How Much Does Pet Insurance Cost?

The average dog owner spends $852 annually on routine and surgical visits to the vet. Insuring your pet can help ease the financial burden. The cost of pet insurance is not only affordable, it can also help you save on pet care through reimbursements. With Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), monthly insurance plans might be less than you think:

Average monthly cost of pet insurance

• Dog Insurance Cost: $38.58
• Cat Insurance Cost: $27.58
• Bird Insurance Cost: $ 15.75
• Exotic Pet Insurance Cost: $9
• Reptile Insurance Cost: $8

Compared to the monthly price of your pet’s food, the cost of pet insurance is a small price to pay for your animal’s protection.

Fun Holiday Party Ideas and House Prep Tips

The holidays are an exciting time of year, full of parties, house guests and good food. If you’re hosting a holiday party, you want to make sure everyone is feeling the holiday spirit. These holiday party ideas and tips are sure to help you and your guests make the most of the holiday season!

Holiday party ideas

Here are 5 entertainment ideas to make your holiday party a hit:

1. Organize a gift exchange

Have everyone sit together and pass around gifts. If you’re feeling adventurous, try out a white elephant gift exchange. If you plan on buying a large amount of gifts for all your guests, here are some tips to help you save for holiday shopping.

2. Host an ugly sweater contest

A holiday party is the perfect time to reach into the back of your closet for those old, ugly sweaters. Tell guests in advance about the contest, and have a small gift or goodie for the worst dressed!

3. Create a photo booth

Set up a simple area with holiday props for guests to take pictures with. If you don’t want to limit the fun to one spot, you could even place instant cameras around the house to encourage guests to take pictures throughout the party.

4. Cookie decorating station

If you’re expecting children at your holiday party, a cookie decorating station is a sure-fire hit. All you need for this delicious activity are plain sugar cookies, frosting, candy, gumdrops, sprinkles and chocolate chips.

5. Set the holiday mood

Don’t forget to set a merry ambiance suited for the holiday season. Customize a playlist with holiday tunes, or stream an instrumental holiday station. You can even play a classic holiday movie on silent in the background with a projector or TV.

Some other mood-setting ideas:

• Hang vintage ornaments like mini chandeliers
• String holiday lights around the house
• Get flickering LED candles to add a feeling of warmth
• Place festive blankets and pillows on furniture
• Decorate with special objects that remind you and your family of the holiday season

Check out the infographic below for some fun holiday statistics and more tips for throwing a merry holiday party.

Holiday house prep tips

Provided by Nationwide

Guaranteed income is a key component of a diversified product portfolio

Preparing for and living in retirement has become more complicated and riskier than ever for Baby Boomers. They face challenges including the shift from defined benefit plans toward defined contribution plans and rising inflation, interest rates and health care costs.

Despite these challenges, several carriers have considered drastically reducing or even eliminating products offering guaranted income in retirement. However, Nationwide continues to believe strongly in the value of guaranteed income as a key component of a strong, stable and diversified portfolio.

“Nationwide believes that annuities and lifetime income options will play a critical role in providing retirees guaranteed and sustainable income – no matter what the future holds,” said Eric Henderson, senior vice president of Nationwide’s annuity and life insurance businesses. “We’re committed to the annuity business and we intend to be here for the long-term to help America’s workers with insured retirement products.”

Too often, those nearing retirement focus too narrowly on account balances rather than the level of guaranteed and sustainable retirement income. Annuities can help protect what’s most important to them with guaranteed income, with a death benefit or with special joint options for couples.

When it comes to the well-being of the family, one of the largest worries is providing for a spouse or loved one. This is especially important when investors are doing estate planning. While annuities offer guaranteed income, they can also provide a guaranteed death benefit which is especially important if they pass away during a down market.

“The ideal retirement now focuses on ‘peace of mind’ which includes financial security and family well-being,” Henderon said. “For most, having guaranteed income and protecting assets are much more important than achieving higher-risk returns. There are a number of products that may provide retirement income. However, annuities if planned properly may insure against outliving your retirement income.”

Talk to an advisor

As a mutual company, Nationwide’s focus is on helping advisors create solutions that are right for their clients, not selling products. Nationwide provides advisors with superior choices that solve client needs, presented in a clear and actionable way.

“We’ve grown faster than the industry in several categories during the past five years, and we’re a top ten overall annuity carrier,” Henderson said. “We offer some of the strongest death benefits and income guarantees in the industry. We can help advisors help clients prepare for and live in retirement with income replacement solutions you can count on.”

Visit https://www.nationwide.com/annuity-investments.jsp to learn more.

