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5 Reasons Why An RV Surge Protector Is Worth Every Penny

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3 years ago

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The post 5 Reasons Why An RV Surge Protector Is Worth Every Penny appeared first on Live Insurance News.

Whether you are recently retired, want a change of pace, or just like to travel, living in an RV is the right choice for many Americans. Living in an RV permanently or just for a little while, it only makes sense to make sure that it is as safe as possible. But too often than not people skip some vital equipment that ensures their RV is safe and protected all the time. One of those pieces of equipment you should never skip is a surge protector.

What is a Surge Protector?

An RV is filled with different electrical systems that require the proper voltage to operate efficiently and safely. Whenever there are fluctuations in the power supply like a sudden surge or drop, electronics from the air conditioning, TVs, stove, appliances, and anything else that gets plugged in can become damaged and, even worse, pose a safety hazard.

At its most basic definition, a surge protector comes in two different types. The first one is attached to the power pedestal, the part where you plug into the power supply at the RV park, and prevents both too high and too low of currents from entering your RV. Whenever it detects anything outside the acceptable range, it blocks it. That means the power is shut off but at least the electronics are safe.

The next type is the full service, newer surge protectors. They perform the same basic function of preventing the improper current but they have the added benefit of detecting if the pedestal is mis-wired or there is not a ground.

Are RV Surge Protectors Really Worth the Investment?

The first reason is more about practicality and common sense than anything else. The average surge protector, whether it is portable or permanent, runs between $100 to 200 dollars. To learn more, check the best RV surge protectors. The more advanced surge protectors can reach about 500 dollars.

While this may seem like a lot of money, especially for those that are cash strapped, in the long run, it will actually pay for itself many times over if you ever needed it. Think about it. The average RV starts at 10,000 dollars and can reach upwards of 100,000 dollars. The electronic equipment inside like the air conditioning, TVs, computers, appliances, and refrigerators combined can cost thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars.

The surge protector acts as an insurance policy on all of this equipment. Even better, it is only a one-time payment and not a monthly fee forever. You get it and that is it. Think about how much less financial hardship and trouble a surge protector would save against the small initial investment.

Lightening

It certainly does not happen every day, but most of you have either experienced or probably know someone who has been affected by a lightning strike. These natural electrical surges can severely damage your RV and take out pretty much all the electrical equipment on board. It is pretty difficult to avoid these and the only thing besides unplugging all the electronics during a thunderstorm that will help you is having a surge protector installed.

Thankfully, direct hits are very rare, but indirect lightning hits are actually pretty common. An indirect hit happens when your RV is near a power pole, pedestal, or some other high voltage electrical component that receives a lightning strike near it. The strike then travels through the power grid into your RV causing the same effect as a bolt of lightning hitting the roof of your RV.

Lightning strikes are more common in open areas with little cover around, but they can still happen anywhere, and having a surge protector is the only thing that can save you from the catastrophic loss either hit would cause.

Improperly Wired Parks

RV parks, especially the older ones, are not known for how well their electrical systems are wired. Oftentimes to save money, less popular or less scrupulous park managers will have people who are not qualified to work on the wiring which can result in unintended power surges or drops. The end result might not even be intentional if the infrastructure of the park is just old, but you never know who last certified that equipment is safe to use.

The issue of improper wiring has become such an issue that a recent federal law was passed that all new RVs come equipped with reverse polarity detectors which indicate to the owner whether the wiring is mis-wired or faulty. What it does not do is protect you in case the indicator shows faulty wiring, and that is where a surge protector will come in handy.

Low Voltages

As stated earlier, surge protectors protect against too high and too low of a voltage. But why exactly is low bad for your electronics and what causes it? Below is a quick explanation:

  •   As long as temperature and resistance stay the same, the voltage is directly proportional to the current and when the voltage goes down so does the current.
  •   Every appliance has its own voltage and current rating. When a lower voltage is supplied to the appliance or system than what it is rated for, it will create a new set of parameters to operate at the same capacity.
  •   What this usually means is that whatever appliance or system affected will draw more current to maintain its required power output. This makes more current flow through the conductor than what was intended.
  •   As more current passes through the conductor, it overheats and can start to burn wiring, start fires, and ultimately destroy the equipment.

