6.1 Insurance basics

In this section:

• 6.1.1 What is insurance?
• 6.1.2 What is covered by an insurance policy
• 6.1.3 Attitudes toward insurance
• 6.1.4 Insurance and you
• 6.1.5 Whether to get insurance
• 6.1.6 Summary of key messages

Introduction

Most of us would rather not think about unpleasant events like becoming disabled or having our personal possessions stolen. So we may put off buying the insurance we need. It's only when the event occurs that we realize that we may not be as well protected as we would wish.

Insurance is a way to protect yourself and your loved ones from financial hardship in case losses occur.

In this section, you will learn:

• what insurance is
• how insurance works
• why some people avoid buying insurance
• how you feel about life situations that might require insurance.