America's future?

America’s future?

GOP experiment fails: Cut taxes—no services, no jobs, no freedom

GOP KS Gov Brownback’s “experiment” tax cuts create debt downgrades, weak growth, and school finances under court direction. The Kansas City Star’s reported KS lost another 1,900 jobs in February and now has 5,400 fewer jobs than it did one year ago: “Growth” rate of -0.4% is first time in five years and worst in the nation. Koch owns KS politics but is expanding SC jobs, not KS. OH and WI cut school funding for rich tax cuts too.

KS has now legalized discrimination by religion on campus. No more open university for learning and experimenting with beliefs. YOU are now excluded from groups legally!

John Birch and KKK alive and well in KS!  GA is next to OK discrimination.

Are stock tip sheets right for you?

“Market conditions now match those when stocks were at their November peak. Sell your stocks now or you'll wish you had…” Ken Goldberg, TheStreet.com says his chart says to sell and buy the stocks he says will save you from impoverishment. Do these services that cost $200 and up help you … or just the promoters. If you buy these stocks with “serious upside potential” you will need to sell the ones they recommended last week. Oh?!. Can you beat the market by buying and selling? Can Jim Cramer really make you rich? Can your advisor beat a low-cost index every year?

As your rational mind knows, none of these claims are true because no person or machine has been able to predict the future.

One guy has been successful making his fellow owners millionaires and billionaires: http://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-can-make-millionaire/dp/1530555981

How do advisors estimate your retirement fund growth?

Advisors use a number of methods to estimate how much you may have upon retirement and how long your funds will last. They should mention that none of their computer models nor years of experience nor education can accurately predict their answers. Depending on how much is in your account and the investment risk you are willing to take, they can forecast the future value of your fund using this calculator: http://www.moneychimp.com/calculator/compound_interest_calculator.htm. For instance, if you have $250,000 and you are investing $3,000 a year for the next 20 years at 8% net earnings (after fees, taxes, etc), you might have $1.4 million. But that does not count inflation. At 3%, the account might have HALF that in purchasing power by then. Another way to estimate your retirement income is using a model called the Monte Carlo method. Using 5,000 different market conditions, you see how much you could spend after inflation. Note an equal ratio of stocks/bonds makes success more likely. https://retirementplans.vanguard.com/VGApp/pe/pubeducation/calculators/RetirementNestEggCalc.jsf

Try the simple steps yourself: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Retirement-Spending-Plan-enough/dp/1461084016

Is your bank helping the wealthy break the law?

JP Morgan Chase helped Madoff create the largest ponzi in history according to one of Madoff’s victims. Morgan paid a fine but no banker went to jail. Obama did not pursue them. How many other wealthy people are Wall Street banks assisting in breaking the law? Would the gov tell us even if they bothered to look? Don’t the gov ministers come from the same firms they should be regulating?  

Use your own tax-FREE wealth account: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Wealth-Account-Tax-FREE-Income/dp/1493761277

Is your advisor helping you reach YOUR goals or theirs?

What is your advisor’s annual total return? Take the amount invested 10 years ago and the amount now and compare (without new contributions). Are you better off now by 140%? By 57%? If not your advisor may be doing better than you are and it’s time to let Warren make you a millionaire. His holding company BRK.B is up 140% since 2006. The market is up 57%. Where is your account? Perhaps it’s time to switch!

Let Warren make you a millionaire: http://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-can-make-millionaire/dp/1530555981

Did you receive your refunds yet?

The average fed and state is about $3,000. How long would it take your INVESTED refunds to reach $1,000,000? 50 years, 40, 30 or 20 years? It costs just $12.95 to start $1 million fund yourself. Salespeople can take 63% of your accumulations over time.  

Create a tax-FREE retirement painlessly: http://www.amazon.com/Tax-Refund-Millionaires-Let-Uncle-Help/dp/149595644X

GOP bag man wants to “neuter” top Dem (GOP always talking genitals?)

Top consumer protector Liz Warren was attacked by the GOP rep from MO. According to Warren, Rep Luetkemeyer is a “Wall Street yes-man” who has accepted “nearly a million dollars from the big banks, hedge funds and credit card companies. Luetkemer has also sponsored bills in the past that would curb Department of Justice crackdowns on predatory lenders and another that would reduce oversight of payday lenders. Last year, the Center for Responsive Politics found that Luetkemeyer ranks among the top 10 recipients of campaign contributions from payday and short-term lenders, who pray on consumers with loan rates that make the mafia blush—400%.

