Do you have enough of the right kind of insurance? If you get hit by a disaster – fire, flood, earthquake, will your home and possessions be covered? How do you know if you are truly protected?

Insurers claim it is the responsibility of the homeowner to determine the appropriate levels of insurance for their property. However, your insurance agent or broker will not know your property and your possessions as well as you do. You need to accept the responsibility to properly insure your house.

If you do not purchase the appropriate amounts of coverage, the loss will be yours to suffer.

Back in 2003 and 2007, homeowners throughout San Diego County suffered devastating losses of their homes. Multiple fires raged in all regions of the County and people helplessly watched as their homes and possessions turned to ashes.

Now, years after the fires, homeowner’s losses continue to increase and many have not been able to re-build. The main reason for the increase of loss is due to the widespread issue of homeowners being underinsured.

These San Diego county fire survivors have learned a very important lesson. Relying upon their insurance agent or insurance company to set the limits of their policy was not a good idea. It only hurts the homeowner, without repercussion to the insurance agent or insurance company.

How can you prevent this from occurring?

There are several coverage areas that need to be considered. Some of the areas to review are:

· Replacement Cost versus Actual Cash Value
· Guaranteed Replacement Cost
· How to determine the real replacement cost value of your property
· Do not base the replacement cost limits on the amount of your mortgage
· Is all of your personal property correctly insured
· Do you have extensive or expensive landscaping, trees, plants or shrubs that need to have higher limits?

We all want to buy low cost term life insurance. It is just the wise thing to do. I was recently having a casual conversation with one of my neighbor about life insurance and was surprised to see the amount of premium he was paying for term insurance.

I did some research for him and found the exact type of policy that he had for about half of the premium he was paying. This policy was from one of the better known life insurance giants…a company over 100 years old.

You can find low cost term life insurance from a reputable life insurance company if you take the time to do the research. Look for the carriers that are rated A+ or better by the A.M Best company. A.M. Best does the research, that is their function.

The most popular term life insurance policies are the 10 year term policy, the 15 year term policy, the 20 year term policy, the 25 year term policy and the 30 year term policy. Let us take a look at each and see how you could benefit from one or more of these low cost term life insurance policies.

10 Year Term Life Insurance

10 year term has a very low premium cost per $1000 of death benefit. If you need a policy to protect your loved ones for a short period of time then this may be the right policy for you. Let us say your youngest child is 15 years old and you expect that this child will graduate college by age 25 all you need to do is to calculate the amount of income you will need each month for the next 10 years and buy a policy sufficient to provide this income. The death benefit remains level for the entire 10 year period. It never decreases.

15 Year Term Life Insurance

The 15 year term policy can also be considered a low cost term life insurance policy. It is usually used in a similar manner to the 10 year term but for a longer period. If your youngest child is age 10 then you would need a 15 year term policy to do the job of protecting your dependent children. The death benefit remains level for the duration and so does the premium.

20 Year Term Life Insurance

Let us take a little time to look at the way to use the 20 year term policy. As it is a term policy the premiums are quite low. This policy is probably the most exciting of all term policies. The reason is because it is usually bought at an exciting time in your life. You just got married or are about to. You logical thing to do is to buy a 20 year term policy to protect your adorable spouse in the event of your death.

You and your spouse have an addition to the family so you each buy a 20 year term policy to protect your newborn child.

You start a business, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation you know you need to buy some life insurance.

This policy has a level death benefit as well as a level premium for the duration.

25 year term life insurance

You may say 25 years is too far to look. Well, let us look at the first situation we discussed. You expect your children to graduate college by age 25. If you are newlywed you likely don’t have any children as yet or if you have a new addition to the family the 25 year term policy will work just fine for you. Premiums are level and so is the death benefit.

30 Year Term Life Insurance

The 30 year term policy is for people who look even further ahead. This is a low cost life insurance policy that can protect your family right up until you retire and get a pension, that is if you are age 35 or older at the time of purchase. This policy works just like the other policies.

