Life Lessons 101

Everything you needed to know, but was never taught in school.

Do I need life insurance?

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As a young man, I didn’t think much about life insurance. I mean, the odds of me dying young were slim…

However, something happened about the time I turned 25 that changed my mind. It was the birth of my first child. Before that, I was married, but we both worked and either of us could support ourselves on our own, had a small apartment and no real debt.

However, after the my first son was born, my wife stopped working to provide care for him full time, as he needed it. Having two people to care for changed my perspective on many things. Add the small house we bought shortly after, and things started to come into focus even clearer.

Having someone who depends on you financially meant I need to be able to provide for them, even if I wasn’t there. I still wasn’t making a lot, but wasn’t sure what I needed and what I could afford. Many places will either tell you things like “10 times your salary” or “as much as you can afford”. I thought those were a little foolish as each situation is truly different.

So here were some things I put into my thought process.

First, I looked at my debts

I was looking at things like house payment, car payment, student loans etc. Most of these I had worked to pay down or eliminate. However, the house payment took a little more time, so I added those all together.

As you get older, and have been paying down on many of these larger loans, you may find that you can lower the amount of insurance you need. This is good because insurance prices normally go up as you age.

Second, I looked at my salary

I thought about how much time my wife and I thought it would take her to get a new job and get up to speed. Not having any debt payments over her head would help, but things like dealing with the grief, kids without a parent, etc could slow things down. Depending upon if your partner is currently working as well, and you need both salaries, or if they work only to bring in extra income, or they don’t work outside of the home. You will also want to consider their education level, will they need new job training, job prospects, etc.

All of these factors will vary the amount you want to look at. Talk it over with your spouse.

Typically this is a multiplier of your annual income, such as 4x for four times your annual salary, 10x your annual salary, or something in between. Know that without any debt, and assuming you wouldn’t expect your spouse to get into more debt right away, 4x your annual salary may last for 6 to 8 years, maybe even more! To get a better idea, look at your budget.

Third, Look at future needs

Look toward known future expenses. Do you need to add something for college savings for your child, or do you know that having a new car would be important as you don’t have new cars and if you aren’t there you can’t go get them in an emergency.

College savings tend to be the biggest thing people consider, and it is important. Not only what college costs now, but what will it cost in the future, and should they go further than that, such as preparing them for a Masters or other degree.

A lot of that has to do with your kids, and knowing what they want.

Many people estimate that $100k is reasonable to consider for 4 years of school, but this will vary based upon if they live at home, go to a private school, etc.

I know someone who as a freshman in high school they are looking at wanting to go into the medical field, most likely as a surgeon. She is studying hard to get every scholarship she can but it will still cost her. You might need to leave more for her.

Things I forgot to consider

Funeral and other immediate costs. Funerals are not cheap. Between the cost of burial, a plot, etc, medical bills that might occur, etc, there is a lot of things you have to consider.

You might always need to consider the cost of counseling for your spouse and children, especially if it is unexpected – which in many ways I would hope it would be as a young person.

Family care was another thing I didn’t think of. This would include child care as my wife would need to return to work, lawn care, etc.

Life Insurance through work

Many people can get life insurance through work, and usually it is cheaper than through other means. This often has limits, like 5x your salary, so see if it’s enough. Several places I worked at offered me 1x my salary for free as a perk… I usually tried to max that out, as it was cheaper, but not always.

The bad news is, if you lose your job, or they change benefit packages, you may lose this perk, so don’t put all of your eggs in this basket, and/or be willing and able to quickly get another policy somewhere else.

Life Insurance through your regular provider

Additionally, you might be able to get insurance through your regular insurance carrier. I got a small policy because it gave me a multi-policy discount and I actually paid less overall having the extra insurance.

Closing Thoughts

No one like to things about life insurance, as it requires us to think about things we’d rather not…like death. But like taxes, death is the only other real certainty it seems like.

Set aside some time to speak with your spouse, partner, etc.

Having life insurance, as well as a will, are things you need, especially if you have others that depend upon you.

I don’t typically recommend talking to people outside the professionals helping you and your spouse. It seems like everyone wants to put their hand out for some free money, whether it be a worthy charity, your parents, of your siblings for a gift for your niece or nephew. Sure you can use a life insurance policy to gift people with some money, build generational wealth, etc, but that’s typically a bit extreme…and I don’t want to give anyone a unnecessary reason to want me dead.

