My Niece's Building Burned Down (Encore Posting)

This post originally ran on March 25th, 2009. On March 21 my niece's apartment building was completely ruined by fire. I'm rerunning this post now to emphasize the importance of rental insurance. August is the biggest moving month, as proven by data from the American Moving & Storage Association, personal experience and the Uhaul company. Read this post if you are: a student, renting your home or apartment, or know someone who fits the first two categories.


This was the scene of my niece's apartment building last Saturday morning. She's a student at ODU and fortunately she was visiting her mom that weekend. Unfortunately everything she owned was destroyed.

Her possessions literally went up in flames. And she won't receive any form of compensation. That's because she didn't have renter's insurance. It may seem foolish, but did you have renter's insurance when you were in college? I know I didn't.

The landlord probably has property insurance but, that doesn't cover any of the tenants' personal belongings. And if you are renting you might think that your few belongings don't add up to much, but have you actually tallied them?

Add up the value to replace everything you own: your stereo, iPod, bikes, computers, etc. Could you afford to replace all of that stuff at once? Not likely.

At an average of $12/month to cover up to $30,000 worth of property, renter's insurance is cheap. Renter's insurance also covers you if someone gets injured at your place. Often it covers damage caused by dependents and pets as well. So if your dog chews something of the neighbors or your kids break someones window you could use your renters insurance to cover the damage.

It will also cover you away from your apartment. If your bike or laptop get taken from your car or a public place the renter's insurance policy may cover the replacement. And in my niece's case renter's insurance would cover temporary living expenses like hotel and meals until she finds a new place to live.

To save money on all of your insurance costs contact the company that holds your auto insurance policy. Typically when you have multiple policies with one company they will offer a discount.

And now for my niece it will be a rough time not just putting her life back together, but recovering her school work...I can't even imagine.

Whew! Share Insurance extended to 2013

Okay, maybe you aren't as excited about the news that increased deposit insurance at both banks and credit unions will continue at least through December 31, 2013. But this is great news!

Back in October 2008 Deposit Insurance was raised for both the FDIC and NCUA temporarily and set to expire December 31, 2009. The extension is part of The Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, signed into law May 20, 2009. The action continues the increase from $100,000 to $250,000 on member share accounts. This isn't just good news it is big news since the $100,000 amount was set way back in the 1970's.

In my September post entitled Is your money safe? PART 2 I run through the NCUA's insurance estimator to give an example of how your actual insured deposit amount could be even higher than the $250,000. You can run your own estimates by using the NCUA share insurance estimator located on the website. If you haven't looked at this estimator, you should. Doing so could help you sleep a bit better.

My Niece's building burned down

This was the scene of my niece's apartment building last Saturday morning. She's a student at ODU and fortunately she was visiting her mom that weekend. Unfortunately everything she owned was destroyed.

Her possessions literally went up in flames. And she won't receive any form of compensation. That's because she didn't have renter's insurance. It may seem foolish, but did you have renter's insurance when you were in college? I know I didn't.

The landlord probably has property insurance but, that doesn't cover any of the tenants' personal belongings. And if you are renting you might think that your few belongings don't add up to much, but have you actually tallied them?

Add up the value to replace everything you own: your stereo, iPod, bikes, computers, etc. Could you afford to replace all of that stuff at once? Not likely.

At an average of $12/month to cover up to $30,000 worth of property, renter's insurance is cheap. Renter's insurance also covers you if someone gets injured at your place. Often it covers damage caused by dependents and pets as well. So if your dog chews something of the neighbors or your kids break someones window you could use your renters insurance to cover the damage.

It will also cover you away from your apartment. If your bike or laptop get taken from your car or a public place the renter's insurance policy may cover the replacement. And in my niece's case renter's insurance would cover temporary living expenses like hotel and meals until she finds a new place to live.

To save money on all of your insurance costs contact the company that holds your auto insurance policy. Typically when you have multiple policies with one company they will offer a discount.

And now for my niece it will be a rough time not just putting her life back together, but recovering her school work...I can't even imagine.

How the bailout affects you right now

Everyone is anxious to see how the big bailout is going to affect the economy. Meanwhile the stockmarket isn't behaving as we hoped. But most of the aspects of the bailout haven't been put into place just yet--except one. We heard this was going to happen, but the speed at which it was implemented was surprisingly quick for government work. I'm referring to the increased deposit insurance.

Statutory Share Insurance Change: $250,000
The new law became effective on October 3, 2008, and will remain in place through December 31, 2009. The law provides for an increase in the minimum NCUSIF coverage from $100,000 to $250,000 on member share accounts. This includes all account types, such as regular share, share draft, money market, and certificates of deposit. Individual Retirement Account and Keogh account coverage remains at up to $250,000 separate from other types of accounts owned.

It's about time.

Is your money safe? PART 2

Awhile back I explained that your credit union deposits are insured by the NCUA, just as any bank deposits are insured by the FDIC. Now with more banks failing some people are starting to wonder if the FDIC can really cover their deposits. And you can't help but wonder if the situtation will spread to credit unions.

As for the FDIC, they continue to assure consumers that their funds are safe. They're updated website devotes a section to deposit insurance. Likewise NCUA has also added more about deposit insurance or as it's known in credit union speak "share insurance". The new share insurance estimator tool on the NCUA site is designed to give you a clearer picture of what funds are insured and up to what amount.

I used the calculator and put in some fictional numbers that included joint accounts, an IRA and a Trust. I set the combined balances higher than the $100,000 insurance and happily saw that my scenario was completely insured.
I encourage you to visit the NCUSIF estimator and plug in your own accounts, even just for your own peace of mind. At the end of the tool you can print results if you like.