Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Robyn55: Auto insurance is going up, health insurance is going up. For those who don't have financial woes, it's not a big deal. For those of us who are pinching pennies, it can be a big deal.
My state's insurance commission discovered that some auto insurance companies were raising the rates of their most "loyal" customers. Mine went way up - so I finally got off my tush and went with another company after I was quoted $700 LESS per year than the company I had been with for 40 years. Wait until your last speeding ticket is no longer relevant and then shop around.
My state's insurance commission discovered that some auto insurance companies were raising the rates of their most "loyal" customers. Mine went way up - so I finally got off my tush and went with another company after I was quoted $700 LESS per year than the company I had been with for 40 years. Wait until your last speeding ticket is no longer relevant and then shop around.
Health insurance? Ugh. You have my sympathy.
This year we transferred our home and auto insurance to a new company and saved $1300.
Our medicare premiums will go down a little next year because we're switching to an advantage HMO. It should work fine for us because our family doc is in the HMO.
I read a few years ago the only way after a while to get a insurance rates back to normal is to change insurers - and then plan to switch again in about five years. For some odd reason, insurers feel they must keep raising rates for existing customers. I changed insurers via a new agent about five years ago - and between HO and Auto saved about $1,200/yr. Since then, current insurer has been slowly but surely raising premiums - about 12% a year. Waiting for the 2016 premium notice, now. Either this year or next, I'll be shopping around, again. Why do they make it so hard?
I read a few years ago the only way after a while to get a insurance rates back to normal is to change insurers - and then plan to switch again in about five years. For some odd reason, insurers feel they must keep raising rates for existing customers. I changed insurers via a new agent about five years ago - and between HO and Auto saved about $1,200/yr. Since then, current insurer has been slowly but surely raising premiums - about 12% a year. Waiting for the 2016 premium notice, now. Either this year or next, I'll be shopping around, again. Why do they make it so hard?
A good number of people must just be accepting those rate increases without checking with other companies. We had Liberty Mutual, it was around $1,000 a year for 3 cars, over a period of 5 or 6 years it went up to $2,200. I started checking rates and found that Safeco would insure us for $700 a year. The funny part about that is - Liberty Mutual owns Safeco When we moved from Nevada to California Safeco raised our rates $500, so I started shopping around and found USAA - so far so good, I really like the company I hope they don't play that game with us too.
DH's career involved heavy interaction with insurance companies. He wasn't in insurance himself but was head of claims and liabilities for a large company and daily negotiated settlements with insurance companies.
Here's how he explains it to me: periodically some insurance companies will raise rates in an effort to shed customers in order to reduce risk. As an example, suppose a company insures 100,000 customers. If they raise rates 20%, they want to lose 20% of those customers, so they're left with 80,000 customers whose increased premiums are equal to the original 100,000. The company still has the same revenue but by dropping 20,000 customers they've greatly reduced their risk of having to pay claims.
Insurance companies are the masters of statistics and underwriting, they know exactly how to use them to their advantage. The only thing that reins them in is state regulatory agencies, and few of those do an effective job. Consumers should be aware of this tactic and not just assume they can't get a better deal elsewhere.
On the bright side - the price of gas where I live is now < $2 gallon in many stations. Guess that should save some people some money (won't save us that much because we don't drive that much)? I know rent is going up for many people in many cities.* The costs associated with our house will be pretty much the same or less next year. Our insurance costs (all types of insurance) haven't increased that much - if at all. What kind of insurance are you talking about NYgal2NC? Food costs will be pretty much the same. Saved a lot on irrigation/water costs this summer because we had a ton of rain. The only 2 costs that have gone up a lot this year or will cost us more than pennies extra next year are our golf course membership (it was relatively cheap and went up about 30% this year after a massive multi-million dollar course renovation). And the cost of our concierge primary practice plan at the Mayo Clinic is going up 25% - to $10k a year - next year. Don't think anyone is or should be crying for me. And I'm not losing any sleep either.
So - you retired people out there - what did you pay more for this year than last year - and what will you be paying more for next year? No anecdotal evidence please. I would like reports from people who actually follow their spending pretty closely. I expect things like prescription drugs will top the list (forgot - I have one drug that will be dropped from my Medicare Part D formulary next year - and that will cost me extra $$$ too). Robyn
*When it comes to rent in popular cities - seniors are competing with tons of younger people. Many of whom are willing to stack up 2 or more per bedroom in small apartments. E.g., I have a niece who just moved to Los Angeles. Her 800 sf apartment (which is newer/nicer) in downtown Los Angeles goes for $3200/month. She's splitting the rent with a roommate. I think that's nuts. It's almost as much as what we pay for our much larger house (if not more). It's especially nuts IMO because my brother is diverting money from his retirement planning to help pay for it.
