"Bull," James Murray snorted. "He was annoyed that he had lost a commission."
"That too," Roy conceded. "Whatever his reason, his behavior was out of line and, as I said, not representative of insurance agents' behavior in general. Anyway, you did the right thing, Cathy. You have to do what's best for you, not what's best for the agent. If that means canceling or replacing a policy, so be it."
"If you want to replace an insurance policy because you've found a less expensive alternative, or because you're making the often intelligent move from a cash-value policy to a term policy, there's an important caveat to keep in mind. You shouldn't cancel the old policy until you've purchased the new one, just in case you're no longer insurable," James Murray explained from behind the sports section of the Detroit News.
"Good point, James!" Tom exclaimed. "I'll have to mention that to my brother. He and Carol are going to switch her policy to renewable and convertible term and do their saving on their own."
"Speaking of Brian, how's the real-estate deal coming along? Have you closed yet?"
"Yeah. We closed two weeks ago. We hadn't budgeted very well for some of the closing costs. Actually, we hadn't budgeted for them at all," Tom confessed. "Appraisal fees, title search, legal costs ... all that stuff adds up! But everything worked out fine in the end, and Kyle and Cindy moved in last Saturday. The three of us couldn't believe all the little improvements my brother had made to the place. He'd spent less than a thousand dollars, but the house looked ten thousand dollars' worth better. Things like a bit of new trim make all the difference in the world. The guy is