecknare inte skulle behöva göra det. Så här fungerar det:
Livförsäkringar finns i många former men de delas in i två breda kategorier:
Eftersom en hel (ibland kallad permanent) policy varar resten av ditt liv, skulle det kosta mycket mer för en collegestudent. Dessutom, som collegestudent vet du förmodligen inte hur mycket försäkring du behöver under de kommande decennierna, så det är inte en bra tid att fatta ett permanent beslut.
De flesta (alla?) studenter klarar sig bäst med en terminspolicy.
Det är inte slutet på beslutsfattandet. Du måste bestämma dig:
Se till att du bara får den täckning du behöver. Livförsäkringar kan vara enorma - ett par miljoner dollar ganska stora. Du behöver inte åka dit.
Om du har 75 000 USD i studielån och är skyldig 20 000 USD på din bil, och du förväntar dig att denna skuld ska betalas av inom 10 år, skulle en 10-årig försäkring på cirka 100 000 USD täcka dina behov.
Om du är ung och frisk bör du ha tillgång till de bästa livstidspriserna som finns - möjligen så låga som $10 i månaden. Men förvänta dig inte att ditt försäkringsbolag tar ditt ord för hur ung och frisk du är.
Företaget kommer att vilja veta mer så att det säkert kan veta vilken typ av risk din försäkring skulle innebära. Så när du ansöker om täckning, förvänta dig några personliga frågor.
Du kommer att få frågan om:
Du kommer sannolikt att behöva en medicinsk undersökning också för att bekräfta din hälsoinformation. Detta kan verka som ett stort krångel, och det kan vara frestande att hoppa på en policy som inte lovar någon hälsoundersökning.
Men var försiktig; du kan sluta med att betala mycket mer för en livförsäkring utan examen eftersom försäkringsbolaget inte vet vilken risk du utgör.
Ingen examensförsäkring är inte medicinskt garanterad , vilket är anledningen till att det kostar mer. Du kan hitta medicinskt tecknad livförsäkring som inte kräver en medicinsk undersökning, särskilt om du är ung och frisk. Vi kommer in på det i våra företagsbetyg nedan.
Så, hur hittar du rätt policy för dig?
Livförsäkring är personlig. Det finns inget som passar alla och det finns inget sätt att ge övergripande rekommendationer för vilket företag som ska användas. Men generellt sett tror jag att dessa företag skulle fungera bra för studenter:
Jag nämnde ovan, det är möjligt att hitta medicinskt garanterad livförsäkring utan att få en medicinsk undersökning. Det är fortfarande ganska ovanligt, men Haven Life, en onlinebyrå som säljer försäkringar från Mass Mutual, kan göra det.
Endast de friskaste sökandena kan få medicinskt garanterad täckning utan examen; andra kommer fortfarande att behöva ett prov.
Även då har Haven Life mycket att erbjuda, inklusive snabba beslut och sömlös onlineåtkomst till köpprocessen och kundservice.
Banner Life är ett annat lättanvänt försäkringsbolag som erbjuder bra priser, inklusive lägre priser för personer som är yngre och medvetna om att fatta de bästa hälsobesluten.
Om du frågar efter veganska alternativ i cafeterian och gillar att köra 10Ks på din fritid, kan Banner Life förmodligen spara lite pengar. Företaget erbjuder mer än bara terminstid, så se till att du får en offert på en terminspolicy.
Det här kan verka lite slumpmässigt, men jag nämner det eftersom Minnesota Life utmärker sig med 5-åriga policyer, vilket är ovanligt. De flesta företag erbjuder livstidsförsäkringar för 10 eller fler år.
Man vet aldrig vad som kan förändras efter college:Giftermål? Barn? Detta kommer att förändra dina livförsäkringsbehov också. Visst, du kan bara ersätta en 10-årig policy med något större. Men en 5-årig politik skulle kosta lite mindre på kort sikt. Det är ett tillvägagångssätt värt att tänka på.
I bästa fall kommer dina sjukvårdsutgifter på college endast att omfatta rutinkontroller och receptfria allergi- eller huvudvärksmedicin.
