Financial Planning

Being physically and financially healthy is important for you and your family. Health insurance is a way to manage and reduce the risk of getting sick and becoming injured as well as provide greater income security. Health insurance gives you access to preventive services like screenings and check-ups that are helpful if you develop a chronic condition or become injured. If a health problem happens, the results can be costly. Health insurance helps reduce and manage risks, especially the financial one. Authors: Mia Russell, Virginia Brown, Bonnie Braun, Lynn Little, Maria Pippidis. Updated by Carrie Sorenson, and Lynn Matava. Title: Health Insurance Protects and Provides for You and Your Family (EBR-41).

A flexible spending account is a great, tax-advantaged tool that can help you save for health and dependent care expenses. This fact sheet provides a template to estimate the amount of money to set aside when establishing a flexible spending account. Information about establishing and using a flexible spending account is also contained. Authors: Jesse Ketterman and Meghaan Lurtz; Title:Paying for Healthcare or Daycare? Flexible Spending Accounts Can Help! (FS-1083).

This factsheet will help extension educators understand pet insurance and how pet insurance policies can be set up. It also provides suggestions for how extension educators can teach consumers to review and better understand policies before enrolling in a pet insurance plan. Author: Catherine Sorenson; Pet Insurance: The Basics for Extension Educators (FS-2023-0679).

Pets are an important part of our lives but can also be expensive. Pet insurance is one tool for managing the costs of pet ownership. But, pet insurance can be confusing, and pet insurance policies can differ from company to company. This fact sheet will help you understand important pet insurance concepts like: • The different types of policies • What pet insurance does and does not cover, and • The ways in which specific factors about your pet will affect the cost of insurance The fact sheet also includes a chart that can help you compare insurance policies to find which policies, if any, are a good fit for your needs. The chart includes a variety of key questions you should ask when considering signing up for pet insurance. So, if you are curious about pet insurance and looking for more information, this fact sheet is a great place to start. Author: Catherine Sorenson; Title: Is Pet Insurance Right For Me? (FS-2023-0678).

Divorce can be financially devastating for a family farm. Protecting the family farm from divorce is possible if farmers plan ahead with a valid prenuptial agreement, understand the legal parameters of marital vs. non-marital property, limit bequests to family members, and are able to come to a voluntary division of marital property, rather than asking a judge to value and divide the assets. Author: Sarah Everhart, Legal Specialist; Title: Protecting the Family Farm in Divorce (FS-1050)

Budgeting for college students presents unique challenges due to variations of income and expense. Combining a cash flow budget with a yearlong monthly financial plan allows planning for the variations of income and expenses that college students experience. Author: Jesse M. Ketterman, Ph.D.; Title: Budgeting 101 for College Students (FS-1194)