Josh:  This is Josh Tirado. And on this episode of making smart decisions, we are going to touch on umbrella insurance. So let me dive into the ever-exciting fun world of property and casualty insurance said no one ever. Auto insurance, homeowners, insurance,  renter's insurance. These are things that are necessities.

[00:01:54]And oftentimes people overlook umbrella insurance. So let me just quickly touch on this because this might actually be the coolest, most useful insurance item that you don't have or never heard of.  Umbrella insurance,  the reason I call it that is it's an umbrella of protection over you.

[00:02:09] It's a personal liability insurance policy for protection. And this comes into play. Let's say someone is injured at your home. Let's say you're in a car accident, someone's injured and somebody wants to Sue you there. There are certain limits and they're very low limits on your homeowners on your auto policy.

[00:02:27] And they're suing you personally. So this personal liability protection kicks in and covers you in case of an unfortunate incident that requires someone taking legal action against you. Now that being said, the reason I think underutilized is it provides a great value for $1 million of coverage.

[00:02:46] Most companies charge under $300 for the year. oftentimes some around $200, you can get a million dollars of liability coverage for the year. And I think that is that's an outstanding value and many people do not have it. And I have this coverage. As a matter of fact, there was a period of time when I was recommending this to every one of my clients.

[00:03:06] And it got to the point where my clients were so aggravated that their insurance person had not recommended this, that they came back to me and asked if I could sell it to them. I said, no, I don't do property and casualty, but it did lead to a thought where I did take on a partner. And we started a property and casualty insurance agency.

[00:03:25]We started one week. We grew it and we sold it. So despite the fact that my, my practice as a financial advisor is what I enjoy the most. And that's why I've continued with it for 20 plus years. There was a period in time where I did have a partner and we also did insurance. So I'm pretty well versed in property and casualty.

[00:03:44]And trust me on the umbrella thing. It is very useful.  Here are the common triggers and the people that most likely should look into it. If you have children, especially if you have children and you have a pool or a trampoline, because if you have children and your children have friends and people are playing, oftentimes somebody can get hurt.

[00:04:02] Trampoline just increases that risk and a pool, whether your children or not exponentially increases that risk. So if you have a pool, trampoline, or children, umbrella insurance is a very good idea. If you have teenage or early twenties drivers in your household. So someone who just got their license up to say the early to mid-twenties, who's driving and still lives at home, or is on your policy.

[00:04:25] Very oftentimes there when leading causes of accidents and they're one of the leading causes of lawsuits stemming from those accidents, and this can help cover you and your household as well.  Young drivers. Children a pool, a trampoline. And then lastly, I'm going to say a business owner depending on your business structure, you can have some liability protection and coverage there, but there's no law stopping people from attempting to Sue you personally, as well as professionally.

[00:04:52] And having this coverage in place it is a really nice backstop that has a really nice safety net. So again, children, business owners, or just extra peace of mind for anybody out there for a very small amount for the year can provide a lot of coverage. So my recommendation is that most, if not all people at least look into getting umbrella coverage, if not securing it, because I think it's a real value, especially in this society today.

[00:05:18] That is as litigious as we are.