Just saying “thanks” without giving a little thanks back tends to lose its charm when we start to lose our first teeth.

When we’re young, it seems like our parents and older siblings are just relieved that we’re learning some manners to offset our little legs swinging wildly off the chair under the dinner table, narrowly missing people’s shins. (Hey, it’s hard to sit still at big family meals when you’re that little!) All the grown up talk about far away jobs or how much you’ve grown wasn’t as stimulating as the tooth that had started to wiggle ever so slightly when you bit into some turkey… But at least you remembered to say thank you when someone passed the cranberry sauce!

As we got older, though, those conversations became easier to participate in as we shared our own stories, watched our extended family grow and mature, and then tried to wrangle our own kids into saying “thank you” when they were given a gift by a relative they hadn’t seen in a year.

The biggest lesson we learn about being thankful as we get older? It’s important to show the people we love how thankful we are for them – not just say it. We learn more about the responsibility we have to take care of the people we are thankful for. And at this time of year, we can give our thanks to them by making sure they are financially prepared if we suddenly aren’t around anymore.

Here are 3 ways you can give thanks for your loved ones:

1. Consider getting life insurance. Replacing lost income, covering funeral expenses, gaining potential tax advantages, having early access to money – these benefits of life insurance will give your loved ones a bit of financial stability and let them know how thankful you were for them. However, many of these benefits can depend on what type of life insurance you have, so taking the time to find the right type and amount of insurance for your particular needs and goals is important. Which leads us to the second way to give thanks…

2. Get the right type and amount of life insurance. Life insurance policies are not “one size fits all,” so investing your energy into this step is a key way to give thanks for your loved ones. Different types of policies have different kinds of coverage, benefits, and uses. Having the right policy with adequate coverage is the key to protecting your loved ones in the event of a traumatic event – not just the loss of life. Adequate life insurance coverage can help keep you and your loved ones afloat in the case of an unexpected disabling injury, or if you’re in need of long term care. Your life with your loved ones isn’t going to be one size fits all, and your life insurance policy won’t be either.

3. List the right beneficiaries on your policy. This question is particularly important if you haven’t looked at or updated your beneficiaries in a while. Why? Because listing the correct beneficiary will help ensure that any insurance payout will get delivered to the them. You may need to review your policy’s beneficiaries if you have recently married or divorced, had kids, or maybe even met with a cousin over the holidays who you’d like to leave a little something to!

Now that you know a little bit more about how tailored life insurance can help, how fast did it jump to the top of your “Holiday Gift Ideas” list?

Lightning strikes and shark attacks and winning the lottery – Oh my!

Two big things to keep in mind:

1) None of these are likely to happen to you. (The odds of winning the lottery alone are 175 million to 1! Being killed by a shark: 3.7 million to 1. Getting struck by lightning: 960,000 to 1.)
2) Occasionally playing in the rain, swimming in the ocean, or buying a lotto ticket won’t affect your life insurance rate.

But…

Bungee jumping and kayaking and skydiving – Oh my! These 3 are a different story when it comes to determining your life insurance rate! When you apply for a life insurance policy, the underwriting process involves reviewing a variety of different factors about you – your age, gender, family health history, lifestyle, etc. The underwriters need to help your potential insurer determine what kind of risk you pose to the insurance company.

What are insurance companies looking for? Ideally, someone who is young, healthy, and will not likely need their policy payout soon. These are the individuals who typically enjoy the lowest insurance rates. However, it’s important to note that no matter your age or how healthy you are, if you engage in some risky hobbies, they have the potential to bungee you right out of the easy-to-insure category.

Let’s take a look at skydiving, for instance. You voluntarily:

• Strap a giant piece of cloth stuffed in a bag to your back.
• Get into an airplane, take off, and then open the door mid-flight.
• Approach said open door of the plane.
• Jump. Out. Of the plane. Roughly 13,000 feet above the ground.

And we’re not even addressing the part where you trust the giant piece of folded up cloth to deploy correctly and carry you safely to the ground! This is textbook risky. (And certainly just one way to look at skydiving – most insurers don’t care that this might be a big check mark on your bucket list.)

When you raise your odds of being in harm’s way, you raise your life insurance rate – and sometimes your inability to be approved for a policy at all. In 2016, 1 in 153,557 skydiving jumps resulted in a fatality in the US. While these odds are not as likely as the odds of getting your cheek pinched by Great Aunt Gladys at Thanksgiving or seeing a brand new Porsche taking up two parking spaces at the mall on Black Friday, it’s a lot more likely than your lottery odds, to be sure.

And willingly leaping out of a plane is going to raise a red flag for any insurer.

Some other risky hobbies that may have an impact on your life insurance rate or policy approval:

• Hot air ballooning
• Scuba diving
• Car racing, boat racing, bike racing
• Skiing and snowboarding
• Hang gliding

If you enjoy living a bit more adventurously than most, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get life insurance to protect your future and your loved ones. Working with an independent financial professional gives you an advantage: you’ll have multiple products and insurers to work with. This isn’t a guarantee for success, but finding a life insurance policy that suits your lifestyle isn’t an impossible task. You should take that leap sometime soon. Why not start today? (Parachute optional!)

More than 174 million Americans have already spent an average of $335.47 each between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday this year.

What does your own holiday spending bill look like so far? Use these 3 simple ideas to help cut down on your expenses this time of year, and keep the rest of your holiday spending looking more nice than naughty.

1. Decide beforehand how much you’re going to spend on gifts.
Yes, I’m talking about the B-word: Budget. This time of year it’s especially important to exercise discipline with purchases. Have a firm plan about what you’re able to spend before you start tackling your seasonal shopping list, so you can avoid the “holiday hangover” when your January credit card bill arrives. Challenging yourself to stick to a budget can help get the creative gift-giving juices flowing, too. If you’re crafty, there are tons of ideas online for budget-friendly, thoughtful gifts. If you’re not crafty, check out your local dollar store (lately they’ve been really upping their game) or thrift store for low-cost, unique treasures that your giftees will appreciate.

2. Dine in.
When you’ve budgeted for picking up the tab for a celebratory family meal at your favorite restaurant, it can be a great gift that brings everyone together – literally. But if you haven’t financially prepared for a big night out with the whole extended crew, the final cost of the festivities can really sneak up on you. Say you venture out with a party of 15 family members. At even just $10 an entree, if you add in appetizers, desserts, cups of cocoa for the kids, eggnog (or something a little more “grown up” for the adults), and any other extras… Whew, that’s going to be a credit card statement to remember! But what if you planned a night in with the family instead? The whole point is just being together, right? Have a potluck or pizza night (try retailmenot.com for online coupons!). The warmth and comfort of home. Baking cookies. Holiday music in the background. You can still enjoy cups of cocoa and eggnog, but at a fraction of the cost. (Here are some ideas for setting up your own “hot cocoa bar”.)

3. Stay with relatives when you travel home for the holidays.
This practice is standard for some, but if this suggestion makes your face flush or your blood run cold, this may help you change your mind: the average hotel stay costs $127.69 per night (and that’s not even including taxes and fees). Let’s say you’re heading to the town where you grew up for 4 days and 3 nights. The 3 nights at a hotel are going to cost you…

• $127.69 x 3 = $383.07

Add in tax and hotel fees as well as the daily cost of gas to and from the hotel, and the thought of a few nights spent in your childhood bedroom (that now has a surprise treadmill-as-a-clothing-rack addition), might not be so terrible.

Saving doesn’t have to mean sacrificing holiday spirit! How many of these tips are you going to use?