Before you buy or renew your home insurance policy there are 6 questions you should be asking.

1. What is the cost to rebuild your home in its current location should a total loss occur? Most homeowners policies should cover the cost to rebuild a new home. Usually a homeowners policy covers the owner in the event of fire, hurricane, hail, lighting or any other tragic events that should be listed on your policy. Make sure to take a close look. For example flood and earthquake are covered only by a separate policy.
2. Is the personal contents of my home covered in full in the event of a total loss? Most insurance companies offer personal property coverage that can equal 50 to 70 percent of the amount to replace your personal property. However the best way to determine the true value of your personal property is to have a home inventory done.
3. How much liability protection do I need? Picture this your having a cook out and one of your relatives falls down t he stairs. They go to the hospital and now medical bills are piling up. Do you think your relative is going to pay those bills? Absolutely not. We see it all the time family members suing other members. With this said to determine how much liability you should have is how much you can afford to lose. Another benefit
4. What level of additional living expense coverage do I need? Additional Living Expenses (ALE) coverage is to cover the cost of living away from home if you cannot live in your home because of damage from an insured disaster. Your ALE should cover hotel bills, meals, and other expenses. Make sure to talk with your insurance professional about how much coverage you have and if there is a time limit.
5. Should I buy a separate flood and/or earthquake insurance policy? Few Americans have flood or earthquake insurance however during 2011 Massachusetts saw flooding, felt an earthquake, witnessed a tornado and came close to a hurricane. Even if you don’t live in a flood zone you may want to consider flood insurance. Contact one of our professional to discuss what flood insurance covers and what the cost would be. While your at it ask about earthquake insurance so your family is protected for any disaster.
6. Do I qualify for any discounts? Items such as smoke detectors, burglar alarms and/or dead-bolt locks in your home can usually get you a discount. Sprinkler systems and alarms that sound at a monitoring station often lower your home insurance premium. There is also an age discount that some companies offer. Make sure to speak with your agent about this.

The best thing you can do is to review your homeowners policy with one of our insurance professionals to make sure your covered before disaster strikes.

Valentine’s Day is here and your cooking your loved one a special dinner. Did you know that 57% of house fires started in the kitchen in 2011. Kaplansky Insurance compiled a list of 12 tips to ensure your Valentine’s Day Dinner goes off without a fire alarm sounding.

Candles

• Be particularly careful with tea lights and night lights which can melt plastic as they get very hot.
• Use proper candle holders so they can’t fall over, and on a heat resistance surface.
• Make sure your candles are nowhere near clothes and hair or any location where you might lean across them.
• Keep your candles away from items which could catch fire such as curtains, fabrics and furniture.

Cooking on the Stove

• Keep anything that can catch fire away from the stove. Items such as oven gloves, paper and plastic bags and food packaging, wooden utensils, towels, potholders and curtains.
• If your attention is distracted by your loved one while cooking, even for a short time, turn the cooker off.
• Never hang towels over the cooker.
• Make sure saucepan handles aren’t sticking out over the stove top edge or over another ring – turn them in.
• Turn the cooker off when your finished cooking your meal.

Smoke Alarms

• Keep a smoke alarm at each level of your property and in every room.
• Check the alarm once a week.
• Once a year change your battery, vacuum and clean the alarm casing to make sure there is no dust blocking the sensor chamber.

Kaplansky Insurance would like to wish all couples a ‘sizzling but safe’ Valentine’s Dinner at home.

Question: What’s the most common childhood disease? The answer, by a mile, is tooth decay. And since February is Children’s Dental Health Month, now’s the time to check you’re doing everything you can to protect their teeth – and give the Tooth Fairy a break.

The American Dental Association (www.ada.org) stresses the importance of developing good oral hygiene habits at an early stage. For this year’s campaign, it has a whole stack of ideas, games, activity sheets and publications that you can download from their website.

Even without these, you can help your children now with just a few simple rules. For example, they should brush and floss twice a day – a couple of minutes each time. Check they do this and monitor the amount of toothpaste they use – too much fluoride can cause problems. Help them understand the dangers of consuming too much candy, or chewing gum and sugared drinks, and encourage them to wear mouth guards during sports.

Plus, of course, ensure they have regular check-ups. It’s no fun – but the consequences of not doing so are even less palatable!

After months of planning your business is ready. You have invested money, countless hours and passion into finally launching your own business. But did you take care of the most important thing? Did you buy the right insurance to protect your business or more importantly you.