School Fire Safety Tips: Prevention Begins with Education

According to the National Fire Protection Association, U.S. fire departments respond to approximately 5,690 fires at education buildings each year. That’s why it’s so important to stress fire safety education in our schools. Take a look at the following school safety tips, and learn how you can teach school fire safety prevention to your children or students.

School fire preparation

Nearly 40% of all school fires are started intentionally. Needless to say, implementing these security measures are vital:

• Exterior lighting with timers, motion- or daylight-detection sensors
• Shrubbery and trees trimmed to keep areas around the building unobstructed
• Intrusion alarms on doors, windows, ventilator openings and roof hatches
• Trash receptacles stored away from buildings to reduce danger of fire. Locked metal lids for extra protection.
• Encourage neighbors to alert school personnel to signs of vandalism

Fire safety education

Educating and preparing students for a fire emergency should be a priority.

• Conduct expected and unexpected monthly school fire drills in which everyone participates
• Inspect exits regularly to ensure stairways, doors and windows are unblocked and working properly
• Train students on how to respond to a fire alarm during a school fire drill
• Know locations of the fire protection system, fire alarm pull stations and sprinklers
• Make sure every room has a map showing 2 exits
• Pair students with specific needs to an adult or classmate for extra assistance
• Have a predetermined location where students know to meet once they exit the building and practice during a school fire drill
• Have a roster to ensure every student is accounted for
• Encourage parents to practice home fire drills, and prepare them in the event of a residential fire

College fire safety prevention

These school safety tips focus mostly on elementary, middle and high schools. However, they can also apply to college buildings, where firefighters respond to about 3,810 fires each year – 88% of which are due to cooking mishaps. Here’s a college-level course in fire prevention:

On-campus precautions

• Cook only in designated areas
• Keep cooking areas clean and free of clutter
• Never leave cooking unattended
• In case of a fire inside a microwave, close the door and unplug the unit

Campus lab precautions

• Never leave lab experiments or pressure vessels unattended
• Keep flammable gases and chemicals away from heat

Off-campus precautions

• Be sure each bedroom has a working smoke alarm
• Make sure the building sprinkler system is well maintained
• Building heating and fire-prevention systems need to be checked annually by fire officials

General precautions

• Identify the 2 closest exits and all possible evacuation routes
• Know locations of fire alarms and how to use them
• Report vandalized fire equipment to campus security

Of course school isn’t the only place to promote fire safety education. Check out our fire safety tips for the home and workplace so that you can practice fire safety 365 days a year.

Protect Your Home-Based Business with the Right Insurance

More than half of all U.S. businesses – 52% – are based in the home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A recent study commissioned by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America found that nearly 60% of home-based businesses do not have insurance coverage.

“When asked about the lack of insurance, nearly 40% of home-based business owners say they thought they were protected by some other type of coverage, while almost 30% say their businesses are too small to insure,” the IIABA said. “Notably, nearly 20% could not give a reason for not having insurance.”

Homeowners insurance covers incidents such as loss or theft of personal property. But if a delivery person slips and falls on your property or your business equipment is destroyed in a fire, homeowners insurance won’t protect you. Without coverage specifically designed for your home business, you put your livelihood, and possibly that of your employees, at risk. That’s why home-based business insurance is a good idea.

Choosing the right policy

No matter how small your home-based business, make sure you’re protected with the right coverage. There are three main property and liability options for home-based business insurance:

• Homeowners policy endorsements: Adding an endorsement, also known as a rider, to your existing homeowners policy is often the simplest and most affordable way to insure smaller home businesses that don’t manufacture products on the premises or use a lot of equipment. Endorsements are also a good fit for solo entrepreneurs with few business-related visitors.
• In-home business policy: Combining home and business insurance into a single plan, this type of policy offers more specific types of coverage. This policy is a step up from a basic homeowners policy endorsement, offering a greater range of coverage for a growing business. If your in-home business has developed into a mid-level operation with more visitors, equipment and output, this may be the policy for you. Such a policy may include more extensive property and liability coverage than endorsements, as well as business interruption coverage, which protects your income in the event your business is disrupted because of a disaster.
  Examples of what kinds of businesses would use this policy include a small baking operation that meets with clients in person and also does all baking, orders and shipping in-house; a clothing designer who fits clients, as well as manufactures and ships goods, from home or an accountant who makes regular in-person appointments and uses certain rooms in the house as dedicated office space.
• Business owners policy: Often referred to as a BOP, this type of policy is the most comprehensive form of coverage for home-based businesses. It offers protection for claims brought by contractors, customers and employees, making it a good option for larger home-based businesses. It’s also the best fit for in-home businesses that operate in multiple locations or require extensive travel off-site.