Does our President need to be smart and truthful? Do they even care about truth?

            (a summary of the GOP Presidential debates) (history: GOP has the final candidate by Feb 17)

Trump that: German hometown upset with his "raw, unvarnished intolerance."

            In the desert, hyenas and wolves are teaming up in order to hunt for food. 

            Il Duce “I’m going to get judges that everybody likes “I guarantee it personally.”

            VP maybe Jesse Ventura, Palin has TV, Cruz, Ryan, Fiorina ???

            “Muslims Need To Show More Respect”—George Wallace “Blacks need…”

           

Kasich: “life will improve once teachers, nurses, police and firefighters cut union pay”

Ryan: “I will accept nomination in contested convention to save GOP from hell.

Cruz: Police must “patrol and secure” Muslim neighborhoods?—create Warsaw ghetto?

            (Brussels ‘terrorists’ were just armed robbers/carjackers not Muslim jihadists.)

Palin: Star in new Judge Judy-style courtroom reality show in 2017—Not VeeP?

Hill: Sorry, my husband didn’t mean that my last 8 years in office were “awful.” Oh Bill

Bernie: “If Qatar spends $200 billion on soccer stadium, it could spend as much fighting             terrorists. We can’t do Kuwait/Saudi Arabia’s dirty work anymore."

Regulators are the only protection we have since we can’t sue anymore

            “It is nearly impossible for one individual to take on a corporation with vast resources.” (GOP bill requires impossible: every person in class action suffer “same type and scope of injury”)

               Supremes stop us from suing—State courts no longer available to sue corporations!

.GOP now (after horse left) wants regulations, after children poisoned; asks Feds to pay!

.William J. Wells, Promitor Capital stole $1.5 million promising brilliant trades

.Regulators lack broker examiners since Congress cut funding—investors at risk of fraud.

.Robert Lunn, Lunn Partners caught on bank fraud and Scottie Pippen fraud

.Guns, not people, kill people: Mom, shot by 4 year old, gets 180 days in jail.

We need regulation—GOP wrong—companies/cities wouldn’t fix bad products on own

My estate plan cost nothing to establish and fund—heirs pay no taxes

If you leave your IRA, annuity or 401k to your heirs when you pass, they may receive a huge tax bill from the IRS and state treasurer. All deferred savings plans are deferred meaning you or your heirs must pay income tax on the gains. If your heirs are in their prime earning years, they may get bumped into the higher tax bracket. They may pay 40% of your legacy to tax authorities. I will avoid this problem by using a special IRS tax-FREE account that I have funded for the last 10 years. I avoided all the legal costs of an estate plan and establishing a trust. I have both at no charge.

You can avoid the legacy costs—including heir income taxes: http://www.amazon.com/Create-Your-Tax-FREE-Financial-System/dp/1466367466

Consumer Reports on your best and worst buys: vehicles

Reviews show US car makers still have a distance to travel for Americans even though most of the best are made in America. It ranks automakers across the world by reliability, road test performance and other factors. For the second year in a row, Lexus topped the list, nearly matched by Mazda, and followed by Toyota and Audi. The bottom of the list included Ford, Dodge, BMW Mini, Jeep and Fiat.

And its top picks: https://www.yahoo.com/autos/peoples-picks-10-most-popular-cars-consumer-reports-100034666.html

Is critical illness insurance right for you?

It sounds like insurance you should have but remember what happened to Donny Ray Black in Grisham’s The Rainmaker. Your insurer knows the game better than you do so have your financial advisor or lawyer investigate the policy first. You must be “sick as they define it.” Your doctor doesn’t decide if you get paid. Benefits of $5,000 to $100,000 are paid if you meet all their conditions. It costs $25 to $50 a month. You could have Vanguard take $50 a month out of your checking to invest over time for $100,000. Most people cancel before they use policy. At least Vanguard gives you your money back. And if you don’t need it, you can use the money for other things.

http://www.amazon.com/Customize-Your-Insurance-Save-every/dp/1490936440

How the government wastes our tax money

.New destroyer cost $4.4 BILLION and has been rejected by commanders as costs soar.

.Boeing makes new unmanned sub we don’t need at outrageous cost

.AL GOP Gov Bentley reversed the minimum wage increase Birmingham gave to workers last month back to $7.25 in order to give 4 friends raises of $73,405 on $91,000.

Why would Alabama voters vote GOP to lower their wages?

.FBI faking it: a group of Johns Hopkins University researchers has found a bug in Apple’s encryption, one that would enable a skilled attacker to decrypt iphones.

