Been digging around and found this which pretty much answers my questions: Skip COBRA Conventional wisdom says that if you lose your job, you should go on COBRA right away. If you're healthy, you can almost certainly find an individual policy that offers better coverage for way less money. COBRA is meant to be a last resort, so only use it if you can't get real insurance. Don't elect COBRA until you need it Even if you can't find any other insurance options and need to use COBRA, you don't need to actually pay for it until you get sick. You have 60 days before you have to elect into COBRA and another 45 days after that before you have to pay. Once you elect, you receive retroactive coverage. So basically, don't elect until 60 days after you left the company, and don't ever pay unless you actually get sick and need the coverage (or if 105 days passes and you still don't have real insurance). With this loophole, you can be covered by COBRA for 105 days after losing your job without ever paying a dime. Here is a link that might be useful: Copied from this website

Looks as though you have gotten some good advice so far but thought I would add my 2 cents. I am currently employed as a Medical Transcriptionist and thankful I only have about a year to go before I can retire. I have been a transcriptionist for approximately 33 years and have seen the profession slowly disintegrate. Our hospital started out with 10 full time employees, now we are 3 FT with 2 PT. Last week, we didn't have enough work for everyone so us 3 FT employees took a day off so the 2 part time could get their hours in (we get PTO, they don't). Our hospital installed the voice recognition system about 2 to 3 years ago and it has been downhill for us since then. As people quit, they were not replaced. There are a few doctors that will refuse to use the system and a few that the system can not pick up well enough to transcribe but that's not enough to keep everyone busy. We are now known as editors since we basically listen and follow along with the report, correct errors, etc, and not transcriptionist since we don't transcribe very much now. There are coder jobs that can be done at home as we have coders doing this and so far their positions are safe, I think we have about 10 of those still. This would be a safer position if you think this is something you would like. Hope I have helped in your decision. Lizzann

Bry911... I believe the post is referring to the fact that if sellers do collect more rent from the tenant that is above the market rate, some contracts are written that the monies that are above and beyond the market rent will be put into escrow, and if this is the case, (the seller offering money back so the buyer can use towards a down payment), then these monies will have to be verified by the lender. For sellers... remember to legally and ethically treat the person as a tenant for the term of the tenancy. They need to be reminded that they are tenants until the deal closes as a sale. Too many of these renters go into a rent to own situation and then customize the home to their tastes w/o the owner knowing it. There should also be two separate contracts... one being a lease agreement for the tenancy, and an Offer To Purchase Real Property for the sale part of it. Just think of the sales agreement as one with a very delayed closing date. Inspections and all due diligence is best performed up front, even before the lease agreement is signed. And, the sales price needs to be agreed upon up front too. And any wording as to what the consequences are for a tanking economy during the lease agreement term. Really, I don't understand, from a renters view point, why they would want to trap themselves into a purchase of one particular home, when during the lease term they are renters if they sign a Purchase Agreement or not. Why not just wait until your lease is close to being over, and THEN making the decision that this is the right property for you.

i did extensive research when we got our (then) kitten last fall. We‘d had Nationwide (previously VPI when took out the policies) for our previous two cats, but I wasn't happy with what they offered. I wanted a plan that ticked off most, if not all of the boxes for us. i spent hours online and on the phone comparing insurance companies and plans. i decided on PetFirst (a MetLife company, which has been around for many years). The plan I put together (after getting the prices for various options) includes unlimited annual and lifetime reimbursement, unlimited reimbursement for dental for the things that are covered, which includes dental disease (a few companies only cover dental accidents). FYI, most, if not all insurance does NOT cover routine dental or cleanings, unless you have routine care added to your plan (which will often also include vaccines, flea/heartworm meds, annual exam). We chose a policy with 90% reimbursement of the actual bill, including exam fees (Trupanion does NOT cover the exam fee for any visit), $100 annual deductible, and they offer a ”family” policy which is available for up to three pets I believe, so the $100 deductible only has to be met once per year (by one pet, or split between the other pet or pets on the policy. We were able to convert our first kitten’s policy into a family policy, which saves us some $ on the annual premium in addition to the benefit of a shared deductible. There is also a discount for paying the annual premium in full, which we preferred, rather than monthly. You can choose a higher or lower deductible (or none), a lower or hgiher % reimbursement, whatever works for your budget. The important thing, is to have pet insurance. Just a couole of weeks before her first birthday, our younger cat had to be hospitalized, and then have tests done at a nearby emergency hospital. Minus the $100 deductible, we received a reimbursement check for 90% of the bills (the bills totaled over $5000), Embrace seemed good as well, but there’s a cap on dental reimbursement (i forget if annual or lifetime), and overall i was happy with my choice of PetFirst.