With the national uninsured rate rising at a steady pace, having adequate auto insurance coverage has become more important than ever. If you get into an accident with someone who is either underinsured or driving without insurance, you could suffer both fiscally and physically. On the other hand, you don’t want to buy too much insurance. Auto coverage isn’t cheap, and you could end up spending way more than you have to if you purchase coverage you don’t really need. The following info will help you sort through coverage options, required minimums, and recommended asset protection.

Coverage Options

Every auto insurance policy consists of a collection of coverage options that protect you from different things. You can choose to purchase all of these coverage options or a select few.

• Liability - Liability policies cover other people’s expenses when you are at fault in an accident. There are two types of liability coverage: bodily injury liability, which pays for other people’s medical expenses, and property damage liability, which pays for damage done to the other car.
• Personal Injury Protection – Also known as Medical Payments or Med Pay in some states, PIP covers your medical expenses regardless of fault. PIP also covers the medical expenses of your passengers. Other costs that may be covered include lost wages due to injury and funeral expenses.
• Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist – This type of auto insurance coverage is designed to help cover costs that may be incurred by you if you are hit or injured by someone who either has no insurance or has only minimal coverage.
• Collision – Collision covers damage done to your car in an accident.
• Comprehensive – Comprehensive covers costs if your car is stolen, vandalized, or damaged by something other than a traffic accident, such as fire or falling objects.

Required Minimums

Every state in the nation requires motorists to have liability insurance. Minimum liability limits can vary from state to state. For example, in Alaska, the minimum requirements are $50,000 of bodily injury liability for one person, $100,000 bodily injury liability for all people, and $25,000 property damage liability. In Florida, minimum requirements are much lower–$10,000 of bodily injury liability for one person, $20,000 bodily injury liability for all people, and $10,000 property damage liability.

Some states also require motorists to carry personal injury protection and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. Additional requirements may also be set forth by your lender if you lease or have a current loan on your vehicle. The amount of insurance or types of coverage your lender will ask you to buy may vary but will almost always cover the actual cash value of the vehicle or the amount of the loan.

Deciding How Much Insurance to Buy

The amount of auto insurance you need is very dependent on your individual situation. First and foremost, you will need to purchase the minimum amount of insurance required by the law in your state. After doing that, you will need to decide how much your vehicle is worth and whether or not you need to protect your assets in the event of a lawsuit.

If you are driving a junky car you may be able to get by with minimum coverage. If you drive a nice car, you will want to make sure you have enough coverage to recoup the full cost of repairs or replacement of your vehicle after an accident.

You may also want to consider protecting your assets in the event of a lawsuit. The minimum amount of liability insurance required by law may not be enough to cover someone else’s medical expenses. If the accident is your fault, the injured party could come after your assets.

Many insurance experts recommend purchasing 100/300 limits of bodily injury liability for additional asset protection, but this is just a general rule of thumb. To determine your individual needs, you should calculate your net worth and make sure you are covered for an amount equal to the total value of your assets.

Guest post from Bailey Harris, financial writer and Homeownersinsurance.org contributor.

On today’s tight budgets and busy schedules, many consumers are turning to comparison websites to help them stretch their dollar and find the products and services they are looking for at the best possible prices. Nearly anything that can be purchased can be researched on a comparison website. Below are just a few of the many hundreds of ways that using comparison websites can help you save money and obtain the best possible results from your purchase activities.

1. Purchase a computer at a great price

Comparing computer prices online is easy and fast. Many great websites offer the ability to “build” the type of computer that you want and then conduct a search to find the lowest priced computer that meets your needs and expectations.

2. Find a mortgage or home refinance loan that saves you hundreds each month

Shopping for a home loan or mortgage refinance loan? Using comparison websites that specialize in providing this service is a must if you want to find the best interest rates, the lowest overall borrowing process and the most effective customer services. Smart consumers no longer rely on their hometown bank as their sole source of financing their home mortgage needs. Using a mortgage comparison website is the most effective way to find the absolute best mortgage products.

3. Find lower cost insurance

No matter which type of insurance you seek, whether it be life, property, auto, health or another type of insurance, using a comparison website ensures that you, the consumer, will be able to find the best products for your money. Comparison websites that specialize in insurance provide you with the ability to research identical insurance coverages from several companies at one time and visually line up their price quotes next to each other on the screen so you can most easily see which company will provide you with the lowest cost product.

4. Purchase the car of your dreams at the best price

Some of the most advanced online comparison websites serve the automotive buying market. As with other types of comparison websites, these websites offer you the opportunity to ensure that you will get the lowest possible purchase price for your dream car. These websites find sales locations that have the exact vehicle you are looking for and present you with the type of information that you need to make the best purchase possible.

