This Week’s Money Map:

• ⛈️ 2025 chaos survival guide

• 🧐 How to use insurance to save on your taxes

• 🚗 Beat rising car insurance costs

• 💳 Credit card ‘product changes’ — the chest code to keep points and ditch fees

⛈️ Your 2025 chaos survival guide

In only seven months, this year has thrown everything at us — between tragic wildfires, tornadoes, and devastating flooding events, disasters are hitting everywhere. And although it doesn’t serve anyone to panic, a little preparation now can go a long way when you’re faced with a financial emergency. Here’s what we recommend.

Build your emergency fund
If the the textbook advice about setting aside three to six months of expenses isn’t feasible for you, start with the $500 rule instead. This covers a car repair, urgent prescription, or temporary hotel stay during evacuation. If you can scrape together $500, you're already ahead of most Americans.

A high-yield savings account (HYSA) is the best place to park your emergency money, even if it means opening a separate savings account at a different bank. Name it "disaster fund" in your phone and don’t dip into it unless there’s — you guessed it — a disaster! Transfer $25 every paycheck and your fund will be full before you know it. 

Failure to plan = plan to fail
Grant funds are available for pre and post-emergency or disaster-related projects, but FEMA assistance takes weeks or months to arrive. Meanwhile, your family needs food, water, and shelter immediately.

Build a 72-hour kit that fits in your car trunk with the following items:

• One gallon of water per person per day

• Non-perishable food that requires no cooking

• Battery-powered radio

• Flashlights and batteries

• Cash in small bills

• Copies of important documents in waterproof bags

In case disaster hits while your family is separated, draft and practice your reunion plan. Choose two meeting places — one near your home and one outside your neighborhood. Every family member should memorize these locations and have contact information written down, not just stored in phones.

Document everything now
Scan important documents and store them on a thumb drive. Keep copies in your car, at work, and with a trusted friend outside your area. Include insurance policies, medical records, identification, and bank account information.

Another detail everyone misses: take photos of your belongings. Take a video home inventory by walking through every room recording serial numbers on electronics, model numbers on appliances, and overall condition. Store these in cloud storage. When you're filing insurance claims after a disaster, you'll have proof of what you owned.

Don't wait for the next disaster to realize you're unprepared. Start with what you have, where you are, right now.

🧐 How to use insurance to save on your taxes

Your insurance isn't just protection, it's a hidden tax tool that most people overlook. While you're paying premiums, you might be missing out on legitimate deductions that could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars each year.

Health insurance is your biggest tax break
Self-employed people can deduct health insurance premiums — including for long-term care — on their tax returns without itemizing. This is huge. If you're freelancing, consulting, or running your own small business, you can write off your entire health insurance premium as an above-the-line deduction. This deduction also applies to premiums for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents.

One catch: if you can get health coverage through a spouse's plan, you can't take this deduction. The IRS wants you to use employer coverage when available.

Medical expenses and the 7.5% hurdle
For everyone else, health insurance premiums fall under medical expenses. You can deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040) only medical and dental expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). This threshold is tough, but it's possible.

Here's how to make it work: bundle your medical expenses. Plan elective procedures, dental work, and prescription purchases in the same tax year. Include health insurance premiums, copays, deductibles, and travel costs for medical care. Every dollar counts toward that 7.5% threshold.

Life insurance — limited but valuable options
Personal life insurance isn't tax-deductible, but here’s an exception worth knowing: if you're the sole proprietor of a business that provides life insurance as an employee benefit, you can generally deduct the policy premiums you pay. This applies when you're buying coverage for your employees, not yourself. The moment you become a beneficiary, the deduction disappears.

If you own a business, consider offering life insurance as an employee benefit. It's deductible for you and tax-free for your employees (up to $50,000 in coverage per employee).

Health savings accounts — triple tax advantage
HSAs offer the best tax deal in the code. Contributions are deductible, growth is tax-free, and withdrawals for medical expenses are tax-free. For 2025, you can contribute up to $3,650 for individual coverage or $7,300 for family coverage.

Here's the insider move: use your HSA as a retirement account. Pay medical expenses out of pocket, keep the receipts, and let your HSA grow. After age 65, you can withdraw HSA funds for any purpose (with regular income tax, like a traditional IRA).

Take action today
Start with your biggest opportunity. If you're self-employed, claim your health insurance deduction immediately. If you're an employee, maximize your HSA contributions. Shop around for the best health insurance before open enrollment by using our health insurance estimate calculator.

🚗 How to easily beat rising car insurance costs

If you're still paying the same car insurance premium you were last year, you're missing out on some serious savings opportunities. Here’s how smart drivers are fighting back with strategies that actually work.

The deductible advantage
Increasing your deductible from $500 to $1,000 can bring your annual premiums down by 20–25%, on average. Even better, increasing your deductible from $200 to $500 could reduce the cost of collision and comprehensive coverage by 15% to 30%, while upping it to $1,000 could save you 40% or more. Just make sure you can pay that deductible if you need to (looking at you, emergency fund!).

The credit score connection
Your credit score directly impacts your insurance rates in many states. Quick ways of improving your credit score include paying your debts regularly and on time and staying well within your credit limits. A 50-point improvement can save you hundreds annually.

The bundling bonanza 
Don't just bundle your home and auto insurance. If you have multiple cars to insure, then you may also qualify for multi-car discounts. Stack these discounts and you're looking at meaningful savings.

The coverage audit
Most people are paying for coverage they don't need. If your car is owned and worth less than $4,000, consider dropping comprehensive and collision. If you drive less than 10,000 miles annually, ask about low-mileage discounts.

Timing is everything
Shop for quotes 2–3 weeks before your current policy expires. This gives you negotiating power with your current insurer and time to switch if needed.

Pro tip: Don't just shop once a year. The sweet spot is every six months, right before your renewal.

The competitor quote strategy 
Get at least three quotes from competitors, then call your current insurer. Mention you've been loyal for X years but found better rates elsewhere. Ask what they can do to keep your business.

Insurance companies would rather keep you at a lower rate than lose you entirely. When you call with competitor quotes, you'll often get transferred to a "retention specialist" who can find discounts that weren't available before.

💳 Credit card ‘product changes’ — the cheat code to keep points and ditch fees

Thinking of canceling that old credit card because of an annual fee? Wait! There’s a little-known hack called a product change that can help you downgrade your card without closing the account or hurting your credit score.

What’s a product change?
It’s when your card issuer lets you switch to another card (usually with no annual fee) within the same family of cards, such as going from a premium travel card to a basic cash back version.

Why it matters
Changing your credit card product (instead of outright canceling) can help keep your credit history intact. This is important because your credit history is a key part of your credit score. Also, it helps keep your rewards from expiring if linked to your account.

This option is especially useful in a few scenarios. If you’ve already earned the sign-up bonus, there may be less incentive to stick with a higher-tier card. Similarly, if the premium perks aren’t getting much use, downgrading can save money.

How to request one
Call your card issuer and ask if product change options are available. Be specific: “Can I switch to a no-annual-fee card instead of canceling?”

Keep in mind that you typically can’t product change across brands (like from Chase to Amex), and you may lose access to certain features like lounge access or point transfer partners.

Bottom line: downgrade > canceling. A product change is the savvy way to streamline your credit cards without tanking your score or losing your hard-earned points. Want to know if you’re getting the best value for your money? Check out MoneyGeek’s best cash back cards guide. 

Smart Cents gives you actionable tips and mindset shifts to help you reach your financial happy place. Thanks for being a part of our community.

The MoneyGeek Team

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