May 29, 2015

Insurance changes for newlyweds

Congratulations on your recent nuptials!   With all of the pomp and all of the pageantry, coming back to the real world can be difficult.  However, getting married creates a full list of to dos.   Now start working on Insurance for newlyweds

When newlyweds think of the subject of getting your finances together after a wedding, I can assure you that one of the most commonly overlooked items is…Insurance.  Without going into the need to make sure your wedding day has event insurance, most couples do not seem to realize that once you are cohabiting and married that you need to reach out to your insurance broker or insurance agent.  What should you change?  Here is a partial short list:

Insurance for Newlyweds:

1.  Auto Insurance, add both drivers to both vehicles and consider merging insurance policies with the same company and or agent.  I personally do not like having two drivers who are family members in the same house with two different insurance companies.  Confirm you are getting a multi-policy discount and that a discount for any special group (affinity)or occupation that one or both may have.   Sometimes you need to choose the higher of the two affinity discounts.  Test which occupation or affinity discount is better, better yet – see if you can stack an affinity discount with an occupational discount.  An example of this is that one person may be with USAA for past family reasons and they may wish to leverage this opportunity.  Another example is that one spouse may be a licensed pharmacist and both autos may be able to get a discount with a certain insurance company.  An example of an occupational discount is a police officer may get special pricing.

2.  Add the Incoming (however you define that) spouse to Homeowners insurance policy to make sure that they are protected from liability claims and that their personal belongings are covered in the new home.  Also consider upping personal property coverage since you will be in theory doubling the amount of stuff.  There is also a slight variance, often times with one spouse owning more “stuff” than the other.  Cancel the incoming spouse’s old renters or homeowners insurance policy when appropriate.   Although there are many permutations on how all of this can happen and it is completely up to your situation..  Couples that own two houses that move in together may rent one house out and that rental property requires a completely different type of insurance policy.

“marriage is the first step in building a financial future together…”

3.  Reassess the total amount of liability insurance and possibly adding an umbrella policy, since your assets may have grown (possibly doubled) and since total net worth can be a good yardstick of liability insurance needed you will most certainly want to consider this.  Also since many consider that marriage is the first step in building a financial future together – it may make sense to really sit down and consider all of your current liabilities, your net worth, and your future together.   How much umbrella insurance and liability insurance do you need?   Read this.

4.  Medical Insurance  – this one is not usually as overlooked, but since we are on the subject, here you go – Couples should sit down at open enrollment and consider the Health Insurance Options.  Buying Health Insurance is complicated business and clients should consider all aspects of it.   In addition clients should be regularly seeing their physician eating a healthy diet, especially leafy greens and fruits.  These high alkaline foods have the benefit of potentially lowering your cholesterol and blood pressure which can also assist with term life insurance.

5.  Consider Adding level term life insurance, especially if you already have kids or are planning to.  If you already have term life insurance, you may need to get more if one spouse plans on not working.  There are many discussions to be had about the best type of term life insurance to procure, but in a simple form, if you are young and do not yet have kids, but hope to, consider a level 30 year term life insurance policy; if you are older and already have kids consider a 20 or even a 10 year level term life insurance plan.

6.  Add/ Change/ Amend the beneficiary to your new spouse on all life insurance related products and possibly other financial accounts.  If you have already set down with an attorney and created a will / trust, follow your lawyers lead.

7.  If any other large financial / lifestyle transactions takes place – call your insurance agent or broker, such as:  Completion of a new will or trust, Purchase of a new vehicle or new house, addition of a new family member such as a child.

A Confusing Process for Newlyweds:

Newly married couples are subject to a bizarre and sometimes byzantine map of interrelated changes that require them to go back to previously completed financial related tasks once some other component has been changed in order to change what was previously changed before.  A good example of this is as follows:   A couple gets engaged, A couple then marries and move in together, A couple then purchases a new home, A couple then creates a revocable trust and then they place most of their assets and their home in that trust   In each one of these stages you are going to want to reach out to your insurance person to make changes.  It can be a long and cumbersome process and this is why you really should consider an insurance broker who is willing to help you along through the process.  Once you are married you are not just buying an insurance policy and forgetting about it.  You may need to make a constant stream of changes to your auto then home, and possibly umbrella insurance and at some point be considering a simple life insurance plan.

There are numerous other things that can and will need to be changed, this list is just a start, please reach out to your licensed insurance professional in your state to get started today.

Contact us for an Insurance Review Today

Marindependent Insurance Services LLC – 0K10734

Scott W Johnson – 0H11625

Thank you for reading Insurance for Newlyweds, Please Read our Disclosures.  Kindly speak with a licensed agent when deciding on insurance.  Reading about insurance online is not a substitute for speaking with your broker or independent agent.

Phone Number: 415-294-5454