有聲英文閱讀-美國的保險(xiǎn)業(yè)務(wù)

Insurance
美國的保險(xiǎn)業(yè)務(wù)

An insurance agent called me this morning. This particular agent wanted to discuss my automobile coverage, but the next agent to call might be interested in my life insurance program, my health insurance, or fire protection for my home and furniture. The American consumer often feels constantly disturbed by insurance agents. Many agents selling many different policies call us by phone and sometimes even come to our doors. These insurance agents are always friendly, well dressed, and eager to be of help.
Yet few Americans really enjoy visiting with these eager, helpful men and women. We are not happy when they call us; we are on guard when they visit our homes. They are never really our friends; at best, they are a necessary evil.
Three reasons why we are unwilling to discuss insurance can be suggested. First of all, insurance is expensive. A young father who purchases a fairly small life insurance policy agrees to pay a sum of $200 every year for 40 years - a total of $8,000. Many college students pay $800 to $1,000 per year for car insurance. In effect, they pay as much for the insurance as they do for the car itself. Health insurance that pays for modern medical miracles often costs Americans as much as $2,000 every year. Adequate insurance is expensive; it is a major item for most families.
Insurance also reminds us that we live in an unsafe world. We are human and we must face the possibilities of illness, injury, death, and financial loss. Our rational minds recognize the many unfortunate events that can occur, but in our hearts we hope that we might be spared. Serious injury or death is not a pleasant subject to discuss or even consider. We are afraid; we would rather talk about football or the weather or what we had for lunch.
Finally, insurance is a difficult, complex subject. No one understands it completely and only a few insurance professionals really feel comfortable in a discussion of automobile, life, and major medical coverages. We feel inadequate and try to hide our ignorance by avoiding discussions of insurance.
Yet these three reasons for not discussing insurance provide three excellent reasons why we should learn more about it. Insurance is expensive. In a lifetime, many of us spend as much on insurance as we do on the purchase of a home. If we are to spend our money intelligently, we need information about the products and services available. We don't depend entirely on salespeople when we buy a car, a house, or a suit of clothes. Neither should we depend entirely on the agent when we buy insurance. We need a basic knowledge of insurance coverages if we are to be intelligent consumers.
The intelligent consumer looks problems in the face. Although accident, illness, and death are not pleasant subjects, each of us knows we face these possibilities. It is better that we plan for these situations by finding means to deal with them than to just hope that they will somehow go away.
Although insurance can be complex, its basic concepts are neither difficult nor impossible to learn. Quite the opposite. Insurance fundamentals can be understood by those willing to study them. Serious study provides knowledge. The study of insurance is an effective, proven method of dealing with the insurance ignorance faced by many American families.

一位保險(xiǎn)公司代理人今天上午拜訪了我。這位打扮得過分講究的代理人想要討論我的汽車保險(xiǎn)的承保范圍，那么下一位再來拜訪我的保險(xiǎn)公司代理人就有可能對我的人壽保險(xiǎn)項(xiàng)目，我的健康保險(xiǎn)，甚至對我的房產(chǎn)和家具火災(zāi)保險(xiǎn)感興趣。美國的消費(fèi)者都會經(jīng)常覺得不斷地受到保險(xiǎn)公司代理人的騷擾。很多代理人為了兜售不同險(xiǎn)種的保險(xiǎn)單都會給我們打電話，有時(shí)甚至登門造訪。這些保險(xiǎn)公司的代理人總是彬彬有禮，衣冠楚楚并急于熱情為您服務(wù)。
可是幾乎沒有美國人會真正喜歡這些急于熱情助人的男男女女前來拜訪。他們打來電話，我們不高興；他們來我們家拜訪，我們都懷有戒心。他們永遠(yuǎn)也不會成為我們真正的朋友；最多，他們代表我們必須與之打交道的魔鬼或?yàn)?zāi)難。
我們之所以不愿討論保險(xiǎn)的三個(gè)原因可表述如下：第一，保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)太貴。有一位年輕的父親，買了相當(dāng)小的一份人壽保險(xiǎn)單。他同意每年支付的保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)錢數(shù)是200美元，連續(xù)支付40年--總額共達(dá)8000美元！許多大學(xué)生每年支付小汽車保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)800到1000美元。實(shí)際算起來，他們支付保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)的錢數(shù)跟他們購買那輛汽車本身的錢數(shù)是一樣多的。通常美國人每年都要支付2000美元的健康保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)，用這筆錢來支付現(xiàn)代醫(yī)藥界所創(chuàng)造出的一些奇跡。全方位的投保太費(fèi)錢了。各方面都投保的費(fèi)用是絕大多數(shù)家庭的主要開支項(xiàng)目。
第二，保險(xiǎn)也使我們想到我們是生活在一個(gè)不安全的世界里。我們必須面對可能生病、受傷、死亡和財(cái)產(chǎn)損失這些災(zāi)禍。盡管我們的頭腦在理性上能意識到很多災(zāi)難性的事故有可能發(fā)生，但是我們心理上都希望我們最好能幸免于難。重傷或死亡并不是一個(gè)令人愉快的討論話題，這些我們甚至連想都下敢想。我們害怕；我們倒寧可聊一聊美式橄欖球，聊聊天氣或者聊聊我們午餐所吃的東西。
最后，保險(xiǎn)是很難弄懂很復(fù)雜的問題。除了極小數(shù)的保險(xiǎn)業(yè)的專家在討論起車險(xiǎn)，壽險(xiǎn)和重病醫(yī)藥險(xiǎn)等險(xiǎn)種的承保范圍時(shí)會高談闊論而外，沒有任何人能完全懂得保險(xiǎn)業(yè)務(wù)。我們覺得自己沒有足夠的保險(xiǎn)業(yè)務(wù)知識，因而避免講座保險(xiǎn)問題，以便掩飾我們自己的無知。
可是，這不愿討論保險(xiǎn)問題的三個(gè)原因也正是我們應(yīng)該更多地學(xué)些保險(xiǎn)知識的三個(gè)充足的理由。保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)太貴。我們很多人，一輩子花的保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)跟購買房子的費(fèi)用是一樣多的。如果我們要把錢花得明智一些，我們就將需要獲得有關(guān)購買產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)項(xiàng)目的一些信息資料。在我們買小汽車、買房子或買一套衣服時(shí)，我們不能完全相信銷售人員；在我們買保險(xiǎn)時(shí)，我們也不應(yīng)該完全相信或依靠保險(xiǎn)公司的代理人。如果我們打算要做明智的消費(fèi)者，我們就需要有承保范圍或者叫保險(xiǎn)涵蓋方面的知識。
明智的投保人要正視種種問題。盡管事故，疾病和死亡都不是令人愉快的話題，但是我們每個(gè)人都知道我們都有發(fā)生這些災(zāi)害的可能。針對這些可能發(fā)生的情況，我們計(jì)劃一下找出對付災(zāi)害的辦法，這總比我們只是憑空希望這些災(zāi)害會不知不覺地自動(dòng)消失要好得多。
盡管保險(xiǎn)可能是復(fù)雜的，但是保險(xiǎn)的一些基本概念既不是很難懂的，也不是不可能學(xué)會的。恰恰相反，只要是愿意學(xué)習(xí)保險(xiǎn)知識的人，都能弄明白保險(xiǎn)的基本原則。認(rèn)真地鉆研就能獲得保險(xiǎn)的知識。鉆研保險(xiǎn)知識是很多美國家庭用來對付不懂保險(xiǎn)情況的一種行之有效的切實(shí)可行的方法。