Insurance
This hub covers the money decisions in the coverage households actually need: health, auto, home and renters, life, and disability. It explains how much makes sense, what it should cost, and which add-ons are safe to skip. Figures trace to public rate and regulatory sources. It is free, and there is nothing to sign up for.
Insure the loss you cannot absorb
Insurance is worth its cost when a claim would be a loss you could not pay for on your own: a hospital stay, a totaled car, a house fire. Small, affordable risks are usually cheaper to self-insure than to pay a premium against. That single rule sorts most of the coverage you are offered.
The premium and the deductible move together
A plan with a low monthly cost almost always carries a high deductible, the amount you pay before coverage kicks in. Whether that trade is good depends on how much care you expect to use. On the health side, that is the whole question behind an HDHP, and it is worth running the numbers rather than guessing.
The tax-advantaged accounts attached to health plans
Some health plans come with an account that lets you pay for care with pre-tax money. The HSA and FSA look similar but differ in one big way: an HSA is yours to keep and carries over, while an FSA is mostly use-it-or-lose-it. Which one you are eligible for depends on the plan you chose.
Health coverage at 65 and older
Most of the coverage here is for people under 65. Once you reach Medicare age, the rules change, and higher-income retirees pay a surcharge on their premiums called IRMAA. Our sister site Cobalt Medicare covers Medicare and IRMAA in the same sourced, plain-English way.