When in the market for low cost term life insurance you should keep in mind that the longer the duration of the term policy the higher the cost. The 10 year policy will cost less in premiums than the 15 year term and so on.

Refinancing is the process of converting an existing mortgage into a new loan. Usually, refinancing is done for one of three reasons: to save money, to convert the existing mortgage to a new type, or to exchange some of the equity in the property for cash.

Thinking of refinancing? It is no more complicated than obtaining that initial mortgage, but the process is not exactly the same, and there are a few extra things to think about if you are toying with the idea of refinancing your existing mortgage.

#1: Is refinancing the best option?

First on the list of things to do is to decide if you should refinance, or if there is a better option for your needs. Refinancing is not always the best solution. In some cases there is an easier and more cost effective alternative that will suit your financial situation better.

Before making any moves, ask yourself what it is that you want to accomplish by refinancing. Contemplate if there is a better way to achieve whatever your goal happens to be rather than refinancing. If you want to take advantage of lower mortgage rates or switch to a different type of mortgage, then obviously refinancing is the only way to do that, but for other types of goals, refinancing may not always the best option.

So if, for example, you want to exchange some of the equity in your home for cash, say for a kitchen or bathroom remodel, then you must ask yourself if refinancing your home is the best way to do this, or if a home equity loan or line of credit might work out better. For instance, if current mortgage rates are high, then a loan or credit line might end up being a better alternative to refinancing.

#2: Is it a good time to refinance?

If you have decided that refinancing is the best way to achieve your personal financial goal, the next thing to think about is whether it is a good time to refinance. There are both financial and personal considerations to examine here.

First, the financial aspect. Compare the interest rate on your current mortgage with the interest rate you can realistically achieve if you refinance. If the new interest rate will be one to two percent lower, then refinancing is probably going to work out as a financially favorable option. If not, then it is unlikely that refinancing your mortgage will allow you to save any money. This is not a hard-and-fast rule, of course. Everyone’s personal circumstances are different, so it is definitely worthwhile to look into the possibility of refinancing more deeply if it is something you really want to do.

Second, the personal aspect. Ask yourself if you are planning to stay in your home long-term, or if moving to a new home is a possibility in the next few years. When you refinance, you must pay a new round of closing costs and lender fees, and that means you generally have to stay in the home for between three and five years to recoup those closing costs from the money you save with your lower monthly mortgage repayment.

#3: Should you change lenders?

There is no reason you have to stay with the same lender who owns your current mortgage when refinancing. It is certainly more convenient to do so, but if you find a better deal elsewhere, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from switching to that new lender. Do not feel that you are obligated to stick with your current lender if you can save more money by shopping around.

If you want the convenience of the same lender as well as a better deal, shop around other lenders until you find the mortgage you want, and then ask your current lender if they are willing to match those terms. You will not lose anything if they say no, but if they agree you could end up with the best of both worlds.

Alternatively, ask your lender if they are willing to renegotiate your existing mortgage. There are some fees associated with this, but often you can avoid paying closing costs, which means you will save most of the costs of refinancing.

#4: Should you stick with the same kind of mortgage?

One of the most popular reasons for refinancing is to switch to a different type of mortgage. Most commonly, this switch is from an adjustable rate mortgage to a fixed rate mortgage. Obtaining an adjustable rate loan with a view of making the switch later on can be very beneficial because it allows you to take advantage of the initial low rates of the adjustable mortgage, then switch before the adjustable period actually kicks in.

Alternatively, you can change the terms of your mortgage while sticking with the same type of mortgage. For example, you might have a thirty-year fixed rate mortgage and refinance to a twenty or fifteen year mortgage. You do not necessarily get lower repayments with this option, but by paying off your mortgage more quickly you save thousands in interest over the life of the loan.

One final option is to keep the same mortgage terms and conditions, and exchange some of the equity in your home for cash. The option you choose will depend largely on what you want to achieve with the refinance, so it is a highly personal decision, as well as a financial one.