​If you're a renter, you may not think that renters insurance is important. After all, it's your landlord's job to pay for damages to the property, right? Yes and no. While landlords do typically have insurance policies in place on their properties, these policies might not cover all of your personal belongings or provide enough coverage to help you rebuild if something happens. Furthermore, even if your landlord had an insurance policy that covered everything they needed it would still be up to them whether or not they would make good on those obligations—and who wants to rely on someone else's goodwill? Renters insurance is one area where doing what seems like extra work today will pay off down the road when things go wrong tomorrow."

​We are now in the second week of the new year. Feel any different? Is your routine any different, has your diet changed or are you taking a new route to work each day? If not, why not?

As much as we want to kickstart something new at the stroke of  midnight for the New Year, what is the motivation behind it? Is it because it gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, you want to feel part of the group all joining something, or because you crave something else? Something more. What is your motivation? We are all still saying “Happy New Year” to friends and business associates we have not seen recently, but again, are we doing anything different or just rolling same tired bad habits from 2021 into 2022?

Susan Shaw
Shaw Insurance Agency - Our family serving North Texas families since 1982.

​As Insurance Professionals, we are trained to think
​“What if…?” and “If this…then what?”, however with the introduction of the soon to be manufactured Tesla Cybertruck, many of those questions remain unanswerable! 
While the projected price point for this truck is much less than the general public originally anticipated, the true cost could be factored in at a later date, perhaps at claim time.  While the 3mm-thick stainless-steel body panels are being hailed at being dent-resistant or hail resistant, (See what I did there!)  which could be assumed to help lower insurance rates, however, if the dent-resistant material is a much higher cost to fix when damaged, it would negate that and then actually increase insurance rates. 

​Today is New Year's Eve and while many will be going out and bringing in the New Year with a bang, others will be quietly waiting for the ball to drop and be officially done for 2019 and for this decade.

What are you saying goodbye to?  For those that lost loved ones during the year, they are glad to see 2019 be over - it has caused too much pain already.  Some have had financial loss, while others have said goodbye to their good health.

​Perhaps it is time to reframe the question!  Perhaps we should focus more on more positive things to say goodbye to!  Here are 15 things to say Goodbye to for 2019!  

​We tell our children that kindness matters, but how do we tell them that kindness matters? With words or do your actions tell the true story?

When I was growing up,  the parenting model so many times was "Do as I say, not as I do." Fortunately my parents didn't subscribe to that type of parenting.  My parents showed kindness, modeled kindness for the rest of us to emulate.  How did my father show kindness?  A great example was my dad coming home from working all day and before sitting down to dinner, he would go next door to the single mom with 3 small children and mow her lawn.  He did this for years.  Not once…. but many times over the years. What do think that taught us kids?  He taught us to take care of others by his actions.  We knew he would take care of his family, so that was not ever questioned, but he consistently showed us how to care for others.  That mom could have mowed the yard herself, but having 3 children himself, he also knew how tired she would be, so he chose to do it for her.  She didn't have a stay at home spouse to help take care of the home front to make sure all ran smoothly.  He chose to act!

​Homes may be built with solid craftsmanship and with the use of the best materials, but most residences offer little to no protection against a common hazard…..tornadoes. Recently, homeowners have begun to embrace the use of tornado shelters. Before discussing this protection method, here is some background information.

​In the U.S., tornadoes most often occur in the Midwest, Plains and Southern states. Tornadoes are created by thunderstorm fronts where moist, warm air meets moving cool fronts. Winds first form a horizontal rotation that is lifted upwards by warm air. When the rotating column is tilted high enough, it becomes a tornado.

​Blood may be thicker than water, but it is thinner than insurance contracts. An adult son or daughter may think that, when a loss happens, coverage is available from mom or dad's homeowners or auto policy. It usually isn't and finding this out after a loss makes matters much worse. Policies are typically clear. A relative is covered, but only if the relative is a full-time resident of the named insured's household. Even if a child lives next door, a parents' policy is not going to spread its coverage to take care of an adult child's belongings.​

​Words have POWER!  Recently I was at a conference with a well known speaker and he posed a question during his Keynote Speech.  “Can They Hear Your Voice?”   Now, honestly this could be talking about a number of things.  Can they hear my voice about what?  Who is “they” anyway?   So, I got to thinking about this.
I have 2 adult children now, so I asked them.  I asked my older son what sayings he remembered me saying when he was growing up.  I was a little scared to ask!  He promptly came up with a couple!  “Don’t ever throw the first punch” and “Don’t ever start it, but if it starts, then you better finish it!”  While I would like to think I had other words of wisdom for him growing up, it does appear that he heard my voice and still remembers it!  So, I guess I’ll call that Success!

The good news - you have decided to become a Landlord!  The bad news - now you have to get it rented! 
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How do you know whether the tenants are going to be good tenants?  While many of our carriers offer a Landlord policy, Foremost understands the Landlord Market and has upped the game a bit!  We can now offer discounted tenant screening through a partnership they have provided.

More than a 3 day weekend!  Memorial Day is coming up in just a couple of days and the weekend will be full of Memorial Day Celebrations, which is great, however, I don't want the actual meaning of the day to get lost in a whirlwind of pool parties, hot dogs and burgers on the grill. 

Originally Memorial Day was called Decoration Day - the tradition began on May 30, 1868 with decorating graves of Civil War soldiers with flowers, wreaths and flags. The name was changed to Memorial Day in 1950 calling on Americans to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer.  In 1971 President Nixon changed it to a National Holiday in order to honor the  men and women who died in all wars.