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Life insurance is a commodity.

Andrew Tobias

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Andrew Tobias
Age: 77
Born: 1947
Born: April 20
Journalist
Writer
Insurance
Commodity
Life

More quotes by Andrew Tobias

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The first American insurance company was the Friendly Society for the Mutual Insurance of Houses Against Fire, founded in Charles Town in South Carolina, in 1735.
Andrew Tobias
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Life insurance in America has traditionally been dominated by mutual insurers. Twelve of the fifteen largest life insurers are mutuals.
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It's very nice to be able to be who you are.
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Nobody wants campaign finance reform more than me. It would save me a fortune.
Andrew Tobias
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But successful investors tend to be not too self-destructive. They tend to be patient, they tend not to follow the crowd, and they tend not to be too guilty about winning.
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The best thing I have are 5 percent bonds from 1780, denominated from $1 to $20. As far as I can tell, they are obligations from the United States of America, so I should be able to walk down to the Federal Reserve and redeem the uncanceled ones. With 217 years of accrued interest, for a $20 bond, that's about $800,000.
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Still, most people don't have much money. So finding ways to come out a couple of thousand dollars ahead every year still matters.
Andrew Tobias
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There's no question young drivers have far more accidents than older ones - but is it our aim to keep them off the roads? Or to allow only rich young people (who can afford the premiums) to drive?
Andrew Tobias
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You want 21 percent risk free? Pay off your credit cards.
Andrew Tobias
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There are only two things as complicated as insurance accounting and I have no idea what they are.
Andrew Tobias
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People don't need to find reasons to justify their not giving. What they need to find is the inspiration to give. And those who don't, but could afford to, are missing out on one of wealth's greatest luxuries.
Andrew Tobias
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I was a writer for 'New York' magazine. I had been to business school, but what did I know? Still, everybody from the receptionists on up to the editor would ask me what they should do with their money.
Andrew Tobias
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The life insurance industry is filled with good people who believe in their work and their companies, but who may never have challenged the assumptions underlying their efforts.
Andrew Tobias
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The life insurance policies advertised on the radio with the line You cannot be turned down for this coverage! are actually saying, For policies this small, it would cost us more to decide whom to turn down than simply to accept everybody - and make them pay through the nose.
Andrew Tobias
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In short: Readily available low-cost life insurance would be a threat to the industry, and whatever threatens the life insurance industry threatens America.
Andrew Tobias
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Now listen. You can't fool all the people all the time-- but I want you to try.
Andrew Tobias
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No wonder lawyers, who control the legal system, have fought so hard, and with great success, against no fault insurance. No fault, no lawsuits. No lawsuits, no lunch.
Andrew Tobias
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Not surprisingly, the insurance lobby recoils in horror at the prospect of automatic coverage (including, when it was first proposed, Social Security), no matter how efficient it may be. Automatic coverage eliminates sales commissions and profit.
Andrew Tobias
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Rule of thumb: The more trimmings an insurance plan has and the harder someone is pitching it, the faster you should run.
Andrew Tobias
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The industry cannot long offer unneeded or overpriced insurance if people will not buy it.
Andrew Tobias