These low voltage situations can often happen in RV parks where there are a lot of people trying to use the same amount of power at the same time. Those that are not equipped to handle all the use will cause the output for each RV to drop significantly. Of course, even when you go during the off-season you never know how many people are going to be there, and even going during popular times you should be unafraid of the power dropping.

High Voltages

High voltage situations are just as bad and happen even more frequently than low voltage situations. Below is a quick explanation about why high voltage damages your electronics:

Each piece of equipment has a maximum voltage it is rated from the wires to the resistors to the conductors and so forth.

If the load becomes too great on any of the components in an electrical system, it can fail or this load can jump from that part to another creating a cascading effect.

This cascading effect will produce a lot of heat which in turn destroys the electronics.

Even equipment that is supposedly “high voltage” cannot withstand certain, powerful electrical surges in the system and they will ultimately fail. There are a variety of causes that can make the power surge. As discussed earlier, lightning is one of those but that one is actually incredibly rare.

What is more common is instead of a large amount of equipment drawing power, a lot of high energy use equipment going off at the same time can suddenly force a greater than expected amount of power back into the system and cause the surge. Again, you cannot predict who is going to do this and when.

Conclusion

Surge protectors should be a no-brainer when it comes to protecting your RV and all the electronics inside of it. It is very cheap compared to the catastrophic damage that can be caused out there from a variety of sources. Whether it is people plugging in or taking out large energy requirements, faulty park wiring, or even lightening, there are just too many ways to get burned when a simple solution at the very beginning could have protected you.

 

The post 5 Reasons Why An RV Surge Protector Is Worth Every Penny appeared first on Live Insurance News.

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By: Live Insurance News
Title: 5 Reasons Why An RV Surge Protector Is Worth Every Penny
Sourced From: www.liveinsurancenews.com/5-reasons-why-an-rv-surge-protector-is-worth-every-penny/8549707/
Published Date: Mon, 06 Jul 2020 16:09:50 +0000

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Retirement Planning

Ends-of-the-World Every Year Since 1970

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3 years ago

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August 14, 2020

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There always has been and always will be a reason not to invest or not to stay invested. This is all the mainstream media reports to us. Below you will find a list of some of the worst global events each year since 1970. I have some commentary to follow.

1970: War: US troops invade Cambodia.
1971: Civil Unrest: Anti-war militants march on Washington.
1972: Political: Start of Watergate Scandal.
1973: Economic: OPEC raises oil prices in response to US involvement abroad.
1974: Political: Nixon resigns as President of the United States.
1975: Political: Multiple assassination attempts on President Ford.
1976: World: Ebola virus.
1977: Political: Government shutdowns.
1978: Market: U.S. Dollar plunges to record low against many European currencies.
1979: World: Iranian militants seize the U.S. embassy in Teheran and hold hostages.
1980: Economic: Inflation spiked to a high of 14.76%.
1981: Political: President Reagan assassination attempt.
1982: Economic: Recession continues in the U.S. with nationwide unemployment of 10.8%.
1983: Economic: Unemployment in the U.S. reaches 12 million.
1984: Economic: 70 U.S. banks fail during the year.
1985: World: Multiple airplane hijackings around the world.
1986: World: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station explodes.
1987: Market: DOW drops by 22.6% on October 22.
1988: Environment: Awareness of global warming and the greenhouse effect grows.
1989: Environment: Exxon Valdez dumps 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound.
1990: World: Persian Gulf War starts.
1991: World: Mass shooting in Killeen, TX.
1992: Human Rights: Los Angeles riots following the death of Rodney King.
1993: Terrorism: World Trade Center bombing.
1994: World: Mass genocide in Rwanda.
1995: Terrorism: Oklahoma City bombing.
1996: Terrorism: Olympic Park bombing.
1997: World: Bird flu.
1998: World: Multiple U.S. embassy bombings.
1999: World: Columbine shooting.
2000: Economic: Start of the Dotcom Market Crash.
2001: Terrorism: Terrorist Attacks in NYC, DC & PA.
2002: Economic: Nasdaq bottomed after a 76.81% drop.
2003: World: The U.S. invades Iraq.
2004: World: The U.S. launches an attack on Falluja.
2005: World: Hurricane Katrina
2006: World: Bird flu.
2007: Economic: Start of the Great Recession.
2008: Economic: Great Recession continues.
2009: Economic: S&P bottomed after a 56.8% drop.
2010: Market: Flash crash.
2011: Market: Occupy Wall Street and S&P downgrades U.S. Debt.
2012: Political: Fiscal cliff.
2013: Political: Taper tantrum.
2014: World: Ebola virus.
2015: World: Multiple mass shootings.
2016: Political: Divided U.S. Presidential election.
2017: World: North Korea testing nuclear weapons.
2018: Economic: U.S. & China trade war.
2019: Economic: Student loan debt reaches an all-time high of $1.4 trillion.
2020: World: COVID-19.

