Shannon Harvey

I've often heard other insurance professionals say, "People buy life insurance because of love." Life insurance helps you to ensure that the financial needs of your family are met in the event of your death. This gives you peace of mind, since you'll know your family will be secure in the future.

So, to answer the question, you need a life insurance policy if your loved ones depend on your income or stand to inherit a financial burden in the event of your death.

The money your dependents will receive, "the death benefit," can help pay essential day-to-day expenses, such as mortgage and medical bills, and help your family reach longer-term goals such as your children's college education. Plus, life insurance can help ensure that your loved ones are not burdened with debt or forced to sell assets to pay outstanding bills or taxes.

Okay, so you've decided you do need life insurance and you're now asking: "How much life insurance do I need?" This depends on a few factors. Generally, the rule of thumb is 7 times your salary; however, as life changes, your insurance needs might, too. It's a good idea to reassess your needs annually to make sure you have enough to properly protect your family.

Beyond protection, life insurance can be the cornerstone of your family's financial security by providing savings and wealth transfer opportunities. In fact, the very first step in selecting life insurance is to decide how you want the insurance to work for your family.

If you have more questions, I can help you determine the amount of protection you may need and the type of insurance that's right for you.

College football is right around the corner, which means the biggest college football rivalries will soon be heating up. Are you planning a road trip to your favorite college or university for a football game? Do your plans include a trip to Clemson for the Tigers' season-opener against Middle Tennessee on Saturday at Memorial Stadium?

Well, you won't be alone on the roadways, so don't let the typical distractions ruin your trips this college football season. Drivers are faced with the added distractions of extra traffic on the roadways heading to the stadium, congested parking lots and campuses with plenty of pedestrians and moving vehicles. With so many things to do, and so little time to do it, it's no wonder why we try to multitask while driving.

In 2007, nearly 112 people died each day in motor vehicle crashes around the United States on average, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Allstate encourages drivers practice caution behind the wheel, and offer some good driver safety tips:

•· Keep your eyes on the road.

•· Be aware of your surroundings at all times.

•· Do not eat while driving

•· Do not apply cosmetics or groom if you are behind the wheel.

•· Don't text or use your cell phone behind the wheel

•· Pull over if you feel drowsy

This fall you'll root for your favorite team to take extra care of the football late in the fourth quarter when the game is on the line. Use that same frame of mind when you're behind the wheel making those trips back and forth to the games. It's okay to hope for the best as long as you plan for the worst.

No matter the time of year, the aftermath of storms can be devastating, leaving people without homes or dealing with major repairs. While we can't predict whether or not our homes our home will be affected by hail, heavy winds or strong thunderstorms, home owners and renters in Greenville, SC can make sure their property and belongings are properly protected.

The Atlantic hurricane season stretches through Nov. 30, and early preparation is the best way to help protect your family and property.

Regardless of whether you own your house, condo or townhome, or if you rent, this next question should be very important to you: If disaster struck your home would you know what you owned? Remember that even though it can take years to collect your possessions, they could be gone in a split second following a disaster like a fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, storm or another peril.

We recommend that you compile a home inventory to compile a list of your belongings to ensure the proper coverage in your home owners, condo or renter's policy. If your home, condo or apartment is damaged or destroyed in a storm, an accurate and up-to-date home inventory can help make the possible recovery process easier on you and your family.

6 Steps To A Home Inventory...

• Whenever possible, make sure your home inventory list includes photographs or video of your belongings. If you have a home video camera, take periodic videos of each room in your house. Focus on individual items in each room. Take additional video of smaller items like jewelry, silver, and related valuables or keepsakes. The same recommendations apply if you're using a conventional camera. Be sure to be thorough when taking pictures of your belongings.

• Include with any picture or video home inventory list, a detailed, written account of what you own. Be specific in your written inventory. Whenever possible include make, model, serial numbers, receipts, and date of purchase for all items in your home inventory.

• If you don't have pictures, a written home inventory list is better than no inventory, but make sure you are as detailed as possible.

• Store your home inventory list somewhere away from your home. If you have a bank safety deposit box, keep your list there. If you don't have a safety deposit box, ask a friend or relative to keep your inventory list in a safe place. I recommend, wherever you store your home inventory list, make sure the location is far enough away from your home it won't be lost in the same event that may destroy your house. However, make sure your home inventory list is kept close enough so that it is easily accessible to you when you need it.

• Be sure to update your home inventory after any major purchase or gift. You should be updating your home inventory periodically anyway, but make special effort to do so after any major purchase, holidays, or birthdays.

• If time permits, share your home inventory with your insurance agent so that he or she can help you decide if your coverage meets your needs.

While it's easy to hope for the best, it's best to plan for the worst.

I purchased Cancer Insurance for myself nearly ten years ago, shortly after a younger relative was diagnosed with Sarcoma. After discovering the lump beneath his skin he traveled to Charleston twice for exams & traveled to Texas another couple times to receive the surgery that successfully removed the cancer and he has been cancer-free since. Needless to say, it was quite a scare for him.

No one likes to think about getting cancer, but according to the American Cancer Society it will affect 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women. You'll discover at www.cancer.org, 1 in 5 people with health insurance who are diagnosed with cancer use all or most of their savings because of the financial cost of dealing with cancer. This statistic caught me off guard, but then I realized what most people overlook: there are direct costs and also indirect costs people incur when battling cancer.

The direct costs are the ones that immediately pop into your mind: chemotherapy, X-rays, hospital rooms, drugs and medicine. The shocking part? They only account for 35% of cancer-related expenses. The other 65% are made up of the indirect costs, such as: missed work, missed work for a spouse, travel, child care, lodging, food expense, home recovery, and phone bills.

Cancer may not be preventable, but you can protect yourself from some of the costs. Cancer insurance can help you manage the high expenses of treatment, preserve savings, protect your family from financial hardship, and allow you to concentrate on getting well.

Our Cancer Insurance pays you benefits that can be used for non-medical cancer-related expenses that health insurance might not cover. The policy is guaranteed renewable for life, subject to change in premiums by class. Benefits are paid directly to you unless assigned, in addition to any other coverage. A neat feature that I took advantage of is the Return of Premium Rider, which allows you to receive back all of your premiums paid if you never have to file a claim. So I think of my Cancer Insurance as a savings account that also protects my finances in case I'm diagnosed with cancer.

Would your finances survive cancer treatments? While it's easy to hope for the best, it's smarter to plan for the worst. Find out if Cancer Insurance is a good fit for you.

Congratulations to our customer, Rick Peele, for winning the June Referral Contest drawing for a $40 gas card! Thank you, Rick, for your business. We're glad to put you in Good Hands.

Thank you also to the other entrants in the drawing. Your referrals are greatly appreciated!

The contest is simple. For every referral that you send our way that calls and asks us for a home or auto insurance quote, we will enter you in the contest for the monthly and quarterly prize. If the referred individual purchases the quoted policy, your name will be entered a second time. The best part about this program is, there is no limit to how many times your name can be entered. The more referrals you send the better your chances of winning!

Each month we'll select one winner to receive a $40 gas card. Additionally, each quarter we'll select one person as the winner of the quarterly prize--this quarter's item is a Nintendo Wii. So what are you waiting for?