Cavalcade of Risk #19 - Valentine's Day Edition

Welcome to the Cavalcade of Risk #19 - Valentine's Day Edition. I am honored that I was offered the opportunity to host this excellent Carnival. My thanks to Hank Stern for contacting me and taking the risk on me to be more actively involved:-)

Starting with Valentine's Day, I submit that it is a risky day, especially for the young. In my youthful days, I recall that the day was often the test of the status of a developing relationship. In a such a relationship, one doesn't quite know if the feelings are mutual or not. Thus, Valentine's Day offers the risk of over delivering, under delivering or hopefully meeting expectations. Sometimes, Valentine's Day activities were the difference between a ROYAL flush or a royal FLUSH :-)

On to the Carnival ......

As background, all the submissions were excellent. However, I included only posts that had some element of risk in the content. In addition, I limited the Carnival to one submission per blog. For blogs with multiple submissions, I selected the one I liked best. Enjoy!

Multiple Hits by Cupid - Is The Risk Over Managed?

Ben presents How To Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Premiums Without Even Trying posted at Money Smart Life. Here are the words every policy holder loves to hear, "We recently changed the way we price homeowners insurance to ensure your premium reflects the risk your policy presents to us. As a result, your policy premium has decreased."

David Williams presents What you don't know can't hurt you posted at Health Business Blog. As a doctor friend said, “If someone thinks they’re completely healthy it just means they haven’t had a full workup.” What I think he meant is that if you go looking with the latest tools and diagnostics you’ll find something, even if it’s not really there.

Cupid Misses the Mark - Is The Risk Under Managed?

Bob Sargent presents Poor Timing? posted at Specialty Insurance Blog. The Governor of Florida and the Legislature have passed legislation solving, they hope, Florida’s property insurance challenges, but after a mild hurricane season and increasing competition in the insurance market are they buying at the peak?

Egon presents Busting the Top 6 Life Insurance Myths posted at InsuranceHelpHub.com. Term life insurance has many advantages. But understanding term life insurance and its benefits means sifting through the myths surrounding it; and there are many myths about life insurance. These life insurance myths and misconceptions can result in too little coverage causing financial hardship for families suffering the loss of a loved one.

Leon Gettler presents Bigger risks ahead, says regulator posted at Sox First. The global economy is doing fine but industries are now confronting huge risks and issues. Britain's regulator, the Financial Services Authority, is warning businesses that the impact of a shock to the financial system is much greater now than two or three years ago.

Cupid Hits The Bull's Eye - A Good Level of Risk Management

David E. presents Accidents Happen – Be Prepared and Then Move On posted at Worldwide Success. Dealing with accidents is not much different than dealing with any other risks. Risk management is an important discipline in managing a project, a business, an investment, and your personal finances. Being successful requires managing risks well. Be prepared so that when an accident happens you can minimize its impact.

Bob Vineyard, CLU presents Cancer Insurance posted at InsureBlog. A vaccine to prevent cancer in young woman? Who could hate that? Believe it or not, it's a risk assessment issue, and InsureBlog's Bob Vineyard shares why it's an insurance one, as well. (Be sure to catch the lively debate in the comments section, too!)

Silicon Valley Blogger presents A First Look At Asset Allocation posted at The Digerati Life. The choice one makes for investment allocations can signficantly increase or decrease one's risk. Proper asset allocation allows one to choose a desired risk profile ranging from conservative to agressive.

Spencer Hill presents Why Long Term Care Insurance? posted at Hill's Personal Finance. Funding a potential long term illness or disability without depleting your savings and investments can be done in many ways. Its best to start planning for this event around age 50 or about 20 years before long term care might be needed. After your plan is in place it is best to review it every 5 years or when significant changes in the law take place.

Marc Mayerson presents Insurers' Duty to Defend their Insureds Against Intentional Torts posted at Insurance Scrawl. This post shares both sides of whether litigation insurance applies, to suits against the insured alleging an – or only – intentional tort.

Joe Kristan presents IN THIS CORNER, THE VILLANOVA MAULER posted at Roth & Company, P.C.. Joe responds to questions from the tax professor Jim Maule about President Bush's health care ideas. The answers are a mix of accounting, risk management, and cost effectiveness.

Michael Cannon presents Paduda Cuts (Closer) to the Heart of the Matter… posted at Cato at Liberty. Sick people don’t need insurance. Insurance doesn’t make sick people healthy. They need medical care. They may even need subsidies. So why not try to provide them those things, rather than wreck the markets for both health insurance and health care?

Julie Ferguson presents Working and surviving in extreme cold posted at Workers Comp Insider. Here are various resources and tips for minimizing the health and life-threatening risk that extreme temperatures pose for people who have outdoor work responsibilities.

More Risky Propositions

TC presents Simple Living - best buys for DIYs posted at InvestmentsLoans.net which shares how to minimize the risk of paying too much for items in an auction.

Bill Losapio presents HOLY BULLION! BIG News in the Gold Market posted at LWilliamLosapio.com, which discusses the risk of price manipulation if one invests in gold.

Fedor presents Understanding Currency Trading Dynamics posted at forexblog. One shouldn't take the risk of being in the business of currency trading if one expects to lose money as a beginner.

Andrea Dickson presents Womanhood microscopic and other hot stock tips posted at WiseBread Financial. Penny stocks almost always lose money for the investor. We should keep friends and family from believing they can beat the odds.

Rita Schwab presents US Malpractice Law - Understanding the System posted at MSSPNexus Blog. It is a brief summary of how the US medical malpractice litigation system works.

Jeffrey Strain presents The Best Place To Hide Money: Conversation With A Burglar posted at Personal Finance Advice. Burglars will always find some of one's valuables. Here's how one can minimize the loss and damage.

And From Around The Blogsphere

Here is a selection of additional articles posted during February.

Dr Susan M. Mangiero reports on a 350 year old risk management tool that can provide guaranteed income for retirees in Tontines - A Way Out of a Pension Jam at Pension Risk Matters. Tontines appear to address the issue of potentially over saving or under saving for retirement. I like the idea and will study it further for my own retirement use.

David Dobbs, host of Smooth Pebbles, writes that taking regular midday naps is associated with reduced risk of death from heart disease in Naptime! Read this and have a coronary ... or take a nap. It's your decision.

We've all read about assessing risk, and managing risk, but what about the psychology of risk? Vaughan at MindHacks looks into risk, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and security in The Psychology of Risk and Security.

My submission is Lessons From The Poker Table posted at My Wealth Builder which reapplies strategies to manage risk in gambling to personal finance.

In closing the of Cavalcade of Risk #19 - Valentine's Day Edition, I leave you with one final thought: Don't risk the fallout from forgetting to acknowledge Valentine's Day with your special someone :-)

Photo Credit: morgueFile.com, Nicolas Raymond

This is not financial or risk management advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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