投保如何避免3大常见错误

    行为金融学研究的是为什么人们会在钱的问题上做出不理智的决定。这门学科已经在投资领域产生了很大的影响。大家可以看一看现在许多公司是怎么把员工纳入401（k）养老金项目的，同时看一看它们是怎样逐步扩大递延项目的。如今这两项工作在很多情况下都实现了自动化：无论是不想缴纳养老金，还是想提高缴纳金额，人们都可以自行选择。同样的，很多养老金项目都已经用预定了日期的退休基金取代货币市场基金作为它们的默认投资标的。

    虽然有些人认为这样做过于大包大揽，但这种方法（相当于把人们不喜欢吃的西兰花藏在意大利面和奶酪中间）对人们有利。它们会带来理想的统计数据，比如自动缴纳养老金能极大地提升参与率；同时，只凭这一点就能帮助人们为自己退休后的生活存更多的钱。

    那么，在保险领域情况如何呢？几个星期之前，我在一篇文章中谈到了自己走访威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校商学院（the Wisconsin Business School at the University of Wisconsin in Madison）的情况。在那儿，我和精算学、风险管理与保险系助理教授贾斯汀•西德诺见了面，他的很大一部分研究都集中在行为金融学领域。我们谈到了面对令人眼花缭乱的各种保险投保人会出现毫无理性可言的错误，以及人们怎样才能让自己避免这样的情况。

    在此我总结了三大要点：

    我们关注的参数不对

    请大家想想别人最近一次向你们兜售健康保险时的情况。无论是在健康保险交易市场中选购，还是在雇主提供的目录中挑选，我们都要考虑很多因素：共同承担费用（co-payments）、能否及时得到诊治以及自付金额（deductibles）的多少。西德诺说：“非常容易出现这样一种情况，那就是人们关注的因素从经济角度来说实际上不是很重要，同时遗漏了那些对自身经济而言很重要的因素。”具体来说就是，人们往往过度关注自付金额，原因是这个数字很大。而这可能是个错误。

    大家可以尝试一下这样的做法：如果你们筛选健康保险的第一个条件是自付金额，而且会去找那些自付金额低的保险，最终你挑出来的都会是价格较高的保险，那些价格较低的都会从你的手边溜走。西德诺的建议与之相反，他认为大家应该首先通过那些影响不是很大的因素来缩小挑选范围，比如共保率以及你真正想要的医疗保健服务供应商，最后再去比较自付金额。这样，大家挑选出来的保险就会更适合自己的需要（以及自己的收入水平）。

    我们没算清楚

    无论是车险还是健康险，保费通常都不会按年计算，而是按季度或者按月计算。而另一方面，自付金额却按年计算。西德诺的研究表明，许多人太关注自付金额，以至于他们本不该支出的保费超过了他们省下来的自付费用。西德诺解释说：“如果你的年保费多缴了450美元，并且借此让自付金额减少了500美元，其中的差额也只有50美元，而且你得先缴450美元。”这样的做法并不聪明。而更不聪明的做法是：“我们发现有些人多缴了600美元保费，却只节省了500美元的自付费用。”

    大家可以尝试一下这样的做法：把注意力放在年度保费上。如果是按月缴纳就乘以12，按季度缴纳就乘以4（我知道这听上去容易得可笑，但太多太多的人都没有进行这样的计算）。然后，看看保费和自付费用之间的差距。西德诺指出：“如果这两个数字相近，那就买自付费用高的保险。否则，你的做法实际上就是先付一笔钱，再用它来降低以后出现的自付费用。”

    我们投错保了

    你们给自己的手机上过保险吗？为新买的电子产品延长过保修期吗？或者出于“如果刮了蹭了，我可不想花1400美元来修车”的心理而选择了自付金额低的车险呢？西德诺解释说，人们的行为模式往往是花钱来防范较小的损失，同时却忽略了较大的经济风险。他指出：“我们购买的不是残疾险。有些购房者不买额外责任险。如果我们算一算防范小风险的全部费用，然后把这笔钱用于出现几率较低的大风险，我们在整个人生中的风险管理就能得到极大的改善。”

