The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) contacted me about hosting a giveaway for NoaB readers (<– I’m obviously so cool that I have an acronym right?)
They mentioned that it’s important to think about additional important conversations to have when combining houses and lives.
Wedding date? Check! Honeymoon plans? Check! Insurance? Huh?! It’s easy for many couples to get wrapped up in the excitement of planning a wedding and fail to fully think through the many financial implications of joining lives.
In fact, a recent NAIC survey revealed disconnects in what couples know is important to discuss before getting married — including insurance issues — and what they actually discuss.
According to their survey, 61% of couples age 18-24 said they talked about combining auto policies before getting married, but only 30% cited ‘my spouse’s driving record’ (a key factor in calculating premiums) as an important conversation to have before marriage.
Have “The Talk”
That’s why NAIC is letting you know about steps engaged couples can take today to avoid misunderstandings that could dim that newlywed glow. NAIC recommends couples have a pre-wedding sit-down to address important topics:
- Auto: Finding out you’re in love with a speed demon after saying “I do” can be a shock to your psyche, and your auto insurance premiums. You may want to think twice about combining coverage, and educate yourself about named-driver exclusion clauses.
- Home: How many of us really know how much ‘stuff’ we own? Without a clear grasp of our property, our most prized possessions might not be covered by our homeowners or renters insurance.
NAIC’s free MyHOME Scr.APP.book app lets you quickly capture images, descriptions, bar codes and serial numbers, and stores them electronically for safekeeping. The app organizes information room by room and creates a back-up file for email sharing. Readers can search ‘NAIC’ to download the app at iTunes® and Android market®.
- Health: The lowest premium isn’t the only consideration when deciding between health insurance plans. To avoid a short-term decision that could result in long-term headaches, be sure to review provisions related to deductibles, co-pays and coinsurance, and pay attention to what is NOT covered.
- Life: Now that “I” actually means “we,” you may want to revisit your life insurance coverage. To land on a new amount, consider future income potential, the cost of raising kids and any outstanding mortgage.
Opportunity
To help engaged couples get smart about insurance together without tearing each other apart, NAIC created The Insurance Survival Guide for Newlyweds, an adventure-laden infographic of facts and tips to ease the transition to joint insurance lives. And NAIC is offering a $50 Home Depot gift card just for checking it out.
How to Enter to win $50 Home Depot Gift Card
Check out he Insurance Survival Guide for Newlyweds.
Then post a comment sharing a fact or tip you found most surprising or helpful. All commenters are entered into a drawing for a $50 Home Depot gift card to help with their own “I do” adventure.
74 comments
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I was surprised 24% of couples purchased their first home together before they were married.
24% of couples purchased their first home together before they were married.
so many buy a house before marrying
24% of millennials purchase a home together before marriage.
I found it surprising that 24 percent of couples purchase a house before getting married.
Really surprised so many couples buy a home together before they are legally married.
Very informative. I’ll have to work with my SO before we move in together. I don’t want to be part of the 47% that never got around to talking about it.
This wasa thought-provoking. Without a clear grasp of our property, our most prized possessions might not be covered by our homeowners or renters insurance.
Digicats {at} Sbcglobal {dot} Net
I find it silly that spouses dont confide in each other about their driving history before combining auto policies
I learned that location, size, and type of house can impact your insurance, so you should consider that before buying a home together!
coriwestphal at msn dot com
I’m surprised at how many combine policies before actually being married!
Surprised at 17 tons gold melted down annually for wedding rings.
I was surprised to that 24% of couples buy a home together before they’re married.
I appreciated hearing about the things to consider when choosing a life insurance policy.
Something surprising that I learned was that most couples don’t discuss life insurance before they get married!
I found the fact about 84% of married and engaged couples 18-24 said it was important or extremely important to share details about pre existing health conditions before marriage. Thanks so much for hosting this giveaway!
furygirl3132[at]comcast[dot]net
Great info. The fact that a lot of couples buy houses before they are married is surprising
I am surprised tat 71% acknowledge the importance of sharing pre-martial beneficiary designations
I learned that 61% of couples 18-24 said that they talked about combining auto polices before marrying.
I learned about the Know Your Stuff app….I will be downloading it, what an awesome idea. Some really good tips here.
I am surprised to find out that only 27% of people going into marriage decide and discuss which insurance provider to keep!
24% milennials purchased their home bEFORE they were married!
I was surprised by the percentage of people who buy a house together before they’re married. I bought a house as a single person, but there’s no way I would have bought it jointly with someone I wasn’t married to.
I’m shocked so many buy a house before being married. Stressful!
I learned that you should review provisions related to deductibles, co-pays and coinsurance, and pay attention to what is NOT covered.
the fact that many couples bought a home before they were married floored me.
A lot of couples buy homes before they are married! I can’t imagine that.
All of the stats were pretty shocking to me, the fact that many couples bought a home before they were married floored me.
I was surprised that a renovation of $5,000 or more means you should get insurance coverage re-evaluated. We had our kitchen remodeled last year and didn’t do that. I’ll be calling our insurance carrier this week.
The Insurance Survival Guide for Newlyweds location information was very helpful.
I didn’t even think to talk about insurance before we got married. Also loved that so many couples buy a home before they get married.
