[Survey] 56% of Americans Are Overly Optimistic About Their Insurance Coverage

When it comes to auto insurance coverage, American drivers are feeling optimistic. We used Google Surveys to question more than 2,000 drivers across the nation about their confidence in accident coverage and satisfaction with policy prices. 

Key survey takeaways 

• 56% of drivers believe that their insurance will provide full coverage in an at-fault accident 
• More female drivers (54%) believe their insurance will provide full coverage in an at-fault accident than male drivers (46%)
• 50% of drivers believe that their insurance premiums are fairly priced
• More female drivers (55%) believe their insurance premiums are fairly priced than male drivers (45%)
• 50% of drivers support laws requiring liability insurance

Drivers overly optimistic about accident coverage

If a driver gets into an accident that is their fault, the majority believe that their auto insurance provides full coverage for any damages that occur. 

Over half of drivers (56%) believe that if they are in a car accident that is their fault, their auto insurance will provide full coverage. 

Of course the amount of coverage depends on your policy, but if you do not carry adequate auto insurance for the level of damages incurred in the accident, experts agree you could be personally liable for the costs. 

Gender gap in auto insurance optimism 

Of those drivers, women are more optimistic than their male counterparts about how much coverage their auto insurance provides in accidents that they cause. 54% of female drivers believe that their auto insurance will provide full coverage, compared to 46% of male drivers with the same belief. 

Optimism increases with age

For drivers surveyed, older drivers are more likely to believe that they will have full coverage in an at-fault accident, compared to younger drivers. 

70% of Americans ages 55-64 think their auto insurance will provide full coverage if they are at fault in an accident, compared to only 45% of Americans ages 18-34. 

Full coverage largely depends on the type of auto insurance policy you select. If you only have minimum liability car insurance, you will only have coverage up to a certain point. To ensure full coverage, it’s best to select an auto insurance policy that goes well beyond the minimum requirements. 

Drivers believe auto insurance premiums are fair

When it comes to the cost of auto insurance, most drivers feel that their auto insurance premiums are equitable.

In fact, 50% of respondents characterized their premiums as fairly priced, compared to 31% of drivers who feel that their premiums are too expensive. 

Female drivers more likely to believe auto insurance is fairly priced

55% of female drivers believe their insurance premiums are fairly priced, compared to 45% of male drivers with the same belief. 

This may be because female drivers are less risky drivers than their male equivalents. In 2017, 73% more male drivers died from speeding-related motor vehicle fatalities than female drivers. The same data also indicates that many more men than women die each year in motor vehicle crashes. Male drivers typically drive more than female drivers and also engage in more risky driving practices, such as not using safety belts, driving while impaired by alcohol and speeding. 

Older drivers more likely to feel insurance prices are fair

Survey results indicate that older drivers are more likely to feel their auto insurance is fairly priced when compared to younger drivers.

56% of drivers ages 55-65+ believe their auto insurance policy price is fair. On the other hand, only 44% of drivers ages 18-34 share the same belief. 

Drivers are spending more on car insurance

According to the most recent data on auto insurance, the nationwide average for auto insurance spending rose 17% from 2007 to 2016.

The positive disposition drivers have towards insurance premiums and auto insurance legislation could impact this willingness to purchase insurance that goes beyond the minimum requirements. 

In 2017, 1% of people with liability insurance had a bodily liability claim, while 4% of those with liability insurance had a property damage liability claim, according to the Insurance Information Institute. 

With such a low frequency of claims, this could indicate that people are willing to pay more for insurance even if the number of their claims is not increasing. 

Who actually pays in a car crash

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 7% of all car crash costs are paid from public revenues. Federal revenues account for 6% of total crash costs, while state and local municipalities cover just around 3% of the costs involved.

Private insurances pay just about 54% of all motor vehicle crash costs. Individual crash victims pay around 23% of all costs, while third parties (like uninvolved motorists delayed in traffic, charities and health care providers) pay around 16% of total costs. 

Those not directly involved in crashes pay for nearly three-quarters of total crash costs, mainly through insurance premiums, taxes, and travel delay.

While private insurance does provide coverage for accidents you may be involved in, relying on this coverage exclusively may not be enough. 

States with the highest minimum insurance requirements 

It’s a good thing that most drivers support laws requiring liability insurance because most states across the nation mandate some variation of basic coverage. 

