Homeowners Insurance Inflation

Wildfires in California. Hailstorms in the Midwest. Hurricane Ian in Florida & South Carolina. It’s a crazy year for home owners insurance. On top of that add in the crazy inflation in the home construction market. After two white-hot years, only now are home prices starting to slow down from higher interest rates. We just got our 2022-2023 premium statement from State Farm. We received … Continue reading Homeowners Insurance Inflation

Summer Repair Season

We’re having a successful ‘repair season’ this Summer in terms of productivity & financial standing. In Minnesota, a year’s worth of exterior home repairs gets shoehorned into the 6 months from May through October to take advantage of the good weather. Right now our neighborhood is awash in a wave of roofers, siding companies, concrete sealers, landscapers, and painters. Salesmen – often the owners of … Continue reading Summer Repair Season

MegaCorp Retiree Health Coverage

I waited a long time to get a look at my MegaCorp retiree health insurance benefits and they just arrived. It’s open enrollment time right now and I just booked my new insurance plan. As background, I worked at one MegaCorp for 24 years and a second for just 3. I’m an official retiree of the first one, where I went from temporary Administrative Assistant … Continue reading MegaCorp Retiree Health Coverage

Up, Up And Insured

Insurance is one of the things I certainly hate paying for. Health insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, and car insurance are all necessary to a degree, but it’s hard to pay for something you only use in a catastrophe. We’ve gradually dialed back our insurance coverage for things we can ‘self-insure’ the risk of. We have the highest health insurance deductible we’ve ever had and … Continue reading Up, Up And Insured

How Much Did That Heart Attack Cost?

Since folks know that I write this personal finance blog, people have been interested in the financial side of the sudden surprise of my heart attack.  While not all of the numbers are in yet, it looks to be less expensive than I thought. It seems like I often read about people racking up tens of thousands of dollars of  medical bills when something serious … Continue reading How Much Did That Heart Attack Cost?