Suppose that you have two job opportunities. The first employer will hire you as a sub-contractor, meaning that they will not offer you any health insurance subsidization. The employer will pay you $35 per hour at 40 hours of work per week. The second employer will hire you as a full-time employee and offers health insurance subsidization. The employer will pay 75% of your health insurance costs. The employer pays $31 per hour at 40 hours of work per week. Suppose that health insurance premiums are about $1,000 per month.
Based on the above information and your own personal preferences, which employer would you choose to work for?
Explain your reasoning for your choice.
If you drive a car in Massachusetts, you need a certain amount of car insurance coverage. The minimum amount of insurance has these requirements:
Bodily injury liability. If you cause an accident, this will pay for medical bills of the other (victim) driver/passengers. The minimum coverage will pay $20,000 per injured person and at least $40,000 per accident.
Proprty damage. If you cause an accident, this will pay for the other (victim) driver’s car/property. The minimum coverage is $5,000 per accident.
Personal injury protect (PIP). This will cover your own medical expenses in the case you cause an accident. The minimum coverage is $8,000 per accident. (If you have more than $8,000 in medical expenses, the remaining can be billed to your health insurance.)
Uninsured/underinsured Motorist. If someone elses causes an accident and are not insured (or flee the scene), this will cover your expenses. The minimum coverage is $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident.
If you have the cheapest possible car insurance, you will only have coverage for these minimum expenses in the case of an accident. Some people recommend to pay more money on car insurance per month for more coverage with the reationale being that if your expenses exceed what coverage you have, you may need to pay for any expenses over those minimum coverages.
Do you think it would be wise (for you) to pay more each month on car insurance for above-minimally-required protection? (There is no one right answer here.)
Explain your reasoning.
In 49 out of 50 states in the US, car insurance is madatory, even if you own your car out right and don’t owe money on it. (In New Hampshire, you don’t have to have insurance, but you need to prove that you can financially fund any damage you cause.) Many drivers believe these laws are unfair, arguring that it should be each individual driver’s right to decide if they want to protect themselves financially. Why do you think car insurance has been made mandatory? (The answer isn’t insurance company greed.)
Find the following:
Suppose you have a comprehensive plan on your car insurance that has a deductible of $500. Suppose someone keys your car and it would cost $1,200 to fix. How much would your insurance pay for the repair?
Suppose your health insurance requires you to pay $20 co-pays for every doctor visit you have. You also have a $500 deductible. Your visit the doctor three times in a year. Each visit is $250. How much would you pay yourself, and how much would your insurance pay?
You have a car insurance policy with comprehensive coverage. The policy has a deductible of $1,000. It has a maximum payment amount of $5,000. Your car is pelted by golf-ball-sized hail, which causes dents all over. It would cost $7,500 to fix. How much will you need to pay for the repair yourself?
Many people do not elect to have insurances like life insurance, property insurance (if they don’t have a mortgage), travel insurance, disability insurance, etc. They often rationalize that the likelihood of needing insurance is slim, and it is better financially to not pay the premiums for insurance. Write a few sentences that describes the pros and cons of this point of view.
In this week, we targeted two learning goals for the course - accessing wellness tools and social-emotional skills. Write a few sentences as to how this week’s material has helped you progress toward meeting these learning goals. The learning goal objective is as follows:
Accessing wellness tools: Students develop tools for improving their physical, social, and/or mental/emotional health and overall college experience.
Social-emotional skills: General Education Objective: Students identify personal social, emotional, and cognitive skills to be practiced and developed; including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and communication skills.
