On your phone? Email yourself the link for the classroom computer.
Email me the linkManaging risk · About 20 minutes · thedime.news/resources/worksheets/insurance-basics/
Insurance basics
Premiums, deductibles and how to compare two plans.
Read
Insurance protects you from costs too big to pay on your own. You pay a premium, a regular price for coverage. If something covered happens, you file a claim. You pay the deductible first, and the insurance company pays the rest, up to the policy's limit.
A higher deductible usually means a lower premium. That saves money in years when nothing goes wrong, but costs more in a year when you file a claim. An emergency fund helps you pay a deductible without going into debt.
You're choosing between two car insurance plans (example prices): - Plan A: $500 deductible, $150 a month - Plan B: $1,000 deductible, $120 a month
Words to know
Write what each word means in your own words.
- Premium
- Deductible
- Emergency fund
Questions
- What does each plan cost in premiums for a full year?
Plan Yearly premiums Plan A Plan B - If you have no accidents all year, which plan costs less, and by how much?
- Now you have one accident that costs $3,000 to repair. What's your total cost for the year under each plan?
Plan Premiums Deductible Total for the year Plan A Plan B - Your health plan has a $1,500 deductible and you haven't paid anything toward it this year. You get a $900 bill for care that counts toward the deductible. How much do you pay?
- $0
- $900
- $1,500
- $600
- Based on your answers, how would you decide between a high and a low deductible?
Answer key: Insurance basics
Words to know
- Premium: What you pay for insurance, usually every month or every year.
- Deductible: The amount you pay yourself before your insurance starts paying.
- Emergency fund: Money set aside only for surprises, like a car repair or a lost job. A common goal is three to six months of expenses, built up over time.
Questions
- Plan A: $150 × 12 = $1,800. Plan B: $120 × 12 = $1,440.
- Plan B, by $1,800 − $1,440 = $360.
- Plan A: $1,800 + $500 = $2,300. Plan B: $1,440 + $1,000 = $2,440. Plan A costs $140 less in a year with a claim.
- B. $900. You pay the full bill until you've paid the $1,500 deductible.
- Answers will vary. Strong answers mention choosing a deductible you could pay from savings, and that a higher deductible saves money only if you rarely file claims.
The Dime worksheets are licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. Share and adapt them freely with credit to The Dime, but don't sell them.
More free worksheets
- Spot scams and protect your identityManaging risk · The red flags in scam texts, DMs and calls, and what to do if your information is stolen.
- Interest rates and the FedAP Macroeconomics · Why the Federal Reserve raises and lowers interest rates, and why bond prices move the other way. Fits AP Macro Unit 4, the financial sector.
- Inflation and buying powerSaving · Why the same dollar buys less over time, and what that means for your savings.
Free: every lesson worksheet in one printable PDF
Pay stubs, budgeting, compound interest, credit, investing, insurance, the Fed, scams and more, each with an answer key. Enter your email to download it, and get tomorrow's bell-ringer before first period.