.KY changes marriage cert so Kim Davis does not have to sign GOP religion wins!

SCAMS

Doctors who receive payments from the medical industry do indeed tend to prescribe drugs differently than their colleagues who don’t. And the more money they receive, on average, the more brand-name medications they prescribe. Doctors who received industry payments were two to three times as likely to prescribe brand-name drugs at exceptionally high rates as others in their specialty. Medicare data only.

Check your doc: https://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/

Service people are targeted more than other groups.

Debt collectors harass them by going to commanders about unproven debt or medical debt not paid by the VA. Improper credit reporting gives service people bad rating which affects all financials--insurance, mortgage and sometimes job acceptance.

Israeli’s teach FBI how to hack Farook’s Apple iphone—No code is perfectly secure!

A Canadian helped two Chinese military hackers steal secrets about US Boeing fighters.

Who owns your account now?

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

Alerts 

Taxes from advisor 'rebalancing'?

Tax increase due to advisor “rebalancing”?

Advisors promote this buy and sell activity to justify their quarterly fee charges. Is it really helpful to you? You pay more tax. Vanguard did a test of many types of rebalancing strategies. None were superior. Selling your winners and buying your losers creates taxes, fees and commissions. It lowers your annual total return as well as your overall volatility. The costs reduce the total return so this strategy seems to have only one result: fee generation. Quarterly rebalancing also justifies your advisor’s lifestyle. ‘Doing nothing’ is hard to justify for a fee.  

A better strategy—‘Do Nothing’ as Warren Buffett says. http://www.amazon.com/The-Wealth-Tao-Wu-Wei/dp/1499351348

Advisers NOT telling total costs so we lose up to 63% of earnings

The average total cost their clients actually pay is 1.83% of assets, the survey of 159 advisers found. Total costs include the adviser fee, administrative fee, platform fee and product fee. Most advisers are required to list their fees but don’t. The costs that some advisers don't fully account for include administrative fees, which can be buried in prospectus documents, and platform fees, Mr. Carson said. John Bogle, Vanguard founder, estimates we can lose 63% of possible nest egg to costs.

No need to lose up to 63% of your TOTAL accumulations: http://www.amazon.com/Keep-More-What-Earn-Diversification/dp/1479293474

401k up 12.7% (if you left your money alone)

Vanguard reports that the average 401(k) account balance rose from $56,000 in 2008 to $102,000 in 2013. And even factoring in contributions, Vanguard research analyst Jean Young reports that one study of 401(k) participants, conducted by the firm, showed an average annual return rate of 12.7% over the same five-year period. Household income averaged up much less at the current median figure of $52,959. Tune up your 401k: http://www.amazon.com/Tune-your-401k-EARN-Tax-FREE/dp/1490591028

American Dream dead?

A CNN/ORC International poll in 2014 showed that 59 percent of Americans believe the

American dream is impossible, compared to 40 percent who say they believe it is. College grads under age 30 have huge student loan payment at gouge rates and can’t find jobs that can carry the debt. Some have gone home to parents. Many share rooms. Some work many part time jobs. Some try starting new business with no money. Few average students are making their way. Fewer still are starting their savings/investing plan. Starting early is key to having enough tax-FREE: http://www.amazon.com/New-American-Retirement-System-Tax-FREE/dp/1461030072

Advisers escape responsibility for mistakes by filing

“Bankruptcy offers advisers a chance to transform a crisis into an opportunity — not just to clear their financial slate, but to better relate to clients' struggles with money.” So says adviser industry.

What about our money? Their opportunity—but our losses.

Wealth without Wall Street’s fees, commissions, expenses, charges, etc: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Killers-commissions-expenses-Tax-FREE/dp/1489573828

Wall Street exec sees another tax payer bailout!

BlackRock Inc.'s Laurence Fink, who oversees the world's biggest ETF lineup, said leveraged ETFs are a structural problem and have the potential to "blow up" the industry. These index funds (exchange-traded funds) are becoming popular with advisors because they can earn fees/commissions. Leveraging (using bank money) creates bigger losses or gains.

