2011 May KLEINNewslettercomplete

K Klleeiinn IInnssuurraannccee A Aggeennccyy’’ss Maayy 22001111 M 1 Circle ofSafety ™ Your Consumer Awareness Advisor ™ By: Chris Klein P.O. Box 307, Eagle Bend, MN 56446 ~ 800-732-5752 ~ klein11@midwestinfo.com Neew wss aanndd TTiippss ttoo M Maakkee Y Yoouurr LLiiffee E Eaassiieerr,, S Saaffeerr aanndd H Haappppiieerr N Organizing a Safe & Profitable Yard Sale It's that time of year when the urge to spring clean starts to get the better of us. And, for many of us trying to make space and declutter our lives, that also means organizing a yard sale. Naturally, you want to make as much money as you can, while protecting your interests as the hordes descend on to your property. With that in mind, here's a short stack of tips to help guide you safely towards success: What should I sell? That depends on how radical you want to be but anything you haven't worn or used for over a year is a contender. Be firm with yourself – no saying: "I might need this one day." You probably won't. When should it be? Undoubtedly weekends, and Saturdays are better than Sundays. Don't start any later than 8am. You will do more than 75% of your business in the morning. What sells well? Kids' books and toys, unused beauty products, garden tools, good condition furniture. What you've probably got most of – clothes – don't sell well, though children's wear can be an exception. How should I price stuff? If you're decluttering, price low. Otherwise, start out at around 10% of what an item would cost new and be prepared to bargain down. Try bundling items together. Slash your prices for the last few hours. What about safety? Use common sense: Strong tables, no clutter on the ground, sharp items out of kids' reach. Have a first aid kit close by; in warm weather provide drinking water. Am I insured? Homeowners and renters insurance likely will cover you for liabilities to others, though you should check your policy (or with us) for limitations and exclusions. For instance, if you sell other people's stuff, craft items you make, or regularly hold yard sales, your activities might be deemed a business, for which you'd need additional coverage. Final words: You know from TV shows that people sometimes find really valuable items at yard sales. If you have antiques or anything that's been in the family a long time, get them appraised first. Finally, if yard sales are not your idea of fun, consider donating your surplus items and writing off the value against your taxes. Then you can take the day off instead! IN THIS ISSUE: ▪ Safe & Profitable Yard Sales ▪ facebook and twitter ▪ Shredding Party and BBQ▪ First Aid For Unsupervised Kids ▪ Did You Know?▪ Get Your Deck or Patio Ready For Warmer Days Find us on facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Over the last several months we have had numerous people asking us if we have a facebook page and twitter account. We can now say “Yes, we do!” In today’s world of instant communication we are glad to offer this 21st century way to communicate with you. Please search for Klein Insurance and Financial Services on facebook to find our page. Once there, we’d appreciate it if you would “like” us and, if you’re happy with our service, even “suggest” us to your friends. We are now working hard to make our facebook page another resource for you to access important insurance information and deliver timely messages. Please check back often this year as we work to make this tool as helpful as possible for you. Additionally, we have now set up a Twitter account and are “tweeting” pertinent information several times per week. Our Twitter account is KleinIns. If you tweet, please consider following us on Twitter today! Are you Client of the Month? See Page 3  2 Join Klein Insurance for a BBQ and Shredding Party! On June 21st, 2011, from 12-2pm Klein Insurance will be hosting a “mobile shredding party”! In an effort to help protect our clients from the dangers of identity theft, we’ve contracted with a local shredding firm to bring their mobile shredder truck to us. The shredder will be at the Highway 71 park in Eagle Bend (just a block from our office). Gather up all your old bank statements, insurance policies, you name it, whatever you want to shred and get rid of, bring it in and you can watch it shred!!! There is no limit to the quantity you can shred, so start gathering all your old papers up now and bring them by on June 21st between 12 and 2pm. In addition, as long as we’re going to be outside, we figured we might as well have a barbeque too! So, we’ll also be providing free hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and soft drinks. This is your official invitation to come on by and enjoy a bit of the day with us! Klein Insurance switching to summer hours on May 16th As of May 16th, we are switching to our summer hours, just like last year. Our hours will be: Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 9am-3pm Tuesday and Thursday 9am-5pm We are also glad to make other arrangements with you as needed. First Aid For Kids – For When You're Not Around In a previous issue, we discussed what to do when circumstances force you to leave children home alone. Here's another question: Would they know how to apply first aid if there's no adult about, or if the adult is the one needing help? Well, the American Red Cross has thought about that, offering a program for K - 3 children called FACT (First Aid for Children Today). For "oldsters" – aged 8 to 11 – there's When I'm In Charge (WIIC), which prepares children to respond safely is situations where there's no adult supervision. Find out more from your local Red Cross chapter via http://www.redcross.org/where. The scouting movement is also a great resource, providing badge training for cubs and brownies upwards. DID YOU KNOW…? Klein Insurance offers all different kinds