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Letter to the editor

What do you think about PIP?

By Helen Huntley, Times Personal Finance Editor
Published September 30, 2007

We asked

What do you think about the state doing away with PIP Personal Injury Protection as a requirement for drivers?

I could not support PIP unless it was totally revised. Because of PIP, I am in a terrible situation that will probably ruin my credit and cause me more health problems than I already have.

I was hit by a van as a pedestrian in Ohio. My policy stated that it covered auto accidents out of state. PERIOD! It did not state that it will only pay for pedestrians "in the state and not in a car." Not until I looked it up in the Florida statutes did I find this little hidden secret about PIP: out of state, out of car, out of luck.

My primary-care physician won't see patients who were in auto accidents. I called dozens of doctors and was told the same thing. Some would see me only if I paid all expenses up front, including tests and only if I signed a paper agreeing never to get an insurance company or a lawyer involved. Medicare won't pay, either.

If I had known this, I would have tried to find some other kind of insurance that would have paid if something like this happened. What kind of state is Florida to have a law like this in the first place and then to keep it hidden from the public?

Claudia Schoenstein, Clearwater

You asked

My mother left me 10 1-ounce gold Krugerrands. I see gold is more than $700 an ounce. Is this a good time to cash in and how does one do that?

Yes, this is a good time. However, I cannot tell you whether there will be a better time if you hold on to them. The way to cash in your Krugerrands is to take them to a coin dealer. The most efficient way is to make a list of dealers, call them and ask them how much they will pay for your stash. You can expect to receive $10 to $15 (per coin) less than the price of gold. If you buy, you pay about $10 more, with the difference going to the dealer.

Naturally, you want to deal with someone who has been in business for a while. However, you don't have to worry about finding someone who is a coin expert since you are not dealing with a rare coin. A Krugerrand is a commodity coin with its worth based on its gold content, not on its rarity or beauty.

I am thinking of opening an IRA with a brokerage firm. Can I invest the IRA in stocks and zero coupons, or am I limited to mutual funds and ETFs? Also, how do commissions for trades generally work in this?

With a brokerage IRA, you have a variety of investment options, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs and money market funds. The commission comes out of your IRA, so be sure you have enough money to cover it before you make the trade.

Next week's question

Do you think the dollar will keep sinking or are you looking for a rebound? Has the decline in the dollar had any effect on you?

To ask a question, make a comment or answer the Money Question of Week, e-mail hhuntley@sptimes.com or write Helen Huntley, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731. Visit her MoneyTalk blog (blogs.tampabay.com/money) for more money information.

[Last modified September 28, 2007, 19:36:49]