Prepping for the (Winter) Storm

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One of the boring things we’ve got to do as an adult is be prepared for the storms in life. Some are big, some are unseen, and some we know about…

That’s the ones I want to talk about right now. The known storms that come into our life. Like an actual storm. We’re scheduled to get snow and ice tomorrow, so like an old, boring adult, I started to get ready.

I made sure we had wood for the fireplace in case the power went out, had dry goods that don’t require cooking – OK those were snacks, as well as making sure I had fuel for my camp stove in case I lose power and need to cook in it.

Batteries for the flashlights and cell phones are charged, as well as making sure we have gas in case we can’t get fuel in for a few days.

99% of the time, these preparations are not needed, and boy am I glad for that! However, it sure is nice being prepared for when that 1% hits.

I see too many people who are not prepared and that causes nothing but issues. And sure, there are things we might not foresee. But luckily we have weather stations and channels to help us with these storms that we can and do see.

Checking Your Car’s Oil

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One of the best ways to save money, is to keep what you’ve got working. A car is one of the most common expenses that a person has, and it often needs to be replaced after a few years. However, with some basic maintenance, you can often double the life expectancy of your car and instead of it lasting three to four years, you can get six or even ten plus years.

I’ve kept several cars running for over 100,000 miles, and two over 200,000 miles. The number one thing I did was to check the oil, especially as the car gets older.

The oil in your car needs to both good/clean, and enough, to keep your engine lubricated and working well. Without oil in your engine, the engine will seize up and be worthless.

Cars are made up of a lot of parts that will wear out, and the seals around an engine are no different. Unfortunately that means that as your car gets older, you might need to add oil between oil changes.

As I write this, we’re in the middle of COVID-19, and several oil change places are not open around town. So while I’m not driving nearly as much, I still need to keep things working.

Generally, when you go in for an oil change, they’ll give you a sticker telling you to come back in 3 months or 3,000 miles, which ever is first. Well, for most cars you can go longer if you know what to expect. Which is good, since with the oil change places shut down, (and I don’t have a good place to do it myself) I’m going on six months between oil changes.

So let’s see how you check your oil.

Steps to checking your oil

First, make sure your car is on a flat area. If you are on a hill, or other incline, the oil will collect in a portion of the engine and give you a false reading.

Second, make sure your engine is off, and has been for a little while. Never work on your car while the engine is running, there are too many moving parts to get a body part, or piece of clothing caught in and you could get seriously injured. Also, an engine is hot, and you don’t want to risk getting burned, so let the car sit while off for 15-30 minutes to stay safe.

Third, pop open your hood. Almost all modern cars have a front hood release accessible to the drive. This will vary from vehicle to vehicle, so check your owner’s manual if you don’t know where it it. You may have a second release to operate to fully unlatch your hood. If your hood has a stand to keep it open, put that into place so you can keep from having the hood fall on you.

Fourth, find your dipstick. Now, I’m not talking about your stupid friend… the oil dipstick is often found on the side of the engine, and has a round top with a finger pull so you can easily grab it. They are usually colored yellow, to make them easier to find.

Fifth, pull it out. At the end of the stick, you should see two things, a series of markings and some oil. The oil should be between the two markings.

Look at the oil. Is is a golden or light brown and semi-translucent… i.e. you can see a little through it, or is dark, black and sludgy looking? If you touch it, does it move smoothly, or do you feel grit and it not want to move on it’s own.

Dirty oil needs to be changed. Clean oil, where you can see through it and it moves easily is good, and doesn’t need to be changed. Of course, there is a lot of variations between, so you need to make an educated guess on how close you actually are to needing an oil change.

If the oil only comes to near the bottom marking, you may want to add a little oil. I typically add between a half of quart and a quart depending upon when my next oil change is going to be and how close to the bottom it is. I’ll go over how to add oil in another article.

Next, once you’ve checked your oil, you need to put your dip stick back in. Insert the end back in the tube that you pulled it out of, and push it back in until the top is pushed tight against the tube.

Finally, close your car’s hood.

10,000 Push-ups in a Year

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What if I said I was going so 10,000 push-ups this year as one of my goals? Would you think I’m crazy? Some sort of athletic marvel?

Well, is like to think I’m not crazy, and I know I’m no athletic marvel.

