You need some types of insurance. It is not a luxury. It is truly a necessity.

You can overpay. Let me put it more strongly: unless you study the options very carefully, or unless you have located an honest independent insurance salesman who is also well-informed, or unless you have access to a site like this, you will overpay.

When it comes to insurance premiums, the overpayment gets very high when you factor in forfeited earnings over a 20-year period. If you get stiffed by your insurance company after a disaster hits, you will really pay a high bill for your ignorance.

People make terrible mistakes when they buy insurance. But their biggest mistake is in not buying the crucial kinds of insurance: life, health, auto, homeowners/fire.

There are other types of insutance that may be reasonable in your profession or income bracket. Yet other forms are wasteful. You had better understand the odds. Few people do.

In this department, you will get most of the information that you really need. It will keep you from making a big mistake. I will not be filling it with all sorts of extraneous noise news -- just what you need to get the protection you need at a competitive price from a company that will pay off if you suffer a disaster that is covered in your contract.

Read your contract. If you have any doubts, have a lawyer read the section you don't underatand after several readings. (This advice is free!)

The first six articles are permanent. Get these matters taken care of immediately. Then read the other articles, which are posted on a latest-first basis.

(If you have not subscribed to the free Tip of the Week report, do so today. The subscription box is on this page.)