Adulting After Graduation - Part 1

With graduation comes big changes! Whether you’re continuing your education, starting a career, or just starting a new chapter, we want to give you some tips to make the transition a little smoother. In part 1 of this three-part series, Insurance Agent Cris Baxter shares her wealth of knowledge on the insurance world to provide the best steps to take as you or your child start “adulting”. 

Transcript

Tracy B (00:01):

Welcome to the Feeling is Mutual podcast. I'm your host Tracy Bedeker, vice President of marketing at First Federal Savings Bank. We are a community bank with a mutual charter. If you thought banking was boring, the feeling is mutual. But we're here to take the boring out of banking. In this podcast, we will bring our listeners real life stories and education on financial topics and it's all going to be delivered in a quick, fun and interesting format. So today we are ready to kick off a three part series on adulting after graduation. Doesn't that sound bougie? So we are going to be interviewing a few of our in-house experts to share some ideas on what to do after graduation. We're in that summer swing. We're kind of getting ready, whether you just graduated high school, you're getting ready to go off to college, perhaps you are making your career move into the adult world. So we are going to be talking about a very necessary topic which we all need to understand, and that is insurance and specifically um, property and casualty, which is home in auto. So today we are joined by Chris Baxter who is with First Fed Insurance Agency and Chris is licensed in property and casualty for over how many years now Chris?

Cris B (01:53):
Approximately 32 years.

Tracy B (01:54):
Oh, so just a little bit of time. You're just a newbie. <laugh>. Chris is a wealth of knowledge and we consider her our very own in-house expert and we are so glad to have her. Hello Chris, how are you today?

Cris B (02:10):
Good. Thank you for having me today Tracy.

Tracy B (02:12):
Oh, you're welcome. So Chris, you have been in the industry for 32 years, so you are an expert. Before we get into the nuts and bolts, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

Cris B (02:25):
Well, like you said, I've been in the insurance industry for 32 years. I've been here at first fed insurance for a little bit over 16 years and I've lived in the Ottawa area pretty much most of my life.

Tracy B (02:36):
I know you said you, you've been in the industry for 32 years. So I have to ask you, is it hard not to give advice to your family and friends when you're at social events?

Cris B (02:46):
That is correct. <laugh>.

Tracy B (02:50):
I can only imagine. You probably wanna pipe up and your husband's like <laugh>. So Chris, as I know we were preparing for our discussion, you had prepared some notes for me and I have to say that I was very impressed and I wish that I knew now what I should have known then. You know, I think there's a stigma with insurance and most people don't probably wanna talk about it, but it's such a necessity in life. I think the better we educate our college graduates, our high school graduates, perhaps you're on that career track. I think the better off that they will be. And you know, this isn't a topic just for mom and dad. I do think that those young adults need to be made aware of insurance and the importance of it. So Chris, what would be your biggest advice for someone who is at this stage in life, how do they begin to prepare themselves for thinking about insurance <laugh>?

Cris B (03:57):
Well first of all, the um, high school graduates that may be going on in college. My first thing would be are you gonna live in a dorm? Are you gonna live in an apartment? If you live in an apartment, a lot of them today are requiring the renter's insurance that is very reasonably priced. People panic. You can get that for as cheap as $10 a month.

Tracy B (04:16):
It's funny you said that because I am in that situation right now. My son had asked us about renter's insurance and from working here I was like, you need to have renter's insurance. So I couldn't agree more with you.

Cris B (04:28):
And parents keep in mind too 'cause if you're gonna be on that lease or your rental agreement with your child, you need to be protected too. So we can add your name to that policy as well. So you are both protected both ways.

Tracy B (04:41):
Okay. Now I think it's safe to assume as someone who's renting that they may put it off because they think their landlord has the insurance and that suffice. So what you're saying is that's not necessarily

Cris B (04:54):
True. Correct, because you need to insure yourself for liability purposes.

Tracy B (04:58):
Okay.

Cris B (04:59):
You need to insure your own property. The owner of that place that you're renting for, he's only insuring his property, the building himself. So you need to make sure your furniture that you purchased to bring in there is covered.

