Hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, hailstorms, earthquakes, snowstorms, floods and wildfires. We know a natural disaster may come, even though we don’t know when. You can protect yourself financially by living in areas that are less susceptible to property damage and using construction and prevention techniques that minimize damage. But that’s not enough. If you do end up with damaged property, you’ll need to file an insurance claim with your carrier, and it will require a detailed list of everything that was lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed. In other words, you need to create and maintain an inventory list of all your possessions. To create your home inventory, enter each room of your house. Take photos of everything in the room – and put a ruler, your hand or … [Read More...]

Should You Become an Actuary?
Image credit: Word Cloud by Epic Top 10 || It is a great profession, but for most people, the exams are tough. Note: at the end of this article, there is a note on GameStop. Here’s a letter from a reader: David,I am a longtime reader of your blog, which I enjoy greatly. I will retire from the military in about three years and am considering becoming an actuary via self-study and taking the requisite exams. Given your experience in the field, I would like to ask you some questions:1. If I do this, will anyone hire me, or is this field one that strictly recruits new graduates from certain established schools? My degrees are in Chemical and Aeronautical Engineering (BS & MS respectively) if … [Read More...]