Often times we find that people can move around what they are already spending to maximize their situation.    For example, if you raised your deductible on your car insurance from $500 to $1000, you probably can free up enough money to buy a umbrella liability policy.  You maximize your overall protection, by making this simple move.   Are you okay with upping the deductible, if you could free up enough money to buy a 3 million dollar liability policy?

What if you want to buy life insurance or long term care with no additional out of pocket cost?  One client had $100,000 in a bank CD and was receiving 5% a year and wanted to buy long term care insurance.  I suggested that they take the simple interest from the CD and pay the taxes and buy the long term care policy.  The long term care policy was about $3000 annually, so the interest off of the CD  covered the whole premium.  She didn’t have to touch any of her principal and in essence made a large step to protecting all of her assets in case of a long nursing home stay.  She was concerned about leaving her family the assets she had accumulated and didn’t want to see something like that burn up her whole estate.  With that simple move, she protected against huge downside risk.

It is important to take a look at your model and see where you might be able improve your situation.   It is critical to look at your insurance (homeowners, car, life, etc.) and your investments and try to identify any inefficiencies.   There is a good chance you can see improvements with no additional out of pocket cost to you.