Money Tips Network

Ignorance is bliss.

The less that you know about how insurance works, the happier insurance agents are. As friendly as geckos, generals, cavemen, and ducks may look on TV, you shouldn't forget that insurance is a multi-billion dollar industry. These companies are out there to make money. It is the job of insurance agents to make as much as they can, too.

Here are 14 things that insurance agents don't want you to know.

General Tips

Let's start with some tips that apply to several types of insurance.

One of the biggest struggles of modern life is the search for meaning and purpose.

Most of the time, we go through our day-to-day lives just accomplishing the things we need to get done and relishing the spare time that’s left over. It can feel a lot like jogging on a treadmill, where life is running backwards and we’re running just to stay in place and not fall off the back end.

I know that there are been large periods of my life where I have felt this way – and those feelings still pop up from time to time. My to-do list of the tasks I have to accomplish by the end of a given day often feels incredible.

Money can make people do strange things. But what about when money laws themselves are beyond comprehension?

From bizarre tax systems at home to monarchy-imposed oddities abroad, the world is full of some very odd laws governing the spending and collecting of money. Lucky for you, this list of them is free.

1. Don't Step

Thailand's king is featured prominently on all the country's currency. Thailand's king is also not to be criticized, under legal penalty. So by extension, Thailand has one of the stranger money laws around: stepping on money is considered extremely disrespectful, and crazily enough, could land you in a Thai jail.

2. Do the Running Man, Pay the Tax Man

Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some amazing articles on saving on the cost of college, how to hide resume flaws, and things you must know about your future spouse's finances.

Top 5 Articles

7 Ways to Save on the Cost of College — To save on the cost of college, apply for scholarships and graduate quickly. [Cash The Checks]

6 Big Resume Flaws — and How to Hide Them — If your college education doesn't match the job you are applying for, make sure your resume focuses on your experience. [Five Cent Nickel]

We tend to think of our personalities as pretty set in stone. If you have always been short-tempered or shy or change-averse, you may think that it's simply who you are. Yes, you might be able to work hard over years to chip away at the aspects of your personality that you'd like to change, but overall, what you see it what you get. (See also: 13 Easy Ways to Improve Your Brain)

But it turns out that your mind is much more like clay than marble. With the right brain hacks, you can make real and lasting changes to just about any aspect of yourself — without feeling like you are fighting a war with your true nature.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Our lives are full of them. And what's more, the sheer volume of options available for any given choice is virtually infinite.

As Barry Swartz mentions in his TED Talk, your local grocery has around 285 varieties of cookies, 175 different salad dressing options, and 230 unique soups. A few decades ago, buying a pair of jeans involved zero choice, but today, you could spend hours trying on different fits and styles at your local department store. (See also: 10 Ways to Improve Your Decision-Making Skills)

Do you worry about keeping up with the Joneses? One way or another, we all battle some sort of financial demon we'd be better off without. What's your personal financial weakness — and how can you conquer it? (See also: 10 Financial Mistakes to Stop Making in 2014)

Sucker for the Sale

Stocking up on sale products that are staples in your family's cupboards is a prudent savings strategy — why not buy a couple of bottles of mustard at the beginning of barbeque season if the store is offering them at a deep discount? But do you find yourself tempted to buy things — groceries, clothing, garden supplies, or hair products — just because they're on sale?

When it comes to making large and frequent printing jobs, very few devices compare to laser printers. Laser printers excel at printing large amounts of text at good cost, and at high speed. The best color laser printers can also print out graphics and photos at good quality. The economy and speed of laser printers make them perfect for use in homes and small offices.

What is a Laser Printer?

A laser printer is an electronic printing device that uses a laser to rapidly print text and images. Specifically, the printer passes a laser beam over a charged drum in order to define the overall print image. The drum then collects toner and deposits it onto paper in the form of the image.

We really, really like us some Amazon.  For convenience, time savings, speed — and most of all cost — Amazon has a ton to offer.

Some of the groceries we get are a bit pricey because common ingredients don’t agree with some family members.  Often, Amazon comes through with the right products at a good price.

Even better:  a few of the items we buy are made even cheaper with Subscribe and Save.  We get a few percent off of some of our grocery items simply by agreeing to periodic, automatic purchase.  That’s the “subscribe” part that scores us the “save.”

“You ruined my groove, man!”

Once in a while, though, the best-laid plans run afoul.  Occasionally, our individual well-oiled Subscribe and Save machines backfire, and catch us unaware.  Just to keep us from getting too complacent.