The following states represent those with the highest minimum insurance requirements: 

1. Maine
2. Maryland
3. Minnesota
4. New York
5. North Carolina 
6. Texas

In Maine, the minimum auto insurance coverage required for drivers is: 

• $50,000 bodily injury per person per accident
• $100,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident
• $25,000 property damage liability per accident 

For Maryland drivers, the minimum auto insurance requirements for drivers are:

• $30,000 bodily injury per person per accident
• $60,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident 
• $15,000 property damage liability per accident 
• $30,000 bodily injury per person per accident for uninsured motorists 
• $60,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident for uninsured motorists 

In Minnesota, the minimum auto insurance coverage required for drivers is:

• $30,000 bodily injury per person per accident
• $60,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident
• $10,000 property damage liability per accident 
• $25,000 bodily injury per person per accident for uninsured/underinsured motorists
• $50,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident for uninsured/underinsured motorists 
• $40,000 personal injury protection 

For New York drivers, the minimum auto insurance requirements are: 

• $25,000 bodily injury per person per accident
• $50,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident
• $10,000 property damage liability per accident 
• $50,000 liability for death per person
• $100,000 liability for death per accident
• $50,000 personal injury protection 
• $25,000 bodily injury per person per accident for uninsured motorists
• $50,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident for uninsured motorists  

In North Carolina, the minimum auto insurance coverage required for drivers is:

• $30,000 bodily injury per person per accident
• $60,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident
• $25,000 property damage liability per accident 
• $30,000 bodily injury per person per accident for uninsured motorists
• $60,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident for uninsured motorists 
• $25,000 property damage liability per accident for uninsured motorists 

For drivers in Texas, the minimum auto insurance minimum auto insurance requirements are: 

• $30,000 bodily injury per person per accident
• $60,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident
• $25,000 property damage liability per accident 

Each of the states above set high limits of car insurance coverage in the event of an accident. For example, if you are involved in an accident that results in bodily injury to yourself in the state of Texas, your coverage will provide you with up to $30,000 per accident.

Regions with the most confidence in coverage

The Simple Dollar’s survey also revealed that American’s in the South and Midwest are more likely to believe their insurance will cover them if they are at fault in an accident. The Northeast region, on the other hand, has the most pessimism about insurance coverage in the U.S.

Average price for minimum coverage is lower in high requirement states

For the states with the highest minimum auto insurance requirements, the average policy prices for minimum coverage are: 

• Maine: $359
• Maryland: $710
• Minnesota: $579
• New York: $812
• North Carolina: $347
• Texas: $465

The nationwide average cost for minimum coverage policies is $937. With most of the states listed above (outside of New York and Minnesota) well below the nationwide average.  

Location is critical when it comes to policy rates. Rates differ from state to state because insurance is regulated at the state level. 

These states may have lower average costs for minimum coverage policies because they have more extensive mandatory protection. But, it should be noted that there are other factors at play when it comes to determining auto insurance rates by state. Conditions like property crime rates, weather, and even wildlife may also impact average rates. 

States with the lowest minimum insurance requirements 

New Hampshire stands out as the only state where car insurance is not mandatory. In fact, there are no minimum car insurance requirements in New Hampshire. 

But, even without minimum requirements, state law requires drivers to pay for any bodily injury or property damage that results from drivers operating vehicles that they own. 

Florida also ranks as one of the states with the lowest minimum insurance requirements. The minimum auto insurance coverage required for Florida drivers is: 

• $10,000 personal injury protection 
• $10,000 property damage liability per accident 

In 2017, the average auto liability claim for property damage was $3,638, while the average auto liability claim for bodily injury was $15,270. Comparing these averages to Florida’s minimum liability requirements, we can see that the cost of these claims on average is well outside what’s covered with minimum liability. Florida drivers may find that purchasing additional insurance, outside of the minimum requirements, is the safest bet for insuring themselves on the road. 

Outside of New Hampshire and Florida, Arizona makes the list with its unique insurance requirements. Arizona requires all drivers to show financial responsibility for damages that could arise in an accident. 

This financial responsibility can be either proof of liability insurance or certificate of deposit of $40,000 assigned to the Office of the Arizona State Treasurer. 

For a lot of drivers, it’s simply much easier to acquire liability insurance in place of a certificate of deposit. If a driver does purchase insurance (instead of a certificate of deposit), the minimum auto insurance requirements are: 

• $15,000 bodily injury per person per accident 
• $30,000 bodily injury for all persons per accident 
• $10,000 property damage liability per accident

Average policy prices for minimum coverage higher in low requirement states

For the states with the lowest minimum auto insurance requirements, the average policy prices for minimum coverage are:

• Michigan: $2,012
• Florida: $884

When comparing these policy prices to the national average, $937, we see that these rates are significantly above average. These states may have higher policy costs because they do not have as extensive mandatory coverage requirements. 

Most expensive states for auto insurance also have high average insurance expenditures

Looking at the most recent data on car insurance rates by state, we see that the national average for car insurance is around $1,457. 

