I love Dave and the info he shares, but I had to comment, as he is no expert here. If taught and trained differently, he would see how he could greatly benefit. Prepaid legal Services, Inc. founded the prepaid legal plan here in North America, and was mentioned to me but I passed it up, as "I never do anything to need an attorney." However, in three months, I had my first accident, traffic ticket, and eviction in a new state. Did I need an attorney? No. Could I have benefited from one? YES! Do I need to have health, car, life, and medical insurance? No. Can they all benefit me? Yes. Although Dave says pay out of pocket (sure we all have thousands of dollars laying around for any situation to happen, look at the bankruptcy rate) the key is education, which is why the "average" person got caught up in the mortgage crisis- I did too because I did not seek my attorney's advice. In the last five years, I spoke to an attorney 112 times- a lot I know- but have saved money, time, and stress making better decisions for myself and my family, like finding out as a co-signer in GA the lender does not have to tell me the loan is past due, yet I somehow need to know it so I can pay it. Yes, it does not make sense, but its legal, so no, I wont co-sign anymore. Plus, the traffic tickets I have saved money on and the contracts I found out I should not sign, all for paying $300 a year for five years. That’s $1500, but fighting an out of state ticket alone would have cost $600, not including the increase $200 increase in insurance for three years. So you do the math for yourself, not based on someone else's biases and partially informed yet well-intended lack of understanding, not for the illegal things, but the little things that really do matter. Remember, the little foxes destroy the vine. Most people see legal services as the big illegal events we will never commit-murder, drugs, robbery, theft, etc. Yet, how many people have been wiped out by lawsuits for silly stuff or car accidents like the lady here in Atlanta on Easter Sunday 2009? Wait, how many are laid off, but unsure if they legally are entitled to better benefits than the company offers, if offered at all? Will the company willingly disclose it has to offer more? I think not. Wait, do you or someone you know have family members fighting due to someone dying without an updated legal will in place? (OH WAIT, DAVE MIGHT SUGGEST PEOPLE GET THE DO IT YOURSELF KIT THAT STILL SAYS GET YOUR ATTORNEY TO REVIEW AND VERIFY IT, COSTING $500-1500 FOR A COUPLE.) How about any struggling single parents due to not receiving child support?

Truthfully, these are all legal situations, as they involve a law and many people suffer needlessly because they do not understand how the laws affect them. If more Americans actually understood this concept, more would gladly spend $300 a year versus the other option-pay $300 an hour. I for one will have this membership for the rest of my life and am open to further discussion.

By Dave's reasoning above, no one should ever buy auto, home, disability, medical or most any other kind of insurance. Most people do not receive insurance settlements of equal or more value than the premiums they have paid over their insured life, if they did, then, per Dave's reasoning above, all the auto, home, disability and medical insurance companies would be out of business.

If you have a legal need that surpasses $3,000 over the next ten years, or surpasses your savings up to that point, would you not prefer that someone else, in the form of a pre-paid legal company, cover the costs?

This is the question of all insurance:
Who do you want to cover the risk? You, or the insurance company?

It's not so easy to say, "Well, over x years I will have paid x premium and since I may not have a claim, it will be a waste of money." Well, it *is* easy to say, as Dave demonstrates above, but, unless Dave has a direct line to the Almighty, there is no guarantee that Dave's advice will be true in *your* case, is there?

Honestly, voir dire, the answer to the question of whether or not to buy ppl-style insurance, or any other, is not so easy as Dave or many insurance salespeople make it seem. If it's not a matter of which would make you feel better: having insurance or not, then it's a matter of what would make you feel less bad: "Wasting" premiums because you went through life and never got back what you put in, or having your losses covered if/when they do occur.

Neither Dave nor I can answer that question for you (though it doesn't bother Dave to do so anyway).