But what if I told you that I was going to do 834 push-ups a month. That’s nearly as amazing, but still an audacious goal to many.

But what if I suggested if I only did 28 a day. That would work out to the same 10,000 push-ups a year.

Big goals always seem impossible. No one can do 10,000 push-ups. But break it down into smaller, more manageable chunks, anything is possible.

New Year, New You?

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As the new year comes, many people look to setting new years resolutions to make changes in their life. Almost of a third of people who make resolutions do so about weight. Over 40% of people make resolutions about money. Source

However within a month, almost half of the people will have given up on their new years resolution.

How can you improve your chances of succeeding at your new years resolution? Well, you improve the process by how you handle changes and set goals. The process for sticking with your resolution will work for dealing with work/school projects and other goals you’ll have to deal with in the future.

Make list manageable

Don’t go overboard with a bunch of resolutions. Instead select one or two that you feel strongly about. I’ve known people who make 10 resolutions, hoping that one or two will stick, but instead you are less likely to succeed. By focusing your efforts on one or two, you improve your chances of success.

Be specific

One of the biggest reasons for failure is setting a goal which poorly defined. The problem is they rarely seem poorly defined when we start.

“Getting healthy”, “Losing weight”, and “Getting in better at money” are all good starts, but they are hard to reach, because you never know when you are in better shape, lost enough weight, and are good enough at money. You can always get a little better, and therefore will give up as you’ll feel you can never reach that final goal.

Instead, be specific, using the SMART method: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

Specific and Measurable often go hand in hand. “I want to lose my freshmen 10 I added.”, “I want to be able to bench press my body weight”, or “I want to pay off my Visa card”. Each of these is a specific and measurable goal.

Losing 10 pounds is easy to measure. You simply need a scale, and you can watch the weight go down as you make progress. A lot of time people don’t like working with numbers, but it really is important.

But make sure, any number you pick, is achievable, i.e. realistic. This often needs to go hand in hand with time-bound. If you’ve never lifted weights, saying you want to bench press 500 pounds, is not a realistic goal, especially if you want to do it within the year.

Instead, set a reasonable goal, that you can work toward. I like to set goals that are 3 to 6 months out. This way I can’t procrastinate, but I’m not going mad in setting it. It is achievable. You may need help in finding out what is achievable, especially if its something new. For example, if you want to pay off your Visa card, but you are used to living off of it, and only paying the minimums, paying it off may not be the most achievable goal. However, paying down a part of it might be. Check with friends, research on-line, or seek professional help if you want to make a big change.

Finally, pick a goal that is relevant. This is something that means something to you. Something you care about, is something you will stick with better than something that is arbitrary that you do because you think you need to, or you are pressured by someone else.

Make a plan

As the old saying goes, “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.” It may be cliché, but it’s true. So break down your resolution into smaller goals, keeping in mind the SMART method.

Let’s say you want to get in shape, and lose 10 pounds. You’ve identified your big goal, but how are you going to make it. By setting smaller goals, you see yourself working toward the bigger goal. For example, you might specify that one week 1, you will sign up for the gym, and by week 2, you will be visiting said gym Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 30 minutes. Week 3, you decide that your normal snack break you take at 3 PM, can be replaced with dry roasted nuts and a bottle of water instead of a candy bar and soft drink.

Each of the little steps is something that is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. Using a calendar, or calendar software helps. I set up alerts within my Google Calendar to remind myself of when to drink my water, to help me stay on track – even now, after setting the goal several years ago.

Automate where possible

Using a calendar software, or your smart phone’s alarm is a great way to help make sure you are reminded. If you can automate the process, that much better. For example, if one of your goals is to save $1,000 this year for an emergency fund, you can determine how much you need to save each month, and have it automatically transferred to a separate account.

Join a group

It’s sad, but friends and family may not always be supportive. So find people who are. Whether it is an on-line group, or a local group. Studies repeatedly show that going to the gym with a friend increases the chances of you continuing. Likewise, if you have people who encourage you to save money, eat healthy, etc. you are more likely to do so.

Recover from mistakes

Changing a habit is hard. We never said it would be easy. And it’s not uncommon to miss a day going to the gym, forget to drink that extra glass of water, or have that impulse buy. Don’t beat yourself up over it.

Instead, realize it is a mistake, and move on. Learning to deal with small set backs is a big part of life. So pick yourself up, and work on your goal tomorrow, like today didn’t happen.