Protect yourself—Use Buffett’s strategy: http://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Investment-Strategy-Forget/dp/1484822900

Smart investors earn 13% a year

A survey of defined contribution investors (401k) shows that simple rules of investing pay off. Savvy savers use only low-fee, high-yield compounding accounts. The study found the more financially literate held a greater share of stocks in their portfolios and more volatile holdings than the less knowledgeable. Keep more of what you contribute and earn: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-every-school-graduate-century/dp/1466427906

GOP crazies say God helped him stop amnesty for kids

“God acted through people on my behalf,” new tea party winner Dave Brat said on Fox News shortly after his victory over House leader Cantor. Cantor wasn’t exactly caught sleeping. He spent $1 million in the weeks leading up to the primary on television ads calling Brat a “liberal college professor,” and sent out mailers boasting he’d blocked “amnesty” on Capitol Hill. Apparently not enough. Far right voters saw those 47,000 kids in prison camps awaiting deportation and didn’t want the House giving them amnesty. So we are giving the kids lawyers so they can fight! Where are the embassies?

MN Uninsured Has Plunged 40 Percent Under Obamacare
Minnesota has seen its uninsured rate plunge by more than 40% since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study released this week. 

The study, released by researchers at the University of Minnesota, provided the first look at Obamacare's effect on a single state's insured rate. It found that the number of uninsured in Minnesota fell from 445,000 (about 8.2% of the population) to about 264,500 (about 4.9% of the population).

The decrease is similar to the effects in Massachusetts after similar healthcare reforms were implemented there in 2006. It's a larger increase than the Congressional Budget Office has projected for the entire United States — a drop from 54 million under previous law to 42 million under the Affordable Care Act.

Insurers now racing to join ObamaCare

Ten insurers are seeking approval to sell 504 separate health plans next year on the Illinois health insurance exchange, a dramatic increase from 2014, Illinois said Thursday. The surge in interest in the Illinois exchange allays widespread concerns that carriers would walk away from offering coverage under the Affordable Care Act next year because sicker-than-expected pools of patients would sign up and raise financial risks associated with participating. Last year, just six insurers offered 165 policies in Illinois.

More insurance companies are expressing an interest in selling policies on Kentucky's health-benefit exchange next year -- a move state officials say will benefit consumers.

All five insurance companies that sold policies this year on the exchange known as Kynect want to come back for 2015, and at least one other -- CareSource -- wants to join them. State officials said they are optimistic that several other insurers will file in the next few weeks to sell policies in the coming year on the exchange. Kynect is an online insurance marketplace offering health insurance plans for Kentuckians. It was created last year by Gov. Steve Beshear, as called for in the federal Affordable Care Act.

Unbiased car insurer for vets picks best value cars

USAA unveiled its fourth-annual Best Value list identifying the top 2014 automobiles rating highest in safety, reliability and affordability. The 2014 Best Value vehicles are almost all made in USA but designed (ignitions too) by others.

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’s defenses anymore.

SEC says Scott Valente convinced 80 investors in upstate New York to turn over $8.8 million in the last four years. SEC is closing him.

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

Alerts 

Tax-Refund Millionaires

Refunds are larger this year—$3,229

You can find out where your refund is at http://www.irs.gov/Refunds

What do you do with your tax refund?

Let Uncle Sam help you reach your goals.

Michele invested her refund every year and now has more than enough for retirement.

“This is the no-pain way to save.” She is a Tax-Refund Millionaire:

http://www.amazon.com/Tax-Refund-Millionaires-Let-Uncle-Help/dp/149595644X

We pay extra $1,259 so that rich can pay less

The average American would have to fork over an extra $1,259 in state and federal income taxes this year to make up for the revenue lost because of offshore tax havens used by corporations and wealthy individuals, according to a new report. U.S. companies will use offshore tax havens to avoid paying an estimated $110 billion in taxes this year, according to the analysis by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Wealthy people will circumvent about $74 billion in taxes. Warren Buffett pays 17%, Mitt Romney 15%, John Kerry 13%, GE pays 0% tax. Pay your fair share with this tax-FREE account: http://www.amazon.com/Tax-FREE-Wealth-How-laws-free/dp/1475089236/

Avoid tax penalty and interest

File your tax return and pay what you can even if you are late. This reduces the penalty and interest you will be assessed. When you get a bill, don’t ignore it. Set up a payment plan with IRS approval now. Efile even if you can’t pay. File for a payment plan: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Online-Payment-Agreement-Application

If you rent, your landlord will not cover damage/loss to your stuff

To help renters calculate how much coverage they need, the institute offers a home inventory tool at www.knowyourstuff.org. A room-by-room inventory may determine that you need more than the $50,000 or so that the basic policy offers. And while you’re at it, take photos of expensive items; they may be useful if you ever have to file a claim. A basic policy costs about $300 but has some limits so shop your auto insurers’ quote:

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/insurance_home_renters?akredirect=true

Are you missing a life insurance benefit?