In terms of the states that top the charts in terms of car insurance costs, it is reported that the top five most expensive car states for car insurance are: 

• Michigan: $2,611 average cost
• Louisiana: $2,298 average cost 
• Florida: $2,219 average cost 
• Washington D.C.: $1,876 average cost 

When compared to the national average for car insurance, data indicates that: 

• Michigan is 79% above the national average
• Louisiana is 58% above the national average
• Florida is 52% above the national average
• Washington D.C. is 29% above the national average 

These states also have some of the highest average expenditures for auto insurance when compared to other states. The average expenditures for auto insurance were:

• Michigan: $1,270.70 average spending
• Louisiana: $1,302.11 average spending
• Florida: $1,259.55 average spending
• Washington D.C.: $1,246.80 average spending 

This indicates that states where it is more expensive to purchase insurance also experience higher auto insurance spending on average. 

When setting insurance policy rates, insurers review a number of factors to set their premiums. Factors like population density, the number of uninsured drivers, and weather are just a few of the things that go into determining the rates of auto insurance from state to state. 

Due to the specific conditions in each state, drivers may elect to spend more on auto insurance to make sure they are protected wherever they drive. 

Least expensive states for auto insurance also have low average insurance expenditures

Data indicates that states where most drivers are insured and reside in more rural areas had the least expensive auto insurance rates and spend less on average when it comes to auto insurance. 

For example, it is reported that the top 5 least expensive states for car insurance are:

• Maine: $845 average cost 
• Wisconsin: $951 average cost 
• Idaho: $1,040 average cost 
• Iowa: $1,047 average cost 
• Virginia: $1,063

When compared to the national average for car insurance, data indicates that: 

• Maine is 42% below the national average 
• Wisconsin is 35% below the national average
• Idaho is 29% below the national average
• Iowa is 28% below the national average 

The states also have some of the lowest average expenditures for auto insurance when compared to other states. The average expenditures for auto insurance were: 

• Maine: $650.38 average spending
• Wisconsin: $688.32 average spending
• Idaho: $599.77 average spending
• Iowa: $628.10 average spending 

Conclusion  

If you’re driving a vehicle, or plan on driving a vehicle, you need insurance. While minimum auto insurance coverage gets the job done, it’s important to parse through all your insurance options to find a policy that fits your unique needs. 

If you are considering a new auto insurance policy in your state, we’ve compiled a list of the best car insurance companies of 2019 for you to find the coverage you need at a fair price. 

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Books with Impact: A Guide to the Good Life

The “Books with Impact” series takes a deeper look at specific books that have had a profound impact on my financial, professional, and personal growth by extracting specific points of advice from those books and looking at how I’ve applied them in my life with successful results. The previous entry in this series covered Atomic Habits by James Clear.

A few months ago, I wrote a list of my “five books” for financial and life improvement. In that article, I made a nod to a few additional books that I thought would make great supplemental reading for my choices, and A Guide to the Good Life by William Irvine was one of them.

So, what’s A Guide to the Good Life all about? The subtitle really sums it up beautifully: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. This book draws upon the philosophy of stoicism and puts it in a modern context, aiming to show how the principles of stoicism can help you find inner peace, calmness, and joy without constantly buying new things and luxury experiences. While I believe that many of the original Stoic texts are more powerful, they’re not nearly as approachable to a modern audience; this book, on the other hand, is very applicable today, particularly in a sense of overcoming the struggle with chronic dissatisfaction with modern life. It takes those ancient principles and puts them in a context that works today. Let’s dig in.

The Rise of Stoicism

The first part of the book is the slowest, at least for people who are mostly interested in learning about how stoicism can apply to their lives. It’s 70 pages or so that covers the history of stoicism in ancient times, discussing how it grew and thrived and eventually became the guiding philosophy of one of the Roman Empire’s greatest emperors, Marcus Aurelius. While this opening material is great in a historical context, if you’re mostly just here for how stoicism can impact your life, you can probably skim this section for now and come back to it after you’ve read the rest of the book.

After this comes a bunch of shorter chapters on techniques based on stoicism that can help your life or how to use those techniques to handle specific challenging life situations that many of us will face.

Negative Visualization: What’s the Worst That Can Happen?

Modern life is full of challenges and stress. We’re often expected to provide excellent performance in many different areas of life, often all at once. It’s easy to feel like we’re constantly walking a tightrope, especially when a real challenge comes up.

One technique that stoicism offers to help overcome that stress is that of negative visualization. Rather than visualizing a situation coming out perfectly, you should actually visualize the worst possible outcome (within reason). How do you handle that worst case scenario? Furthermore, is it really all that bad?

