Chiburbian

iTrader: (1)

I imagine this is directed at me...

The reason I picked this number is that while people give away puppies for free or cheap it is my understanding that you don't want to encourage non-ethical (amateur home) breeders. I am not opposed to adopting an adult dog but you are also jumping into mid-life issues with adult dogs. If I want to have $8,000 in the bank at year 13 and the dog is already seven years old, it means I have to put away over $100/mo not including food and routine care.

I HAVE NEVER OWNED A DOG (or cat), so I may be talking out my ***. To me the biggest outlay is not the initial purchase it is the lifetime of the pet. I don't care about genetic purity if I was adopting a breeder puppy I would just be wanting to adopt from someone who isn't letting their dogs have babies every year and the overpopulation and homelessness it causes.

Though, I guess you are right about adopting an adult dog and giving it a better life. I would just feel like an *** if I adopted the poor thing and two years later had to put it down because I didn't have $3g for a hip surgery or something.

Girz0r

iTrader: (1)

Had more thoughts on the drive home.

What is insurance to me? Protection of investments!

But I also like Deezum's point of view of the unregulated market. And a puppy savings account sounds cooler

deezums

iTrader: (3)

The guy who owns these dogs isn't above driving around shooting at quail, from the truck. Not exactly the most reliable source of information, but the stories are amusing.

I know a guy I used to work with studding coon dogs though, I forget the name of the magazine he was always reading, but it were ******* bonkers what people will pay for puppy peen. His real racket was trapping and tanning though, neat stuff.

Hunting raccoon with a dog sounds a lot like shooting quail from a truck, but instead chasing the dogs at night from the same truck with a spotlight with a buddy in the bed. Sounds fun, I'd try it once.

And all the bud light, lol

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Nationwide sells pet insurance lol.

Yeah I forgot where you live. Thats like how my grandpa used to take my dad deer hunting. Drive until you saw one. Step a few feet off the road. Bam, dinner for a few weeks.

Chiburbian

iTrader: (1)

I have wanted a redbone coonhound ever since I was a kid. For no reason, other than I loved "Where the Red Fern Grows." In reality it would probably tick me off with it's baying.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

Pet insurance seems like fraud to me. Dogs get hurt and dogs die. Often it's our own fault. There simply comes a point in medical costs where you must decide that your "family pet" is less family than pet.

On the flipside, if you're the type that would be willing to spend $25,000 to save the life of your 14 year old dog, then pet insurance is probably for you.

I suspect that most people who purchase pet insurance aren't buying it to avoid paying the costs of animal medical bills, but rather they are buying it as a way to avoid the emotional turmoil associated with the possibility that they might have to make a decision one day where they consider the monetary value of the life of their animal.

Consider this; if you're in a household where you are "making ends meet" every month and you are suddenly faced with a vet outlining a $5,000 life-saving procedure, your burden is less likely to be $5,000 and more likely to be the emotional turmoil associated with not paying that $5,000. Therefore the insurance is not for your pet, it is for your emotions, and that, IMO, is a ******* scam.

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

Selling peace of mind is a huge business. I don't really think that makes it a scam as long as it actually will pay out and cover injuries/illnesses, but it probably is a scam in the sense that it doesn't offer a good ROI for most people.

portabull

at this point in my life i've come to realize that the only reason for my existence is to facilitate the lifestyle of my dogs.

good2go

iTrader: (2)

^^ THIS !

I've often said that if there is an afterlife, I want to return as one of my wife's dogs.

As far as insurance, my vet swears this company is the absolute best they've ever worked with: Dog Insurance Coverage for Accidents & Illness - Trupanion

Unfortunately, I never bought any and, just a few months ago, had the displeasure of $9k in vet bills for the repair of debilitating cervical spine issues on an otherwise perfectly healthy 5 year old dog. The dog was to the point of either needing to be put down or be operated on. The operation was a complete success and the dog is good as new now, with probably another 10 years of life ahead on him.

