Answers before you ask

It is a conversation. Arsine asks about your household and what you are trying to plan for, answers your questions, and explains general concepts in plain language. Most of the first part is listening rather than explaining, because the useful answers depend entirely on your circumstances. Nothing is decided on the call unless you want it to be.

No. There is no cost for the conversation and no obligation to do anything afterwards. That applies whether it is a first conversation or a later one.

No. Nothing is decided during a consultation and there is no expectation that you decide anything afterwards either. In practice the questions that matter most tend to surface two or three days later, once a conversation has settled and you have talked it over with whoever else is involved. Deciding in your own time is the normal outcome.

Nothing is required and no documents are requested in advance. Having a rough sense of who depends on you, and a rough monthly figure for what your household runs on, tends to make the conversation shorter and considerably more useful. Two or three written questions help as well, because it is easy to forget what you wanted to ask once a conversation is under way.

Yes, and where a decision would involve more than one person it is usually better. Because consultations are virtual, two people can join from different places, which is often easier than finding a time you are both in the same room.

It starts with who depends on you and for roughly how long, rather than with options. From there it covers what your household would want to keep the same, which commitments continue regardless of whether income arrives, and which questions are worth thinking through further. It does not produce a recommendation, does not compare named products, and does not describe features or costs.

Start by listing who relies on you, including anyone who relies on your time rather than your income, and note how long that is likely to continue. Then list the commitments that would carry on regardless. Those two lists do more work in a conversation than any calculator, because they describe your household rather than an average one.

Change is a better prompt than the calendar. A birth, a marriage, a separation, a move, a new job, or taking on responsibility for a relative all change who depends on you or what your household runs on. In the absence of any of those, revisiting the questions every couple of years is a reasonable rhythm.

A consultation is general and educational. It explains how things work in plain language and helps you work out what questions matter for your situation. It is not advice and it does not recommend a particular course of action.

Less than people expect, and it is more about decisions than money. A family arranging a funeral makes a series of choices in a short window, often within days. Recording what matters to you, and explicitly saying that the rest is up to them, removes most of the uncertainty they would otherwise carry.

No, and trying to usually makes the subject harder than it needs to be. A short note saying what genuinely matters to you, what you would specifically not want, and that everything else is the family's choice is more useful than an exhaustive plan. Telling one person that the note exists is what makes it work.

Because costs vary considerably by region and by the choices made at the time, so a national average is not a useful number for any particular family. This website quotes no figures, no averages and no statistics of any kind.

Yes. Consultations are virtual, so the service is identical whether a household is in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Sacramento or the San Francisco Bay Area. There is no office in any of those places and this website does not suggest otherwise.

California producers are regulated by the California Department of Insurance and licence records are public. Arsine's California number is 4566385. A producer must hold a California licence to transact with somebody living here, regardless of where the producer is based.

No. Licensing follows each resident rather than the household, and Arsine is licensed in both states. It is worth mentioning at the start so the conversation accounts for it. Both states observe Pacific Time, so scheduling is straightforward.

Yes. California residents can ask what information is held and request correction or deletion. The request form collects only what you enter into it and never asks for a Social Security number, medical records, financial account details or any government identification number. The Privacy Policy sets out the detail and is being finalised with legal counsel before launch.

Not at present. An insurance producer must hold a licence in the state where you live, and Arsine holds licences in Nevada and California only.