Unless that black box indicates that your daily commute is 100 miles. The more information the insurance companies have, the more they are able to give you the rates you deserve. Otherwise, they have to make assumptions based on your profile. If they don’t give good drivers discounts, the good drivers will shop around for a company that does give discounts and they are then left with only the high risk customers.
Unfortunately that’s not how it works in many states.
When my brother-in-law retired from Chryco he had to buy a car for the first time in almost 10 years. When he was a plant manager at Chryco he had two cars leased for him and my sister every other year. This included all repairs and insurance.
He moved back to upstate NY and had to get insurance. Because he didn’t own or have insurance on a vehicle in over 5 years he was in the high risk pool. Never had a moving violation or accidents in several decades, yet he had to pay much higher premiums.
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You chose to not take social security. You do not pay any more than others for Medicare. You pay for it from a different source. Don’t confuse income sources with how you pay for Medicare.
I did not think about a defined benefit retirement. I won’t have one. I contributed to my own through 401K and 403B plans at work since about 1980. You guys with defined benefit plans are very lucky. Most people in my shoes aren’t as fortunate as me because they didn’t max out their retirement contributions for 37 years as I did. We will never agree on anything associated with this subject it seems. You have a very negative viewpoint; your glass seems less than half full to you. I have a more positive outlook. I’m pleased with how I planned for our retirement and that we can live well even in our high priced area for decades until we have to think about sell our house or taking a mortgage out to live on.
My brother is retired and now he works harder than ever, my sister is retired and now she works harder than ever, me, I’m too lazy to retire.
If your roller coaster ride begins at the top it’s a fun ride with a happy ending. For those who begin at the bottom of that first hill the future requires getting out and walking and it’s a tough trek going up the hills or down. If only they had been as smart and hard working as us, right?
Very very few companies have retirement plans. Most retirement plans are people who work in the public sector (teachers, police, firemen…etc). 401k, SSN is all I have. I know at least one engineer who had 6-figures incomes who are now in their 70’s working at home depot or Lowes just to survive. One engineer - his wife had cancer and financially it wiped him out. The other guy I know worked for a TYCO. His 401k plan was tied to the companies stock…After CEO Dennis Kozlowski raped the company and the stock plummeted he lost pretty much everything. At least Kozlowski is now in prison.
If that is directed at me, the main message is that if I can do it, others can too. I owned a Porsche in the late 1970s. Since then, we haven’t owned expensive cars, no second homes, and saved as much as possible to pay off our one home, send the children to college on our own dime, and retire comfortably. My parents grew up poor and worked hard to give me opportunities. I worked to get a well paying job and always landed well despite setbacks along the way. I lost a great, well paying job when the Cold War ended and swore I would work hard to make that the best thing that every happened to me. It turns out that my hard work for three young children and a wife at that time paid off. I didn’t ask for handouts and even found a great job before the one I was laid off from ended. You can tell me I never had any problems and you would be wrong. Everyone has troubles in life and how you respond to the is the important thing.
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No. That wasn’t directed at you @jtsanders . My message that I would hope to successfully post is that looking back I recognize that my current, relatively comfortable situation is the result of luck as much as it was the result of hard work, of which there was a great deal.
I saw some success in an intra state parcel service prior to the deregulation of the trucking industry and then opened a small automobile repair shop at a time when interest rates were so outrageous that virtually no one was buying cars and therefore everyone was keeping, maintaining and repairing thier cars. I can’t imagine anyone opening as auto repair business and making it successfull on a shoe string in today’s high tech market with new car dealers able to give cash rewards to buyers with poor credit. So fate was a large part of my finding success.
Yes, everyone faces problems in their lives and luckily you and I recognized some opportunities and made the effort to succeed in spite of the problems. But looking back I recall people who struggled and worked to be successful but could never get over that first hill due to many reasons beyond their control. And while I don’t feel I personally owe them anything I do feel that as a whole the country should provide a backstop and some assurance that those willing to work won’t face being hungry and homeless and without healthcare.
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Thanks for providing more info on your post. I agree that luck has something to do with it, but you have to be in the game for luck to play a part. I’m with you on compassion for our neighbors, too.
I’m not confused. I actually do pay more than 70% of folks enrolled in Medicare. It should self-correct in 2018 when a COLA is paid (I get it even though I haven’t a benefit) after a 2 year 0% COLA.
I have to tell you that I have a pretty positive outlook because I have no debt and I’m secure on my own without Social Security. I too am pleased with the manner in which I planned for retirement. It was no accident that I have defined pension.
