Friday, March 7, 2014

Buffett's Vanguard retirement income funds

Warren Buffett’s Vanguard Funds for retirement income
+World's greatest investor's retirement advice
+Retirement income for life from 2 Vanguard funds 
+Avoid "high-fee managers" 
       Warren Buffett's will provides for his family by directing that his cash assets be invested in just two Vanguard funds. Former securities firm head, Ian Sender, explains Buffett’s advice:

Let them die—the shocking GOP plan for constituents
Because Republicans in half the states have blocked the expansion of Medicaid, funds to public hospitals with large uninsured populations have been slashed. So far, at least five public hospitals have been closed this year and 5,000 hospital employees have been laid off nationwide. The closures are expected to worsen in the coming years. In Georgia, as many as 15 more rural hospitals may close "within months" and in Tennessee, which is putting off a decision on expanding Medicaid, almost half of the 61 rural hospitals in the state might face "major cuts or closure." This is a direct — and disastrous — consequence of Republicans' ideological opposition to Obamacare.
There was really no downside to extending Medicaid to cover individuals who earn up to 133% of the federal poverty level. The federal government is covering 100% of the cost of Medicaid for the next two years and 90% afterward. Columnist Josh Barro has pointed out the bind: "(W)hen Republican state officials decline to participate, they will have to explain to both medical providers and potential Medicaid beneficiaries that they turned down free federal money just to spite the President." And yet the 25 states that have indeed refused Medicaid expansion will soon find they're not just spiting the President but also their own citizens. Governor Nathan Deal (R) of Georgia thinks Reagan’s emergency treatment law is an onerous law which is costing too much money and wants Congress to repeal it and just let those poor people die. Reagan’s Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986 requires that a hospital treat anyone in an emergency, regardless of insurance.
Is it Reagan’s “socialized medicine” or just humanity? America becomes 3rd world nation—the very rich rulers and the very poor—Two Americas.

GOP hates it but ObamaCare works
Through the end of February, Kentucky’s health insurance marketplace, Kynect, has enrolled over 265,000 people in healthcare coverage since open enrollment started in October. In the month of February alone, 70,000 people signed up for a new healthcare plan. This has to be disappointing news for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who is running for reelection in November and is using the ACA as a major campaign issue.

ObamaCare subsidies vary
Some of the biggest federal subsidies will be required in portions of ColoradoGeorgia and Nevada, where premiums are highest, according to a Digital First Media analysis of premiums and tax credits across 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.
Far fewer tax credits will be needed in places as MinneapolisPittsburgh and Tucson where insurance premiums already were among the lowest in the nation.
"Because there is so much geographic variation in cost, the government does have to pitch in a larger portion of premium in higher-cost areas to make coverage affordable," said Cynthia Cox, a researcher at the California-based Kaiser Family Foundation, who also has developed a national database on premiums and tax credits. Buy only what you need: http://www.amazon.com/Health-Insurance-ONLY-right-policy/dp/1480125083


How can Costco survive paying workers $21 an hour?
US corporations and our “elected representatives” say that corps can’t make a profit without $7.25 wage rates. Yet Costco has done it from the beginning. So paying non-living wages must be a choice not a necessity. And Costco makes it work in 187 locations around the world. The CEO is not greedy, taking only 48 times the average workers’ pay compared with over 700 times the pay at Wal-Mart and Target. 
Henry Ford was right—pay workers so they can buy your stuff!

Buffett says America’s best days ahead
Warren Buffett, top investor, told his shareholders that he has “always considered a 'bet' on ever-rising U.S.prosperity to be a very close to a sure thing." "America's best days lie ahead." Buffett’s firm owns 80 businesses, from retail to railroads, insurance to ice cream. Invest like the best:http://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Investment-Secret-Steeple/dp/1484189809/


Amica Mutual, Erie and Nationwide ranked highest in homeowner claims satisfaction, according to J.D. Power. USAA is best but only for military. Buy only what you need and save every year:http://www.amazon.com/Homeowners-Insurance-Beware-Coverage-Policy/dp/1480100870/

Long-term Care Insurance for home assistance may be overpaying
A study of LTCi claims shows that most (59%) pay for help living at home. Assisted living facilities are the least common care setting, though, with only 14% of all long term care claims put towards care at these types of facilities. Most claims pay for part-time worker assistance with basic daily tasks such as bathing, dressing, and getting around for short periods. Typical events are recovery from a broken bone at home. Consider all the alternatives: http://www.amazon.com/Long-term-Care-Insurance-Updated-2013/dp/148274001X