1. Employer’s Liability Insurance This coverage gives you protection against costs you incur as a result of damages or legal fees if an employee gets injured or ill due to working with your business. By law, you have to carry this kind of insurance if you intend to employ more than one person.
2. Public Liability Insurance Will your business regularly come in contact with the public. If so this type of insurance can protect you if anyone or their property in the general public is injured or harmed.
3. Professional Indemnity Insurance Also known as errors and omissions insurance will provide coverage for any claims or legal costs if a third party is negligent or if there;s been any mistake relating to the services of your business. For example, our insurance companies carry E & O insurance on us in case we make a mistake when writing a policy. Just remember that we are only human and mistakes do happen.
4. Key Man Insurance If you own a business and lost your right hand man to injury or death what would happen. If you lose an employee who is a key employee, Key Man Insurance can protect you and help cover some of the financial loss. The pay out is decided in advance and you would need to decide the potential loss at this time.
5. Business Interruption Insurance This insurance is vital in the case of a disaster or if your business had to shut down for an extended time period. Just think of the loss you could be facing if your business had to close for a week never mind a month or longer. As a business owner you need to assess your risk from several points of view. Not only should you assess what a interruption would cost your business but what it could do to your customers. This coverage would help restore your business to its original level or operation.
6. Commercial Vehicle Insurance If you plan to provide company vehicles to employees or the car your driving is totally business, then this coverage is a must by law. Many types of commercial vehicle insurance is available depending on what type of vehicle. Contact an insurance agent to find out more.
7. Insurance for property and buildings Most policies cover a premise that belongs to the business if one of the following risks arise: fire, lighting, riot, explosions, malicious damages, storms, floods, or damage caused by vehicles.
8. Business Contents Insurance Even if you have insurance for the property and buildings your business runs out of it may not cover the contents inside. Just like renters insurance. A landlord carries insurance to cover the dwelling itself, while a renter obtains insurance to cover the contents inside. Business contents insurance works the same way.

Make sure your business is protected so you can focus on growing that business. Contact a professional today to get all your questions answered.

You just received a 2%-3% pay increase. Now what? You could take an active role by putting this money to good use.  Here are some tips you can use to get that increase working for you.

1. Pay off your high interest debt- You are use to living off your current pay, so when you get an increase it would be wise to pay off debt. Having credit cards with high interest rates means your going to be paying for a while. If you paid off a few of these cards you can consider this another pay increase with the funds you free up.
2. Start building your emergency fund- Many people do not have an emergency fund in place. Experts recommend that you have three to six months of living expenses set aside in your emergency fund. Living on your previous pay and saving your new pay increase is a great start to building your emergency fund.
3. Increase your retirement savings- By using that pay increase to build up your retirement fund should be a priority. April 15th of each year is the final day you have to contribute to an IRA. Use that year-end bonus or pay raise towards your retirement so you can maximize your contributions by April 15th.
4. Double check your insurance protection- Your family and assets have grown so should your protection. Do you have umbrella coverage to protect against being sued. What about flood insurance according to FEMA 30% of flooded homes were not insured. If you live outside a flood zone coverage is inexpensive.
5. Splurge on yourself- You did earn the money and you should enjoy it. Take a small portion such as 10% and spend it on something for yourself or family. This is like a cheat day for diets. Do not be too strict with how you spend the money you will be more inclined to fall off the wagon.

Want a New Year’s resolution that’s easy to keep, costs next to nothing, yet could save lives? Simple: Do a safety makeover throughout your home. All it takes is a little time and a lot of common sense. Here are a dozen key ingredients.

1. Do a walk-around survey to identify and resolve risks – things like loose window catches and other fittings, slippery floors and rugs, unsecured cabling, floor obstacles, and sharp edges.
2. Do the same thing around the yard, checking for fall hazards, security of equipment and proper safeguarding around swimming pools and ornamental pools.
3. Check (and replace if necessary) smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. If you don’t have alarms, install at least one on each story of your home.
4. Ensure all gas appliance, fires and clothes drier venting is clear.
5. Check, restock or buy a good first aid kit. Better yet, have two. For what to include, see this Red Cross list: http://tinyurl.com/RC-fakit
6. Make sure all dangerous tools, from kitchen knives to garage equipment, are securely out of the reach of youngsters.
7. Have a fire escape plan and share it with everyone in the house. Need more info? See: http://tinyurl.com/esc-plan
8. Check electrical outlets and appliance cabling for wear and damage. See this guide from the Home Safety Council: http://tinyurl.com/HSC-elec. Install covers over unused outlets.
9. Clear out and clean your fridge, replace kitchen cutting boards and cracked pots – all potential sources of food-borne infection.
10. Dispose of expired and used medications and make sure that those you use are properly labeled and safety stored – that’s at the right temperature and out of reach of little hands.
11. Make sure ladders are properly secured before using, and follow the rule of always having three limbs in contact with the ladder.
12. And don’t forget, home safety these days also encompasses use of your personal computer. Install internet security software and keep it up to date. Plus, if you have kids, take steps to monitor their usage.