5. Find great travel deals

You need only look as far as one or more of the many great travel deal comparison websites to ensure that you not only get the vacation your are looking for, but that you get it at the best available prices. No matter the size or length of your trip, the location or the level of expense you are looking to incur, using a travel comparison website makes the process much easier. These types of comparison websites also provide you comparative pricing and amenity offers from multiple providers, again ensuring that you, the consumer, get a great deal for your travel dollar.

6. Purchase your home needs at the lowest possible prices

Just about any household item, be it an appliance, a furniture item, or anything else, can be compared online. Comparison websites can show you everything you need to know to make and informed purchase and to do so at a great price.

7. Find a local service provider and get the best value for your money

There are many types of comparison websites that make it easy and efficient to find a local service provider at the lowest cost. Depending on the type of service you need, it is a great idea to utilize a comparison shopping website in order to give yourself several options for having your need met, and to make sure you are able to do it at the lowest cost available. These are just a few of the ways that using comparison websites can help you save money. Not only will comparison websites provide you with great cost savings information, in many cases they will also save tons of your valuable time as you are able to make your purchase in minutes online rather than driving all over town to do the comparison shopping yourself. No matter what you are looking for, the chances that you will find it at the best possible price are greatly increased by using comparison shopping websites.

Contributed by CreditCardCompare.com.au, a leading Australian credit cards comparison website that compares the best balance transfer offers.

With tuition, books, room and board, transportation, and all the rest, the costs can really add up. Having a job during this time can help you cover some, if not all of these costs, and hopefully keep debt to a minimum. Here are some options for jobs that are often well suited to students and might offer an opportunity for employment at or near your school or maybe when you go home for the summer.

1. Bartender: Taking on the role of bartender while away at school might not be for everyone, but the money can be good and the work exciting and entertaining. Depending on the state or location in which you attend school, you may or may not have to be 21 years of age to serve alcohol. It you do end up at as a bartender, you may find that several hours of work here and there on the right days and at the right times (Friday and Saturday nights are often most busy at many bars, especially on college campuses), can have you raking in some pretty good money.

2. Waiter/Waitress: Similar to bartending, working as a waiter or waitress could have you making some serious cash while minimizing the number of hours you work. Often, the key to making good wages at this type of work (besides providing good service) again may depend upon the restaurant at which you work as well as the days and times you work.

3. Golf Course Employee: Many college campuses have golf courses in close proximity to campus and that may be associated with the school itself. Working at a golf course in a position at the pro shop or in concessions may provide a pleasant, often relatively stress free environment that might offer a lot of down time that could allow for a bit of studying. This type of work can also make for a good summer job.

4. Delivery Driver: If you have available transportation while away at school, you might consider working as a delivery driver. Depending on the type of food being delivered, you could make decent money. The downside to this type of work is that you will need reliable transportation, which will come with the usual associated costs (insurance, upkeep, etc.), and how much money you make may largely depend on current gas rates and customer tips. On the upside, there is typically a lot of this type of work in college towns during the school year.

5. Work Study Program Through School: Work study can provide a variety of roles that allow you to make money while still keeping an eye on your studies. Consider checking your school’s Internet website to search for available work study program opportunities.

6. Lifeguard: While the pay may not always be great as a lifeguard, it could make for a nice break after an exhausting school year. Depending upon the geographic location in which you attend school or live during the summer, this could be solely a summer gig, or it could be an opportunity for five or six months in a warmer climate, or even all year long if you work at an indoor pool. This job can be a great way to stay in shape and help others.

7. Coach: If you’re into sports, you might find that coaching could be a good way to earn money for school. Whether it is by way of coaching baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, swimming, etc., there could be a variety of options that might meet with a sport skill that you have.

8. Summer House Manager: If you are a member of a fraternity, being the summer house manager (if your house remains open over the summer) could be a great way to live rent free or receive discounted rent over the summer. You might serve as the summer caretaker with duties involving tasks such as cleaning, cutting the grass, general maintenance and repairs, and similar activities.

9. Internship: While an internship might not make you much money toward paying down college related debt, it could help you earn at least a few bucks. More importantly, if you can get an internship related to your degree work, it could provide valuable experience for getting a better paying job after school that could help you pay off your school related debt more quickly.

10. Zoo: The zoo can be a fun and relaxing environment in which to work during school. This work however may be seasonal, and more zoo positions may open up as summer nears and the zoo heads into its peak season.

Tom Becker works at Money Choices, a comparison service where you can compare savings accounts and keep track of interest rates.