of insurance! That’s right! At Klein Insurance we offer just about every kind of insurance imaginable. If you don’t have ALL your insurance with us, you could be missing the boat! You might have coverage gaps or might simply be paying too much! Give us a call for quotes on all your insurance protection. Examples of just some of the different kinds of insurance we offer are:  auto  home  farm  business  life  boat  snowmobile  motorcycle  health  cancer  disability  flood  annuities  liability  commercial auto  Thank You for Referrals! Thanks to all our clients who graciously referred their family, friends and associates to our agency. We build our agency on your positive comments. We couldn’t do it without your help! Cleo Hanson WIN! WIN! WIN! This month Klein Insurance is sponsoring a Trivia Contest and offering you a chance to win a $20 gift card. Test your knowledge! Answer the question below and you could be this month’s winner. The entry that comes closest to the correct answer to the following question will be the winner. If more than one person has the exact answer, the winner will be the person whose entry reached our office first. Write down your name and answer, and fax to (218) 738-3452 -or mail to P.O. Box 307, Eagle Bend, MN 56446 this page -- or email your name and answer to hinzmann11@midwestinfo.net. Good luck! Jane Voge Gail & Don Sells One of the oldest-surviving animal species, this lizard has been around for 40 million years and is only found in the wild in Eastern Indonesia. It's also the world's heaviest lizard. What is it? Sharon Kempf Your Name: _________________________________________ Al Jenson Address or Contact Details:______________________________ Fred & Karen Wurst ____________________________________________________ DeWayne Peper Your Answer:_________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Are You Our Client of the Month? Our agency is nothing without your loyalty and faith in us. Even if your name doesn’t appear below this month, please accept my heartfelt thanks for your support. I truly appreciate it! For outstanding work telling others about our agency, this month we honor: DeWayne Peper as our Client of the Month! DeWayne will receive a $25 gift card! Thanks for your continued business! Last Month’s Winner: Congratulations to Gen Keranen for correctly answering last month’s trivia question! For the correct answer, Gen Keranen has won a free $20 gift card! Last month’s question was: When should you have a tetanus shot? Yearly? Every 10 years? Whenever you suffer an open wound? Answer: You need one every 10 years to maintain immunity. If it’s been longer since you last had one, speak to your primary care physician. With an open wound outside the 10 year range, if your physician is not available, go to the emergency room. Tell Others About Us and Win a Prize Who will be our next Client of the Month? Could it be you? Referrals are the lifeblood of any business, and there’s no better source than you, our clients. Just mention KLEIN INSURANCE to a friend, relative, or colleague and have them give us a call at (800)-732-5752. Don't forget to tell them to use your name, so we can enter you for our prize draw! Thank you in advance. 3  4 Return Address: Klein Insurance P.O. Box 307 Eagle Bend, MN 56446 Klein Insurance Agency’s Circle of Safety™ Your Consumer Awareness Advisor ™ To: IT'S A FACT: Electricity from a lightning bolt is only enough to power one light bulb for a few weeks. The power is in its concentration for a fraction of a second. Clear the Decks! Get Ready for Spring and Summer There's nothing quite like sitting back on a comfy outdoor chair, or dining al fresco, when the sun's up and all seems right with the world. But if that's the sort of opportunity you have on your mind right now, maybe you should be getting a little groundwork done. And, if you have a patio or deck, that means checking it for wear and tear, making repairs and sprucing it up for the best of the spring and summer months. The life expectancy of a wooden deck is around 10 checking for metal corrosion or missing fixtures, and to 15 years and the Home Safety Council reckons rot or big cracks in the boards and posts. Don’t try that in any one year 20 million decks may be at risk to repair any of these items – replace them. of collapse. It's a serious business. On average, With ground-level patios, usually concrete or tile, one or two people die every year and about 60 the main safety issues are slippery surfaces and people are injured when their deck collapses. You cracks. Broken tiles can be replaced but slab cracks can improve your safety factor and achieve the are a bigger challenge. You can use a filler to seal highest deck life expectancy, and maybe even the cracks but, in the longer term, the patio will have extend it, by doing an annual check, replacing to be replaced, especially if cracks cause part of it damaged or missing items and by cleaning and to slope towards the house. Slippery surfaces, treating the wood with preserver. usually the result of moss, are best dealt with by a The first thing to check out is the overall structure, high-pressure cleaner. You can buy solvents at your starting with the state of the wood or composite local hardware store to loosen or even remove material and the fixtures that hold the whole thing moss but there'll likely be a residue to be pressure together, especially the connection – the ledger – washed. None of these jobs is particularly pleasant that fastens the deck to your house. Make sure you but by doing them now you'll be able to sit back and look underneath your deck, using a flashlight, enjoy the outdoor experience when the time comes! Worrying is the most natural and spontaneous of human functions. It is time to acknowledge it, perhaps even to learn to do it better. Lewis Thomas, US Pathologist (1930-1990)