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How to lower your auto and home insurance premiums

Do you know how much your auto and/or home insurance premiums increased last year?

Insurance premium rates have been one of the fastest growing line items in most household budgets for years, far outpacing inflation for other expenses. In 2024 alone, the typical policyholder premium increased by:

17% to more than $2,100 per year on average in the U.S. for auto insurance; and
10% to more than $2,600 per year on average nationally for home insurance

These substantial increases, on top of other living expense increases, have squeezed family finances even tighter. In some cases, to the point where individuals and families have been forced to drop coverage altogether. Despite these growing costs, insuring your assets is critical to protecting yourself from potentially large financial losses, and in most cases are required to operate a motor vehicle and own a home.

While you may understand the importance of insurance in managing financial risks, you may not have realized there are ways to lower your premiums and potentially save a lot of money.

If you are interested in learning more about insurance costs and savings opportunities, as well as how to calculate the financial impacts of your buying decisions, please read on.

How do you compare to the wealthiest U.S. households?

What do the wealthiest households own that separates them from others?

The answer to that question can be found in research data from the Federal Reserve on the distribution of U.S. household financial accounts.

This data allows you to compare the level, composition, and share of assets and liabilities with households in other wealth percentile groups, and see what the wealthiest households buy and own that makes them different.

If you are interested in learning what assets are prioritized by the wealthiest households and how you compare, please read on.

Need more balance in your life? Try using a balanced scorecard

If you still need help developing your 2025 resolutions, then I recommend adapting a management tool popular in the business world – the Balanced Scorecard.

The Balanced Scorecard was developed by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton in 1992. It’s used by businesses, governments, and non-profits around the world to measure their performance and improve strategic results, and is considered one of the most influential business ideas of the past 75 years.

Whether you’re working or retired, the Balanced Scorecard framework can be adapted to your personal life. Read on to learn how.

2024 Year in Review

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous 2025.

Thank you for continuing to support my efforts to increase personal financial proficiency and well-being.

I believe strongly in the financial and emotional value of the content I produce and it gives me great pleasure when I hear and see it helping others.

I created DIYmoneytrack.com to support the content in my books, obtain feedback from readers about new content, and connect with other DIY financiers.

I’m delighted to report that my mission continues to gain traction.

What it means to be a sandwich generation caregiver

During a recent conversation with a former colleague, he openly shared with me that he was worried about the financial situation of his parents, especially as it related to healthcare needs and costs. His parents, both in their late 70’s, were struggling with medical issues. Sadly, his mother was recently diagnosed with Dementia.

He also told me that did not know the exact amount of money his parents had or would need, but he suspected they did not have much saved. His father had shared with him on a prior occasion that they did not have a large “nest egg,” and they were relying on social security for most of their living expenses. He knew that his parents did not have long-term care insurance.

Although his parents owned their home, their property taxes were very high and they “did not want to move.” He admitted “occasionally” helping his parents pay their credit card bills so they did not carry a high-interest balance.

I remembered that he had children, but I couldn’t remember how many. He reminded me that he and his wife had three children, ranging in age from 14 to 20. The oldest was in college, and their middle child was applying to colleges. He shared that they were covering their oldest child’s college costs, but were concerned about being able to pay for his other two children.

When I asked about his financial situation and goals, he said he and his wife had a “fair amount” of savings but only had a relatively small amount set aside for emergencies, and were unsure if they would ever have enough to retire comfortably. Neither he nor his wife were clear about her parents financial situation, since they were “very private people.”

He and his wife paid an advisor for a financial plan “about five years ago” but a lot had changed over the last few years and that original plan definitely didn’t contemplate parental care beyond a “few monthly expenses.”

Our interaction motivated me to write about his circumstances as a member of the “sandwich generation,” and offer information to help younger adults begin considering and preparing, as needed, for this situation.

If you are interested in learning more about the sandwich generation, what it may cost you to be part of this cohort, and a few tips for navigating your membership, then please read on.

Do you know your Return on Spending?

You may have heard of return on investment (ROI), but what about return on spending (ROS)?

Return on Spending (ROS) is a metric that measures the financial return on non-investment expenditures.

Ok, but how do I generate a return on my non-investment spending?

If you use a credit card with cash-back rewards to make purchases, then you can monetize the financial benefits of “paying later” to generate a return on your spending.^*

To learn more about ROS, including how to calculate and the positive impact it has on your Purchasing Power, please read on.

Why you should set up your Social Security account online as soon as possible

If you’ve been collecting a regular paycheck in the U.S., then your employer has been deducting Social Security taxes. These deductions are typically itemized on your paystub as “FICA SS TAX”. Your employer matches these contributions and sends both portions to the Social Security Administration.

Even if you already know about this deduction, you may not have realized that information about your Social Security tax payments and future benefits are available to you online at the Social Security Administration (SSA) website.

If you have not already created your my Social Security account online, then you should do so as soon as possible. Read on to find out why you should set up an online account and how to do it.

How to protect your credit reports

In my prior post on protecting yourself from cybercriminals, I shared steps you can take to stay ahead of fraudsters trying to use your personal data against you and steal your identity. While all of those actions should be used to protect yourself, there is one action I recommend you consider implementing now:

Create a fraud alert or freeze access to your credit reports.

Protecting yourself from cybercriminals

Financial damages from cybercrime are growing at an alarming rate. The total global impact of cybercrime to individuals, businesses, and governments in 2023 was estimated to be an astounding $11 trillion, and is expected to cost the global economy more than $20 trillion by 2026. In the U.S alone, the FBI recorded more than 880,000 cybercrime complaints by individuals with potential damages totaling $12.5 billion in 2023, up from $3.5 billion only four years ago. By some estimates, roughly one-third of U.S. residents have experienced some form of identity theft and that figure is expected to rise.

How to minimize fees to maximize your big money returns

As referenced in my new book Making Big Money Decisions and recent blog posts, transaction fees can take a big bite out of your returns. The good news is that the costs for holding investment funds and selling a house in the USA continue to decline, allowing you to keep more of your money. Since these investments are usually large, even small differences in the fees you pay can add up to significant amounts of money over time.

If you are interested in finding out more about these transactions costs and tips for ensuring you are paying the lowest fees, then please read on.