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Friday, August 24, 2012

Auto Insurance, Scaredy-Cats and the Rollers of the Dice

By RON LIEBER

In this weekend's Your Money column, I try to lay out the facts and odds that lay behind the question of whether any of us have enough auto insurance. Some people look at the long odds of a bad wreck and buy the minimum amount that their state requires. Others buy as much as they can, figuring that it's better to be safe than to be sorry.

So to the rollers of the dice, who have bought little insurance over the decades and have bet that they wouldn't ever be facing down a large claim, I ask this: Have you ever regretted that choice? Do you still feel comfortable with it?

As for the risk-averse, will you be upset decades from now if you've shelled out all of that extra money for premiums and never once made a claim or been subject to one?

In other words, what's the right way to think about these questions - and how do (and should) our feelings affect our efforts to reckon with the odds?