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Back in 2003, when I was working as a full-time teacher, I joined a
Pre-Paid Legal Service. You can call & get advice for free & will be
assigned an appropriate lawyer (if needed) at 25% discount. There are
other free services such as Will preparation, free legal forms, $20
for Will updates, etc.
This service costs $287 per year. I've used it a few times, mainly
for the will and for other miscellaneous legal questions that have
cropped up. I had one major problem (trip & fall on peg sticking out
of public sidewalk in Las Vegas) which ended up in a small settlement
to cover medical bills. I did the legwork myself, but was provided
with advice on what to do.
Now that I am retired, I'm wondering if it's worth it to pay this $287
per year "just in case."
Does anyone have any opinions on whether these types of services are
worth the expense or are a waste of money?
Sandy
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On 2008-10-23 08:25:16 -0700, sandybeth <s...@y...com> said:
> Back in 2003, when I was working as a full-time teacher, I joined a
> Pre-Paid Legal Service. You can call & get advice for free & will be
> assigned an appropriate lawyer (if needed) at 25% discount. There are
> other free services such as Will preparation, free legal forms, $20
> for Will updates, etc.
> This service costs $287 per year. I've used it a few times, mainly
> for the will and for other miscellaneous legal questions that have
> cropped up.
Just a few thoughts:
"You can call and get advice for free and will be assigned an
appropriate lawyer, etc..." sounds good at first glance, but I wonder
if it is really a bargain.
A lot of lawyers will talk to you for free, on the phone or in their
offices, to find out whether or not your concerns requre legal help,
and will charge you only if they do further work on your behalf.
The offer of a "25% discount" is not too meaningful in an area where
fees are very flexible and subject to negotiation in the first place.
An item on sale for "25% off" is no bargain if the original price was
200% too high.
A free drafting of a will is something that most people are concerned
with only once in their life. I suspect many lawyers would do it for
about that same $287 cost that this pre-payment service costs, not once
but year after year.
There are a lot of good self-help legal books available. If you ever
need any legal advice that goes beyond the simple problems in those
books, you will end up paying for it for sure!
Personally, I would put the $287 per year into a good index fund.
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Misc.invest.financial-plan is a moderated newsgroup where Moderators strive
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In article
<3...@2...goog
legroups.com>,
sandybeth <s...@y...com> wrote:
> Back in 2003, when I was working as a full-time teacher, I joined a
> Pre-Paid Legal Service.
> Now that I am retired, I'm wondering if it's worth it to pay this $287
> per year "just in case."
What they are offering is legal insurance. Treat this just like
any other insurance decision. You are looking at paying $3000 over
10 years. If you invest that $3000, you will have even more over
time. Will you spend more than $3000 on legal fees over the next
10 years? Most Americans do not.
I look at all insurance as pretty much the same--it is an expensive
way to level out the payments and avoid going bankrupt when something
bad happens. That might be worthwhile for automobiles and health,
but for most everything else, skip the insurance and save the money.
Over time, you will do much better.
-john-
--
====================================================
==================
John A. Weeks III 612-720-2854 j...@j...com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
====================================================
==================
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Many cities have public lawyer referral services, charging a nominal
fee to have the opinion of a lawyer. In my hometown, the fee is $20
for 30min for a face-to-face meeting.
HTH
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"sandybeth" <s...@y...com> wrote in message
news:37d7022c-1db2-4e84-88ab-101f97de5ece@2g2000hsn.
googlegroups.com...
> Now that I am retired, I'm wondering if it's worth it to pay this $287
> per year "just in case."
That would depend on the details of the service, which I'll bet you would
have some difficulty finding out.
I am particularly skeptical of claims to offer a "25% discount," partly
because of the following story.
Once upon a time I knew someone who got into a minor car accident. She
called her insurance company, which I will not name for reasons you are
about to see. The insurance company sent someone to look at her car, after
which they sent her a check together with a list of three body shops that
they said would repair her car for the amount of the check plus the
deductible.
She went to each of the body shops, and none of them was willing to repair
her car for the amount of money the insurance company had sent her. When
she called them to tell them this, the response was: "Did you tell the body
shops we had sent you?"
Now... Suppose you offer to repair someone's car for $1,000 and they come
back and say "You agreed with this insurance company to accept their
estimate, so you have to do it for $600." Do you think that you are going
to a good job on that car? No -- you'll do the cheapest work you can get
away with.
So the question is what economic incentives are are work with the law firms
involved. Unless you can find out, it's hard to know whether the plan is a
good deal or a ripoff.
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