Friday, February 22, 2013

Use your tax refund to insure future needs


Lifestyle Insurance: Use your tax refund to build a tax-FREE trust
...Most of us are overpaying for insurance, investments, taxes, etc
...We “waste” our $3,000 tax refund each year.
...We could be building assets to insure our “lifestyle.”
...We could use an IRS §408 trust for tax-FREE income.
...Each $3,000 invested is worth $100,000 eventually
Most of us waste our largest savings amount: our tax refund, average $3,022 a year. Most of us waste more than $3,000 every year on financial products and services. If we invested that $3,000 a year, we could have all the assets we need to protect our families and futures using a tax-FREE trust. Author, Dan Keppelhttp://www.amazon.com/Lifestyle-Insurance-refund-build-tax-FREE/dp/1482516411


Check the real costs and benefits of the colleges you consider


Wealthy are better off now, even with taxes
A survey from Northern Trust found that three quarters of millionaires surveyed said they are better off, or as well off, as they were in 2007 - the peak for both wealth and sheer numbers of America's millionaires. Most cited improved investment returns as their reason for feeling better off. Where should you live if you want to be a millionaire?
Try Houston or San Jose. According to the new Metro Wealth Index from Capgemini, San JoseCalif. andHouston recorded the fastest percentage growth in the number of millionaires among the top 10 Metro areas.

Is your mutual fund really overcharging you 12% per year?
New analysis shows that the real cost of managed funds is close to 12% when you own large stock funds run by a manager charging you 1% per year. This is why: investors should consider fees charged by active managers not as a percentage of total returns but as incremental fees versus risk adjusted incremental   returns above the market index. In other words, if a low-cost index can produce 7% return and your manager earned 8%, you should only pay for the extra 1%. If the manager took $10,000 (1%) on your portfolio of $1 million, and added only $80,000 (8%), you paid 12.5% for the increase--10K/80K. 
Time to save 40% of your accumulation over time by going low-cost: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Without-Wall-Street-Commissions/dp/1442168137


Are you being forced to buy an annuity by your employer?
Time Magazine reports some employer plan sponsors are looking at restricting the lump-sum payouts most 401(k) account holders take from their retirement savings, an attempt to get more people to convert their defined-contribution assets into annuities. The movement is aimed at getting investors to make their retirement funds last longer. Many laid-off workers use their retirement savings for expenses instead of continued savings. There are annuity alternatives: http://www.amazon.com/Not-Buy-That-Annuity-Guaranteed/dp/1466494573

FL uninsured have hope
Governor Rick Scott's decision to take Obamacare money to expand his state's Medicaid program was unsurprising. Amidst declining political fortunes, he was under intense pressure by local healthcare firms to accept the new cash. Hospitals make money from new patients. 

LTC insurance group opposes IL move to cap rate increases
An insurance group is opposing new legislation under consideration by the Illinois state House that would impose a 15 percent annual cap on premium rate increases on new and existing long-term care insurance regardless of age. Members compare alternatives: http://www.amazon.com/Long-term-Care-Insurance-better-alternatives/dp/147006877X


Bait and Switch: Health insurers raise the price AFTER you compare to other plans
Eighty percent of U.S. health insurance plans raise premiums above the original quoted price for a portion of their applicants, a health consumer firm says. HealthPocket analysis found on average, plans increased premiums for 18 percent of applicants. However, plans in some states rarely increase premium.Pennsylvania health insurance plans raised premiums for 32 percent of applicants. Premiums are typically the largest out-of-pocket healthcare costs for the average consumer and a major factor in health plan selection.
Companies that increased premiums on applicants most frequently were for-profit Blue Cross Blue Shield companies. Anthem Health Plans in Virginia, part of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, raised premiums for more than two-thirds of applicants. The non-profit Pacific Source Health Plans in Idaho was second highest within this ranking. Buy only what you need: http://www.amazon.com/Health-Insurance-ONLY-right-policy/dp/1480125083

Have dispute with your health insurer over reimbursement or care payments?
This foundation can provide assistance in resolving problems. It is dedicated to providing the patient's voice in improving access to, and reimbursement for, high-quality healthcare through regulatory and legislative reform at the state and federal levels. 

File your insurer complaint here:


Insurers fight state laws requiring gun insurance
Insurers are resisting a push by state legislators to mandate that gun owners buy coverage tied to the weapons’ risk, saying such laws may encourage irresponsible behavior. Lawmakers want gun owners to cover the losses from gun accidents. Insurers think that mandating gun insurance will make gun use more likely because owners “will not have their own assets, property or income at stake.”  “I’m really looking at people who are injured as a result of somebody’s negligence in the way that they store a gun or the way that they handle a gun,” Democratic state Representative David Linsky, who proposed the bill in Massachusetts. Insurers should set rates that reflect the types and number of weapons owned by a policyholder and how the guns are stored, he said. Insurers can’t insure intentional acts but could require gun locks and safety training.

SCAMS           “Deficits don’t matter” GOP grandfather Dick Cheney, 2002

Senator Warren asks bank regulators about “Too big for trial.”
“Tell me a little bit about the last few times you've taken the biggest financial institutions on Wall Street all the way to a trial," the Massachusetts lawmaker said to applause, speaking to the federal regulators gathered for a hearing on Wall Street reform.
No witnesses spoke up.
Warren raised her eyebrows. "Anybody?" she asked.
Thomas Curry, head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, spoke up: "We've actually had a fair number of consent orders. We do not have to bring people to a trial..."
"I appreciate that you say you don't have to bring them to trial," Warren said. "My question is,when did you bring them to trial?"
"We have not had to do it as a practical matter to achieve our supervisory goals," Curry said.
"I'm really concerned that 'too big to fail' has become 'too big for trial,'" Warren later said.

Insiders made 1700% on Heinz deal—but $1.7 mil “profit” is now frozen
The SEC is alleging that the traders must have known in advance about the pending transaction based on inside information. The traders bought call options to make a huge profit of roughly 1,700 per cent after the acquisition was announced.
Call options let “investors” place a bet on a stock without committing to buy the shares. The insiders have the option to buy the shares later for a set price. The Swiss account hadn't traded securities related to Heinz for nearly six months before purchasing the options, the SEC said in a complaint filed in federal court in New York.
"Irregular and highly suspicious options trading immediately in front of a merger or acquisition announcement is a serious red flag that traders may be improperly acting on confidential nonpublic information," Daniel Hawke, an SEC official, said in a statement. The brokerage account at GoldmanSachs probably handles trading for a number of foreign banks that allow customers to use a trust or other entity that masks the identity of the true owner.
Will we ever collect taxes on this profit?


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