Financial power for the 21st century
Will you have enough in retirement? Now is the time to find
out.
You could have about $250,000 extra to supplement your
Social Security benefits in about 15 years. Will You Have Enough?
takes you through the process of determining how much you will have. Law
Steeple has been an industry executive for over 20 years.
Seniors are the target of scammers—“That is where the money
is”
Nearly 60% of the
respondents — all professionals who work with the elderly — to an online survey
conducted by Investor Protection Trust
said that they deal with elderly victims of investment fraud “quite often” or
“somewhat often.” Nearly every one of the 763 participants in the survey said
that the problem of financial exploitation of the elderly is “very serious” or
“somewhat serious” and 84% said it was getting “much worse” or “somewhat
worse.” The survey by the nonprofit included 76 state securities regulators and
77 financial planners, in addition to medical professionals. Members have
solved that problem: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Without-Wall-Street-Commissions/dp/1442168137
CA insurer manipulated system to get rid of sick? This is
RomneyCare?
Blue Shield has used enormous rate hikes, and the threat of
rate increases, to force patients into lower-benefit and higher-deductible
health coverage in violation of state law. BS gamed the system by alternately
closing older policies and opening new ones in order to push older, sicker consumers who are more expensive to insure into
lower benefit, higher deductible coverage that requires consumers to pay more
out of pocket.
The lawsuit seeks to stop Blue Shield from shoving its
policyholders into what is known as a "Death Spiral"–the industry term for what happens when a health
insurer "closes" certain insurance policies to new customers, and
later raises rates to those remaining in the closed policy until those
enrollees can no longer afford coverage. "Blue Shield closed my family's policy and then threatened us with
a 23% premium increase. We had no choice but to switch to the only bare bones
policy Blue Shield offered us. When Blue Shield canceled the original rate
increase, the company refused to let us transfer back into our old, higher
benefit policy. Then, Blue Shield raised the rate of our bare bones policy by
14.8%!" said Robert Martin of Gilroy
Middle class can’t sustain American economy—Rich take more
income!
The average American family saw their net worth drop 40% in
that three-year time period from $126,400 to $77,300. Three-quarters of the
loss, not surprisingly, is due in large part to falling home prices, which have
seen no reprieve since the housing bubble began to burst in 2007. The average
homeowner saw their net worth fall more than $70,000 from roughly $250,000 in
2007 to $175,000 in 2010. But what is surprising is the fact that overall net
worth has fallen to levels not seen since the early 1990's, long before the
housing bubble even began. In three years, 18
years of savings have been wiped away for the majority of the country and
at the same time wages have fallen. The average income fell from about $50,000
in 2010 to $46,000 in 2007.
But this negative trend does not stop there. As average
families become poorer, rich Americans are growing richer. The Fed survey
showed the wealthiest 10% of families actually saw their net worth rise from
2007 to 2010. Over that time period, their net worth increased from $1.17
million to $1.19 million. http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2012/pdf/scf12.pdf
Where have all the job-creators gone with their Bush tax
cuts?
The continued decline of the American middle class and the
ascent of the rich has resulted in income inequality at levels not seen since
the Great Depression. While the bulk of consumer spending has historically come
from the middle class, if the majority of Americans continue to suffer from
falling wages and income, eventually something has got to give. There is no
possible way for the super-rich to buy enough stuff to float the entire U.S.
It's growing increasingly clear that we live in drastic
times and drastic measures must be taken to save the country's middle class.
One drastic measure is that more Americans are putting off retirement because
they simply can't afford it.
But with Americans living longer and putting increased
strain on programs like Social Security and Medicare, the retirement age is
going to have to be raised for one reason or another.
Members create a tax-FREE Wealth Reserve: http://www.amazon.com/Create-Your-Tax-FREE-Financial-System/dp/1466367466/
Your Affinity group may obtain discount insurance
Members of Ducks Unlimited, the world leader in wetland and
waterfowl conservation, now have access to special group discounts on auto,
home, and other property and liability insurance from MetLife Auto & Home
and other national insurance companies through a new program designed just for
members of Ducks Unlimited. Your alma
Insurers give back premiums
Health insurers are expected to rebate $1.3 billion in
premium charges to employers and consumers by August because the companies
didn't spend enough on customer coverage in 2011. "This study shows that
asking insurance companies to put more of their premium dollar toward patient
care rather than administration and profits is not only popular but also
effective. There are tangible benefits for consumers and employers," said
Drew Altman, Kaiser Foundation president and CEO.
Insurers and employers say they will continue with reforms
despite Supremes’ political decisions
Some insurers will continue to offer important health care
insurance protections that were included in the 2010 health care reform law, no
matter how the U.S. Supreme Court rules in cases currently pending before the
Court. For instance, there are 7 millions of young on their parents’ insurance
because they have no affordable coverage. The GOP may force them off and raise
the uninsured to over 50 millions. “Fewer
Americans would need to remain on their parents’health insurance if they had
stable, full-time work,” GOP DeMint wrote. Yes, the point is they don’t. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-08/health-law-adds-6-dot-6-million-young-adults-to-parents-u-dot-s-dot
Socialism for the rich—Hungry will have to rely on charity
A New York
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., will offer an amendment to
the new farm bill that the Senate could vote on as early as Tuesday. The farm
bill, which is of particular importance in Minnesota and other Farm Belt
states, contains an expansion of the
crop insurance program designed to make up for the elimination of direct
payments to farmers.
Gillibrand said on Monday that the Congressional Budget
Office has estimated that food stamp
cuts currently in the farm bill would take away an average of $90 per month in payments to nearly half a million households.
Will lobbyists or the poor win?
Two of our “friends” helping Iran
Indian
state-owned refiners will halt planned oil imports of 173,000 barrels per day
from Iran Tehran Japan
Plus ING Bank pays fine to bank for IRAN
ING Bank NV agreed to pay $619 million to settle U.S. U.S. Cuba Iran
SCAMS “Only
the little people pay taxes.” Leona Helmsley
Will States need a bailout next?
Banks cash-in on their own failed products. New
York State
Corporations rarely do deals like these, because they
generally avoid making long-term bets on interest rates. But bankers sold the
idea to public borrowers. The total bill to terminate all of these swaps-related
deals would run into many billions.
“Derivatives are time bombs,” Warren Buffett
Insurers low-ball your claim by changing settlement software
program
A newly released report by a former Allstate Corp. claims executive working at a consumer rights group
alleges that most of the nation's biggest insurance companies use computer
systems that can be manipulated to
underpay injury claims.
The report was issued Monday by the Consumer Federation of
America, whose claims project director, Mark Romano, had worked for the
Northbrook-based insurer, as well as CNA and Hanover. Romano last year joined
the Consumer Federation of America as claims project director.
"This report is a wake-up call for consumers and
regulators who are not aware of the many ways that computer claims' software
can be manipulated to produce unjustifiably
low injury payments to consumers and tens of millions of dollars in
illegitimate 'savings' for insurers," Romano said in a statement.
We have to hire a claims adjuster to speak for us. http://www.consumerfed.org/news/536
AIG continues to play games with the law despite US
AIG will pay California America
Our ‘representatives’ bought $180 million in drones that
just sit near border
Sounds like another military industrial complex cost overrun
at the Pentagon. “We don’t need anymore.” “Sorry, we already gave the $ billion
contract to AeroVironment for more
drones instead of helos.” http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/OIG_12-85_May12.pdf
IAN
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