If you were smart, you have already refinanced your home loan to a lower rate (and if you haven’t, then it’s time to get on the ball and do so), but with interest rates now rising, it’s not likely that refinancing is going to bring the savings that it has in the past. That is, unless you begin to refinancing other aspects of your personal finances.
Rates on a number of different types of insurance policies have been falling with stiffer competition and more people willing to shop around. For example, experts say that term life insurance rates have been falling and are expected to continue to do so through 2006. A similar trend has been seen with car insurance in certain parts of the country.
Most people don’t think about it, but you can refinance your insurance just like you refinance your house mortgage. Depending what your goals are, you can either pay less for the same coverage or pay the same amount of money for better coverage.
How do you go about refinancing your insurance? The same fashion as you would go about refinancing your house, but it usually takes a lot less time and paperwork. Keep an eye on advertisements in your paper. Take an hour to search comparison sites on the Internet and see what prices are being offered that mirror your current policy. If you find a policy that is charging less, you can choose to refinance at a better price or if you like your current insurance company, you can probably negotiate with them to match the competing offer (or at least reduce your current payments). This is because competition is tough and keeping good customers is far more economical than trying to find new ones. Your current agent will do his or her best to provide low rates to keep you if you look like you may be ready to move to another competitor.
You should look into refinancing on a yearly basis on all your different insurance policies (life, car, home, etc). It only takes a few hours of work and can pay off handsomely. Even better, refinancing your insurance is a painless savings in that you don’t have to give anything up to put more money in your pocket.