Many people don’t have the luxury of waiting until 70 in order to maximize Social Security benefits. I have several income streams that will be there for perpetuity. Life is good. 
CSA
Mike, I’m sure there are always exceptions and your BIL is one of them. Just a couple points though, if he had a long term relationship with an agent for homeowners, an umbrella, boat, cycle, etc. insurance, he shouldn’t have been treated like a complete stranger when it came time to add an auto policy.
The other thing is that company provided cars are not what they used to be. With the IRS rules now, you have to pay the miles for commuting and any personal use. With two company cars, one for sure would be full time personal use that would be taxed as income. So the benefit of company cars where you aren’t on the road a lot is really diminishing. We used to have a problem with pastors who had their houses provided and come retirement time had no equity but had to get a house. Most churches don’t do that anymore and just increase the compensation accordingly. Supposedly free company benefits are not necessarily good or free in the long run.
Had nothing to do with his relationship with his insurance company. It was actually state policy. Insurance companies hands were tied. He had to go into the high-risk pool for 2 years.
The vehicles were not in his name. They were still in Chryslers name. Just leased for him with all maintenance and insurance paid for by Chrysler. That was a nice benefit for people at his level and above. It continued for few years after he retired, but then Chrysler removed that benefit for all but the extremely high ups. He was only a plant manager.
Unfortunately people in the work force today don’t have that option. Most companies today don’t have pension plans, or if they did it’s been converted over to a cash plan. I had a pension plan when I left Digital Equipment after 10 years. It was eventually converted over to a cash payout which I rolled over to an IRA.
I have a lot of money saved in my 401k and IRA (rolled over from other companies). But unfortunately there are many people my age who only have SSN for retirement…even though they worked hard their whole life. When your options are to put food on the table and pay rent or putting money into a 401k…the choice is obvious.
And then there’s the people who just wasted their money and never invested in their own future.
Don’t sell yourselves short. That Luck you refer to is the ability to see a path through bad times. Both You and @jtsanders faced road blocks but plotted a way through to success. Your own definition of success, which is the only one that matters.
Life is a lot like a card game. It is how you play a bad hand that determines your success or failure. We all know those who had it handed to them on a silver platter and still ended up broke.
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Kevin Hart (comedian) was on a late night talk show last night to sell his recently published book. The subject is not giving up on your dreams and he tells the story through his own life. He is very successful now, but that is only the last 5 years of his 15 year career. Before that, it was constant disappointment. He was asked what his lowest point was and he said it was after a tryout for a gig at a famous comedy club in NY. The manager, known for finding comedy talent, told Hart after the tryout to get a day job and forget about comedy because every wasn’t going anywhere. A friend convinced him to stay with it and he never gave up. The interview didn’t seem like a vanity piece and Hart seemed genuinely interested in helping others get over disappointment and continuing towards their goal.
Mike, it doesn’t matter if the cars were in the company’s name. In fact that is the reason why personal use mileage of company cars needs to be calculated and reported as income to the IRS. It’s considered a fringe benefit. I don’t understand a state law that requires risk insurance. Like I said I think there should be a law against pens to get rid of some of these ridiculous laws.
Never said it did. What mattered to the insurance company was the fact that my BL and sister didn’t have any auto insurance for about 10 years - BECAUSE the cars were owned by Chryco and Chryco paid the insurance. Then when they had to buy a car and get auto insurance for the first time in 10+ years they were put in the risk pool.
Agreed
In regards to that link connecting insurance rates with your credit score . . .
I’ve known good drivers who had a poor credit score
I’ve known lousy drivers who had an excellent credit score
I have, too, but anecdotal evidence proves nothing.
In this NYT article, they say we’re looking at a 9-15% surcharge. It’s telling that “the usual suspects” are up in arms at this…but we pay in excess of 50% of our wages to some varied government, and nobody is calling them pariahs for bleeding us dry. Did you know, at the time Marie Antoinette lost her head, the tax rate was roughly 10%? How far down the rabbit-hole have we fallen!
We have “greedy corporations” that average 5% or so profits, and a government who claims a ~50% vigorish. Just to keep a sense of perspective.
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I’m curious why the French were starving to death due to a 5% tax. The “rest of the story” must be good.
We had an old temporary pastor once that professed back in the day, 10% was supposed to cover both church and government contributions. Of course future pastors attempted to debunk that historical perspective. Then what is Norway, 80% and double the cost of a car for tax? Some profess everyone just putting all their money into the hat and letting the gov dole it out according to need. Still some would not be satisfied and certainly others would grow fatter due to lack of activity. Interesting that I read the French have a very high number of folks living close to the poverty level.