Often, what you’ll find is that if you imagine that worst case scenario, you’ll recognize that even if that disastrous outcome happens, it’s really not all that bad, and it’s likely that something better than that will happen. In other words, you might still be walking a tightrope, but rather than being 50 feet in the air without a net, you’re actually more like ten feet in the air with a net. You don’t want to fail, but it’s not really apocalyptic if you do, and that reduces the stress and enables you to actually focus on the task at hand much better.

The Dichotomy of Control: On Becoming Invincible

One key element of stoicism is the idea of a locus of control. There are some things you can control – generally, your emotions, your words, and your personal actions – and many more you can’t control – nature, other people, and so on. Understanding where that line is and realizing that you do actually control the things on your side of that line, like your emotional responses to things, is vitally important.

It’s worth noting that we all have emotional responses to things. We feel things inside of us, powerful things – anger, sadness, frustration. The thing is, we can control how we choose to act on those emotions. We might feel a swell of anger inside of us, but we control how we act in response to that anger. We might feel very sad, but we choose how to act in response to that sadness.

What about things we can somewhat control, like whether we win a tennis match? Focus on the aspects of those things that you can control, like who you’re associating with, how much you practice and how, and so on.

The idea of “becoming invincible” is that you recognize that things outside of your control are just that, outside of your control, but you have full control over how you respond to it. You choose what to feel and you choose how to respond to it.

Fatalism: Letting Go of the Past … and the Present

Many people adopt a fatalistic view of life, one that tells a story in which they are swept along by things outside of their control. People who blame others for many of their problems and seem to accept that either fortunate events or unfortunate ones have entirely shaped their past or will entirely shape their future fall prey to this.

Stoicism seems to value this kind of fatalistic view of the past – you can’t control the past, after all – but opposes it going forward, believing that acting within the areas that you can control influences greatly the impact on your own life of the things outside of your control.

In other words, stoicism says that dwelling on the past is a waste of time beyond merely mining it for lessons on how to live life going forward. You can’t control it, so don’t spend your time or energy on it.

Self-Denial: On Dealing with the Dark Side of Pleasure

This section overlaps a lot with the principles of secular buddhism, which deal directly with the challenge of overcoming desire. Desire is a very powerful emotion which drives us to making very suboptimal decisions.

The stoic perspective on this is to try living for periods as though bad things have happened in our life so that we can appreciate all of the pleasure of a more modest life that we often overlook as it becomes rote and familiar. Spend three months without Netflix and it feels like an overwhelming smorgasbord of viewing options. Spend a month without spending a dime on anything unnecessary and suddenly buying a small treat seems like an extreme pleasure.

I often do 30 day and 90 day challenges that center around self-denial of some particular thing that I enjoy and desire but isn’t wholly good for me, just so I can re-learn how to appreciate it in moderate amounts and not be driven by desire into a state of gluttony. It’s easy – try it with things like drinking soda or drinking beer or eating sugar or drinking coffee or going shopping at a particular store, or even more extreme actions like spending 90 days without buying anything unnecessary.

Meditation: Watching Ourself Practice Stoicism

To be clear, the meditation that stoics prescribe is a lot different than the “emptying the mind” type of meditation that often comes from Buddhist traditions. Rather, stoic meditation is simply a reflection of the day’s events, an “after action report” in which you reflect on some of the choices you made throughout the day and consider whether you followed the right course of action or could have done them better.

The goal here isn’t to beat yourself up, but rather to guide yourself toward better practices going forward. You shouldn’t feel bad for making a mistake, but rather view it as an opportunity to see firsthand what the wrong move is so that you don’t make it again.

If there’s any principle I’ve really pulled from stoicism, it’s this one. I spend a surprising amount of mental free time (like when I’m driving a child to soccer practice or something like that) doing this kind of “after action” reflection, where I recall a situation where I’m not sure I did the right thing, tease it around in my mind a little, decide with more reflection what the right thing would have been, and visualize myself doing the right thing when a similar situation comes up.

Duty: On Loving Mankind

Marcus Aurelius often had negative thoughts toward his fellow people, as do many of us. For him, one of the major struggles in life was to figure out how he could interact in a society with people who he didn’t like, that in many cases he felt were bad people. He largely felt that humans were bad people with poor behavior and not to be trusted. Yet he is widely regarded as one of the best emperors of Rome and ruled during a period of peace and prosperity.

He was able to balance that because he was able to separate his duty not just as emperor but as a person from his feelings toward others. His belief, and it’s one shared as a general stoic principle, is that we’re all born with a certain skill and a duty to perform and that following such duty is the key to happiness.