While many of these events were undoubtedly terrible (and there are certainly others not named here that were worse), most of these were broadcast as end-of-the-world events for the stock market. Despite that attention, it is worth noting that these were, for the most part, one-time events. In other words, most faded into the newspapers of history. We moved on.

Obviously, some caused monumental shifts in the way the world works. Just think about how much air travel continues to be impacted by the events of 9/11. But, outside of the resulting inconveniences (if we want to call safety protocols inconveniences) associated with air travel, flying is safer than ever before.

Take a look at just about any of the events and you will find there are many that people will hardly remember. My point here isn’t that these events are to be ignored or that they were easy to stomach at the time, but that they have become a distant memory.

I want to also make the point that we should expect these types of negative events. As investors, we know these types of crises, economic catastrophes, and global phenomena are going to happen.

But in almost all cases, here is what we can say in the next breath – this too shall pass.

Will there be legal, humanitarian, economic, or some other aid required as a result of these events? Almost certainly the answer is yes, but that doesn’t mean it they won’t eventually fade into history.

Lastly, what’s worth noting is how the market has performed over these last 50 years despite the continual advertisements of the world crashing down around us. On January 2, 1970, the Dow Jones stood at 809 and the S&P at 90 -> those are not typos. These same indexes have grown (not including dividends) to 26,387 and 3,232 respectively. Amazing, no?

Perhaps what gets overlooked more than anything else is what separates the above one-time negative events from the positive stories that go largely ignored over our lifetimes. And that is a story worth telling. See the companion post below:

Unheralded Positive Events Every Year Since 1970

Stay the Course,
Ashby

Retirement Field Guide Mission:

“To help 10 million people make better retirement decisions.”

If you would like to join us in achieving our mission, I hope you will consider sharing our site if you have found it helpful in your own retirement planning.

This post is not advice. Please see additional disclaimers.

The post Ends-of-the-World Every Year Since 1970 appeared first on Retirement Field Guide.

—————–

By: Ashby Daniels, CFP®
Title: Ends-of-the-World Every Year Since 1970
Sourced From: retirementfieldguide.com/ends-of-the-world-every-year-since-1970/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ends-of-the-world-every-year-since-1970
Published Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2020 13:26:19 +0000

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Retirement Planning

Wildfire prone property insurance bill in California due for hearing

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3 years ago

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August 14, 2020

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The post Wildfire prone property insurance bill in California due for hearing appeared first on Live Insurance News.

The bill is expected to be heard in upcoming weeks as opposing sites prepare for major battle.

A new California bill, the outcomes of which will have a lot to say about coverage for wildfire prone property in the state, will soon be headed for hearing. The hearing is expected to be a heated one as strong opposing opinions have the opportunity to be voiced.

Opponents of this bill are calling it a direct attack on consumer protections in insurance.

