Insurance Insights: The Cleary Insurance Blog
The Cleary Insurance blog covers insurance, risk management, and financial planning for New England businesses and individuals. Our team of licensed advisors and specialists publishes regular articles on commercial and personal coverage, employee benefits, life and financial planning, and insurance compliance. Browse recent articles below, or use the category filters to find topics relevant to your business or personal situation.
Life Insurance Choices
Protecting your family with the right amount and right type of life insurance is an important responsibility. The first step is to determine how much life insurance you need to fully protect your loved ones. Once you know how much you need, the next step is to decide what type of coverage is right for you.
There are two basic types of life insurance to choose from:
- Permanent insurance offers lifetime protection, which means that your beneficiaries will receive a death benefit no matter how long you live. Whole life insurance is one type of permanent coverage that also accumulates guaranteed cash value which can be used to help address life’s opportunities and challenges. For example, people may buy homes because they need places to live. However, during the latter part of their lives, the equity in their homes may help them address other financial needs, such as helping to pay for their children’s college educations or providing additional funds for retirement.
- Term insurance provides temporary coverage for a specific period of time and only offers death benefit protection. Consequently, the initial premiums for term insurance may be lower than for a comparable amount of permanent coverage. In addition, there is no cash value component with term life insurance.
Many people find that a combination of both permanent and term coverage helps provide the protection and accumulation they need, at a price they can afford.
Douglas W. Greene CFP® CLU®
101 Federal Street, Suite 800 | Boston, MA 02110
Phone 617-305-0360 | Cell 781-640-5718 | Fax 617-723-7275
The Importance of Resistance Training
Many Americans are aware that about two hours and 30 minutes of exercise each week is necessary to stay healthy, and many of those individuals choose an aerobic activity, such as running or biking. however, recent research has shown that splitting your two hours and 30 minutes of exercise between varied activities—aerobic and muscle-strengthening—improves health the most.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, adults should aim to do muscle-strengthening activities, such as weightlifting, at least two times a week. Right now, only about 1 out of every 3 adults meets this goal.
A common misconception that many people have is that muscle-strengthening activities are more suited for men, which may stem from the misguided belief that women will “bulk up” too much from that type of exercise. However, women generally do not have the same level of anabolic hormones, which is what
causes men to build larger muscles more easily.
In fact, muscle-strengthening activities are extremely important for women to engage in because they are more likely to develop problems with their bones and joints as they age. Increasing muscle strength—through weightlifting or other resistance training—can help prevent those problems.
Resistance training can also help with the following:
- Increasing flexibility and balance, which decreases the number and severity of falls a person may experience as he or she ages.
- Maintaining proper weight, as people who have more muscle mass have a higher metabolism—sometimes up to 15 percent higher
Before beginning a new exercise routine or changing up an old one, speak to a medical professional to ensure you are healthy enough. And remember that commitment to a regular physical activity program is more important than the intensity of your workouts, so be sure to choose muscle-strengthening exercises you enjoy.
At Cleary, we know how important a comprehensive benefits package can be to your continued success. Give us a call today at 617-723-0700 and we will work with you to create a plan that meets your business objectives, takes into account state and federal laws, and capitalizes on incentives and innovative solutions now being offered.
From Rags to Ruins
As the weather gets warmer across much of the United States, the winter snow starts to melt, crocuses bloom and many homeowners are reinvigorated to tackle spring cleaning and home improvement projects. Yet oily rags and other items left at a worksite can quickly lead to spontaneous combustion—a cause of major fire losses each year. Fortunately, these losses are easy to prevent.
Picture this:
A contractor is hired to power wash and refinish a wood deck. Oily rags are left in a pile at the end of the workday for use the next morning. Within minutes, the stain-soaked rags spontaneously combust in the warm spring sun, igniting the deck and engulfing the home in flames.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Rags, drop cloths, towels and paintbrushes used during deck staining and other home improvement projects are highly combustible—even under normal weather conditions. Spontaneous combustion is the outbreak of fire without application of heat. This happens when a flammable material like oil or stain comes into contact with a combustible object. The object slowly heats to its ignition temperature through a reaction with oxygen in the air, until fire starts.
Many house fires are caused by a third party working in the home
Although spontaneous combustion isn’t a common occurrence, it happens more often than you might think, and the results can be disastrous. Homeowners are often unaware of the added risk associated with hiring contractors and household staff.
- Consider the scenario below:
- After priming walls with oil-based paint, a painter stacks wet drop cloths in the garage.
- A carpenter leaves newly stained hardwood floors to dry for the night, along with a heap of stain soaked towels.
Rags and other items should never be piled up around a house or construction site. Instead, homeowners and their contractors and staff should store and dispose of them properly in a metal container of water with an airtight lid, especially at the end of each workday.
Other causes of house fires
Additional scenarios that are likely to happen during spring cleaning and can also result in the rapid outbreak of fire include:
- After sweeping the fireplace, a housekeeper dumps ashes into a plastic bucket on the porch.
- A landscaper disposes of cigarette butts in the kitchen trash.
Situations such as these are easily avoidable. Dispose of fireplace ashes and other flammable items in a sealed metal container kept outside the home and away from flammable items. Enforce a “no smoking” policy on the property, and be sure fireplace extinguishers are easily accessible.
Educate yourself before a loss
Now is the perfect time to get educated about spontaneous combustion and other fire risks during spring-cleaning and home-improvement projects. Click on this Chubb link for Home Tips and Tools.
Concerned about your personal insurance coverage? At Cleary, our experienced Personal Lines department will work with you to evaluate your insurance needs, identify exposures, and create a customized insurance portfolio. Give us a call today at 617-723-0700.