I tend to translate this into modern living as a twofold recommendation for life. If you aim to live life as a good person as much as possible (your duty as a member of society) and put genuine work and effort into doing the things you’re skilled at, you’ll find the closest thing to genuine happiness there is in this world. For me, I view the former as being the good feeling you get when you do good things, and the latter as the good feeling you get when you’re in a “flow state,” where you’re deeply engaged at applying your skills to create or fix or make something. (Note that neither of those elements involves buying stuff or spending money.) That’s a stoic ideal of living, and it does create a pretty good life.

Social Relations: On Dealing with Other People

The advice here is straightforward. Try your best to associate with people that share your true values. However, doing that all the time is impossible, so when you’re dealing with people who do not share your true values, try to avoid actions or other things that go against those values and look for areas of commonality where you do share values.

I like to think of this in terms of family sitting around the Thanksgiving table. You are going to have some values in common with those people and some values not in common. In those situations, try to aim for the values you do have in common – the things you both genuinely care about – and avoid the values you don’t have in common.

In terms of broader social settings, engage with lots of people, but develop deeper relationships with people with whom you have a significant number of values in common. When you do that, it’s much easier to live by the values you hold true.

This is even true in the workplace. You should aim to find work and find tasks within your work that are in line with your values as much as you can.

Insults: On Putting Up with Putdowns

Insults and slights are a part of life. They can hurt. They can stir anger. They can bring about sadness. How does one avoid the emotional response and the disruption of tranquility that they can bring?

Stoics offer a great deal of advice for taking the sting out. Is it true? If so, there’s nothing to be upset about. Is it coming from a dubious source? If so, don’t be bothered by the words of a dodgy person. Is the person misinformed? Just correct that person if the insult is inaccurate.

How do you handle the insult, though? If you’re quick-witted, respond with humor. If you’re not that quick-witted, just ignore it and go about your business, because the person firing insults mostly just wants to see your response. If it becomes a persistent problem for some reason, ask for advice from others as to how to handle that specific situation.

This is advice that I’ve given my children many times for dealing with playground bullies and it works well with adults, too.

Grief: On Vanquishing Tears with Reason

All of us feel grief at some point in their lives, often at the loss of a loved one. It hurts – there’s no getting around it.

The stoic advice on dealing with grief is to actively engage in negative visualization (discussed above) in advance, so that the sting isn’t as intense. You’ll inherently know that life will go on and that things will be okay. Furthermore, such negative visualization often leads to saying the things that you want to say now rather than later, when it might be too late, and thus there are no regrets to add to the grief.

It’s in situations like these, however, that stoicism gains its modern reputation. Stoicism leans heavily into addressing your emotions within and not acting upon them, which often results in being outwardly calm during moments where others might express emotional distress. When you’re the only person not crying at a funeral, it can seem cold and off-putting. The middle road seems to be to express such emotion when it fits the situation, but to evaluate it internally when outside the situation. Cry at the funeral, but process it internally afterwards.

This does somewhat fly in the face of many modern ideas of being more open with one’s emotions, but it’s an issue that Irvine gets back to later in the book.

Anger: On Overcoming Anti-Joy

What should you do when you feel anger? Stoics often identify anger, not sadness, as the antithesis of joyful living, as anger is even more effective at destroying tranquility. How can it be handled?

Stoicism offers a bunch of tools to help you avoid an angry outburst. Remind yourself that most things that make you angry do no actual harm, or consider that humor is a much better response to the situation.

If you do find anger bubbling up regularly, spend some time when not angry reflecting on the fact that acting on anger almost never does you any good and doesn’t do anything good for the people around you. If you still do act out, apologize genuinely with the blame going directly to yourself.

Personal Values: On Seeking Fame

The stoic advice for people seeking fame is very simple. Don’t worry about what others think of you. Instead, live according to your own values and if others find that admirable, fame will come naturally. It’s when you bend your own values and do things in accordance to what you think will bring you acclaim that internal tranquility is disrupted.

If you want to be famous, live life according to values that bring you peace, work to build skills that others will value, and treat others in a way according to your values. Sticking with that will eventually bring renown.

It’s much like happiness itself: if you aim for that and seek that, it’s elusive and you’ll never have it for more than a moment. Rather, don’t seek it and merely live a life that cultivates fertile soil for it to grow.

Personal Values: On Luxurious Living

Modern thinking often links stoicism to minimalist living and self-denial, which is true, but it misses the point. The purpose of minimalist living and self-denial, as discussed above, is so that you can adequately and deeply appreciate the good things in life.

In other words, someone following stoic ideals doesn’t have to inherently avoid luxury. Rather, what they seek to do is to put themselves in a mindset to truly appreciate luxury.