    大家可以尝试一下这样的做法：给自己无力更换的东西上保险。如果自己有能力更换，就不用投保。西德诺说：“我的大原则是，除非有真正充分的理由相信自己与众不同，而且——举例来说——会弄坏五部iPhone，否则基本上就不用为1000美元以下的东西投保，把钱集中用在防范较大的风险上效果更好。”

    “为你自己无力更换的东西投保，比如住宅或者收入；不要为小东小西买额外的保险。这才是保险作为突发事件缓冲的作用。”（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    Behavioral finance -- the study of why humans make irrational decisions about money -- has made its mark on the world of investing in a big way. Look at the way many companies now both enroll employees into their 401(k) plans and ratchet up their deferrals. Both are now frequently done automatically; if you don't want to participate or increase the amount you kick in, it's up to you to opt out. Similarly, there are many plans where target-date retirement funds have replaced money market funds, as the investment default.

    Although some believe this is too "Big Brother," these tactics (the financial equivalent of hiding the broccoli in the mac and cheese) are a good thing. They point to success stats like the huge lift in participation rates when a plan automatically enrolls -- and how that alone can help employees stash away more for retirement.

    But what about in the world of insurance? A few weeks ago, I wrote about my trip to the Wisconsin Business School at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. While there, I spent time with Justin Sydnor, an assistant professor in the Department of Actuarial Science, Risk Management, and Insurance who conducts much of his research in the field of behavioral finance. We talked about the none-too-rational mistakes humans make when shopping in this confounding field -- and how we can help ourselves through them.

    Here are three biggies:

    We focus on the wrong variables

    Think about the last time you were asked to choose a health insurance plan. Whether you were shopping an exchange or your employer's menu, chances are there were many features to consider: co-payments, doctor availability, and deductibles. "It's very easy to focus on the features that turn out to not to be financially important while missing the ones that are," Sydnor says. Specifically, we have a tendency to focus too much on deductibles because of the large numbers associated with them. That can be a mistake.

    Try this instead: If the first filter you apply when you're looking at policies is the deductible -- and you go for a low one -- you'll end up looking at a bunch of high-priced policies and miss the lower-priced ones altogether. Instead, Sydnor suggest narrowing the universe by first looking at factors that don't have a huge impact like the coinsurance rate and the health care providers you really want. By leaving the deductible comparison to the end, you'll get a policy that's better suited to your needs (and your wallet).

    We don't do the math

    Premiums, whether you're talking about auto insurance or health insurance, are typically not presented as a yearly number -- but as a quarterly or monthly number. Deductibles, on the other hand, are presented as an annual number. And as Sydnor's research has shown, many people are so laser tuned to that factor they end up paying more in overall premiums than they save on deductibles. "If you pay $450 more in annual premiums and that gets you a $500 lower deductible, it's a $50 difference -- and you've paid the $450 up front," he explains. That's not a smart move. Even less smart: "We've seen cases where people will pay a $600 difference for a $500 lower deductible."

    Try this instead. Look at the yearly premiums. If they're quoted in monthly increments multiply by 12. If they're quoted quarterly, multiply by four. (I know it sounds ridiculously easy, but far too many people don't go the extra step.) Then look at the spread between the difference in premiums and the deductible. "If the two numbers are close buy the high deductible policy," Sydnor says. "Otherwise, you're essentially paying up front for a reduction in deductible later."

    We insure the wrong things

    Have you ever bought insurance on your cell phone? Or taken out an extended warranty on a new electronic? Or opted for a low deductible on your car insurance because, you thought: "If I have a fender bender, I don't want to have to come up with $1,400 to fix my car." We do these things all the time -- Sydnor explains -- essentially spending money to protect ourselves against relatively small losses. At the same time we're ignoring much bigger financial risks. "We're not buying disability policies. Some homeowners aren't buying excess liability," he says. "If we took all the money we paid to cover ourselves for small risks and devoted it to unlikely but big ones, that would be a much better way to manage the risk in our overall lives."

    Try this instead: If you can't afford to replace it, insure it. If you can afford to replace it, don't. "My general principal is that unless you have a really good reason to believe you are highly special and are, for example, going to destroy five iPhones, you're better off avoiding most coverage under $1,000 and focusing on the bigger risks," Sydnor says.

    "Insure the things you can't replace by yourself like your house or your income and don't pay for extra insurance on the small things. That's what your emergency cushion is for."