The old adage, “It’s all about who you know!” is so true.  Years ago, at my first engineering summer internship, I got my first assignment and wanted to do an excellent job.  I don’t recall what the assignment was, but I remember immediately getting some books to help find the solution.  My supervisor saw what I was doing and pulled me aside and told me, “You don’t need to find the information in a book.  You just need to contact Mr. A for this, Mr. B for this and Mr. C for the other. These guys are the experts.  They can immediately point you in the right direction.”

I immediately learned that there is always an expert out there to help you.  Sure books are good, but there is nothing like someone to immediately give you the correct specific piece of information, answer your questions or point you in the right direction if they can’t give you all the answers.  

This holds true today in business.  If you are looking to start or grow your business, you need to network!  Sure there are many books, seminars and free/paid information on the Internet to help you, but there is nothing like getting advice from an experienced individual who can help you cut through the clutter and point you in the right direction immediately.

Additionally, people feel more comfortable helping you when they meet you in person.  Communicating my email or phone isn’t enough.  Face to face discussions have a much better chance of building a successful relationship.

When I look back in my years of trying to make money online, the opportunities where I made “decent” money was with help and information provided from people I knew.  Some I actually met in person, some I met online.

About 3 years ago I got an email for an Affiliate Manager telling me I should consider an opportunity. I saw the opportunity before in my affiliate account but never paid any attention to it. I sent her an email that I would take a look at it but had no expectations.  I then started to promote the offer and to my surprise I immediately starting making $30+/day profit.  I was able to scale that opportunity to about $300+ per day profit for several months.  If she never sent me the email encouraging me I would have never considered that opportunity.

A couple years ago I decided to attend an Affiliate conference primarily to network with people in the industry.  I ended up meeting a software company representative who told me he would give me $5,000 and build me a micro-website to start promoting their product.  At first I was very skeptical, but sure enough in a couple of months $5,000 was deposited in my account and the micro-website delivered to me.  I still promote the micro-website today and to-date has made several thousand dollars from that opportunity.

Years ago when I first thought of using the Internet to make money I met a gentleman at an Internet Meeting who told me about open source ecommerce platforms.  At the time I had no clue what open source software was.  Open Source Software is simply free software for anyone can use.  I grew curios and as a result I ended up opening several ecommerce stores that have generated tens of thousands of dollars in revenue over the years.

I’ve read numerous forum posts and blog posts by individuals of how to make money online and have implemented some of their strategies that have made me money.  I’ve befriended people who have given me tips and tricks that I implemented and have made me money.

Very few people become successful on their own.  Many successful people were helped along the way.  Bill Gates I’m certain had help for many people to build Microsoft in the company it is today.

I’ve come to realize that networking is extremely important in business.  Forming business friendships/relationships is extremely vital to your success.  Collaboration is also extremely important because no one person knows everything.  I haven’t done much collaboration; however, I’m hoping in the future to collaborate on larger scale projects.

One strategic mistake I’ve made over the years isn’t networking enough.  For the first few years I did everything by myself.  If I had it to do over again, I’d be more aggressive in networking with people.  Working isn’t the way to go!

If you own stocks, a strategy to make some money off your stocks besides selling at a profit, is using a technique called “covered calls”.  So what’s a covered call?  A covered call is simply you selling the rights to your stocks.  Someone may purchase on option to purchase your stocks at a certain price on a certain date in the future.  The benefit to you is that you get cash up front for your shares.  The benefit to the option buyer is that they don’t have to use a lot of money to purchase your quantity of stocks.  They simply purchase the right to purchase the shares at a later date which is much cheaper than buying the stocks today.

The disadvantage to selling an option for someone to buy your stocks (covered call) is that if your stock appreciates greatly in value, you will end up selling your stock for a lower price.  However, if the option isn’t executed because the value of the stock hasn’t appreciated enough, you get to keep your stocks.

So where do you start?  Consider using “Born to Sell” covered call investment tools subscription service to help you identify and research trades, track your portfolio and maximize the time premium you receive each month.

Born to Sell offers a free tutorial on how to use covered call strategy to generate recurring monthly income.  They also offer a covered call screener, that helps people select trades, and covered call portfolio management, that helps people maximize the amount of time premium they receive each month. Born to Sell offers a no-obligation 2 week free trial  so you have nothing to lose.

The company is a Silicon Valley based software development company that develops easy to use covered call investment tools.  The company sole focus is in the covered calls niche market.  They are not a broker and you do not place trades with them.  

To find out more about covered calls and how their service works, visit BornToSell.com.

In these difficult economic times, it is easy to let our guard down and accept for the moment that an unsolicited offer promising easy wealth at little risk may be the answer to our daily prayers.  However, the preponderance of scams in the marketplace suggests that the latest get-rich scheme has only the swindler in mind when it comes to filling his wallet with the content of yours.

