insurance

You are moving house but you would prefer to do it by yourself. In that case, let’s talk about the many things involved in the process of a do-it-yourself move.

Moving home is Stressful, so let’s look at that to start with.

Some people become considerably tense during a move. You could be one of the charmed ones who handle tension with a grin. Although it’s not just about personality and temperament

Try following these strategies to make the moving go more easily:sleekly:

1. Search around for moving supplies, these will be essential to pack away all your items, buy cheap supplies if you can’t borrow them. In advance of your property move, get together or borrow boxes, paper, bubble wrap, old blankets and anything else you can think of to assist with packing.

2. Start off packing straight away, there’s lots to do without packing in one day. Last minute packing is only going to multiply the tension levels. You should always have your possessions packed one day before the moving day to ensure you have the last day to pack up all the items you forgot about. Start off by packing those items you are not going to make use of or need until you get to your new house; such as DVD’s and kitchen gadgets. The more things you pack now, the less you have to concern yourself about.

3. Be hard-hearted and dispose of items that never get used and just litter the cupboards. Throw away all those items that haven’t picked up since the day you moved in, the items you thought you may use but never did. Charities appreciate donations so you could contemplate giving them away, or even do a garage sale.

4 Lists, Lists, Lists. This just may be the most crucial thing you will be doing when preparing for a move. Have multiple lists that include items to be bought, things you are giving away, things you are taking with you; even list the items that need delicate handling. By keeping a list and marking off things to do as they are finished is a great way to keep you focused and less tense on the day you move.

Preparation for Moving Day

Friends, family, neighbours can be asked to help you pack your vehicle at your old house and unload it when you get to your new property. “Many hands make light work” is a phrase that is honest. To say you appreciate the support, you could arrange for sandwiches and drinks to be ready to your willing supporters. This way, people will be enjoying the day in a restful way and the job will get done quickly and pain-free. If you have youngsters then you need to contemplate what is going to happen with them on moving day. Babysitters, whether its a family member or a day care facility should be arranged so the youngsters are looked after. For their own happiness, make sure the children see you are packing their prize possessions and allow them to keep one or two items with them, for safe keeping. Make arrangements for your family animal to go to kennels or stay with a friend while you move your belongings. Lots of animals can get travel sick, so make sure you take extra care when moving them. Make sure your pets immediate needs are taking into account when you arrive at your new property, by packing a separate bag just for the animal. Never leave your animal alone in the car when moving. Allow frequent breaks so your animal can relieve themselves and make sure they are always on a tether.

Make sure you find a great Truck Rental Firm for Moving

Often, your car will not be big enough to transfer all of your belongings to your new home and you’ll probably have to rent a truck. The experience you have with your moving vehicle rental is largely dependent on you. When renting a van make sure you take note of the following:

1. First make sure you pick the correct size van needed to move your possessions. Keep in mind, your vehicle should be big enough to accommodate 10-15% more than what you own. This is just to make sure you’re going to have plenty of area. More area is better than not enough.

2. With so many leasing companies in business these days, you’d think they all would be the same amount. Regardless of the amount of businesses, this is just not the situation. Look on the internet for the best charges, make a few phone calls and compare prices from different firms

3. Leasing a van or a car is a very parallel experience. As soon as you have a moving date, hire your vehicle, don’t leave it to the last minute when you may end up with something that doesn’t suit your needs. That way, your van will be waiting for you the day you move house.

4. Consider getting insurance on your hired vehicle. You may be skilled in driving a small vehicle, but driving a larger truck is very different. Cost of repairing a van if you make a gaffe could be very costly. A couple extra minutes looking out for the insurance and few more dollars will ensure you a stress-free move.

5 Try to organize ahead on how long you think you’ll be needing your rental vehicle and always make sure you have some time to spare. The reason for doing this is that you don’t want to return it late. The premiums for doing so are very large.

Taking a Car

If you have more than one car, decide on how to transfer it to your new destination. You can drive the car, ship the car, tow it or pull it on a trailer. Another option worth thinking about is selling it, storing it or giving it to a relative. Make sure the vehicle is capable of towing your second car and that all safety safety measures have been taken with the car to be towed. Boats, trailers, motorcycles, four wheelers, etc. may need specialist equipment to be towed. If you’re unsettled on how to proceed with towing them, look on the web or contact a dealer who sold it to you.

Prepared in cooperation with Jay Banks, Vancouver real estate agent and BC Moving Guide provider

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If you are like me, it’s easy to get fed up with constantly paying insurance premiums.  Writing a monthly check for car insurance alone will drive you crazy.   Not to mention the direct withdrawals from your paycheck for health insurance and the hit to your mortgage for home owners insurance and you have a lot of money going out the window to pay for disasters that might not even happen. 

But if those disasters do happen, you will be very glad you had insurance.  But there is one big life event that is coming that you want to do all you can to prepare for financially and that is old age and retirement.  While there is no “old age insurance”, you will find as you do your retirement planning that there are some very valuable insurance policies that are absolutely critical to a retirement life that is enjoyable, safe and prepared for.

We may or may not think of life insurance as part of retirement planning.  After all, the benefits of life insurance, at least on the surface are for those who survive you after your death which doesn’t do you a lot of good when you are living and breathing.  But you can invest in life insurance that also serves as a long term investment as well.  These policies which are sometimes called “whole life” allow the funds you put in to be invested and to build a cash value that you can cash in on when you retire. 

So you may want to carry $100,000 insurance when you are in the working world, paying a mortgage and trying to get the kids through college.  But if you can then hit retirement, cash in on the investment value of that insurance and spend your golden years with just enough insurance to cover some protection for your spouse and funeral expenses, that is a better way to organize your insurance programs.

Another layer of insurance that a lot of people are taking advantage of is Medicare supplement insurance.  Medicare is a great program that benefits a lot of people.  But Medicare can only go so far.  Those corny commercials for Medicare supplement insurance are goofy but they are on target that you need to have another safety net in the event you find yourself needing more extensive medical coverage than Medicare can provide. If you took the time to set up this kind of insurance early in your retirement planning, it will pay you big time when the need is there during your golden years.

A level of insurance that can be one of the biggest blessings if you become ill in your elderly years is in home health care insurance.  Many times illnesses that you endure due to old age are not the kind of thing you would want to get through in an expensive hospital room.  You will recover more quickly in your home but you still need someone to make sure you get your medications, take care of the little life details that you cannot tend to when you are poorly and be there if you take a turn for the worst. 

This is where the care of an in home nursing service can be so valuable.  This insurance can enable you to have care with you right in your home which will give you the care you need and take a lot of worry and work off of your family.  And since all senior citizens need medical care at some point in their retirement life, in home health care insurance is a must.

By setting up these different specialized insurance policies early enough in your working life, you can get some value into them when the time comes for you to retire.  Then you can you enter retirement with confidence knowing you have policies with reliable insurance providers to take care of the needs that you expect to come up during your golden years.

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