Every year, home-related accidents result in 20,000 deaths and more than 20 million medical visits. Resolve that, in 2012, you and your family won’t be among them. Take the time to discuss safety with them, especially children.

Let’s face it, eating is a Holiday hazard. There are just too many temptations, and by the time the Holiday’s are done, you don’t care if you never see another turkey again. But there’s probably no time of the year when more food goes to waste. Yet, just a little forethought can turn some of those leftovers into tasty dishes.

For a start, you can freeze some of that cooked turkey. Slice it when you’re serving and refrigerate as quickly as possible. Then use freezer paper of aluminum foil to wrap small portions – no more than an inch or two thick. They’ll keep for up to a month.

Next, the veggies. Give jaded palates a post-Holiday treat with a mixed vegetable curry. Dice the vegetables and prepare some fresh Basmati rice. While it’s cooking, pour a little oil in a skillet and stir fry your vegetables so they’re piping hot; add a couple of tablespoons of curry paste. When this has melted, add a cup of coconut milk (more if you have a lot of vegetables) and allow to simmer for a few minutes. Serve over the rice.

When re-heating leftover food, make sure the cooked temperature reaches 175 degrees. For more information on safe storage and use of leftovers, visit the USDA Food Safety & Inspection Service at http://tinyurl.com/usda-safe.

Did you know that your business is entitled to a free consultation to identify potential hazards at your worksite, and to improve your occupational safety and health management systems, using state government professionals?

These days, when it seems most of the cash flow between small businesses and governmens goes in only one direction – to them! – you might want to get at least a modest payback in terms of an on-site consultation through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This is quite separate from the regular OSHA inspection service and having the consultation may even earn a 12-month exemption from inspection.

It’s voluntary and can cover either your entire operation or one specific issue. Most consultations focus on workplace safety only, though a sizeable minority covers health only. Only a small fraction do both. It’s also confidential. Any unsafe or unhealthful working conditions found by the consultant are not routinely reported to inspectors, though you will be asked to commit to putting them right.

There’s an all-round benefit from setting up a consultation, enabling you, according to OSHA, to:

• Recognize and remove hazards from your workplace.
• Protect your workers from injury and illness.
• Prevent loss of life at your worksite.
• Cultivate informed and alert employees who take responsibility for their own and their coworkers’ safety and for worksite safety as a whole.
• Improve employee morale.
• Comply with federal and state safety and health requirements.
• Have managers who are more effective at their jobs. Management experts believe that the company with a well-managed safety and health system enjoys better overall management.
• Increase productivity rates and assure product quality.
• Decrease workers’ compensation costs.
• Reduce lost workdays.

Since it’s voluntary, you have to request a consultation from OSHA. Contact the state OSHA office or call the organization’s national inquiry line at 1-800-321-OSHA (6742). A consultant will then discuss your specific needs by phone and arrange a visit.

The actual consultation includes a discussion with you to clarify your needs, a walk through that may involve employee participation (that’s up to you but is encouraged by OSHA), a conference on findings, a written report with recommendations and, if appropriate, training and assistance with implementation of recommendations.

Apparently, OSHA consultants carried out more than 30,000 initial visits during 2010. That suggests to me that it’s a worthwhile service.

An acquaintance of mine was telling me she has an employee on her payroll who is just about to celebrate her 80th birthday. These days, I guess that’s not so unusual. Longer, healthier lives and economic forces are prompting more people to stay in paid employment much later than they used to.

Paradoxically, another business person I know is looking at early retirement as a way of trimming his workforce and has discovered a whole set of issues he hadn’t thought about that are likely to influence how to go about this.