None of us ever expects to be the victim of a cleverly designed con.  That kind of thing is reserved for the movie theater that “cons” us out of money for overpriced tickets and popcorn.  Department of Justice studies also point out that those of us with either a little or a lot of education are also the ones that are most often defrauded.  We all must be ever vigilant and alert to fend off these thieves.  Healthy skepticism is a must if we are to protect ourselves from the criminal element in our society and the scams they promote.

The Internet has been the great facilitator of our age, enabling online shopping and commerce to flow, while providing additional opportunities to earn and work from the convenience of our own homes.  Trust is often too easily given where anonymity is the name of the game and business partners never have to reveal their true identities.

While much has been done to police the Internet for commercial and investment fraud, the long arm of the law still has difficulty reaching across borders to stop a crook.  One must remember that a “.com” address does not mean that they are located in the United States and therefore subject to our laws.  Many of the online scams today take advantage of this geographical conundrum.

The latest case in point is the email or ad that entices your response, only to load a “malware” robot on your PC.  You are suddenly informed that your computer is loaded with many ferocious viruses.  Lists of horribly sounding worms are presented.  The robot freezes your PC’s operating system and demands that you pay for their service online to receive the “PIN” that will make everything work again.  The graphics appear convincing, but spelling or grammar errors suggest otherwise.  A visit to your local “Geek” will clear up the problem.  However, the crook is in Russia or Nigeria, free to approach his next “mark”.

Forex scams are another problem area where genuine offshore service providers abound, but where swindlers can roam about freely, touting their outrageous offers.  The cons here revolve around unscrupulous brokers that attract your money and then disappear, or fund managers that promise incredible returns, but who also depart once they have your good funds wired to their offshore account.  Lastly, are the purveyors of the latest forex trading software that will release trading robots that will make oodles of money for you while you sleep.  What could be easier than that?

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has managed to return $476 million to 26,000 defrauded forex customers over the past decade.  We can only guess at the amounts that were never recovered.  Due diligence in selecting your broker and staying onshore are two lessons to take from this.  

The major lesson, however, is to be extremely skeptical of any unsolicited offer that may come your way via email, the phone, or from a friend.  Crooks know how to use cyberspace and telemarketing techniques to their advantage.  If the offer sounds too good to be true, then, most likely, it is.  Stay alert, be skeptical, and be safe!

Once again, it’s time for another update of my Lending Club Account Performance.  The last update was on May 13, 2010, about 3.5 months ago.

Since starting to issue loans in August 2009, I’ve earned a total of $2,557.36 in interest; however, with signup bonuses I’ve earned $3,183.02.

Unfortunately, I have 1 note currently late 16-30 days and 7 notes late 31 to 120 days.  One has currently defaulted (meaning in collections) and 2 have been charged off.  To combat future late payments and defaults, I’ve reinvested monies with A investors.  This should lower future risk, however, my rate of return will be lower.

So since the last update I’ve lost $93 (charged off) and with the current defaults and late payments there is a strong potential to lose another $410.

Taking the potential loss into account I’ve earned $3,183.02 – $410 = $2,773.02.  So my one year rate of return is $2,773.02 / $30,000.00 = $9.2%.  Without signup bonuses my rate of return is $2,557.36 – $410 = $2,147.36 / $30,000.00 = 7.1%.

Of course my rate of return maybe higher is the late payments are paid and/or if the default loan money is recovered.

Regardless, I am happy with my returns.  Beats the banks any day and this is pretty much what the banks do anyway.  Banks give loans knowing that some people will default and will be late paying.  However, the goal is to cover the losses with the profits.

Several months ago I started a forum at Social-Lending-Forums.com to discuss social lending primarily for Lending Club and Prosper, the 2 largest social lending networks.  The forum offers a  Free Comparison Report comparing Lending Club and Prosper.  Please don’t hesitate to visit and sign-up if you are interested in social lending.

Finally, Lending Club is giving investors $25 when they sign-up at no risk.  You can use the $25 to try out their service with no future obligation.  There is nothing for you to deposit and you can lend the $25 immediately.  Try it out, you have nothing to lose!

Related Articles:

• My Lending Club Account Performance Update 3
• My Lending Club Account Performance Update 2
• My Lending Club Account Performance, So Far, So Good (Update 1)
• Earn a High Interest Rate with Lending Club P2P Loans
• Need a Loan? Get a Low Interest Loan from Lending Club
• Social Lending Networks are Booming
• Lending Club Offering $25 to New Customers in September and a Change to win $2,500