Tim is the author of the blog, elementary-finance.com. The goal of this blog is to educate those who have a desire to learn the basics of finance.
The unemployment rate is heading up to 10% if you believe the crystal balls of many of the government analysts. Many already have and sadly, many will be losing or lost their jobs. COBRA insurance can help.
COBRA insurance isn’t actually insurance at all but instead a law that says that your company must offer you health insurance should you lose your job. On the surface this sounds like great news doesn’t it? There’s a catch to this. A big catch. While your employer has to offer you health insurance, they don’t have to pay for it.
That falls on you and often it’s expensive. If you pay less than $500 per month for COBRA insurance, you’re lucky. If you hadn’t lost your job, paying your own insurance may be inconvenient, to the unemployed, it is nearly impossible especially with your unemployment check being, maximum, 50% of your salary.
Many people haven’t heard the good news about this. As part of the stimulus actions by the Federal Government, as of March 1st, 2009, they are subsidizing the cost of COBRA insurance. You are only going to pay for 35% of the entire amount! That should make you jump up and down. If you do the math, this is a huge savings.
You only have 60 days from the time you were laid off so make sure you apply as soon as possible. Also, understand this insurance doesn’t last indefinitely. You only get coverage for 18 months from the time you lost your job. Under the stimulus plan you can get additional coverage. It’s important that you talk to your human resources department (you will have to continue dealing with them if you lose your job) or go to the government website to read about your rights.
Good news isn’t it? Most people don’t know about this but now you do. If you know somebody who has lost their job, make sure you give them this valuable information.
- Related Videos
- Related Articles
- Ask / Related Q&A
- COBRA Insurance--Your Protection Even After Termination
- Tips Regarding Cobra Insurance Benefits for Texas Residents
- What Should You Know about COBRA insurance?
- Cobra Insurance The Official Guide
- Cobra Insurance Is Important
- If you lost your job, you can now afford COBRA Insurance!
- Cobra Insurance for Terminated Employees
- Are you Eligible to Offer Cobra Insurance?
Free yourself from the trouble of looking for house buyers
By: Alice Brooks | 29/11/2009Every one of us has some worries to carry. As a result, some of use are bent and exhausted just trying to cope with matters of looking for the best solution to problems we encounter in life, which may make us bend or make us become stooped just trying to handle them. Just laboring daily to look for the best means of living is something that a lot of us are troubled with. And life, with the intent of polishing us off, will throw in some weighty problems our way.
Family Finances 101: The 10 Essentials You Must Implement
By: Matthew Toone | 28/11/2009What is the two word phrase that is most synonymous with ‘family happiness’? It is … ‘family finances.’ Notice I did not say ‘family wealth’ – happiness in a home, marriage, and family is most often directly correlated with the ability of the parents to properly manage (not accumulate) and budget their finances! It is unfortunately true that over 80% of all divorces result, in some way or another, over finances. More tragic than the divorce is the fact that families are torn apart, ...
Find out how to make a quick house sale
By: Alice Brooks | 28/11/2009Maybe it is because most of us have very hectic schedules to keep that we have great difficulty sparing even just a few seconds off our time to pause or wait for something to first take its course. This attitude is manifested in the hectic and frenetic pace that people set every day in their efforts to achieve their goals. In turn, this is one factor why there are so many "instants" in the world today. In the world of property selling, it is always a preferred state if one will be able to find a
Money, Credit, & Greed: 8 Tips Parents Must Teach Their Children
By: Matthew Toone | 28/11/2009As important as it is for children and teenagers to understand these 8 essential principles below – it is far more important that their parents actually know, understand, live and exemplify them before trying to teach them to their kids.
Dispose your house immediately to stop house repossession
By: Alice Brooks | 28/11/2009House repossessions today are very prevalent. It is basically because the whole world is experiencing economic crisis. Most financial institutions resort to repossessing the debtor's house used as collateral. What is repossession? And how will you stop house repossession? And why "we buy your house" of some financial institutions is one great way to stop house repossession.