If you live next door to the best coffee shop in the world, you might think that’s great and you’ll go there every day, but before long… that coffee is ordinary. Stoics would instead encourage you to drink ordinary coffee every day and then go to the amazing coffee shop only on occasion, so you can appreciate that wonderful coffee rather than having it be relegated to the ordinary.

This, of course, also saves you a lot of money along the way to happiness.

Exile: On Surviving a Change of Pace

What about when there’s a rapid change in your life? How do you handle a sudden job loss, a sudden move, a sudden change in your personal relationships?

The key thing to remember is this: your happiness should revolve around your values, not in where you reside or what your surroundings happen to be like at a given moment. Yes, a rapid change can have an impact on your opportunities and choices, but they have no reason to change the values under which you operate, and if those values are solid, keep on trucking.

The truth is that unexpected events do happen, but they are outside of our control. They only can disrupt us if we allow those unexpected events to cause us to act against our values or cause us to abandon our values.

Old Age: On Being Banished to a Nursing HomeDying: On a Good End to a Good Life

A major part of stoicism is contemplation of one’s death and asking yourself if you’ve really lived a life well lived. While one might see that as a form of preparation for death, the real reason for such reflection is to ensure that you’ve lived a life well lived.

If you continue that train of thought, the conclusion becomes clear: if you live a life well lived, then death isn’t a great tragedy. You have already given much to the world and enjoyed much. What else is really left other than decline? To know you lived a life in accordance with your values up to the last moment is the best balm against the sting of death.

It still remains a fear – how could it not – but it’s a reasonable answer.

On Becoming a Stoic: Start Now and Prepare To Be Mocked

Practicing stoicism takes effort. Many of the practices – negative visualization, reflection on your day, control over one’s response to emotion – aren’t easy. Furthermore, proclaiming you’re a stoic is often going to get you some odd looks.

So, what should one do if this philosophy is appealing? Start practicing it anyway and keep the fact that you’re practicing it to yourself. Aim to live a virtuous life. Practice negative visualization and consider worst case scenarios so that you recognize life isn’t so bad after all. Reflect on your days. Practice some degree of self-denial so that you can truly appreciate the good things. Most of all, keep quiet about it and don’t wear it as a badge; share it if people wish to know, but don’t shout it from the rooftops.

It’s surprising how well all of this integrates into modern life, really.

The Decline of Stoicism

So, why did stoicism decline? What made it fall out of favor in the later years of the Roman Empire?

The big reason is that stoicism is hard to practice in a truly corrupt society, and that’s what Rome became after the death of Marcus Aurelius. If you can’t find people around you with which you share values, it’s easy to simply not have values at all or to watch the ones you do have degrade into nothingness.

Another reason is that stoicism doesn’t really promise anything beyond a more content life. It doesn’t promise an afterlife or anything metaphysical. It’s about living a good life here, even amidst troubling times. It doesn’t offer a promise of another plane of existence, something which is attractive to many.

The pieces of stoicism that people did recall tended to lead to a view of stoicism as grim and unfeeling. It encouraged people to not act out in anger or to make choices in a strong emotional moment, and when acting upon emotion is the norm, stoicism can seem strange.

Stoicism Reconsidered

The thing is, these criticisms were more relevant in the intervening period between ancient Rome and today than they are today.

In today’s world, there is often more harm than good that comes out of acting out in anger or with strong emotion. A purely emotional response to something like road rage or to someone’s internet postings isn’t going to do you or anyone else any good.

In today’s world, people often feel unhappy with their life here on Earth and want to know how to make their life here on Earth better, something that stoicism directly addresses. People want their lives to be good, rather than merely a struggle towards some promised afterlife.

Furthermore, today’s world is in many ways less corrupt than ancient Rome. While there is still great corruption, we live in a world that is relatively peaceful and relatively virtuous in comparison to the fall of Rome. It is easier to find like-minded good people out there with which we share values.

Stoicism is actually quite a good fit for a philosophy for living modern life.

Practicing Stoicism

How can you start practicing it? Irvine offers a few specific suggestions.

First, start quiet. Don’t shout out that you’re a stoic. Instead, start practicing and reflecting without talking openly about it.

Second, start with just one practice, then add more later. Start off with a practice of self-reflection, for example. Practice negative visualization. Start a simple thirty day challenge to recharge your appreciation of something.

Try to simplify your lifestyle a bit. We’re primed to react with emotion and instinct when we’re overwhelmed. Look for pieces of your life that can be pared down a little so you have time to breathe and reflect.

Consider what your values are and what you consider to be a great life, then try to live in accordance with those values. What are the values of what you consider to be a great person? Try to live by them.