Insurers use a central registry of people who purchased life insurance. You can use it to find a lost policy. Perhaps a relative has passed and you suspect they had a policy. MIB today announced a new online order form, which makes it easier for consumers to search its Policy Locator Service, the insurance industry's most comprehensive resource for finding lost life insurance policies. Look for cancelled checks with the name of the company before you pay the search charge. http://www.mib.com/lost_life_insurance.html

Vanguard expanding service

Vanguard's decision to expand its web-savvy retail advice service is sending shivers throughout the financial planning community. The service provides investors a financial plan, asset allocation plot, ongoing monitoring and re-balancing, performance forecasting and periodic contact with an adviser for 0.3% of portfolio assets annually. The service “typically recommends” Vanguard funds as investments to clients, according to a company brochure. It has more than 200 Vanguard-trained certified financial planners and investment adviser representatives working with the firm, with nearly 150,000 clients. Compare their advice service to yours:  https://personal.vanguard.com/us/whatweoffer/advice/personaladvisor3

Study finds excess fees steal workers’ retirement futures

The study found that the higher the cost of the plans, the more likely costs will discourage investor participation. High-cost plans “are not inducing more employees to participate more or to contribute more,” the two authors write. The study used data from more than 3,000 401(k) plans with more than $120 billion in assets. In 16 percent of the analyzed plans, “the fees charged in excess of an index fund entirely consume the tax benefit of investing in a 401(k) plan,” the authors found. Tune up your 401k Earn more:http://www.amazon.com/Tune-your-401k-EARN-Tax-FREE/dp/1490591028

ObamaCare may lower your car insurance costs

Every year U.S. insurance companies have to pay out billions of dollars for medical care because of injuries in the workplace, car crashes and similar claims. According to the report, in 2007 medical costs from auto accidents forced insurers to pay out $35 billion, about 2 percent of all health care costs that year. As more of the previously uninsured get coverage through Obamacare, insurers won't have to put aside as much money to pay for their care -- and that could mean lower premiums. Also, some patients now use automobile liability insurance to get treatment for medical problems unrelated to an accident. With the ACA, they'll be able to use their regular medical insurance to pay for that. Who knew?

U.S. budget deficit has plunged by nearly $1 trillion since its peak in 2009?

Obama is not given credit by those who ran up the deficit with 2 wars and 2 tax cuts for the rich. The top 1% take over 23% of income. Household income fell to under $50,000. http://inequality.org/income-inequality/More corporations have stashed record $2 TRILLION in tax shelters. Others have “moved” outside US to avoid taxes.  

 http://inequality.org/income-inequality/

Here we go again—certain people have to “register” and pay extra tax on property

Jews in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk where pro-Russian militants have taken over government buildings were told they have to "register" with the Ukrainians who are trying to make the city become part of Russia, according to Israeli media.

Isn’t this how Hitler started? He had Jews register and later took Poland to “protect” ethnic Germans living inPoland.

Wal-Mart wires money for less—much less

“Walmart-2-Walmart” allows a money transfer to be made between any Wal-Mart locations throughout theUnited States--4,000 different locations on U.S. soil. Transfers under $50 will be subject to a $4.50 fee, while larger transactions will bill on a blanket fee basis of $9.50. Walmart-2-Walmart will only support transactions of up to $900, meaning that those wishing to send $1,000 or more will still opt for MoneyGram. (Walmart-2-Walmart is also limited in that it only supports transfers within the United States.) Still, since MoneyGram can often bill $70 or more in fees for a $900 transfer, there is no doubt that Wal-Mart’s service will be a competitive option for most people. Some banks use email and apps for transfers at no charge.

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’s defenses anymore.

DoD head Hagel proposes budget cut but still pay for Lockheed F35 plane failures.

You are NOT responsible for parents’ debts

The Social Security Administration is suspending a program in which thousands of people were having their tax refunds seized to recoup overpayments that happened more than a decade ago. "While this policy of seizing tax refunds to repay decades-old Social Security overpayments might be allowed under the law, it is entirely unjust," Democratic Sens. Senators Barbara Boxer of California and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland said in a letter to Colvin. SS spokesman said, “we do not use tax refund offset to collect the debt of a person's relative — we only use it to collect the overpaid benefits the person received for himself or herself."

Who owns your account Now?

Nuveen Investments to TIAA-CREF, the manager of retirement accounts for teachers

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

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