HUACHEN

Daylight saving time has its origins back before the Industrial Revolution, but it certainly has no shortage of modern-day critics. Given that the practice was first proposed in 1895 and first adopted in the 1900s, largely to conserve coal during wartime, we’d say it’s more than fair to debate its current relevance. We also think it’s important to clear the air: in general, daylight saving time doesn’t directly benefit anybody. When we “fall back”, or set the clocks back an hour for daylight saving, we often say we’re looking forward to “gaining” an hour of sleep. And when we “spring forward” by setting the clocks ahead, we bemoan the one…

After a long, hot summer, you’re probably ready for cooler temperatures, but is your car? Winter brings with it plenty of dangerous weather conditions that can make driving treacherous, such as hail, snow, and freezing temperatures. There are many precautions you can take to prepare yourself and your vehicle for the incoming winter wonderland. Read on to learn more. Maintenance It’s vital to maintain your vehicle in freezing temperatures. Ensuring that your car is ready for the weather will help keep you and your loved ones safe. Here are some of the ways you can make sure your vehicle is ready for those icy roads. Check tires for tire pressure…

Choosing to rent rather than own your home has plenty of benefits — some of your utilities may be covered, you aren’t responsible for routine maintenance, and you don’t have to worry about paying for repairs in the event of a fire or flood. Your landlord’s insurance will cover the costs of repairs in the unfortunate event of a natural disaster, but if you don’t have renters insurance, the cons of renting might outweigh the pros. As of April 2021, about 44.1 million US households rent their homes. This number is higher than at any point since 1965, and surveys have found that 77% of Americans prefer to rent rather…

Of the many types of weather that threaten the safety of your home and car, a hailstorm may be the most significant. Hail, tiny balls of ice produced in heavy thunderstorms and ranging in size from that of a pea to a golf ball, can cause considerable damage to property once it falls from the sky. Insurance losses related to hail number billions of dollars each year, and major hailstorms in the U.S. total thousands. According to the NOAA Severe Storms database, there were over 4,600 hailstorms in the U.S. in 2020. To your home, hail can damage anything from siding, roof, gutters, and windows to fencing and lawn furniture.…

After more than a decade of schooling, it’s finally here: your college graduation. It’s a day many students dream of, signaling the end of homework, exams, and early-morning classes. It’s now time to enter the so-called real world and get to work. In 2021, that might sound easier said than done. After a global pandemic shut down the world for over a year, a recent college grad may not be hopeful about the job market, but things are looking up. According to the New York Times, the average monthly employment gain in March-May 2021 was around 540,000 positions, and economists expect that hiring will pick up even more in the…

In 2020, pandemic travel restrictions made it extremely difficult to travel by plane, so families opted to pile into their cars and hit the open road. In June 2020, AAA found that Americans were planning 700 million road trips and that car travel accounted for 97% of the favored mode of transportation. There don’t need to be travel restrictions for drivers to take road trips. Many travelers prefer driving hundreds (or thousands!) of miles and experiencing parts of the country they’ve never seen before. Also, for families, a road trip may be more affordable than buying airline or train tickets for a big group. As summer travel season arrives, it’s…

The winter season is a complicated time for drivers. The snow and ice make it more difficult to drive, and the risk of an accident increases due to cars sliding all over the roads. By taking measures to improve your safety on the road, you reduce the risk of accidents and ensure that you are prepared for the difficult weather conditions you can expect during the winter driving months. Here are some winter driving safety tips to help you stay safe even when the conditions get dangerous! Get your car serviced According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, you want to check your car before the season…

We all want to protect our loved ones. But did you know that one of the best ways you can do so is with life insurance? This policy provides dependents financial stability by safeguarding final expenses, lost income, mortgages, educational costs, and more if something were to happen to you. Life insurance is admittedly a broad topic, and it can be a little uncomfortable to discuss—but it’s an important subject that can be understood with the right context. At Elephant, one of our goals is to make the confusing aspects of insurance easier to understand. Below, we’ll review some of the concepts behind it, including who needs it and when…

  Summer tires When it comes to tire maintenance, many people tend to think of winter as the season when you should mindful of their performance. Given that road conditions are often treacherous during the winter time, it’s easy to understand why. So with summer here and the cold weather in the rearview mirror, there’s really no need to pay as close attention to your tires, right? Nothing could be further from the truth. Summer is the busiest time of year for road travel, as millions of Americans will head to familiar spots or uncharted territory. However, with Rand McNally reporting major construction projects underway in several parts of the country, vacationers…

What is term life insurance? That’s a question that’s very easy, and quite complicated, to answer. In a sense, term life insurance is just an offshoot of regular life insurance: it’s a policy you take out, as you would on your home or your car, to protect the financial standing of your family. In the case of a tragic loss of life, the individual covered by the policy will have their family supported with funds comparable to what the individual was earning, for a set period of time. That offers priceless peace of mind: no matter the lifestyle that your family has become accustomed to, you can trust that they’ll…