Buying Travel Medical Insurance for a trip outside Canada or your home province  just makes sense. You never know what emergency will befall you and, in the United States especially, medical bills can mount quickly.

What Snowbirds need to know about Travel Medical Insurance

Did you know that if you need to see a doctor in Florida, you could be handed a bill for $1,200? OHIP would pay $50.12 of it — the price of the visit if it had happened in Ontario. An overnight stay in hospital could cost $10,000 in the U.S. OHIP would pay $400 if you were in a cardiac ward or ICU. A good reason to buy travel insurance. But even extra coverage won’t help if it’s decided what ails you is a ‘pre-existing’ condition.

 To help you plan your trip …

Travelling this Winter Snowbirds?

Here are Seven tips to review while getting the Medical Travel Insurance for your trip.

1. Know what the policy says Every policy has limitations and exclusions (and) “pre-existing-conditions” exemptions.  Read what is covered and under what conditions.

2. Know your medical conditions and medical history! Know your medical conditions when completing the medical questionnaire. Is best to have a list of all your medications and all you medical treatments in the past years to answer the medical questions correctly. Because it is a condition to having, your claims paid. This is the stability clause in all travel policies and it is the traveler’s responsibility to know about their illnesses and medical conditions or to check with their physician if they are not sure what they are. It may be as simple as having a list of their medicines and treatment in front of them or having the information written out in front of them.

3. Be scrupulously honest and accu­rate! While there is an insurance policy for just about everyone — it just tends to cost more for higher risk cases — don’t fudge or forget when it comes to spelling out their medical history. An example is a case last year in when a Vancouver retired couple was hit with a $50,000 hospital bill, because they filled out the insurance form in­correctly. “They say, ‘Well, we made a few little mistakes in our ques­tionnaire, but you shouldn’t hold that against us, you are just trying to get us on a technicality,” he said. ‘Well what the hell is a contract except a listing of technicalities?”

4. Some policies restrict where you go. Insurance policies can have lim­itations due to warnings issued by the Canadian Federal Department of Foreign Affairs or the U.S. State Depart­ment, noted Robin Ingle, chairman Toronto-based insurance company Ingle International. “You get situa­tions where even sections of coun­tries are no-goes, so destination is an issue.” As well, U.S.-style medical bills are becoming common in a lot of foreign destinations around the world, so travelers need to make sure they have adequate coverage wherever they go.

5. What you do can be an issue. A lot of people will travel and participate in things like para-sailing, hang-gliding, bungee jumping. mountain climbing.  These events are not covered normally but can be at additional cost at issuance of Travel Medical Insurance policy.

6. Worry about the fit, not the price! Competition among insurers means that prices for coverage should not vary greatly, so find the policy that covers your medical conditions. “The difference in price from one insurer to the other is so slight Make the policy is exclusively yours, which fits your health profile.

7. Be prepared to invest some time to double-check your coverage make sure it fits your health profile, travel plans and any activities you plan to do while travelling. Do not leave it to the last minute to arrange.

The post Travel Medical Insurance! first appeared on Insurance - Disability, Estate, Critical Illness, Travel, Life - Glenn Stewart.

It’s always fun to discuss the excitement of your wedding plans, but what about the not-so-fun topics? Among these are your personal finances and how you plan to handle money matters as a couple.

A survey of engaged couples by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling “revealed that 68 percent of respondents held negative attitudes toward discussing money with their fiancé, with 5 percent indicating the discussion would cause them to call off the wedding.”

That’s not good. Before you take a vow to share the rest of your life with your significant other, you should have the money talk to determine whether you’re on the same page.

Here are the 10 important money items

or related money items

1. Share your philosophy on money

How do you feel about money? What are your thoughts on how your financial affairs will be managed? You should also both disclose what you learned about money as a child to gain a better understanding of your respective views.

2. Chat about credit reports and scores

After you’re married, you will continue to have your own credit file, but you may also share joint accounts — like credit cards, car loans and a mortgage. If your partner has bad credit, which will negatively affect the interest rate you get on joint accounts.

3. Disclose financial obligations

Is your money being spent in places that your partner is unaware of? Now’s the time to come clean!

4. Set goals

Do you have a list of short-term, mid-range r even long-term financial goals? Have you discussed them in detail with your mate? If not, put everything on the table and determine if you share common goals.

5. Budget

If you’re going to spend the rest of your life together, why not learn how to manage your money as a unit?

6. Talk about children

The cost of raising “a child born in 2012 is $241,080 for food, shelter and other necessities over the next 17 years, which translates to about $301,970 when adjusted for inflation.”

That being said, are children in your plans?

7. Plan for retirement

Assuming you’re together for the long haul, retirement savings will eventually be an important source of income in your household. Do both of you participate in retirement plans at work?

8. Will you have joint or separate accounts?

This potentially sticky topic should also be hashed out before you tie the knot. While a marriage is indeed a union of two parties, some couples decide not to combine their finances and to maintain separate bank accounts.

9. Share career plans

How do your career aspirations fit into the overall plans for the marriage? Perhaps one of you will take on a demanding job that will require the other to become a stay-at-home parent and rely solely on one income.

10. What’s your backup plan?

When money gets tight in a marriage, fear or frustration can cause discord. That’s why it’s so important to establish and grow an emergency fund.

The post 10 Marriage Money Matters to Discuss Before the Wedding first appeared on Insurance - Disability, Estate, Critical Illness, Travel, Life - Glenn Stewart.