Help Your Kids Achieve More This Year
With Simple, Actionable Goals
RECORDING THE ROAD
With every new year comes an opportunity to reinvent ourselves or start down a new path toward self- improvement. Making resolutions is a big part of many families’ New Year’s traditions, and parents often have a desire for their kids to take part in that tradition when they’re old enough. Following through on resolutions is tough, especially for young children, but with your help, they can achieve their goals. Practice what you preach. You are your children’s role model for almost everything, including following through on New Year’s resolutions. So, ask yourself if you follow through on your own resolutions. When you proclaim that you will read more books or finally get a gym membership, do you actually try to do it? Your kids will assign as much importance to New Year’s resolutions as you do, so by sticking to your own commitments, you can help them stay on track too. Keep things simple and achievable. When your kids are forming their resolutions, their first attempts will probably be very broad. Statements like “I want to be more kind” or “I will try to help more around the house” incorporate good values but don’t include any actionable steps. Help your kids think of tangible ways to act on those goals. For example, if they want to be tidier, a good resolution might be for them to clean their room once a week or take responsibility for one household chore every day. Don’t do all the work for them. While it’s important for you to help your kids formulate their goals, be sure that you aren’t taking over. If they’re ultimately responsible for their resolutions, they’ll feel more compelled to keep them. Instead, suggest different goal areas they could improve, such as home, school, or sports, and let them elaborate. When it comes to creating habits, nobody is perfect, so even if your kids falter on their goals in the middle of February, don’t worry. The important thing is that you continue to encourage them every step of the way.
Is Buying a Dash CamWorth the Investment?
Dashboard-mounted cameras, or dashcams, are becoming more and more popular. They’re already widely used in Russia and China, where auto insurance fraud is common and roads are packed with questionable drivers. In the U.S., however, they’re still relatively uncommon, but that seems to be changing. Many people are buying dashcams as a way to potentially catch collisions and other bad driving behaviors on camera. In the event they need to call their insurance company to file a claim, they have useful footage they can share. Here’s the question: Are dashcams really worth the investment? How beneficial is it to mount a camera in your vehicle? Dashcams come in a number of different varieties. They run from about $50 to $150, depending on the features. Some are designed to sit on top of your dash, others mount under the rearview mirror, and some can be mounted next to the mirror, attaching to the windshield using an adhesive. They can work in practically every type of automobile, from compact cars all the way up to 18-wheelers. In terms of insurance savings, no insurance carriers offer any type of discount or incentive for using a dashcam at this time. State Farm Insurance, for example, says, “While a dashcam may provide information about why a crash occurred, it is not a device that is designed to inhibit the crash from happening in the first place.” This makes sense; a dashcam is a purely a reactive device. However, though a dash cam cannot protect you from ever getting into a car accident, it can protect you if someone files a claim or lawsuit against you or if you need to file against someone else. A dashcam can provide footage of the wreck and give everyone involved, including the insurance companies and attorneys, more information to potentially determine fault or reach a settlement. It’s important to keep in mind that having dashcam footage does not guarantee anything. Not all dashcams are created equal. Some provide much better footage than others. While many dashcams record in high definition, there is always the possibility of poor lighting, glare, or just bad footage (for example, the camera may not have been pointed precisely in the direction of the collision). At the end of the day, dashcams offer peace of mind more than anything else. Is it worth the investment? Possibly. If you get into an accident, providing clear footage of the wreck may be beneficial to your case. If you’ve been injured in a car accident and you have questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re here to give you the help you need to receive the maximum compensation and get your life back on track. You can reach us at 817.775.5464.
2
WWW.LEGALINSURANCEAGENCY.COM 817.618.6381
Made with FlippingBook Annual report