Credit Unions still offer free checking plus
Bankrate's 2014 Credit Union Checking Survey found that 72 percent of the nation's 50 largest credit unions offer a free checking account, meaning the account charges no monthly service fees or point-of-sale transaction fees regardless of the balance. As commercial banks take higher fees, CUs offer no tricks, no hidden fees, just plain service. http://www.ncua.gov/NCUAMapping/Pages/NCUAGOVMapping.aspx

Women at risk for retirement income
A new study outlines some of the underlying reasons why women are at greater risk than men of not achieving a secure retirement. Forty-five percent of women work part-time so are less likely to have workplace retirement benefits. Seventy-five percent of women who are offered an employee-funded plan participate in the plan. Fifty-five percent of women are saving for retirement outside of work in an IRA, mutual fund, bank account, etc. Only 35 percent of women use a professional financial advisor. Leah’s money book:http://www.amazon.com/Ensure-Your-Financial-Health-Wealth/dp/1466388293/

Obama to cut hedge fund manager tax subsidy
His 2015 budget includes tax cuts for the poor and cuts to subsidies for the rich. Hedge fund managers are allowed to call their paychecks a capital gain and so pay less than we do. Under current law, carried interest, or the profits share received by private equity managers, gets treated as capital gains, with a top basic rate of 20 percent as opposed to the ordinary income rate of 39.6 percent. Obama wants this change to pay for the $60 Billion in worker tax cuts. 185 people pay more for 85 million to spend more.
Will Congress ignore the money from lobbyist and help working people?

ObamaCare exchanges allow us to buy only what we need
Consumers shopping on the Obamacare exchanges are thriftier than the general public, with more picking health plans based on price rather than their choice of doctors, a study found. While the general public prefers more expensive plans that cover a broader range of doctors and hospitals, 54 percent of those who are uninsured or who buy their own coverage select plans that cost less, even if they have less say in providers, the Kaiser Family Foundation found in a poll released today. Only 35 percent of that group would pick a more expensive, broad-network plan. About 70 percent of plans on the public exchanges are “narrow” or “ultra-narrow” plans, according to a December study by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. The study also found that incumbent companies were offering three times as many narrow plans as they did prior to Obamacare. The narrow plans have also caught the attention of small employers and will soon become a staple of the industry outside of the public exchanges, Mendelson said.

Supremes want to limit our right to sue firms for fraud
A majority of justices are expected to side with companies that want to reduce their exposure to class action claims, but a 1988 precedent stands in the way. A pro-business Supreme Court takes direct aim at one of its landmark precedents Wednesday in a case that could make it more difficult for investors to prove securities fraud.
At least four conservative justices have made clear their desire to modify or overturn a 1988 decision that permitted class-action lawsuits based on investors' belief in market prices that were skewed by misrepresentations or omissions.
So GOP wants to cut regulations AND keep us from our “day in court.”
We have no redress if companies destroy lives and property.


401k plans with high-fees rob workers of their retirement
For a young worker, the fees charged in excess of an index fund entirely consume the tax benefit of investing in a 401(k) plan, according to a new study. We also document a wide-array of “dominated” menu fund options where the costs of fees so outweigh the benefits of additional diversification that rational investors would not invest in these assets. Dominated funds earn less than their low-cost menu alternatives by more than .60%. Move your assets to low-cost funds and earn over 50% more by retirement. http://www.amazon.com/Tune-your-401k-EARN-Tax-FREE/dp/1490591028


SCAMS           Why are we still paying $700 Billion a year for WWII deployments?
We are paying for 164,253 of our active-duty armed personnel to be in 150 countries around the world. We have about 50,000 in Japan and 50,000 in Germany.
Are we preparing for WWII again? There are 1,208,083[1] armed personnel in the United States. Our taxes pay for about HALF of the WORLD’s military expenditures every year.
We just can’t afford to pay for everyone else.
DoD head Hagel proposes budget cut but still pay for F35 plane failures.

Spies claim they are just “reading” the faces
US senators said British and US spy agencies showed a "breathtaking lack of respect" for privacy after reports they had intercepted and stored images from webcams used by millions of Yahoo users. The Optic Nerve program collected still images of webcam chats regardless of whether individual users were suspects or not. Webcam imagery, contained a significant amount of sexual content from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts around the world.
 
UK papers report CIA hacking Senate committee computers
Now we have the ultimate sign of the end of American democracy: government spying on own oversight committee of duly elected representatives.
Wow—the conspiracy theorists are right—spies everywhere but on our enemies.http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/03/05/cia_senate_watchdog_spying_row/


Colleges where students are packing heat
GOP backed gun-toting students now put teachers in awkward position: how to outdraw a younger upset gunslinger. Where is Wyatt Earp when we need him?

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014
Alerts 

No comments: