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Hey, it's Michael here. And if you're looking to save a little money on your cell phone service
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you may have noticed that a lot more providers are offering discount annual plans. Best MVNO
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calls it the hottest trend in prepaid wireless. Visible by Verizon's launch of annual plans
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follows other providers like AT&T prepaid, US Mobile, and Mint Mobile, all offering annual
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plans. And with these plans, you typically pay for 12 months of service in advance
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and you don't get a refund if you cancel early. So while you are not signing a contract
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there is still some risk involved. Annual plans can save you some money
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but they are definitely not for everyone, myself included. Today, I want to talk about six things
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you need to consider. Let's get into it. Number one, how much are you really saving? I'm going
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to start this off with US Mobile. The unlimited starter plan, $276 for 12 months, that works out
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to $23 every month. And with the monthly payment option, a single line is $29. Now the question
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I'm asking myself here, is it worth it to pay $276 upfront to save only $6 a month on a phone
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plan? That's a difference, $6 a month. Or is it? Prepaid phone carriers are highly promotional
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You know that if you check michaelsavesdeals.com. So once you've committed to a yearly plan
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you lose the ability to shop around and get a better deal. That includes limited time deals on
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phone services, of course, but also on devices. Another thing to consider, let's say you kept that
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$276 in an online savings account with a 5% interest rate. In a year, you'd earn almost $14
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in interest. That's interest you don't earn when you take money out of your bank account to prepay
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for a phone plan. Let's continue. Number two, does the plan match your needs? Let's talk about
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Visible now. The base Visible plan is pretty bare bones compared to Visible Plus, which includes
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premium data, smartwatch service, faster hotspot speeds, and more international features. Now that
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doesn't mean the base plan is bad. That's actually the plan I've had since 2019. But if premium data
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is important to you, it would be a mistake to prepay for a year of service on Visible's base
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plan because you'd want Visible Plus instead. Bottom line here, know what you need in a phone
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plan, write it out, and then make sure that the plan you're getting has everything on your list
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Number three, are you planning any big moves? Think twice about an annual plan. If you know
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about any life changes coming up, that'll impact how and where you use your phone. Now where I live
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the three major networks all perform great. I'm thankful for that. But I've heard from people
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who've moved to a new house or started working at a new office building, and because of service
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issues, they've had to switch providers. Mint Mobile's fine print makes it clear. This is a
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quote, you agree we are not liable for problems relating to service availability or quality. So
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if you prepay for a year and something like this happens to you, you're out of luck. When you're
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doing your research of all your prepaid options, check to see how the major networks perform where
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you live. I'm showing you a free tool from Rootmetrics' website, and I'll link to this one
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below. We're up to number four, does free cell phone insurance matter to you? I've never paid
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for insurance from a cell phone provider, but I have had free coverage through my credit card
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company. That saves me 10 bucks a month. And chances are one of your credit cards offers this
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perk. It typically covers the theft or damage of your cell phone. One of the requirements
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pay your phone bill with your credit card monthly. Yeah, monthly. By signing up for an
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annual plan, you may no longer be eligible for free cell phone protection from your credit card
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company, but you can always double check your credit cards terms and conditions and call them
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up to verify. Number five, do you have prior experience with the phone service? I would never
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sign up for an annual plan without testing the service beforehand. Let's talk about Mint Mobile
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again here. It offers three month introductory plans at the best pricing, and this should be
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enough time to evaluate the service, find out if it'll work for you. After that, you can then
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choose to renew for 12 months to keep the lowest rate. For services that offer monthly and yearly
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plans, try a monthly plan for a month or two. I don't think a free trial period is long enough
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One of the reasons I switched to prepaid was the flexibility. Maybe that's why you switch too
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but you lose a lot of that flexibility with the yearly plans. Number six, can you afford it? These
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prepaid plans, they're cheaper than postpaid, but a year of service is still a whole lot of money
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to be paying up front. And it's money that you can probably use in other areas of your life. Some
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people like the idea of paying for phone service only once a year because it simplifies their
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budget and it helps them focus on other categories to reduce spending. I respect that, but if you're
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one of these people, my advice is to make sure you're paying for auto insurance in full before
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your phone plan. Wait, why am I talking about auto insurance? Well, there's two reasons. The paid in
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full discount for auto insurance may save you a lot more money compared to a phone plan. And with
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most auto insurers, you still have the flexibility to switch providers during the middle of your
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policy and get a pro-rated refund. As mentioned, these prepaid annual phone plans typically have
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no refunds. And if you happen to be in credit card debt, I would not add to that debt by charging
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a year of phone service. Instead, focus on paying off your debt because the credit card interest
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fees would reduce the savings from the annual plan anyway. Give this video a like if you found it
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helpful and find more ways to save, including cheap phone plans, on my website. That's
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michaelsavesdeals.com. Thanks for watching