Additional coverage

Whichever policy you consider best for the size and type of your business, be aware that you may need additional coverage not included in a standard plan. Here are some additional coverage options you may want to discuss with your insurance agent, if the plan you’re considering doesn’t include them:

• Data compromise coverage: Helps protect you and your business from legal action stemming from a security breach that compromises confidential customer or client information.
• Employment practices coverage: Protects against claims brought against you and your business by your employees.
• Key person insurance: Basically life insurance on a person critical to the success of a business such as the owner, founder or a key employee, without whom the company might fail.

Most states require home-based businesses to purchase workers’ compensation insurance for employees, but purchasing this coverage is a smart move even if not mandated by law.

As you can see, in-home business insurance isn’t a one-size-fits-all consideration. Talk to a Nationwide agent about the best coverage for your home-based business.

7 Summer Energy-Saving Tips to Lower Your Electric Bill

Figuring out how to lower electric bills in the summer can be difficult, especially when temperatures are at their hottest. Luckily, there are some steps you can take to save on your electric bill during the summer months. Try these 7 summer energy-saving tips so you can focus less on your electric bill and more on the pleasures of summer.

How to lower electric bills in the summer

1. Be smart about peak-time summer utility rates.

Plan to run your washer, dryer and dishwasher before 11 a.m. or after 7 p.m. to avoid peak usage times and potentially higher rates. Utility companies often raise gas and electricity rates during the hottest time of the day, according to Energy Upgrade California. You can still load the dishwasher after meals, but waiting a bit to run it can help lower summer electric bills.

2. Look for the Energy Star symbol.

Planning to replace your washer, dryer or refrigerator? Shop with energy savings in mind. The U.S. government’s Energy Star program certifies products that meet strict energy-saving specifications. According to Energystar.gov, washers built before 2003 are significantly less efficient than newer models. Energy Star washing machines use about 25% less energy and 40% less water compared with regular washers. Similar money and energy savings can be found in newer dryers, refrigerators and other appliances that are Energy Star-certified.

3. Think outside the oven.

Running your oven on hot days makes your air conditioner run more to keep the house cool. Firing up the backyard grill for a barbecue instead can help you save on your electric bills in the summer.

4. Make cooling off a breeze.

Install ceiling fans, which can help everyone in the room feel cooler without the need to run the A/C as much – or at all. While the fans don’t actually lower the temperature in the room, they create a wind-chill effect and make you feel cooler by accelerating the evaporation of perspiration on the skin. Another summer energy-saving tip: Ceiling fans are of no use when no one is in the room, so turn them off when you leave.

5. Insulate your home.

Heating and cooling account for 50% to 70% of the energy used in the average American home, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Reducing the energy spent on cooling by improving insulation is a great way to lower your summer electric bills. Newer homes generally are better insulated than older, unimproved homes because building energy codes have become progressively stricter over the years, says the DOE. If you have an older home, consider adding better insulation. Unless your newer home was constructed with special attention to energy efficiency, your utility bills will still probably benefit from improving your home’s insulation.

6. Check for air conditioner efficiency.

The DOE recommends having a professional check and clean your air conditioner (and your heater) once a year. If the unit is more than 15 years old, you may want to consider replacing it with a newer, more energy-efficient unit. A new system can greatly reduce your energy costs, says the DOE, especially if the existing equipment is in poor condition. On your current system, check your ductwork for dirt streaks, especially near seams. These indicate air leaks, and they should be sealed with a duct mastic sealant. Keep yard debris away from the outside compressor of your air-conditioning unit and keep nearby bushes trimmed.

7. Create your own shade.

Keep draperies and blinds closed on the sunny side of the house. Adding awnings can help, too. Looking for a longer-term solution that will add to the beauty of your property? Plant trees. “This Old House” recommends particular trees for fast-growing (1½ to 2 feet per year) shade options.

Your home isn’t the only place that can benefit from being cooled down in the summer. Once you finish using these summer energy-saving tips for your home, check out some tips for keeping your car cool in the summer.

How to Be a Friendly Neighbor

A plate of cookies can go a long way.

“Getting to know people is a peacemaking strategy,” says Laura Jeffords, an Asheville, N.C. community mediator who is on the board of the National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM).

Starting off as a friendly neighbor

Making friendly overtures to newcomers sets the tone for your own relationship and can shape the culture of the entire neighborhood, says Jeffords, especially in changing or growing areas popular with families escaping cities, retirees seeking peace and quiet and longtime residents who expect to raise livestock or pets on their land.

Dialogue can help set neighborhood etiquette

People with different backgrounds, lifestyles and cultures often have different expectations about what it means to be a respectful, friendly neighbor, she says. Someone who wants to be left alone may not be happy to open the front door on Saturday morning and be faced with small talk from neighbors out for a walk. Conversely, newcomers seeking friends may misconstrue neighborly boundaries as standoffishness.

All of that is often unsaid, and that’s why conversations help defuse conflicts before they even start, says Jeffords. “The ultimate goal is for everyone to live peacefully in the neighborhood,” she says. A great conversation starter is to ask what the neighbor wants from living in the neighborhood. You can find mutual aspirations and bond over shared hopes.

Look over ordinances and rules

Review municipal ordinances and homeowners’ association rules to understand what’s OK before complaining. Homeowners’ associations regulations can dictate details right down to visitor parking and when it’s all right to water flowers. Municipal noise and nuisance ordinances usually outline what activities are allowed when. If your neighbor revs up the leaf blower at 8 a.m. on Saturdays, exactly when the law says he can, he’s perfectly within his rights.

How to approach a neighbor with a complaint

If a problem emerges, approach your neighbor with the expectation that you can easily work out a solution instead of expecting pushback. Jeffords says that a common problem of afternoon noise – from barking dogs, children playing outdoors or construction – can be disruptive to some.

Neighbors may not realize how disruptive the noise is for you. Explain the impact of the noise and ask how your families can arrive at a solution. Most people, are sympathetic and will offer a compromise, such as keeping a dog inside in the afternoon. After all, they’ll expect the same courtesy when they make requests of you. Common disputes, according to NAFCM records, include pets, pet noise, trash and traffic.

Jeffords’ tips for handling such disputes: Anticipate and try to mitigate the impact of traffic, congestion, parking and inconveniences if you run a home-based business that involves deliveries or a stream of clients to your house. Even regular meetings of a book club can cause difficulties if neighbors can’t easily get into their own driveways. Set rules and expectations for business operations and guests to minimize the impact on your neighbors.

Home improvement neighborhood etiquette

Home improvement projects inflict a heightened level of disruption, especially in city neighborhoods. Before your project starts, review neighborhood regulations and rules with the contractor. You might even draw up a courtesy sheet and ask the contractor to give it to all subcontractors so they know what disruptions are allowed, and when.

Clue your neighbors into the project schedule so they can plan accordingly.

Walk the project site daily and pick up debris that might end up in neighbors’ yards, especially important when they have pets or small children. When it’s all over, invite your patient neighbors over for an open house so they can see what all the fuss was about.

Find easy ways you can help your neighbors out

It’s always smart to turn your daily activities into an advantage for your neighbors. If you’re always catching the delivery van, offer to hold packages for neighbors with 9-to-5 jobs. If you’re nitpicky about your garden, offer to water your neighbors’ plants while they’re away for the weekend. If your neighbors are going to be away for an extended period, offer to look after their house. There are a few things a neighbor can do to help keep a house safe when the owners are away.

Having an open dialogue about neighborhood etiquette and offering a few friendly gestures can go a long way. That’s the kind of give-and-take that brings neighbors, and entire neighborhoods, together.

Safe Driving Starts With An Annual Vision Screening

It's so easy to get upset driving these days.  Even if you follow all of the rules of the road, it seems that inconsiderate drivers are zipping around every turn.  To make things worse, many drivers do not have their eyes screened regularly. This is an interesting article about why people don't get their eyes checked and how proper vision is the basic building block of safe driving.



Original Article By Nationwide

Psych yourself out about a vision test and you can delay diagnosing treatable conditions that will help you see and drive better.

Eye care professionals can sometimes fix a problem or minimize the symptoms with a change of prescription or drops that can help drivers cope with glare. Still, many older drivers delay their eye check-ups partly for fear of losing their licenses.

Common fears among drivers

“We have had patients that we can’t believe drove to us,” says Mark Prussian, administrator, Eye Care Institute, Lexington, Kentucky.

He added, “People don’t like to have their independence threatened. They are afraid a doctor will take away their drivers’ licenses. But that won’t happen. Doctors can’t have drivers’ licenses taken away from their patients, though they may have conversations with those patients and encourage them to allow others to drive them places.”

Even drivers whose vision is not impaired may have medical conditions that make it dangerous for them to operate motor vehicles. Diabetes, high blood pressure and strokes, all of which can cause physical responses that make driving dangerous, are just some of the medical conditions that can be detected through an annual eye exam. That’s why such exams are continually recommended to people of all ages, Prussian says.