Food for one, certainly medications as they keep messing with the formularies and dropping meds from it or increasing the tier. Water is going up year over year.
While the COLA wouldn't cover all of the above it would cover utility increases and some of the food cost rise.
DH's career involved heavy interaction with insurance companies. He wasn't in insurance himself but was head of claims and liabilities for a large company and daily negotiated settlements with insurance companies.
Here's how he explains it to me: periodically some insurance companies will raise rates in an effort to shed customers in order to reduce risk. As an example, suppose a company insures 100,000 customers. If they raise rates 20%, they want to lose 20% of those customers, so they're left with 80,000 customers whose increased premiums are equal to the original 100,000. The company still has the same revenue but by dropping 20,000 customers they've greatly reduced their risk of having to pay claims.
Insurance companies are the masters of statistics and underwriting, they know exactly how to use them to their advantage. The only thing that reins them in is state regulatory agencies, and few of those do an effective job. Consumers should be aware of this tactic and not just assume they can't get a better deal elsewhere.
The thing that insurance companies figured out is people, especially older people don't look at their insurance frequently or consider shopping around for a better deal. They (we) have been convinced that our insurance companies "care" about us. Take this one "scam" that they came up with years ago with the "we will never cancel you" contract they sent out to long time customers.
I looked into it when it first came out thinking "oh, what a great deal".
Well, it's truly a SCAM. What they don't tell you is while they will not cancel you they WILL raise your rates so high you'll either be ignorant enough to pay it or leave on your own volition.
Normally I shop insurance every couple of years but my current insurer has held our rates at the same level so I've been a bit lazy and not pushed to look for a better deal.
I do change auto/rental insurances every so often. At one time I did have Safeco (had it for a year, then they increased it more than I wanted to pay and I do not remember the exact amounts). I took a chance and went with Geico. So far, so good. The increases this year could be so much worse.
What I laugh at is the AARP people keep saying to go with their insurance.... I did for a year or two, I've never paid that much for insurance since I dropped them.
Oh, and you all probably know they base the premium on your zip code.
And medical insurance. I did something this year I hope I don't live to regret, but it was absolutely necessary if I wanted to afford food. 2015 I had Plan F with AARP United Health. And scraped by. But this year it went up more than I wanted to deal with and changed to a lesser plan. Yes, I know it's a crap-shoot. But until I see my way clear on some of my debt (4 more years), something had to give.
<snip>
Insurance companies are the masters of statistics and underwriting, they know exactly how to use them to their advantage. The only thing that reins them in is state regulatory agencies, and few of those do an effective job. Consumers should be aware of this tactic and not just assume they can't get a better deal elsewhere.
It was one of my nephews who is a claims adjuster who told me to shop around. I didn't really shop around but at least I made a little effort to grab a lower rate.
"Masters of statistics and underwriting". LOL. One of my sons is an actuary for a health insurance company. He's the one who has always believed insurance (all insurance) is a total ripoff. I don't bother arguing otherwise as he is far more intelligent than either of his parents. One day I hope to be able to get by with the bare minimum coverage required for my car. I'll probably end up declaring residency in New Hampshire and forgo auto insurance altogether. Did I mention that I hate insurance companies almost as much as I hate the big banks?
Thats's $300 a year when compounded with additional COLA starts to add up. Imagine in ten years now add on top another $25 per month compounded over those ten years.
It won't happen for 10 years straight. And it's based on the actual cost of living. It goes up, so does the SS pmts, it goes down, they stay the same.
People love to twist information and scare people with it. Oh no! No COLA! Even if the cost of living didn't rise. Silly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robyn55
So - you retired people out there - what did you pay more for this year than last year - and what will you be paying more for next year?
Well, if everyone will remember the beginning of the year, gas was not cheap way back then. Also, eggs in CA have gone through the roof because of a new law that all eggs sold in CA must come from chickens who are raised in cages big enough to turn around in.
It was the right thing to do, but eggs have easily doubled in price. They were even higher when the bill first went into effect.
What will be more next year? Probably gas again LOL.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When we moved from Nevada to California Safeco raised our rates $500, so I started shopping around and found USAA - so far so good, I really like the company I hope they don't play that game with us too.
