You don't get a burger at one place and fries at another for the same meal, do you?

I can't imagine most people would do that, but too many clients of mine end up with car coverage in one place, home in another, and life with yet another if they even have it at all! Why do folks do this? If you're among those who does, let me jump back to the burger example and tell you why it might not be the best idea.

#1: Cost - It's going to cost you money to drive to another place to get fries to go with your burger, right? Even if it doesn't, the value of your time is likely going to off-set things. Time is money, as they say! Same goes with insurance. You miss out on things like a multi-policy discount, and frankly, you might just end up spending valuable time chasing that elusive deal if you're with a bunch of different companies.

#2: Does it even go together? - Burgers and fries. Has there ever been a more natural, wonderful, tasty pairing? If you're thinking about it, I'll save you time! No, there hasn't. Burgers go with fries, and luckily, your favorite place serves both, so you don't have to worry about matching a side with your meal. If you didn't understand your food and you ended up pairing a burger with, say... Gazpacho, it might not be a fun pairing. Again, same goes with insurance. If you own a home, and you have minimal coverage on your car insurance, it isn't a good pairing. If you don't have both with the same company, you might not know that, and your agent (if you have one) wouldn't be able to tell you. If you lost your home to a car insurance claim, that would be pretty devastating. Even worse than burgers and Gazpacho!

#3: You might not even know what you're missing! - When I was a kid, friends always used to tell me about having a Frosty with your fries. Haven't tried that? Do it! It's one of those awesome sweet and salty combos, bizarrely enough. Had those two things not been on the same menu, what are the odds that someone would have thought to do that? Pretty low, I'd imagine. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the same goes for insurance. If you're with a company that doesn't offer a full line of personal coverage, you might not know what you're missing! Mortgage protection life insurance is an important thing to pair with home insurance as a first-time home buyer. If your company doesn't have it, you might not ever know to get it.

It's a weird parallel, but it works. Most of the time, you're better off under one roof.