I was really surprised by how many couples purchased a home together before marriage. Buying a house is such a big commitment!
The fact that not many people have talked about health insurance before marriage!
I didn’t realize that my spouse is not automatically my beneficiary. I always thought he would be.
My husband purchased our house a year before we were married. It was a couple hundred dollars a month cheaper to buy rather than rent. I can see why many couples purchase before they’re married. My name isn’t on the house because I was a broke college student and finishing my degree.
it’s bad luck to get married on a Saturday?! Whoa.
I found it surprising that 24% of couples bought houses before they were married. Seems to me that there is still a lot to learn about your new financial circumstances at that point.
I am surprised that 73% of couples didn’t talk about whose health insurance they would use prior to marriage!
Although we’re not getting married yet, I am moving in with my boyfriend in 2 weeks and have been thinking about all the changes that brings. We’ve looked into adding him to my tenant’s insurance, but that’s about it. He doesn’t have a car, so I didn’t think about what
“I” becoming “we” would do to my car insurance – maybe I should look into that too! Thanks for the tip!
I found it interesting 24 percent of couples purchase a house before marriage
I didn’t know that you’d need to contact your provider to add your spouse as a beneficiary.
From the guide, I would say we’re ready to join our health insurance and will eventually have life insurance, more likely once we have a family. We’ve already combined our auto insurance!
i found interesting that 24% of married millenials purchased their first home together before they were married.
In the process of learned about insurance needs before we get married 🙂
My wife and I did our domestic partnership registration a few months before the wedding, just so we could get her covered by my employer’s health insurance plan. Once she was working fulltime and eligible for her own healthcare benefits, though, it was MUCH less expensive to have two individual plans than an employee +1 for either of us. Now, a year and change after the wedding, we’re buying a home and will have to learn about homeowners’ insurance!
I’ve been married for almost 10 years so none of this was really new info. However, I bet my husband wishes he never combined auto policies with me!
Having the lowest premium isn’t always the wisest decision.
I found the the NAIC’s free app is very helpful, I’ve it downloaded to hub’s phone.
I learned that many couples buy a house before getting married.
No idea that Saturday is the “unluckiest” day to wed.
While I’m not a newlywed, we are planning on some major home renovations in the near future. I’ll be sure to contact my homeowners insurance company to make sure all our updates are properly covered- thanks for the great tip!
How few couples talk about insurance before getting married!
You should consider more than just the health plan with the lowest premium when making your choice
Less than 73% of couple talk about pre-existing health conditions before taking the plunge.
I’m far from being a Newlywed but I agree that it’s an important thing for couples to talk about and figure out before getting married!
I’m surprised how few couples talked about insurance at all before marriage. It was one of the many things on my checklist of topics to discuss!
I learned 24% of married millennials purchased their 1st home together before they were married
That less than 73% of those getting married discussed whose health insurance to keep.
For us it depeneded on the comparison of the premiums.
life insurance is super important to think about! im so glad they pointed that out!
I was surprised to find that 24% of couples buy a home together before they’re married!
I too was surprised about home ownership before marriage…we’re still getting our finances all joined together, and living in SoCal we aren’t even close to buying right now.
I learned that to decided on an insurance coverage amount you need to consider the future income potential of each person.
That we really should consider if we need life insurance or not. We don’t have kids but we do have a home. Not surprised that people are buying homes prior to marriage. People are doing all kinds of things “out of order” these days. There are no rules and very little stigma associated with it.
Goodness. So many couples talk about auto insurance before getting married. Dan and I have YET to do this. It’s been on the to-do list, but we keep forgetting. I guess this is another reminder. Bah!
Surprising how many buy homes before getting married. We got married at 21, before a house, real health insurance, and had the option for USAA auto insurance, so these were all pretty easy for us to discuss 🙂 I imagine those topics get more difficult the older you are when you get married.
I always forget that your spouse is not automatically your beneficiary.
I thought the fact about 17 tons of gold for wedding rings was insane. That is a lot of gold!
Some great facts and tips. Definitely a good reminder of practical things to think about and discuss outside of wedding planning. Along with several others, I was suprised by the amount of non-married individuals buying a house together. I can understand renting, but buying seems too big a commitment before tying the knot! And being the cheapskate that I am, I would definitely try to pull the “let’s pick the plan with the lowest premium”. This was a good reminder what looks cheapest upfront may not always be.
I found it surprising that many couples buy houses without being married
I think it’s surprising that such a huge number of couples don’t discuss whose insure they’ll use after getting married, that was a big convo for my husband and I
demureprincess7(at)gmail(dot)com
I was actually surprised more married millennials hadn’t bought a house together before they were married. I figured the numbers might have gone up due to the opportunities the down housing market a few years ago provided for people like us who didn’t have a ton of money available for a house. We bought our house about 4 months before we got married because we wanted to take advantage of the high inventory and low demand – and therefore, great deals. In the two years that we’ve owned our house, the value has increased by about $15,000 based on the market rebound alone. We probably have a bit more equity than that, even, since we’ve been doing some DIY home improvement projects on and off since we bought.
Love the infographic! Iwas shocked that so many couples purchase a house prior to getting married.my husband and i were married a year and a half before we took that plunge.