Connect with home buyers to sell your house fast
By: Alice Brooks | 28/11/2009Getting in touch with home buyers whenever there is a need for you to buy your house is never easy. However, when you are in touch with home buying consultants, you will see that the transaction is such a breeze that you will not feel any difficulty at all when selling your house. This is such great news during a time of great financial turmoil. After all, who loves to sell one's house especially if one has a lot of emotional attachment to the house that one is planning to sell?
Catching people's attention to buy my house
By: Alice Brooks | 28/11/2009There are several reasons why people would want to buy my house. These are the same number of reasons why houses are put on sale. But one thing is for sure and that is you would want home buyers to give you good cash offer and a fast and easy one at that. Selling your home might not be a welcome thought at first but when you get short on cash, looking for someone to buy my house can be the most practical thing to do rather than putting you and your family on a far worse situation.
Stop House Repossession By Selling It Yourself
By: Alice Brooks | 28/11/2009Financial troubles could potentially grow to a state where you could end up losing your home. Whether you've defaulted on your mortgage to the point where repossession seems likely or you've had other growing debts which are closing in, you may need to look at the liquidation of your most valuable asset. Your home is that effort and while parting with it will naturally be difficult, it could be the easiest way to solve your problems and keep a life in tact.
Is selling baseball cards profitable?
By: elementaryfinance | 21/07/2009 | Personal FinanceElementary-finance.com is kicking off their series about alternative investing. Today we’re going to tackle the subject of selling baseball cards. Baseball cards can sell for a few cents or thousands of dollars so it would only make sense that it could be more than a hobby, or at least we would think so. Let’s see if that’s true.
How to prevent online credit card theft
By: elementaryfinance | 18/07/2009 | Personal FinanceWith increasing frequency and intensity it’s happening and your credit is at risk. The attacks are getting more and more sophisticated and the thieves are becoming more widespread. They are working hard to stay a step ahead of law enforcement and they are largely successful. Your money, your credit, and your identity are at risk of being compromised by online credit card theft.
If you lost your job, you can now afford COBRA Insurance!
By: elementaryfinance | 16/07/2009 | Personal FinanceThe unemployment rate is heading up to 10% if you believe the crystal balls of many of the government analysts. Many already have and sadly, many will be losing or lost their jobs. COBRA insurance can help.
Here's the next great penny stock!
By: elementaryfinance | 08/07/2009 | InvestingI had to get you to read this for your own good. I’m sorry to say that I don’t have the next hot penny stock pick but we need to have a talk about penny stocks and why you need to stay away from them. The stats are clear: Much like a slot machine, a few will strike it big but most might as well throw their money in the fireplace and light it up. You are more likely to lose your money. Bottom line!
Using stock market news to your advantage
By: elementaryfinance | 08/07/2009 | InvestingWhere do you get your stock market news? There is no shortage of news out there and with the invention of the internet and other modern technology, one can get financial news from around the globe 24 hours a day. In fact, investors routinely come to work at 2 or 3AM to get a jump on the European market news before it affects our country.
Have you rethought your investment strategy lately?
By: elementaryfinance | 08/07/2009 | InvestingSunday is football day, Saturday is boxing night, and just about any night can be hoops night. Sports is the American past time. Open that up to our world and we can say with confidence that there are very few people who don’t follow at least one sport. One thing we know for sure is that in order to succeed in sports, you have to have a strategy going in to the game. Why is it that if you ask the average investor what their investment strategy is, they won’t have an answer?
Can an investment manager make you money in the stock market?
By: elementaryfinance | 08/07/2009 | InvestingAll of the great psychologists of the our world would send us to people like Freud for the answer to the question, do we need an investment manager. The fact is that most of us have that ego that psychologists speak of. In our quest for affirmation of worth, we want to think that we’re good at everything. How’s that for psychological theory?
Where can you find useful investing advice?
By: elementaryfinance | 08/07/2009 | InvestingYou’ve noticed it too. There is a flood of investing advice for you to read but much of it doesn’t seem all that useful in part, because half of it is simply saying that the other half is wrong. It’s the classic bulls versus the bears story. Where do you find good investing advice?