Is homeowner’s insurance even necessary?

In an effort to save money, you may wonder whether you need homeowners insurance. Even if your home is paid for and you’re not required to have a policy, it’s still important to have one. When it comes to the protection offered by homeowners insurance Sacramento homeowners know that a policy can do a lot.

Protect Your Home

You never know when something could happen to your home. There could be a fire, a storm or even a break-in. If you don’t have sufficient coverage, you would not be able to make repairs or replacements. However, with the policy, you can file a claim and have the insurance company pay for the majority of what was damaged or stolen.

Avoid Paying for Lawsuits

A homeowners insurance policy will provide you with liability protection. Liability provides you with the knowledge that if someone gets hurt on your property, your insurance company is going to protect you. Someone could easily sue you because they fell while walking up your stairs or sprained her ankle walking across your yard. Without the coverage, you could end up spending a fortune as a result of their lawsuit.

Fix Someone’s Property

You can also have homeowners insurance as a way of fixing someone else’s property. For example, if your kid throws a baseball while standing in your yard and it breaks the neighbor’s window, you want to know that it will get fixed. Your homeowner's policy will cover replacing that person’s window so that it isn’t your financial responsibility.

Knowing why having a homeowners insurance policy is so important will allow you to have the necessary protection on your home. You can get a comprehensive policy that is customized to meet your needs so that you have less to worry about throughout the year.

8 Tips for Choosing Insurance

If you're in the market for insurance, you might be a little overwhelmed by all of the providers out there. How do you know which ones are worth your time? How can you be sure that they'll protect your interests in your hour of need? Instead of taking a wild guess, make an informed decision with these eight tips.

1. Consider the Type The first step to choosing insurance is to figure out which type of insurance that you actually need. Travel insurance isn't the same as medical insurance, and car insurance will have different terms and prices than home and contents insurance. You'll need to do your research to determine which kind of policy is right for you.

2. Stick to Your Budget You'll have a certain amount of flexibility when it comes to monthly rates; depending on your insurance provider, you should be able to negotiate a higher or lower bill in conjunction with your deductible and policy type. There might also be measures that you can take to lower your liability rating as an individual policy holder. Regardless of how you work out your pricing, however, you'll want to make sure that you don't go over-budget.

3. Ask for Recommendations There are people in your life who have already grappled with the same insurance questions that you're asking yourself. Maybe it's a parent or grandparent with a life insurance policy; maybe it's a co-worker who has recently switched auto insurance providers. Don't be afraid to reach out to them and ask for their opinion.

 4. Compare and Contrast Brands While there's nothing wrong with choosing a lesser-known insurance company, you'll want to do your homework about all brands, including the most famous ones. You won't be able to make a truly informed purchase decision unless you have all of the facts. Get a notebook; start jotting down names, rates and coverage types; make lists of pros and cons.


5. Look at Different Insurance Packages A good insurance company will offer multiple "packages" for the same kind of coverage. For example, a car insurance company might offer collision coverage in every one of their packages, but the only way to get a no-fault guarantee is to sign up for a premium package. You'll need to look carefully at terms and conditions before you make your final decision.

 6. Test Their Customer Service Pretend that you're a customer of a particular insurance company. Is it easy to use their website? Do they offer things like online billing and online claim reporting? Is their customer service desk open 24/7, or will you need to wait for general business hours? The ideal insurance company will make it convenient for you to get in contact with them.

7. Read Reviews and Ratings Let's say that you've found a potential insurance company. What does the general public think about them? Do they have good reviews from third-party websites? Are there any complaints or scam alerts against them? Have they been vetted by the insurance industry as a whole? Don't put your assets into the hands of a company without a solid support system.

 8. Talk to Insurance Agents At the end of the day, the best way to gauge the worth of a potential insurance company is to get on the phone with them. If their agents are rude, unprofessional, unskilled or lacking in general knowledge, you'll know that they aren't the right provider for you. On the flip side, if their agents are able to answer all of your questions and make you feel good about your decision to come to them, they might be worth the effort.

 These are just a few tips for choosing insurance. Whether you're protecting your home or your health, it's important that you take your time and evaluate all of your options. Don't rush into anything. Make a decision that inspires confidence in the coverage that you've chosen.

The Future of Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency and its future

When it comes to cryptocurrency the first thing we think of is Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency which launched back in 2008 as a response to the world’s financial crisis. It was developed by Satoshi Nakamoto. The whole idea behind its development was to remove dependence on financial institutions and their ilk, the very persons who led to the financial collapse back in 2008.

But for most of us the whole concept of digital currency just does not sink in. I mean it is not something you can hold in your hand, it does not have any symbol like the Dollar attached to it, then what is it? Will it mean something when you hold it or is it nothing much than an idea? There are nearly 1,800 to 3,000 cryptocurrencies out there depending on the type and day of week it is. The vast majority of us as well as businesses do not know what to do when it comes to this form of currency.

The Wild Wild West of Cryptocurrency: 

Cryptocurrency is like the Wild West for many people. They just do not know what to make of it. To take it seriously or accept it as something of a passing fad?

But cryptocurrency may well be a part of our future. The traditional forms of currency have not undergone a change since the early 1900’s. only the laws and policies governing currencies have changed.

Just like everything in this world, change will happen maybe not now, but maybe in the future. The only constant is change.

For cryptocurrency to happen everything is already lined up. The technology, the networking is all there, the only thing not there is awareness and whole- hearted adoption which may not be so easy to achieve of the two.

Launch of a new type of Cryptocurrency: 

Recently a new form of cryptocurrency was launched which goes by the name LightPay Coin.

When it comes to Bitcoin, the first two things people are really worried about are the speed of verifying the transaction and the anonymity of people behind those transactions, which LightPay Coin seems to clarify.

