Wise stewards look long before they leap
This is a bonus blog on insurance and investing risk, because the biggest risk is falling in a pit that you think is a safe insurance protection or investment profit, but they really are the exact opposite, they are financial pitfalls and mistakes. Here are four financial pitfalls that everyone THINKS are insurance and investing but they are NOT.
Financial Pitfall - Warranties on Home and Auto Repairs
A warrantee is like insurance, but it’s not. You are basically paying for repairs ahead of time that may or may not happen in the future, on the bet that the repairs will cost more in the future due to inflation. These warrantees on homes and cars are being marketed, advertised and sold on convenience rather than actual cost. If you need anything fixed, just call us! We’ll send someone right away! You already paid for it! Often, the warrantee company give the repair request to a cut-rate, low quality company. If anything needs replaced, you will get the lowest cost, lowest quality product. That will probably break again. And you will keep paying the warranty. On most home appliances and car repairs, it’s just not worth it. Run the numbers and make an informed decision. Don’t just get a warranty because the dealer insists on it. Don’t just get a warranty because you are lazy and don’t want to get at least 3 quotes from repair companies, or buy new appliances. Know what you are getting with a warrantee, because it is NOT insurance. You will not get a cash payout when something goes wrong.
Financial Pitfall - Health Co-Ops
A health cooperative is like medical insurance, but it’s not. In a cooperative, your monthly contribution is put into a large pool of money. When other members of the co-op have medical expenses, they get them approved by the health co-op administration/management company. If those medical expenses are NOT approved, then the sick/injured/cancer patient is on the hook for the WHOLE cost of the medical expenses out of pocket, starting at the exorbitant costs that the hospitals and medical provider charge without insurance. If you are single, or if your family members are young and healthy, and you can afford most doctor and dentist checkup appointments out of pocket, then a health co-op might be a good low-cost option for you. But if you have a family history of illnesses like auto-immune, diabetes, cancer, or heart disease – or if you are risky and often get injured – then a health co-op might not be the answer, stick to medical insurance. Like with warrantees, make sure you know ahead of time and understand what will and will not be paid by a health co-op. And for heaven’s sake, a health co-op is NOT a spiritual issue. It is a financial issue. God is NOT against insurance as a lack of faith. Insurance and health co-ops are both financially responsible stewardship options, but they depend on your situation, and both have hidden financial pitfalls. Know what you are getting when you put your money into either a co-op or insurance. If you do not understand, spend the time on hold to ask a human voice on the phone.
Financial Pitfall - Time Shares
Time shares are like real estate investments, except they are not. Time shares for vacations are financial pitfalls and annual money traps. You think you are buying an annual vacation at a resort or condo, but you are actually buying a piece of property with no resale value increase (no one wants to buy them). The concept is to buy a piece, a percentage, of a property’s ownership value based on the time that you will spend there every year or every other year. That property is usually a condo or a room in a resort hotel with a real title deed.
But let’s say you get tired of going to Vegas or Orlando and want to go somewhere else. No problem! The time share company will turn your “time” into points that you can use to get time at other resorts they own. Only you will discover that you never have enough points or the right time of the year to get the resort you want. No problem! Just buy more points by buying more time at your “home resort.” Which adds another literal title deed to your portfolio. But wait – there’s more! Every year, you will pay Home Owners’ Association fees and Maintenance fees and Property fees. To the tune of thousands of dollars. Yes – even after you pay off the property loan note, the fees continue every year. FOREVER.
The ONLY way to get rid of a time share deed is to sell it on the secondary market. Guess what? No one is buying. NEVER buy a time share property or points. Do NOT fall for the “free weekend stay if you sit in a presentation” deal they tempt you with. A time share is NOT an investment. It is a money suck and a time suck, one of the worst lawfully sanctioned real estate scams and financial pitfalls of all time.
Full Disclosure – I own a small time share I bought in a moment of weakness 15 years ago, and I have attempted multiple times to get out of it and cannot without paying lawyers thousands of dollars – do not do that either! Now we use the time share at off-peak dates or give the points away to others. I will not divulge the hotel company that sold this to us but they have made a TON of money off us. Yes, I am ashamed and forgive myself, thankful God gives us the resources to absorb the cost – but many people are stuck with this dishonest debt chain.
Financial Pitfall – Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is promoted as a monetary exchange investment, except it is not. The idea is to have a worldwide monetary standard so that different nations’ money value can be compared and exchanged accurately. This is not far from God’s command to use a fair and accurate weight balance scale. The issue is that cryptocurrency is not backed by anything tangible, it is virtual. There is no scale standard. Most nations back their money by gold and precious metals, and those trade at a worldwide standard weight measure. Cryptocurrency is not backed by anything. Crypo instruments – Bitcoin, Etherium, etc. – are not guaranteed by any government. If the crypto company backing them goes bankrupt, or if the private company owner is convicted of fraud by a government, then your invested money is gone. That is the ultimate risk with crypto, not only its wild market value swings. The ultimate risk is losing everything. What’s worse, international gangs are ripping off people to the tune of billions of dollars every year by selling fake cryptocurrencies through social media ads and outreach relationship connections. Again – know what you are buying if you are going to risk real dollars on fake dollars. There are even ETFs that invest in crypto, so buyer beware – crypto is creeping into real investments. Crypto is just one step away from gambling.
Master the Basics Before Falling for Financial Pitfalls
Master the basics of insurance and investing before you buy alternatives that could be financial pitfalls. If you have already fallen into a pit, we can help you with a plan to get out, or a plan to live with it wisely. Contact us to get help from a certified financial counselor.
Comments