Further Reading

A Guide to the Good Life is just one of several books that do a wonderful job of putting stoicism’s principles in a modern context. Here are a few others that are excellent, too, and why and how they differentiate themselves from A Guide to the Good Life.

The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient by William Irvine is a sort-of sequel to A Guide to the Good Life. It’s a new release and I’m actually reading it for the first time as I write this review of Irvine’s earlier book. It very much feels like a complement or sequel, and it’s definitely a worthwhile follow-up read that address a lot of specific modern issues that aren’t dealt with in the earlier book.

A Handbook for New Stoics by Massimo Pigliucci and Gregory Lopez is something of a “workbook” for people interested in stoicism, offering 52 week-long exercises to delve into this philosophy of living.

How to Be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci is just as good of an introduction to stoicism in the modern life as A Guide to the Good Life, but it just happened to be the one I read a little later. My general feeling is that A Guide to the Good Life handles specific life issues better with the individual chapters on specific life problems, while How to Be a Stoic seems to offer more general-purpose strategies.

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday offers a daily reading from an ancient Greek or Roman text on a stoic issue, along with an application to modern life by Holiday. This book will feel wonderfully familiar to anyone who’s ever read a yearlong devotional. Holiday’s other books, The Ego Is the Enemy and The Obstacle Is the Way, are also worthwhile; while not quite strictly about stoicism, the books do draw in a lot of stoic ideas when discussing how to handle specific challenges of modern life.

I would also strongly encourage you to read some of the original works of Stoicism, translated from ancient Latin and Greek. Here are three key ones worth reading.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is essentially excerpts from the personal journals of the Roman emperor, offering a lot of insight as to how he used stoic ideas to help him not only be a better governor, but be a better and more virtuous person. This is probably the single most powerful work on stoicism around, because it’s so personal.

Letters from a Stoic by Seneca are a series of letters he wrote in his retirement to a younger Roman official, outlining much of what he had learned about good living and death. The letters cover a lot of detail about applying stoicism to life.

Discourses and Selected Writings by Epictetus is a large collection of writings by the philosopher perhaps most responsible for stoicism’s growth; while Seneca was a wealthy advisor and Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor, Epictetus started off as a slave and eventually became a freedman who taught what he had learned in a small school in Greece. This book is a collection of transcriptions of many of his lectures; while some are a bit dry, there are moments of absolute brilliance on almost every page.

One of my themes/goals for next year is to do a deep study of several philosophies of living, and most of these books are on my reading list for the year for a first read or a re-read.

Final Thoughts

Over the last few years, I’ve struggled with a few central questions in my life. How do I overcome bad emotional responses to the world around me? How do I overcome desire? How do I feel contentment and joy without expending my life’s resources? What does it mean to be a good person, and how can I do that? What kind of mark am I leaving on the world?

All of those questions absolutely have a financial component to them, but they’re far from just financial questions, either. They each drive to a core part of the entire human experience, cutting across all spheres of life.

For me, stoicism has been the answer to the question of how I can overcome bad emotional responses to the world around me, and has provided some secondary help to most of the other questions. A Guide to the Good Life was really my introduction to stoicism and, for many people, would be my recommended introduction to the ideas.

Many people identify the word “stoic” with someone who rarely shows emotion. Rather, I think it’s just a guide to a healthy way of processing that emotion, one that doesn’t result in damaging outward action. I find that stoicism, through the ideas in this book and others, has helped me greatly in figuring out how to better process my emotions in the moment so that I don’t react in a foolish way – spending money on something I don’t need, for example, or having some kind of emotionally-driven outburst.

Good luck!

The post Books with Impact: A Guide to the Good Life appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Financial Aid Doesn’t End at FAFSA. Here’s Why You Might Need a CSS Profile

There’s a lot to think about when you’re considering that dream college, but did you remember to apply for financial aid? 

If you replied, “yeeeees (mom), I remembered to fill out the FAFSA.” That’s great. But did you remember to submit your CSS Profile?

Wait — the what?

Maybe there are still a few things you can learn — including why submitting a CSS Profile could save you thousands on student loans.

What Is a CSS Profile?

The CSS Profile, short for the College Scholarship Service Profile, is an online application for non-federal financial aid created by the College Board, the organization you probably already know for its SAT and Advanced Placement programs. 

The CSS Profile is used by nearly 400 public and private educational institutions — here’s the list of colleges that require a CSS Profile for financial aid.

Pro Tip

If your college requires a CSS Profile, you’ll find a link to the College Board site, but you may have to dig: Look for the link among the general financial aid forms.