Two months after LightPay Coin cryptocurrency launched, it was being used internationally with a market value of 8 million. You may be thinking 8 million what, well there is no real answer to that because cryptocurrency’s don’t really have any denomination.

A new masters programme to make you cryptocurrency savvy? 

When cryptocurrency is launched a new form of skill that will be high in demand is for people to know how to use it and this has led UCF’s College of Business and College of Engineering and computer Science to develop a 30- credit hour masters of Science in Financial technology.

What happens when Cryptocurrencies are used? 

The most important purpose of cryptocurrency is to remove the need of a third party. But that will not be totally possible as the Securities and Exchange Commission will need to regulate volatility to a certain extent.

New Tesla Bull Sees Case for Sixfold Surge to $300 Billion Value

Investors are alarmed with sounding off Tesla bull after a conference call

Tesla has been building slowly but strong. Its subsequent rise as a major tech firm with multiple interests has not just surprised a number of sceptics, critics but even its fans. It has risen over a number of fully documented and embarrassing failures but the last quarter has been extremely better for Tesla. However, the behaviour of its CEO during one conference call has simply changed the whole dynamic and sounded off the Tesla Bull. The behaviour shown by the Elon Musk during the conference call has emerged as a huge issue even though the performance of the firm has been acceptable and within the expectation set forth earlier. This has resulted in adversely affecting the performance of the Tesla shares in the open market.

Tesla: Shying away from questions

While taking on the conference call Musk had interrupted two analysts from asking questions. These questions were specifically targeted on the first quarter loss which happens to beat the expectations. Musk didn't take these question in his usual calm and simplistic stride rather termed the query raised by the analyst as boring bonehead and even suggested that the dry discussion is simply killing him. After which he went in his usual rhythm spent a large portion of his time joyfully interacting with the Tesla shareholder and the bloggers on a wide range of topics.

Tesla bull has been specifically sounded by his sheepish attitude in dealing with the queries raised by the analysts. It is worth noting that Tesla only allows one question per person but after sounding off the Tesla bull its CEO was more interested in getting the queries answered by the bloggers and shareholders rather than analysts.

Maligning the good days

So far Tesla was having a good quarter to shown in quite some time and it brought a wide range of positive signs. This has helped in building trust and credibility among the public, shareholders but criticism is always there. Upon hearing the queries from the analysts Musk appeared to be quite frustrated and this gave a sign to the Tesla haters of showcasing him as an unhinged or unglued person. One of the trade experts has stated that it is high time that Musk starts understating the basic thing that he is working for the shareholders. And it is own interest and company that he interacts with analysts in the best possible manner rather than running away from it which eventually will lead to more sounding of Tesla bull in future.

Shares are down

The frustrated and visibly shaken behaviour shown by Musk after the conference has not sounded Tesla bull but it has even given the dreaded 'red flag' to the company on the stock market. Tesla share is being sold on the stock market at a massive price tag of $385 and the consistent positive behaviour in the recent past made it stronger. But his behaviour has brought disaster for the firm as one of the premier analysts has given it a red flag and he is re-evaluating the stance on the company. The effect of Tesla bull can be easily seen on the stock market where its shares went down by 7% and traded at a low $280.

An Introduction to Popular Digital Payment Platforms

Digital Payment – Useful System of Transaction

The digital payment platforms have now become the most useful system of transaction in the Indian economy, particularly post demonetisation. When the announcement of doing away of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes had been made by the government, people had to move to digital payment method in a hurry for daily requirement on daily living for making payments on shopping to the payment of bills as well as to send funds to their family members. This situation had created a huge chaos among the citizens driving them to frustration.

The digital payment method though well-known now has its quotient of advantages and disadvantage. Its main benefit is the convenience of digital platform which can be utilised with ease. With several of the merchants now accepting the digital payment method, it gets easier in making transaction for, sending and receiving money in the digital mode.

The government is also encouraging such platforms with exemption from service tax when digital payment is done up to Rs. 2000 and 0.75% discount on fuel transactions. Moreover, users also benefit with referral bonus and cashback to merchants who tend to utilise the UPI platform BHIM by the National Payments Corporation of India.

Utilise – Safe Manner

Though digital payment is well known, it is essential that the same should be utilised with caution. Users need to know how to utilise the digital manner is a safe manner. Users could also get mixed up in choosing from the several digital system of payment in the market since there are many options to choose from. Some of the well-known digital modes of payments are mentioned below for ready reference:

UPI

Unified Payment Interface – UPI assists in sending and receiving money directly to one’s bank account. It enables the transfer of funds on utilising the UPI ID or the account numbers. Several popular UPI apps like BHIM, SBI UPI, HDFC, UPI, Tez, iMobile apps and much more are available in the market.

E-Wallets

E-wallets were beneficial when demonetisation had come up and the ATMs were not functioning. Since then people opted for it as a part of their daily activity. E-wallets can be utilised in the payment of utility bills, payment to be done at local stores, in sending and receiving money anywhere etc. Users need to be aware that KYC is compulsory in utilising e-wallets according to the instructions of RBI

Aadhaar Enabled Payment Service -AEPS

AEPS is said to be a digital paymentsystem that utilises the Aadhar number while paying the creditors. AEPS, unlike the other types of payment charges for the transactions that are made by the user or on behalf of the user. It tends to use your fingerprint as a password and the need of a signature is not essential, or an account number or any alphabetic or numeric password. It can be utilised in making interbank transfers also.

Unstructured Supplementary Service Data – USSD

USSD is unlike the other types since the use of internet is not needed. Users can check into their account send money or even alter MPIN with only a feature phone known as *99# since it utilises *99# as its code for transactions. Rs 5000, is the limit for each individual on the platform where a maximum charge of Rs 2.5 is charged for each transaction.