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We get it; shopping around for the right life insurance policy can be intimidating; you’ll need to decide between a whole life policy or a term life policy, the amount of coverage you need, which carrier to use. . . need we go on?

But one thing you shouldn’t stress about is the inevitable physical exam that comes along with most life insurance policies. Why not stress? Sure, it’s important, and will generally effect your life insurance rates, but stressing out will raise your blood pressure – which is exactly what you want to avoid at your life insurance physical.

In fact, high blood pressure can be a good excuse for insurance carriers to give you higher rates than you’d otherwise receive, as it’s an indicator of current or future health problems. So when you’re ready to secure your policy, follow our tips for lowering your blood pressure.

Avoid Caffeine: Sorry, coffee fiends; consuming caffeine before your insurance exam can give you artificially high blood pressure. Schedule your exam for first thing in the morning, or else plan to have your “morning coffee” after your appointment.

Calm Down: Just being in a doctor’s office can be stress enough to spike your blood pressure. While you wait, take some deep breaths and practice some quick meditation. Staying calm will help the nurse get an accurate blood pressure reading.

Kill the Smokes: A smoking habit will give you higher life insurance premiums anyway, but you can at least help improve your blood pressure score by nixing the cigarettes for a day before your exam. We suggest nixing the habit altogether, but that’s just us.

Follow the instructions: Many doctors will suggest fasting prior to your exam. This is a great idea, especially because several types of food can contribute to higher blood pressure.

Time it right: Some studies indicate that your blood pressure is the highest during the early afternoon, so try to schedule your appointment first thing in the morning or later in the afternoon for the lowest reading.

Don’t let the stress of life insurance get your blood pressure up! We’re happy to help you find the policy that’s right for you.

If you are over 55 years old, chances are you’ve heard of an AARP classroom course you can take to lower your car insurance premiums.  If you live in Nevada, you should really consider taking the course for a few reasons.

Shortened classroom time- The first big advantage to taking the AARP course in Nevada is we are one of only a handful of states where the DMV has worked closely with AARP to encourage 55+ drivers to take the course.  One complaint they were hearing from many attendees is the standard time the course takes is 8 hours, taking up your whole day.  Nevada worked with AARP to create a shorter 4-hour course, half the time required for most other states.  I took the course myself and the format is surprisingly fun and passes the time quickly.

Nevada Insurance Companies required to give discount-  This was interesting to me to learn that in most states while insurance companies may offer a discount for taking the course, they are not bound by law to do so.  Nevada insurance law requires companies to provide a discount.  From what I’ve seen with our own companies, the discount is usually between 5 – 10%, which can definitely help with your insurance payments.

Best Place in town to take the course-  Here at AMS, we volunteer to host courses here in our office the first Wednesday of each month.  The cost is $14 per person and $12 if you are an AARP member, all of which goes back to AARP.  I am proud that the Nevada director for driver safety courses came to our last class and mentioned that it is by far the best venue she has been to for taking the course.  We limit the number of attendees to 10 to encourage participation.  It is also held in our conference room overlooking Lone Mountain to hopefully provide a comfortable and relaxing setting.  And last but not least, we bring Dee’s Donuts!  If you’ve never had one, then what better reason is there to come?

To RSVP for our next class or if you have any questions at all, you can call me at 702-965-3685.

Insurance deductibles are intended to keep the cost of insurance low by eliminating very small claims and the cost of dealing with them. Deductibles apply to many different types of insurance but are most common on property and casualty insurance policies. Health insurance also has deductibles, and life insurance policies never have them. Most people encounter their first deductible when they buy auto insurance and have to choose the deductible amount for full coverage insurance when they finance a new or used car purchase.

Deductibles Only Apply to Policyholder’s Loss Claims

When involved in an accident at which you are at fault and needing to file an insurance claim to care for the other person’s vehicle, as might happen if driving a 4×4 and knocking over a costly sport bike parked on a lot, any deductible only would apply to the vehicle for which the auto insurance policy is drawn up. Any claims for repairing the motorcycle in this instance would not require a deductible. The deductible only applies to the insured vehicle and is intended to prevent the owner from filing minor claims for small things like having a flat tire. Deductibles also reduce the number of potential lawsuits over very small matters, and that helps to keep the price of insurance policies lower.

Deductibles Amounts Are Adjustable

People who want to reduce the cost of their auto, home or other insurance can do so by increasing the deductible amount. In most cases, deductibles can range from zero to $1,000. Some larger deductibles are available from some insurers, but most financed vehicles and common sense require deductibles of no more than $1,000 on autos. Most people have a deductible of $500, which is a relatively affordable amount for most working people to come up with in the event of an accident and needing to replace a vehicle. If the vehicle is totaled, the insurer will write a check up to policy limits minus the deductible. If repairs are needed, the insurer will pay up to policy limits minus the deductible. That means the policy holder will need to pay the deductible amount when insured repairs are done.

How much is the deductible you carry on your vehicles?

Have you ever experienced the sensation where you’re driving and realize that you’ve gone from point A to point B and can’t remember anything that happened? You know how you kind of wake up and realize that you don’t remember waiting to go through that gate, or whether or not you caught the light green or red? It doesn’t last for a long time, probably less than 30 seconds.

Everyone has a cell phone now. The increase of their use and prevalence, unfortunately, is evident in the the rising numbers of car accidents caused by distracted driving. Namely texting. Last year alone there were over 11,000 deaths.

Think texting while driving isn’t a big deal?

Perhaps you feel like looking at your phone for three seconds isn’t the end of the world. The problem with that is  when you’re cruising down the freeway at 65 mph, you’ll easily cover the length of a football field while driving a 4,000 pound metal battering ram while blindfolded.

The epidemic seems to be most prevalent among teens. This isn’t because teens are unintelligent. Without getting too scientific and technical, the pre-frontal cortex – the part of the brain responsible for decision making, judgement, and risk/reward balancing – doesn’t fully develop until the mid-twenties. This is why teens are more prone to participate in risky behaviors, and why teens are three times more likely to die in a car accident than people twenty and older.

The best way to avoid this epidemic sweeping our streets is to stop. Stop texting, checking Instagram, email – whatever. Talk with your teens about the dangers and help them understand just how serious the problem is.

If you feel the need to go the extra mile as a parent, there are apps available that will block all texts and phone calls while driving.

Originally posted 2014-02-20 14:52:40.