THE key point is that you can’t force people to leave on the basis of their age. That would be categorized as discrimination. Any program has to be voluntary so anyone going down this route likely would need to offer a financial incentive. Unfortunately, you might then find that the very people you least want to lose will volunteer. And if you try to veto these, you might again be accused of discrimination!

The second set of problems relate to social security, taxation and retirement plans, like IRAs, 401Ks and annuities. You will need to provide professional advice to retiring employees on their options. Experts reckon a person needs to be able to maintain an income of at least two thirds their pre-retirement level for up to 40 years. Also there are potential tax penalties for anyone making withdrawals from retirement plans before the age of 59-1/2.

There could also be the question of continuing health insurance coverage, and a responsible employer might additionally offer counseling on the emotional and occupational elements arising from loss of the work role.

All-in-all, these and more considerations seem to militate against an early retirement program per se, though it’s a different matter if one of your people independently decides to quit early, though, again you should be prepared to offer them professional guidance.

There’s a lengthy and very helpful online guide to early retirement on the BNET interactive business network that provides further insights into this issue at http://tinyurl.com/bnet-guide.

Incidentally, if you’re in that other situation of having one or more employees considerably above normal retirement age, there’s another set of issues potentially relating to mobility, vulnerability and training. Without wishing to generalize, in the main you must give additional consideration to their needs – for example during an emergency evacuation – and the physical tasks they’re required to perform. Eyesight, hearing, physical strength, reflexes and mental sharpness are all human elements that deteriorate with age.

My own research suggest this is not an area that’s been given much attention outside of academia. But it’s something that’s likely to become more common – probably more so than early retirement. With some exceptions, you can’t force any employee to retire at a specific age (though you can discharge them for inability to perform). Thinking now about the likely issues as your workforce ages likely will pay off in the future.

An acquaintance of mine was telling me she has an employee on her payroll who is just about to celebrate her 80th birthday. These days, I guess that’s not so unusual. Longer, healthier lives and economic forces are prompting more people to stay in paid employment much later than they used to.

Paradoxically, another business person I know is looking at early retirement as a way of trimming his workforce and has discovered a whole set of issues he hadn’t thought about that are likely to influence how to go about this.

The key point is that you can’t force people to leave on the basis of their age. That would be categorized as discrimination. Any program has to be voluntary so anyone going down this route likely would need to offer a financial incentive. Unfortunately, you might then find that the very people you least want to lose will volunteer. And if you try to veto these, you might again be accused of discrimination!

In my experience, most questions invite a simple “yes” or “no” reply. A few times, you might say “it depends”. But every now and then, there’s a question to which the answer actually changes over time. Take, for instance, the issue of whether a business person should buy or lease their workplace premises.

I’ve been through this myself in the past and I’m sure the issue has cropped up for you or someone you know once or twice. The reason it’s so difficult is not just down to economics either – that is, would the loan repayments be more or less than the equivalent rent? That equation definitely changes from year to year. But the nature of your business, the current state of the commercial property market and the outlook, and your own ideas about business expansion all have to be weighed into the mix.

It’s definitely not a decision to be rushed if you can avoid that and I would always encourage you to take professional advice on the pros and cons. But if this is something on your mind, or likely to be in the near future, here are some of the issues you might want to think about:

• Your initial outlay is lower when you rent than when you buy. You likely won’t need to raise capital.
• However, right now, mortgage repayments are probably lower than rentals for the same property.
• To a variable extent, the owner of a leased building will be responsible for maintenance and repairs.
• You can more easily move as you grow (or consolidate) with rental premises that precisely meet your immediate size needs.
• In a positive market a purchase will be an investment, the building an asset.
• You know how much it will cost you to service a loan – whereas a landlord may increase rent.
• You may be tied in for a specific lease period that you’ll need to buy your way out of it if circumstances change.
• You have more flexibility to adapt your own building/workplace to your needs.
• If you own the building and have spare space, you might be able to earn income through renting out space.

Some things, of course, cut both ways. For instance rent is tax deductible but only the interest element of your loan repayments qualifies. On the other hand, you can write off a proportion of the purchase price through depreciation.

Your insurance needs may also differ. Obviously, if you own the place, coverage is pretty much all down to you, but if you’re renting, though your insurance costs may be lower, responsibilities have to be very carefully defined so that risks don’t fall between two stools (please talk to me about this if it’s likely to be an issue),

As I said earlier, you should discuss your needs with professionals – at least an attorney and a tax specialist. This is a decision that could significantly influence your success, especially your cash flow and growth plans.