I had never in my life spent that kind of money on any pet before though. Heck, I don't think I spent that kind of money in total for every pet I've ever owned for the last 40 years, and in my wildest dreams, I never thought I could. I'll admit, I considered not doing it, but ultimately I knew it probably would be cheaper than the divorce I'd likely be facing if I didn't.

codrus

Insurance is not about ROI. No insurance company in the world sells a policy where the odds are that you'll get more back than you paid in premiums, because that would be stupid. The business of insurance is about mitigating risk and being able to limit your downside costs. Fundamentally, it's all about "peace of mind".

That said, my at-that-point-future-wife had a cat insurance policy at one point that was completely worthless, beware of policies that pay based upon "normal rates" for a particular procedure. My experience with this one was that their idea of a "normal" rate was about 25% of what any vet in the area actually charged.

--Ian

z31maniac

Personally, maybe not. Overall? Yes.

All the big insurance companies typically (not always) take a loss on premiums vs pay outs, but make their money by investing the billions in premiums into the market.

*Ex-State Farm claim rep*

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

Isn't that what my post said?

deezums

iTrader: (3)

Whaaaat?

No way. Can I open a bank account to work for me and use it as an insurance security or something. Why not, if I've got state minimums just sitting waiting?

I'll be dipped, though, guess the first state I found on google has an average 103% claims to premiums paid ratio on auto insurance...

codrus

IIRC, you can post a bond with the state (at least in CA you can) and not buy insurance. It's generally a stupid idea -- anyone with that much cash lying around wants the liability coverage way higher than the state minimums.

Turbofan: Yeah, OK, I wasn't sure if you were talking about pet insurance specifically or insurance in general.

z31maniac: Fine, you'll never get back more in payouts than you paid in premiums plus opportunity cost from not investing those premiums in the same kinds of investments that the insurance companies use.

--Ian

kenzo42

iTrader: (6)

Wife's coworker spent enough on her sick dog that she commented it was enough for a down payment on a house - I'd guess a couple hundred thousand. They eventually put him down.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

HOLY ******* **** ****!! TWO PEOPLE WHO CORRECTLY UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT AND APPLY THE CORRECT SPELLING OF IT ON THE SAME PAGE. After all these years of idiots on various forums and social media outlets, I'm absolutely blown away by this. I can finally have peace of mind.


In Ohio, you can deposit $50,000 with the BMV and you will no longer have the requirement of purchasing auto insurance. That $50,000 will accrue interest (at a government bond kind of rate), and you can withdrawal it at any time providing you then carry insurance. The BMV then provides you a card showing "proof of financial responsibility". (We don't actually have a requirement to provide "proof of insurance", we have a requirement to provide "proof of financial responsibility" - which everyone misconstrues as "proof of insurance")

z31maniac

That's a very broad generalization.

Let's say my BRZ gets totaled on the way home from work today. Since I purchased it new last year, I've paid maybe $1100 in insurance premiums?

The insurance payout would be well north of $20k.

Will you be my financial advisor?

mgeoffriau

iTrader: (7)

If I were in the market for million dollar homes, I'd spend a lot on my pets too.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

For the past eleven years, I've lived in places in which a million dollar home isn't anything special, it's just sort of average. Here in NYC, in particular, a million bucks will get you a nice 1 bedroom apartment, or a small and crappy 2 br. In Carlsbad, CA, $1m is a nice little 3br starter-house with a tiny patch of lawn, and exterior walls that are about 5 or 6 feet from your neighbor's house on both sides.

There is no way in hell I'd ever spend $100k on healthcare for a dog.

And I loved the hell out of my little Lexi, but when she finally started to go downhill fast (at age 13), I fully supported my sister's decision to euthanize the dog, which she did at home in comfortable surroundings under the guidance of my father, a retired physician who spent the latter part of his career working in a hospice and who developed a reputation for being something of a benevolent Kevorkian.



Bestest little fuzzbutt who ever walked the earth:



But not a human, and, objectively, not worth spending $100k on while already at natural EOL.

mgeoffriau

iTrader: (7)

Sure. My brother-in-law lives in Chicago and has discussed buying a house in one of the suburbs. It's just a mental adjustment that catches me off guard sometimes. A million dollar home here isn't exactly palatial, but it's pretty close.