Strategic Wealth Partners was acquired by Kovitz Investment Group Partners, LLC ("Kovitz"), a registered investment adviser with the SEC on May 1, 2024. Strategic Wealth Partners is now a division of Kovitz and its registered investment adviser. Materials created prior to this date were created by Strategic Wealth Partners and are accurate as of the time of publishing.
You probably spent months planning your next big trip, ensuring that your passport, itinerary and reservations are all in order. But have you thought about the chance of a sudden trip cancellation due to unforeseen circumstances? If not, you may want to consider adding “purchase travel insurance” to your checklist of things to do.
A Comprehensive Travel Insurance Plan
Most people do not consider that their well-planned trip could be cancelled or delayed by something out of their control. But the financial burden of such an event could be quite costly. Travel insurance can provide financial relief in the wake of a wide-range of unforeseen situations that can result in trip delays or cancellations, including illness, death, severe weather or financial default of an airline or cruise line.
When purchasing travel insurance, you should make sure that your coverage is comprehensive and will provide personal assistance to help you with contingency plans. Comprehensive plans should cover claims resulting from a trip cancellation, stolen passport, bankruptcy of an airline/cruise line/tour operator or weather.
Check Your Health Insurance
Many people think that their health insurance provides coverage for all medical expenses. However, health insurance benefits for Americans traveling outside the U.S. can vary greatly. Here are some questions you may want to consider asking prior to embarking on a trip:
Health Insurance Provider
What is my potential coverage?
Do I have coverage for international medical air transportation?
What is the procedure in the event of an emergency?
Travel Insurance Provider
What kind of evacuation benefits does the policy offer?
Will somebody be available to help coordinate care?
Purchasing a Policy
With so many choices among providers and benefits, it is important to do your research to avoid purchasing an insufficient policy. It is generally recommended that you do not book travel and purchase travel insurance from the same provider. Consider speaking with your auto/homeowner’s insurance agent, or contacting providers directly. Other options include*:
Third party providers have more generous benefits and specialize in this market. Insuremytrip.com, Squaremouth.com and TripInsurance.com are aggregator sites that provide comparisons from several insurers along with a wide range of insurance offerings.
Direct providers, include CSA Travel Protection, GeoBlue, and Global Rescue or MedjetAssist.
Depending on the location or cost of your next foreign trip, it may be worth booking a comprehensive travel insurance policy to provide you with assistance and protection in the event of a trip cancellation, trip interruption or medical emergency.
When evaluating an investment portfolio, most people tend to focus on the return it provides. This is certainly understandable, as it is fairly intuitive. “I put in $100; it’s now worth $110. Therefore, my return is 10%.” However, this leaves out a key part of the overall story – taxes.
Broadly speaking, from the standpoint of most investment and tax professionals, investments can generally be classified as either “tax-efficient” or “tax-inefficient.” I’ll loosely define these terms as follows:
We are proud to announce that SWP’s Wealth Advisor, Kathy Klein, received the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s Herbert J. Mueller 2024 Outstanding Professional Adviser of the Year award! She was honored...
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