Tracy B (05:13):
You're insuring basically your contents of what's inside your apartment.

Cris B (05:17):
That is correct. All

Tracy B (05:18):
Right. See that was a very good tidbit for me. So we talked about the individual who's moving on to college. Are there any other items? Let's say you decided not to go into college and you are taking that career track. Are there any additional items that we may need to be aware of? Like is a young adult maybe car insurance? What's the age when you come off of your parents' insurance? Which again, I'm in that stage where I finally got both of my children off of my insurance. So what advice or what suggestions would you have for individual in that certain life stage? Right now

Cris B (06:00):
Every company is a little bit different on these new adventures with these young people. <laugh>. So I guess too, how is the car gonna be titled, you know, is it gonna be in your name? Only is are you gonna have your parents on there? Are you on a bundle policy with your parents? A lot of children are staying on their parents' policies longer because they can get a lower premium.

Tracy B (06:22):
They can get the discounts that their generational discounts that their parents had when they first started with insurance.

Cris B (06:29):
That is correct. Because if they live in the same household and if you have all your vehicles on one policy, you may be able to stay in your parents' policy and get the advantage of them having that homeowner's insurance with the same company and things like that. If they're a member of that household. Mm-hmm

Tracy B (06:44):
<affirmative>, it is advantageous for that person to stay on their parents' insurance until they are required to get their own. What is the age?

Cris B (06:53):
There's really no given age. It, you know, it depends on how the vehicles are titled. We do like to see a lot of 'em pull off about 25 if they're still in the same household. Okay. As far as that goes. Some as young as 18 two. A lot of goes with the parents. Some parents will say, Hey, you're 18 outta high school, you're having your full-time job now. You're making your ways. Now it's time for you to be on your own policy in your own name, your own insurance.

Tracy B (07:18):
It's time to start truly adulting <laugh>. There you go. Okay. You know, there's so many different ways we could take this conversation and I think it's just being aware of everything that we should know. I know when my husband and I got married I never even would've thought to insure my jewelry. You know, when we added onto our home. It's so important to contact your insurance company so that your entire property is insured at its value that it's apprised at. Is that correct?

Cris B (07:51):
That is correct, yes. If you're, that's your next step forward in the adulting possibly an engagement ring <laugh> give your agent a call because we do have an all risk policy that will cover that. You know, if it gets lost, if it gets stolen, if you smash it in a door, we've had that happen accidentally. Drop it down the toilet and flush it. <laugh>

Tracy B (08:11):
<laugh>. So what has been your most interesting experience with accidents in your 32 years in the industry?

Cris B (08:19):
I guess I would have to say when the lady dropped her ring down the toilet with the automatic flusher at Menards lumber store.

Tracy B (08:25):
You're not getting it back at that point. Are you <laugh>?

Cris B (08:27):
No, she actually, she panicked. She ran to the front desk and quick told everybody and um, nothing we could do. But the good news was she had an all risk policy for the value of the ring was easy to take care of and she was able to replace the ring.

Tracy B (08:41):
Okay. You keep using the word all risk policy. Can you just explain that a little bit more?

Cris B (08:47):
All risk policy means as long as you didn't do it on purpose or intentional, it's gonna be a covered claim of what happened.

Tracy B (08:55):
So what if you wanted a bigger rock?

Cris B (08:57):
That might be something intentional <laugh>. So that may not be covered. Unfortunately.

Tracy B (09:03):
You know, jewelry's not the only fun thing. We have our little toys that we like. We have our motorcycles, we have our boats, we have our RVs. What advice do you have for ensuring our um, recreational vehicles?

Cris B (09:20):
Yes, we offer the insurance for the toys as well. Protects you kind of like an auto policy. It'll give you that liability protection. It'll give you that physical damage so if it gets wrecked or stolen we can offer you reimbursement for that to repair them, things like that with the young kids. We see a lot of boat purchasing lately and the ATVs with the motorcycles.

Tracy B (09:40):
Well we are in the city of two rivers so I can see that. That's great. And I think, you know what's nice about first Fed insurance is we are all encompassing. We insure all of those recreational type vehicles and I know you do a great job 'cause I hear a lot of the boats <laugh> and you yourself have a boat don't you?

