https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1_GwiJtM20

To navigate your insurance decisions, you must weigh the costs and opportunity costs of each option.  While some choose to self-insure as a solution to reduce insurance costs, there are additional costs hidden beneath the surface that you need to be aware of.Insurance is fairly polarizing.  Chances are, you either love it or you hate it.  And for most, it all boils down to cost.If you’re in the maximum-insurance-for-all-time camp, you want as much protection as you can get.  You see no expiration on your desire to be insured, and you have no problem paying for it.

However, if you lean towards just-the-minimums-ma’am, you begrudgingly pay for just what’s legally required.  You would rather do anything else with your money.

Table of contentsWhere Insurance Fits into Your Whole Personal EconomyEveryone Wants InsurancePerception of Cost vs. RealityThe Panoramic ViewPreviously in This SeriesThe Questions We’re Answering TodaySelf-Insuring is The Opposite of InsuranceThe Limitation of NeedsYou Retain Risk When You Self-InsureReasons You Want Insurance#8) It Costs More to be Self-InsuredThe Cost of Being Uninsured vs. the Cost of InsuranceThe Full Cost of ReplacementThe Cost of Insurance#9) Self-Insurance Creates Stagnant AssetsLost Earning PotentialThe Cost of Lost Production#10) Protection Is One of Your Good ExpensesConsumptive ExpensesProductive ExpensesDestructive ExpensesProtective Expenses#11) It’s Easier to Keep What You Have Than to Make MoreIn ConclusionTake ActionWhat’s Up NextThe Whole Series on Insurance ProtectionCreate Your Time and Money Freedom

Where Insurance Fits into Your Whole Personal Economy

Let’s zoom out for a moment to remember where and why insurance fits into your Cash Flow System.

Your foundation starts with keeping more of the money you make.  Second, you protect what you’ve built.  Finally, you increase your income to create time and money freedom and expand your legacy.

Insurance fits in the protection stage.  With it, your livelihood is no longer at risk, but secure, regardless of the life circumstances you face.

Your protection is like a roof on your financial house.  When the shingles are sufficient and cover the whole house, it keeps storms outside your house, preventing them from getting inside and destroying your belongings.  Similarly, when you have adequate insurance protection, your income and assets you’ve built are safe from financial storms that may occur in your life.

Everyone Wants Insurance

Let’s address one misconception so we can start off on the same page.  The truth is that everyone wants insurance and as much of it as they can get.

Why?

If it were free, how much would you get?

You and just about everyone else would want it all. I think the lines would be even longer than the ones camped outside a new Chick-fil-A grand opening that give the first 100 a year of free chicken sandwich meals.

Now, we all know that we can’t get something for nothing.  No insurance company would agree to that arrangement, because it’s unsustainable. They’d always lose money, go out of business, and that would put you right back in the same position of having no insurance.

Because there’s a cost to transfer risk, you now have to decide if it’s worth it to you.

Perception of Cost vs. Reality

On the surface, it appears there’s a positive correlation between the amount coverage and the cost.  When the amount of insurance goes up, so does the price tag. Logically then, the way to achieve the lowest cost would be to have the least insurance.

Given that perspective, most people run the cost-benefit analysis throughout their life to calibrate how much coverage to have at any given point in time.  They carefully measure needs and weigh the benefits and costs like two kids on an old-fashioned see-saw, looking for equilibrium.  Do the benefits outweigh the costs or is it the other way around?