Insurances

[SilverDJ]

Do you insure your stack in any way apart from excellent security? e.g house and contents.

Someone else handles the security, so don't have to specifically pay for it. No insurance as such, I trust their security.

Landlord insurance if you've an IP - worth it, reasons?

N/A at present, but you probably get "just in case". Idiots can (try) sue you if they trip in their own house they rent from you.

Car Insurance - comprehensive, extended third party or insure against no-claim bonus, get a hire car, windscreen exception etc?

I usually drop comprehensive once value gets low enough (say $5-10k)
3rd party property in that case of course.

Life Insurance - Part of your planning?

Got it through my SMSF
Worth it when you have kids, you know it can pay for their education etc, your partner won't struggle as much.

Income Insurance - Worth it?

Don't have it, but thinking about it, once again through the SMSF I consider almost free/play money at this point anyway.

Tools insurance - Worth it?

Not worth it. But I got it as part of my business insurance package anyway.

Health Insurance - Just pay the medicare levy and hope, or pay extra for some level of control?

I just have the minimum required to offset the extra tax.
Can be important if panning kids.

Health Extras Insurance for life's challenges, or save the premium for such things?

Health in particular I regard as a bit of a con.
If you have the call an ambulance then you will get treated immediately regardless. Choosing your own doctor or hospital etc is bullshit if you just had a heart attack or something.
Private plays a part after the fact if you have to stay in hospital. Basic hospital cover (required to avoid the extra tax) covers this anyway.
Anything else unless you plan on having kids is a waste of money IMO.

Funeral Insurance - one never know do one.

A con designed to pray on fears of the elderly.
Maybe if your family is so poor they can't afford their next rent payment?

It seems to me that actuaries have the answers and insurance companies rely on the odds for the difference. Do you insure against the fear of the worst, or work out the odds, or do you put away an amount each week or month or year to cover such contingencies.

Generally I'm a fan of saving the money and having it available for any issues that come up, rather than pay insurance for stuff.
Important for SHTF stuff (death etc), but I don't see it as helpful in everyday life. e.g. private heath paying for your yoga classes etc.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

Edited because I was a goober

 

[scrooged]

You buy the metal from the vault's own bullion shop and they they give you free insurance of $100,000 for 3 years. Normal free insurance is $20,000 from the vault.

Which vaults are making this offer?

Guardian Gold. Tell them Big Daddy sent you and you'll get a free paper weight stamped 1966 ;I)

 

[SilverDJ]

@SilverDJ, you cannot take out Income protection insurance as part of your SMSF, it must be paid for privately.

Oh, bugger, was about to check on that

 

[SilverDJ]

@SilverDJ, you cannot take out Income protection insurance as part of your SMSF, it must be paid for privately.

Oh, bugger, was about to check on that

I checked and it seems you can:
http://www.wealthsmart.com.au/superannuation/smsf-income/
http://www.moneymanagement.com.au/n...rotection-cover-be-held-inside-superannuation
http://www.insurancewatch.com.au/life-insurance-for-self-managed-super-funds-or-smsfs.html

And yep, my life insurance SMSF provider offer it:
http://www.agigroup.com.au/wholesale-rates-for-smsfs

 

[SilverDJ]

Health Insurance - Just pay the medicare levy and hope, or pay extra for some level of control?

I just have the minimum required to offset the extra tax.
Can be important if panning kids.

Actually, when the levy first started it was cheaper to get basic private hospital cover than the 1% extra levy you got charged.
Not sure if that's the still the case, but I think it's close. So might as well get basic hospital cover.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

@SilverDJ, you cannot take out Income protection insurance as part of your SMSF, it must be paid for privately.

Oh, bugger, was about to check on that

I checked and it seems you can:
http://www.wealthsmart.com.au/superannuation/smsf-income/
http://www.moneymanagement.com.au/n...rotection-cover-be-held-inside-superannuation
http://www.insurancewatch.com.au/life-insurance-for-self-managed-super-funds-or-smsfs.html

And yep, my life insurance SMSF provider offer it:
http://www.agigroup.com.au/wholesale-rates-for-smsfs

That's interesting, my broker said differently, or advised us that we pay it privately - it was one of those.

Thanks.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

@SilverDJ, I've just done some reading and I think our adviser advised us to hold it outside of our SMSF because of the more favourable tax treatment, not because it was illegal. Inside your SMSF it only offsets up to 15% (the maximum tax rate SMSFs can pay), outside it offsets your marginal tax rate which can be as much as 45%.

Thanks for correcting me.

 

[SilverDJ]

@SilverDJ, I've just done some reading and I think our adviser advised us to hold it outside of our SMSF because of the more favourable tax treatment, not because it was illegal. Inside your SMSF it only offsets up to 15% (the maximum tax rate SMSFs can pay), outside it offsets your marginal tax rate which can be as much as 45%.

True. Although it sometimes pays to think about personal cash flow too. Whilst I can easily afford it personally, it feels nicer to use some of that useless SMSF money
But interestingly I just got a dummy quote from my SMSF provider and it separated out the income protection part into a personal instead of SMSF. Strange.
https://agismsf.com.au

 

[mmm....shiney!]

My Insurance protection is due in about October. My plan is to use my tax refund cheque, which should be higher than in previous years because of insurance protection to pay my annual premium in order to minimise any impact on my cash flow.