Older Drivers

Patients over age 60 most commonly have more visual concerns while driving and in everyday life. The concerns include the inability to easily read road signs, especially in unfamiliar locales; dim colors; the presence of halos around objects, and vision, says Steven A. Loomis, president of the American Optometric Association.

“As we age, most of us develop some degree of medical changes to our eyes, including cataracts, ocular surface disease, glaucoma and macular degeneration. All of these conditions require diagnosis and management from a doctor of optometry or ophthalmology,” Loomis says.

“Often, vision can be improved with an updated pair of glasses or enhanced treatments of glasses like non-glare lenses. Other times, medical treatments are appropriate to treat the underlying clinical conditions. Most eye diseases begin silently without symptoms and are only diagnosed with a comprehensive professional eye examination.”

Glaucoma

One example is glaucoma, often called “the silent thief of sight,” a condition that damages the optic nerve. That nerve transmits information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma is asymptomatic until it causes irreversible vision loss.

Some people are hesitant to seek eye exams, and specifically to undergo testing for glaucoma, because they fear pain from what was once the standard “air puff test”. During the test, the doctor releases a small burst of air at an eye – no equipment touches the eye – to measure the pressure within it.

Though the test is painless, many people find it so distasteful they count it among their greatest medical fears, Prussian says.

This test is now outdated. Most eye care experts use other tests for glaucoma, including the blue light test (Goldmann Tonometry). Doctors who use this test numb the patients’ eyes and then measure the pressure within the eyes. Patients feel nothing except an occasional rustle of eyelashes during that test.

The other parts of annual eye exams are equally painless.

Preparing for an eye exam

To best prepare for an eye exam, patients should provide a list of all medications – prescription and non-prescription – and dosages taken. They should also be prepared to share personal and family medical histories.

Annual eye tests generally include visual acuity tests (reading from eye charts), cover tests (when one eye is covered while the doctor looks into the other eye) and refraction (when a series of lenses are put before eyes to determine which provides the clearest vision).

“A visit to the [eye care professional] is easy, painless and, for most patients, very interesting and always rewarding,” Loomis says.

3 Ways to Save on Teen Car Insurance


For parents, having a teen driver in the house can be cause for mixed emotions. On the one hand there’s the added freedom of having another driver who can run errands and no longer needs to be driven to school or extracurricular activities.

On the flip side, many parents worry about the extra expense of adding a teenager to the insurance policy, as well as the accompanying expenses of gas and perhaps even an additional car.

Several factors affect how much the cost of insurance increases when a teen driver is added, including geography and gender. Insuring teen male drivers is more expensive than females, and certain areas are simply more expensive than others. While you can’t do much to change those two factors, there are many ways for parents to cut insurance costs. The good news is that, in addition to improving the bottom line, these options could help your teen become a better driver or even become more conscientious about his or her grades.

Here are three things you can do right now to start saving money on your teenager’s auto insurance.

1. Look into a good student discount

The grades your teen earns can lower the amount of insurance you have to pay. This is something you may have to ask for, so if your student driver is earning a minimum of a B average, contact your insurance agent. Before you call, make sure you have proof of the student’s academic prowess. It may be in the form of a report card or a form signed by a school administrator to verify those grades. The discount is also valid for homeschooled teens, who will need to provide results from a standardized test (PSAT, SAT, ACT, etc.) and must be in the top 20 percent of the student scores nationwide. Even better news – this discount continues when your driver goes to college and it’s offered up to the age of 24. Click here to learn more about getting a good-student discount.

2. Consider telematics

Telematics are electronics that record and report on a driver’s habits. That information can be used in many ways; it allows insurance companies to reward drivers for good behavior, and it also lets drivers (or their parents) receive feedback on their driving, which can help them make better decisions behind the wheel. Nationwide’s program SmartRide gives drivers an automatic 5 percent break on the teen’s insurance just for signing up, then offers additional discounts – as much as 40 percent – based on a driver’s habits. They provide a device that is easily installed, tracking four factors: hard braking, fast acceleration, miles driven and nighttime miles.

3. Don’t buy new

While most teens dream of a shiny new car to begin driving, it’s not the best financial move. The reason teens cost more to insure is these inexperienced drivers tend to have more accidents, so buying a new car is going to mean higher repair costs if they have a fender bender. Buying an older car that has good safety ratings won’t just mean lower repair costs and lower monthly car payments, it will cost less to insure.

Having the right car insurance is extremely important, even more so for a young driver. Find out how Nationwide can help you save money on teen car insurance while keeping you covered.

Link to original article