Men vad händer om du får blindtarmsinflammation och behöver opereras, plus en natt på sjukhuset? Det är möjligt att få ihop sexsiffriga medicinska räkningar som kan ta år, eller till och med årtionden, att betala av. Ange sjukförsäkring. Det är mycket förtalat i denna dag med ständigt ökande medicinska kostnader.
Men det finns fortfarande ingen bättre isolering från den förödelse dessa kostnader kan orsaka din ekonomiska framtid. Förutom att vara förnuftig är det också lagen. Så vilka är dina sjukförsäkringsalternativ som högskolestudent?
Annonser efter pengar. Vi kan få kompensation om du klickar på den här annonsen.Annons
Att hålla sig frisk har aldrig varit viktigare. Skydda dig själv och dina nära och kära med en omfattande och prisvärd sjukförsäkring. Klicka på ditt tillstånd för att läsa mer. Get a Quote Today You may be able to:
First off, if you can stay on your parents’ or guardians’ health insurance plan, that’s a no-brainer. You should do it. (The Affordable Care Act requires family insurance plans to cover children younger than 26.)
If for whatever reason this won’t work for you, Medicaid might be an option. In some states, you can qualify for coverage if you earn less than 133 percent of the poverty level. For an individual, that would equal $16,146.20.
It’s possible for a college student to fall below that level, especially if you’re not a dependent on someone else’s tax form. Other states have stricter criteria for qualifying for free health care. You can learn more here.
For many college students, though, the only way to get health insurance is to buy it. For college graduates, this is even truer.
Before buying coverage, it helps to know how health insurance works so you can be sure you’re getting coverage that fits your life and your monthly budget.
Your plan’s premiums will be a big part of that, just like with life insurance.
But also pay attention to the other costs, including:
These charges interact with each other to determine your true cost for health care, and you should make sure these costs balance out to match the way you live.
For example, a policy with higher deductibles should have a lower monthly premium, making the policy less of a burden each month if you’re low on cash.
With a catastrophic plan, your insurance would kick in only if something catastrophic — that likely required hospitalization — happened. For many college students buying their own health insurance, catastrophic coverage will likely do.
When you’re ready to buy a health insurance policy, you have a few different options:
The last option, buying your school-issued insurance, may be your easiest route to coverage. In fact, it may be automatically included in your enrollment package and billed to your student account.
If that’s the case, you’ve got this covered. If not, you’ll need to move on to another option.
Buying a health plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace has some advantages:
But this is possible only during Open Enrollment (unless you qualify for special enrollment). Open Enrollment usually takes place from November to mid-December. On the other hand, buying your own plan from an insurer (such as Blue Cross Blue Shield or Aetna) could offer you lots of health plans and savings if you don’t qualify for tax subsidies.
You need health insurance to shield yourself from out-of-control health care expenses that may result from an unexpected illness or accident. If you can get insurance without paying, either through your parents’ plan or Medicaid, do it.
If not, look into your college’s health plan if it has one. If that’s not an option, try to save money through the Health Insurance Marketplace. If you can’t save that way, look into a plan from an insurance provider.
Anyone who’s been driving for a few years already knows why car insurance is a must. Wrecks happen, and without insurance, you could be on the hook for the cost of car repairs and personal injuries.
Then there’s the fact all states (except New Hampshire) require auto insurance. But what kind of car insurance works best for college students?
Auto insurance covers some pretty broad issues related to driving:
Each state has its own auto insurance regulations, so if you’re going to college in a different state, you may need to adjust your current insurance. When you’re dealing with a larger company such as Nationwide, Amica, State Farm, GEICO, etc., that’s easy enough. A phone call and a signature may suffice.
But if you have insurance with a smaller company who doesn’t insure cars outside your state, you may need a new policy in the state where you’re attending school. And even if you already have a policy, it’s possible you can save money with a policy that’s designed for college students and young adults.
A lot of car insurance companies offer special programs for students. Here are some of my favorites:
Amica’s Good Student Discount can save you 25 percent if you keep a 3.0 GPA, and it also offers a Good Driving Discount. These discounts apply only if you’ve been accident-free for the past three years.