Cris B (10:01):
Yes we do. We have a pontoon boat.

Tracy B (10:03):
Oh, how nice. So Chris, you know, I know we had talked about going off to college and maybe you're graduating high school and parents are looking for the best discount on insurance. Do we have any special programs or discounts for those types of situations?

Cris B (10:25):
Yes, we do. First of all, if you are looking for an auto, never hurts to call your agent and say, Hey, I'm looking at possibly purchasing this vehicle for my young person, um, to drive because some vehicles are more expensive than others. Sporty cars are more

Tracy B (10:40):
Expensive. <laugh>. And is it true red is the most color that's picked up by police? Is that true <laugh>?

Cris B (10:47):
Well actually we had this conversation one day and we were told that people that like to purchase the color red cars are more of a sporty person.

Tracy B (10:57):
Okay. Adventurous.

Cris B (10:59):
There you go. Better word. So yes, we do offer, for example, your your college students. Are you gonna have the vehicle with you at college? Is the vehicle gonna be at home? There's a discount for that. Are you attending school so many miles away from school? There's a discount for that. Good grades 3.0 discount for that. So always ask your agent and speak with them of what's going on in the household and things like that because there is some benefits to speaking with them. They may be able to save you some money.

Tracy B (11:31):
And I think that's probably a lot of things that parents don't think to ask. And I know you do a wonderful job of asking those questions 'cause I can hear you and I think that's a testament to your knowledge and experience in the industry that you know the questions to ask so that it benefits our customer the best. And those are great tips. So do you have any other tips? Uh, maybe you're just looking to compare insurance prices. Do you suggest maybe doing that annually or what is your recommendation for pricing out and comparing Insurance companies

Cris B (12:14):
Never hurts to do it annually because here's the thing, there's a lot of different components that come into quo. Your insurance nowadays, for example, an insurance score that can change drastically from six months to now,

Tracy B (12:27):
Is that like a credit score but only an insurance score? What is that?

Cris B (12:31):
Insurance score is exactly what it's called. An insurance score. Insurance company use different patents to determine that. Okay. It does take in consideration your credit from I believe a soft hit. Okay. So yeah, that can make a big difference in your credit score. And young people, if you don't have good credit, if you have no credit, you're not gonna be penalized for having no credit. Okay. Good credit is the one that gives you the big discounts, but as you're building your credit, you're not gonna be penalized for that. So we're not gonna charge you more. You're just working your weight up to getting those discounts. Okay. Starting out

Tracy B (13:09):
Now, does it make a difference if you have claims? Does that affect your, your pricing when it comes to insurance?

Cris B (13:16):
It does affect the premium rate. You are correct. Okay. On the claim history, yes.

Tracy B (13:21):
Okay. Again, I they, you're wonderful at what you do. I listen to you every day and I'm always amazed at the number of phone calls you take. And I'm always impressed at how you service your customers. And I know First Federal is so lucky to have such a knowledgeable and experienced employee in you. Is there any other advice or recommendations, tips?

Cris B (13:47):
Well, no, I appreciate all you said Tracy. I, it is a very nice compliment, but I wanna let you know, I do work with, with a couple coworkers that are very good too. We are a local agent that's very knowledgeable. We're very dependable. That's what we try to do. We do try to service our customers and answer any questions as far as that goes. And I always tell people never hurts to ask a question. You never know. It may be a very good question, it may save you some money, but don't hesitate to pick up the phone and ask a question to your agent. Mm-hmm.

Tracy B (14:17):
<affirmative>. All right. Well Chris, thank you so much. We appreciate you taking the time. And also I wanna thank all of our listeners. Again, this is part one of our three part series. Next podcast, we are going to be talking about banking accounts and important accounts that are young adults need to consider when they're adulting and any special products and services that may help their lives a little bit easier and more convenient. So we appreciate everyone listening. Again, we're so thrilled with the enthusiasm that we've had for this podcast. And you can listen in by accessing our website www.ffsbweb.com. We have a lot of great ones out there. So again, thank you so much and we look forward to our next guest.