If you see your college of choice on the list and this is the first time you’re hearing of the CSS Profile, don’t panic. We have everything you need to know about it — including how it differs from the FAFSA (aka Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

CSS vs. FAFSA: Do I Need to Fill Out Both? 

In a word: Yes. 

Depending on the college, the CSS Profile may be used to determine if you qualify for the institution’s own grants, loans and scholarships, which can be essential for covering the costs of the pricier private and elite public colleges (and if you take a closer look at the list, you’ll notice that a lot of private colleges and ultra-selective public schools use the CSS Profile). 

You may still be able to qualify for federal aid if you only fill out the FAFSA — that depends on the school’s policy — but you definitely won’t qualify for the college’s own financial aid without a CSS Profile.

“If a university requires the FAFSA and the CSS profile — and a lot of these universities will have have their own financial aid form, too — if you don’t check all the boxes off, then they just don’t make you an offer,” said Jamie Dickenson, a Certified Educational Planner at Jamie Dickenson, LLC. “And most families have never even heard of the CSS profile.”

Pro Tip

Before applying for financial aid, set up an email account that both the student and parents can access so no one misses messages about deadlines and other essential info.

Why do colleges need both? It has to do with calculating your family contribution. The CSS Profile uses institutional methodology to calculate your estimated family contribution (EFC), while the FAFSA uses federal methodology. 

Institutional methodology is much more comprehensive and complex, incorporating a lot more details about your (and your parents’) financial information.

“The problem is there is not a calculator or an estimator for the institutional method, and every university does it different, and they will not reveal how they do it,” Dickenson said. 

She added that the differences between FAFSA’s estimated family contribution and the CSS Profiles can be “vastly different.” 

How Do I Submit a CSS Profile?

The only option for submitting your CSS Profile is to do so online at the College Board site. 

To log in, you’ll use the College Board account you used to view your PSAT, SAT or AP scores. If you don’t have a login, you can create an account on the College Board site. 

What Documents Do I Need?

The College Board recommends that you have the following documents from both you and your parents:

1. Tax returns. — You’ll need the previous two years of tax returns. So if you’re applying for 2020-21 financial aid, you’ll need your and your parents’ 2018 and 2019 tax returns.
2. W-2 forms for the current year. — You’ll also need to submit records of any untaxed income for the current and previous tax year.
3. Records of savings, trusts and other investments. — Among the documents you’ll need to submit are current bank statements and mortgage information.

Additionally, you’ll need to submit information about vehicles and pensions, as well as a balance sheet if you or your parents own a business, according to Dickenson.

“They’re always there looking for hidden assets on the CSS,” she said. “They’re looking for disposable money — where you could borrow from.” 

When you’re finished, double check the accuracy of the information on your application. You cannot change your answers after submitting your initial application.

The College Board will report your Profile to the colleges you’ve specified once you’ve submitted your application and payment. You can check on its progress — including messages about any missing documentation — on the dashboard.

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What If My Parents Are Divorced or Separated?

If your parents are divorced or separated, you should complete your application with your custodial parent’s information first. 

You’ll need to list all your parents and step-parents on your CSS Profile application, and your noncustodial parent will need to create a College Board account and fill out their own form. 

If you don’t have contact with one of your parents, you can submit a CSS Profile Waiver Request for the noncustodial parent to each of the colleges you are applying to.

How Much Does it Cost?

Unlike the FAFSA, the CSS Profile has an application fee of $25 — and a fee of $16 for each additional report if you want to submit your profile to more than one school.

Pro Tip

A limited number of colleges provide Fee Payment Codes that cover the application costs — contact your school’s financial aid office to ask if they provide codes.

It’s possible to qualify for low-income fee waiver. Any student who used an SAT fee waiver, whose parents income is approximately $45K or less or who is an orphan or a ward of the court is eligible. 

If you do qualify, you’ll be notified once your application is complete but before you submit it. 

When’s the Deadline?

The CSS Profile application period opens the same day as FAFSA — Oct. 1 before the start of the school year for which you’re applying (so if you’re applying for financial aid for the 2020-21 school year, the application period opened Oct. 1, 2019). 

Pro Tip

Set a reminder to submit your CSS Profile at least three weeks before your school’s deadline — just in case the college requests additional financial info you have to track down.

Unlike the FAFSA, the CSS Profile deadline depends on the college, so you’ll need to check with your school for its deadline. And if you’re applying to multiple schools that each require a CSS Profile, you’ll need to track the deadlines for each of them. 

Consider it your first college course: Time Management 101.

Tiffany Wendeln Connors is a staff writer/editor at The Penny Hoarder. Read her bio and other work here, then catch her on Twitter @TiffanyWendeln.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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