Amica even has a special rate if you don’t drive while you’re away at school but do drive when you’re back home.
GEICO has a Good Student Discount, too. If you’re between 16 and 24 and have a B average, you can claim a 26 percent discount on your premiums.
The company has discounts for good driving and an Accident Forgiveness program in most states. You have to do more than earn good grades to get these discounts, though.
Like Amica and GEICO, Esurance has a student discount program for students with a 3.0-grade point average or higher.
Esurance also offers smaller discounts for buying insurance online and for paying in full, instead of in installments, for your policy.
You can save money by getting insurance which meets only your state’s minimum requirements, but remember:
If you don’t have enough insurance, you are personally responsible for car repairs, hospital bills, and lost wages that you cause in an accident. If you have $20,000 in liability, for example, and cause $50,000 in damage, you could be sued for the other $30,000.
If you can’t pay it, the court could sell your property to cover the costs.
Scary stuff. Still, as a college student, you don’t want to overpay for anything, and that includes car insurance.
So let’s look at each component of auto insurance individually:
If you can’t afford hefty coverage on your own car, find a way to properly cover your liability in case you cause an accident. If the worst happened, you’d be glad you did.
Dental insurance might not seem like a big deal, until you need a root canal or a crown or a wisdom tooth extracted. Without dental insurance, you may be stuck trying to explain, with a swollen jaw, why there’s no way you can pay for the procedure the dentist just finished.
At that point, the office manager may bail you out by handing you a brochure for a medical credit card. If your credit holds up and your application gets approved, you can transfer the balance to the card on the spot and head back to campus with your dignity intact.
But the sense of relief lasts only so long. The health credit card bills start coming, and the interest rate is high. If you’re prone to dental, periodontal, or endodontic troubles, dental insurance may be a must.
Even if you aren’t, preventive care can prevent costly procedures, which is why many dental insurance plans cover 100 percent of preventive care.
Just like with health insurance, if you can stay on your parents’ dental insurance plan, you should. If not, see if your college or university’s insurance includes dental.
If you qualify for Medicaid, you can go that route, although many dentist’s do not accept Medicaid patients. If you can’t access coverage in those ways, you may want to buy your own plan, and the average cost for an individual plan is about $25 to $30 a month.
Yes, that’s a chunk of change that could go a long way at the grocery store or the gas pump.
But when you consider the cost of even the most basic, preventive dental care, the cost is worthwhile.
Along with paying for preventive care, a typical plan pays 80 percent of routine procedures such as root canals and fillings while paying around 50 percent of more advanced procedures such as a crown.
You’ll likely have an annual cap on payouts, so plan your procedures, if possible, to avoid too many dental visits in one year.
Other things to consider when shopping for a policy:
If there’s no way you can afford dental insurance but want to protect yourself from costs resulting from unexpected dental work, consider:
It’s a common misconception:As a college student without much income, you don’t have to worry about someone breaking in and stealing your property. But you probably have a laptop, maybe a bike, a smartphone, a nice Bluetooth speaker or a turntable for your vinyl collection.
That’s why student communities are often the busiest part of town for police officers responding to break-ins. Renters insurance offers a simple and affordable layer of protection for your belongings.
An average policy costs about $12 to $15 a month and covers on average $30,000 in property and up to $100,000 in liability in case someone gets injured in an accident in your apartment or yard.
Renters insurance is one of the simplest kinds of insurance out there, but there are still some interesting variables.
Here are some frequently asked questions:
Q. Doesn’t my landlord have insurance?
A. Yes, most likely so, but your landlord’s insurance protects your landlord’s property, not yours.
Q. I live in on-campus housing. Do I need renters insurance?
A. Maybe not. It’s possible your parents’ homeowners insurance will continue to protect your belongings on campus. But check to make sure, and also see what caps your parents’ policy places on away-from-home claims.
Q. My roommate has renters insurance. Can’t we share a policy?
A. Yes, you could go in together on a policy and save money, but this has some downsides. Claims to replace your roommate’s property could affect what you pay in future premiums, for example. Also, if your roommate fails to pay her share of the policy, it puts your coverage at risk even if you paid your share.