That said, proponents of the bill claim it is the best method for making coverage available to wildfire prone property in California. The bill in question is Assembly Bill 2167. It was written by Assemblyperson Tom Daly (D-Anaheim). If it passes,it will create the Insurance Market Action Plan (IMAP) program. The IMAP program is meant to protect residential properties.

So far, AB 2167 has progressed quickly, when taking into consideration that a chunk of the legislature has been considerably restricted by pandemic crisis precautions. It was first presented in early June and backers have been saying that it was brought forward in good timing and that it has all the momentum it needs to be passed.

That said, AB 2167 has not been without opposition. In fact, it has faced considerable opposition, having been called an attack on Proposition 103, insurance consumer protection law. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara lobbed that argument at it, calling it an “insurance industry wish list, with nothing to help consumers,” and Consumer Watchdog, whose founder, Harvey Rosenfeld, was the original author of Proposition 103.

The insurance industry strongly supports the bill, saying it will help wildfire prone property coverage.

Insurance organizations such as the American Property Casualty Insurance Association and the Personal Insurance Federation both support AB 2167. The bill also has the support of the California Association of Counties (CSAC), as well as Fire Safe Councils of California, and the CalFIRE union.

The Consumer Federation of America, another watchdog organization, has predicted that if AB 2167 passes, it will cause 40 percent increases in insurance rates. On the other hand, insurance groups claim that the bill offers owners of wildfire prone property a greater opportunity for choice and competition among insurance companies based on coverage and premiums while avoiding the limitations and high costs associated with FAIR Plan coverage.

The post Wildfire prone property insurance bill in California due for hearing appeared first on Live Insurance News.

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By: Marc
Title: Wildfire prone property insurance bill in California due for hearing
Sourced From: www.liveinsurancenews.com/wildfire-prone-property-insurance-bill-in-california-due-for-hearing/8549884/
Published Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2020 09:00:14 +0000

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Retirement Planning

Is this the last hurrah for bonds?

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3 years ago

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August 13, 2020

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Recently, I have written quite a bit about the long-term return expectations for investing in bonds. See here, here, here and here.

Spoiler alert: I don’t think it’s good.

But long-term bonds this year have been quite an amazing story as the COVID pandemic has caused the Fed to take historically monumental actions. As a result, we’ve watched long-term Treasuries tear the roof off the market. For instance, a 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (name withheld for compliance purposes) is up more than 31% YTD as of July 31st.

That is insane!

But there is a good reason for this increase shown below.

The red circle shows a decrease in the 30-year Treasury rate of almost 40% over a span of six months. That’s practically unprecedented with only two periods (2008 and 1981-1982) having similar declines over such short periods.

But this begs the question: Is this the last hurrah for bonds as a driver of any meaningful return? Below is the 30-Year Treasury rate over the last 40+ years.

For what it’s worth, people have been forecasting the end of the bond bull market since 2012 (maybe even earlier) and yet it has continued despite those predictions. But at some point, the bond party will come to an end.

The Fed has been clear that they are going to keep rates stable until at least 2022 which means this may not change for a little while longer. Or in the near term, I could even see the high returns continuing if we experience pandemic economic shutdown round two.

But, I can’t see a world where this is the case for much longer than that – most importantly over the span of a 30-year retirement.

The official end of the bond bull market depends on a recovery from the pandemic economy as well as a few other factors causing rates to rise. But when they do, it seems likely to me that this may be the last great hurrah for bonds for quite some time.

The question is when to get off that train and that undoubtedly requires a personal answer.

Stay the Course,
Ashby

Retirement Field Guide Mission:

“To help 10 million people make better retirement decisions.”

If you would like to join us in achieving our mission, I hope you will consider sharing our site if you have found it helpful in your own retirement planning.

This post is not advice. Please see additional disclaimers.

The post Is this the last hurrah for bonds? appeared first on Retirement Field Guide.

—————–

By: Ashby Daniels, CFP®
Title: Is this the last hurrah for bonds?
Sourced From: retirementfieldguide.com/is-this-the-last-hurrah-for-bonds/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-this-the-last-hurrah-for-bonds
Published Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2020 13:47:16 +0000

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