5% per year. Several state legislatures are considering following New York, Indiana, Connecticut, and California by agreeing to cover any expenses beyond three years of nursing home care and six years of at-home care. Find out more about long-term care by visiting the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living Website at www.longtermcareliving.com.
PROPERTY INSURANCE
Protecting your belongings is always a concern. Most homeowners’ insurance policies cover personal contents worth up to 75% of the home’s value. But some items, such as jewelry, have caps on payouts regardless of policy size. Furs, firearms, gold, silverware, collectibles, fine art, electronic and sports equipment, and tools can eat up a huge chunk of the standard protection.
“If those target items eat up more than half the automatic coverage, we recommend that the policyholder increase the insurance by buying a personal articles policy,” says State Farm insurance agent Lou Miller. Personal articles policies have the added advantage of all risk coverage–items can be replaced, regardless of why they were lost or damaged. Regular homeowners or renters policies generally pay out only in the event of fire, wind, storm, hail, lightning, smoke, vandalism, or theft–called “name perils” by those in the industry. Most insurers require a room-by-room inventory of personal items, and appraisals or sales receipts for items valued at more than $1,500.