Q. Will renters insurance help even if the damage resulted from landlord negligence?
A. Yes, even if your landlord is at fault (think an electrical fire that damages your property) your renters policy can help you replace your belongings.
Q. What natural disasters will renters insurance not cover?
A. Most renters policies make exceptions for floods and earthquakes. If you live in a flood-prone area or in Southern California (or anywhere with a history of earthquakes), keep that in mind. Also, renters policies are reluctant to pay for damage from a sewer system malfunction or basement flooding.
Q. Does a renters policy cover all my belongings?
A. Not necessarily. If someone steals a valuable collectible item, such as rare jewelry or a Derek Jeter rookie baseball card, a standard renters policy probably won’t help. Ask your agent to find out for sure before buying a policy. Additionally, expect caps on long-term expenses such as rent at another apartment while yours is being repaired in the event of a flood or fire.
Q. Do I have to pay for liability insurance as well as protection for my stuff?
A. No. Although these components tend to be paired, many companies allow you to buy one and not the other. If you live alone and never have parties and rarely have guests, buying a lot of liability insurance won’t make much sense.
Q. What other factors could drive up my premiums?
A. If you live in a neighborhood with regular break-ins, renters insurance may cost more. Also, if you have a lower credit score (below 650 or so), your insurer may charge more.
Most large, national insurers offer renters insurance policies.
In fact, your car insurance company may be able to save money by bundling a renters policy in with your auto insurance. You can also shop online.
Other companies to consider include Esurance, GEICO, and Progressive.
Travel insurance is probably one of those things you’ve never thought about needing, but the reality is, it’s one of the best insurance policies a college student can take out, under a few conditions.
If you’ve ever gotten sick or injured on a trip and had to venture to the hospital unexpectedly, you know it can put a damper on your travels. Or maybe you’ve lost your luggage or had your room robbed.
Travel insurance can help to protect the time, money, and effort you’ve put into a trip, so if the unexpected happens, you’re covered.
First things first, let’s decide whether you actually need it or not.
Travel insurance is ideal for college students who are studying abroad.
A semester or two is a long time, and you never know what could happen. Travel insurance can grant you peace of mind and protect the money you’ve put into your overseas studies.
College is a time where you have a lot more freedom to roam for extended periods of time (take advantage of those extra-long Christmas and summer breaks while you can), leading to lots of trips abroad.
If you’re planning to backpack across Europe for a month (or more ) with your roommates, you might want to seriously look into securing a travel insurance policy as well. On the other hand, if you’re traveling with your family for a week or two, you may not need the coverage a travel insurance policy supplies.
Some of the most common coverages of travel insurance are medical coverage, trip cancellation, theft protection, luggage insurance, evacuation coverage, and emergency services.
The criteria for most of the services above are pretty obvious, except for trip cancellation.
When it comes to canceling your trip, you’re likely to be covered for job loss, losing your passport to a natural disaster or theft, evacuation in the country you’re visiting, documented injuries or illness, deployment, or jury duty.
If, however, something goes amiss causing you to cancel your trip while you’re intoxicated, you break the law, or engage in high-risk activities, your cancelation probably won’t be covered. You also won’t be covered for your pre-existing conditions or if you’re going on a trip for medical purposes.
Bottom line: travel insurance is a good investment if you’re planning more than a short-term trip. Look into it especially if you plan to study abroad!
Most college students spend money carefully.
If your 12-year-old used car will run a few more years, you keep it, even if you can no longer roll down the window. If you can save a few hundred dollars on rent by having an extra roommate, you clean out that spare room.
It may seem impossible to find space in this delicate balance for insurance premiums, other than those mandated by law.
But that’s just the thing:The more delicate your monthly budget, the more vulnerable you are to the kind of unexpected expenses insurance can protect you from.
So shop around for the kind of protection that meets your needs, and find some room in that budget somewhere.
The unexpected comes out of nowhere. If you’re prepared, you can keep your balance.
