Holiday Savings

What better gift to yourself than to save on insurance for the next 10 years
More than 70 million* drivers in the U.S. potentially are leaving car insurance savings on the table, according to the findings of a new survey. The survey questions, commissioned by Progressive and asked by Harris Interactive, were designed to estimate the potential number of people who could save on car insurance. Harris conducted the telephone survey among 1,003 U.S. adults in August, with results weighted to reflect the U.S. adult population. Use all the discounts and ‘tricks of the trade.’ amazon.com/Industry-Insiders-Guides-Buying-Insurance

NC homeowners see rate drop
The North Carolina Department of Insurance has issued an order lowering rates for dwelling property fire insurance, rejecting a request from the North Carolina Rate Bureau to raise dwelling extended coverage rates by 36.1%. Under the ruling, which was signed by state Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin, dwelling fire rates will be lowered by 7.3%, starting May 1, 2012.

Workers plan to work and retire later than age 65
In 2010, after the recession had officially ended, the percentage of American workers age 50 or older who expect to retire at age 70 increased to 14.8% from 11.2% in 2006, says EBRI. At higher ages, EBRI adds, the expected retirement age has jumped: Just 1.7% of workers age 50 or over planned to retire at age 80 in 2006, while that more than tripled to 5.2% in 2010, EBRI found. In 2008, during the recession, 22.4% of the workers age 50 or over say they plan to never retire. That declined to 16.3% in 2010. Over the 2006–2010 period, another 14-18% of workers say they don’t know when they will retire. Members have a plan to have enough: amazon.com/Your-Retirement-Spending-Plan-enough/dp/

10 million more lost health insurance—ER is full—what now?
An estimated 9.3 million American adults lost health insurance coverage as a result of increased unemployment during the recession of 2007-09, according to a newly published study by researchers at Cornell, Indiana and Carnegie Mellon universities.
GOP answer was to “let them die” and let the hospital absorb the costs of health care.

Fees on some annuities going up
Transamerica Life said “ The fee on the rider will range from 0.7% to 1.25%, depending on which funds a client selects. The earlier range was from 0.45% to 1.2%
“ Fees will rise on the Income Enhancement Benefit, which works in tandem with the Retirement Income Choice 1.2 rider and raises withdrawal percentages. As of Dec. 12, the feature will cost 0.3% for single-life coverage, up from 0.15%, and 0.50% for joint coverage, an increase from 0.3%. These fees added to existing fees of 1.5% to 2% and you could end up paying 3.75% EVERY year no matter how much the annuity crediting rate is. If your money could have earned 10%, you would actually earn 6.25%. If inflation is 3%, you are earning less than a muni bond fund pays. There are other alternatives to annuities: : amazon.com/Not-Buy-That-Annuity-Guaranteed/

Your advisor may raise their fees soon
Many advisers are thinking about making some changes to their fee structure, with some gravitating to a minimum retainer or charging separately for financial planning and other services. When assets don’t grow, fees remain the same. Many investors, after waiting years for things to improve, are beginning to get fed up. New clients are hard to find in this economy. Clients are shellshocked by the past few years of volatility and are in no mood to pay more for mediocre returns. Advisors want more fees even though they can’t improve account balances. Members go it alone—advisors can’t beat the market so why pay them. amazon.com/Wealth-Without-Wall-Street-Commissions/

Newt gives millionaires a big tax break—costs another $1.3 Trillion
Newt Gingrich’s plan would add $1.3 trillion to the U.S. budget deficit in 2015 alone, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Gingrich's plan would cut taxes for 70% of households and reduce rates for the highest earners compared with what they pay now. He would drop the corporate tax rate to 12.5% from 35%. People earning more than $1 million a year would receive an average tax cut of $613,689 in 2015, compared with what they pay now. That change would boost their after-tax income by 28.7% and put their average tax rate at 11.9%. For households earning between $50,000 and $75,000 a year, 91.3% would receive tax cuts averaging $1,847, boosting their after-tax income by 3.1%. It is the 12-12-12 plan.

Give yourself a gift this year
A Kansas City woman received $6.1 million from a Missouri unclaimed property fund consisting of a single security. No details available but it might be worth checking with your state’s unclaimed property office. Start: http://unclaimed.org/


SCAMS
Two Americas
Republican leader in the House of Representatives is now blocking progress on a bill that would definitively outlaw insider trading by federal lawmakers. The Republican sponsor of the bill in the House, Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus of Alabama, had scheduled a markup of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act for next week. But on Wednesday, Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia cancelled the markup session. Cantor reportedly said he blocked the bill to give Congress more time to examine the issue. Critics of the move, however, fear that any delay could kill the bill entirely.
Studies have shown the investment portfolios of House members and Senators consistently outperform the market by significant degrees, suggesting they are either miraculously bright and lucky investors or using their access to non-public information when trading. Financial experts regard the idea that it is just luck or investing smarts as laughable. Senators outperform the market by 12%.
This is the sixth year Congress has NOT made members follow the same rule as us. “Get rich quick” law that all of us must follow except them has made them rich. Half of Congress are millionaires.

GOP to void Voting Rights Act in name rampant voter fraud--1 case
Judith Browne Dianis told CNN, “Through a spate of restrictive laws passed in Republican-led legislatures, a disproportionate number of African-Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, the elderly and the young will find voting difficult and in many cases impossible.” These statutes, she notes, “require a state photo ID to vote, limit early voting, place strict requirements on voter registration and deny voting rights to Americans with criminal records who have paid their debt to society.”
Investigations by the secretary of state and the attorney general since 2004 haven’t found any cases of voter fraud.
The one documented instance of ‘fraud’ in the last decade — a son voting in place of his father — was uncovered under the current system.

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