The OBAMACARE Healthcare.gov site continues to be loaded with glitches. On Fri I spent 3 hours working with a client. We got booted off the system 3 times and was finally able to complete a registration for an account. However the site never allowed us to select a plan and order insurance. We eventually had to call the 800 number to select a plan. Even when we were on the 800 line they were unable to get payment instructions or provide a policy number.
Then Tuesday while working with another client we got his family registered for an account but he wanted to speak with his wife before selecting one of the 2 plans I recommended after looking all the selections and discussing the plan features. When they talked he signed back in to the OBAMACARE site only to find out that they had deleted the registration we had spent over an hour setting up earlier in the day!!
Then today in the paper there was an article about OBMACARE subsidy eligibility. Remember in earlier correspondence we discussed the legal challenges to OBAMACARE due to offering subsidies to families buying from the Federal Exchange or Marketplace. Remember that the laws stated that subsidies were only available for those who bought insurance from a STATE Exchange. That flaw in wording technically ruled out subsidies for those buying insurance from the Federally Facilitated Exchange or FFM. Well any way the courts ruled that all states with FFE or FFM as well as the states with a STATE Exchange are able to offer subsidy in spite of the poorly crafted bill. Another bullet dodged by OBAMACARE. Now if only they can get the stinking website to work!!!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
What are the most common reasons used for not buying Long Term Care Insurance
Today I want to list some of the most common EXCUSES for not buying LTC insurance
Frankly that is exactly what they are. By not planning for your LTC needs by default you get the government plan for LTC. If you truly understand that this is a fact you would not use any of these excuses!!!
A, It wont happen to me!
B, If I don't use it I loose the money!
C, It is to expensive!
D, I will just self insure!
E, I am to young to buy it!
F My Health insurance plan, Medicare or Medicaid pays for LTC
Please give me your ranking in order of priority numbers 1-6 with 1 being the highest valued answer in your mind!
Now for some TRUTH about the above items A-F
A If you take 2 couples or four adults the truth is at least two out of the four will need LTC!
B Yes sometimes that is true but there are several products available that eliminate that risk!! Call to arrange a meeting to learn how to avoid that risk!
C The cost is actually modest if you consider the risk and if you buy the policy early enough!
D How much money does it really take to self insure. Some people truly are able to self insure but the funny thing is that most of them go ahead and buy LTC Insurance because it is a SMARTER use of their resources. In reality most of the people who want to self insure do not have enough assets protected from market risk to be able to Self Insure!
E The only protection from being medically uninsurable is to buy it while you still think you are to young to buy it. Every year you delay you just increase the costs for the premiums!
F Only about 10- 12 percent have LTC Coverage today. Your Major Medical Plan does not pay for LTC, Medicare Does not pay for LTC, and Medicaid only pays after you and your family are destitute. Is this a situation you want to leave for you or your loved ones?
Talk to a licensed professional to develop a LTC plan!
Frankly that is exactly what they are. By not planning for your LTC needs by default you get the government plan for LTC. If you truly understand that this is a fact you would not use any of these excuses!!!
A, It wont happen to me!
B, If I don't use it I loose the money!
C, It is to expensive!
D, I will just self insure!
E, I am to young to buy it!
F My Health insurance plan, Medicare or Medicaid pays for LTC
Please give me your ranking in order of priority numbers 1-6 with 1 being the highest valued answer in your mind!
Now for some TRUTH about the above items A-F
A If you take 2 couples or four adults the truth is at least two out of the four will need LTC!
B Yes sometimes that is true but there are several products available that eliminate that risk!! Call to arrange a meeting to learn how to avoid that risk!
C The cost is actually modest if you consider the risk and if you buy the policy early enough!
D How much money does it really take to self insure. Some people truly are able to self insure but the funny thing is that most of them go ahead and buy LTC Insurance because it is a SMARTER use of their resources. In reality most of the people who want to self insure do not have enough assets protected from market risk to be able to Self Insure!
E The only protection from being medically uninsurable is to buy it while you still think you are to young to buy it. Every year you delay you just increase the costs for the premiums!
F Only about 10- 12 percent have LTC Coverage today. Your Major Medical Plan does not pay for LTC, Medicare Does not pay for LTC, and Medicaid only pays after you and your family are destitute. Is this a situation you want to leave for you or your loved ones?
Talk to a licensed professional to develop a LTC plan!
Friday, November 22, 2013
What is a SAFE Withdrawal Rate in Retirement?
This question comes up a lot. It is critically important for 2 primary reasons. First if you take out too much you will run out of assets before you run out of Life. Second if you don't know what you can spend each year how do you know what income you will have in retirement!
Many people and most Financial Advisors are familiar with "The 4% Rule." Everyone should be!
It states that you should be able to withdraw 4% of your assets each year in retirement and Usually have your assets last as long as you live. Note that I said usually! You do not want to be an outlier who falls into the category of retirees who fail to have their assets last! What can you do to prevent it? I encourage my clients to use a withdrawal rate of less than 4% when working with their self managed money. There are products that offer a guaranteed rate of withdrawal higher than 4% and we can discuss those later.
A recent article published in Financial Planning was titled " A Safer withdrawal rate using various returns distributions" The conclusions stated that a safer withdrawal rate for todays environment is only 2.52%. Their work indicated that the more common 4% number fails almost 18% of the time. That conclusion says that 1 in 5 will die destitute if they don't adjust there spending or use other strategies besides self managing their retirement assets. Protection from that risk requires the use of some SAFE Money Strategies for some significant portion of your assets.
Only 3 thing can guarantee you a lifetime of income. Social Security (if the government stops stealing from SS funds), an ADEQUATELY funded private pension, or a properly funded designed and guaranteed life insurance product. Notice Stocks bonds mutual funds are not on this list because of Market Risk. They cannot guarantee you a value tomorrow never mind a value 20-30 years from now. Never Forget 2001, 2008-2009! It can happen again! On average you get negative returns 2-3 year out of 10. Look at the graphs for Stock Market Historical performance. If you doubt there is risk answer these questions.
What is the true unemployment rate today? You need to adjust the official numbers for those who quit looking! A more meaningful number is the % of working age adults actually working!
Is the Federal and state government controlling their spending?
Is the Deficit increasing?
Is Obamacare inflationary?
Is the real cost of goods and services you need to live on increasing?
Many people and most Financial Advisors are familiar with "The 4% Rule." Everyone should be!
It states that you should be able to withdraw 4% of your assets each year in retirement and Usually have your assets last as long as you live. Note that I said usually! You do not want to be an outlier who falls into the category of retirees who fail to have their assets last! What can you do to prevent it? I encourage my clients to use a withdrawal rate of less than 4% when working with their self managed money. There are products that offer a guaranteed rate of withdrawal higher than 4% and we can discuss those later.
A recent article published in Financial Planning was titled " A Safer withdrawal rate using various returns distributions" The conclusions stated that a safer withdrawal rate for todays environment is only 2.52%. Their work indicated that the more common 4% number fails almost 18% of the time. That conclusion says that 1 in 5 will die destitute if they don't adjust there spending or use other strategies besides self managing their retirement assets. Protection from that risk requires the use of some SAFE Money Strategies for some significant portion of your assets.
Only 3 thing can guarantee you a lifetime of income. Social Security (if the government stops stealing from SS funds), an ADEQUATELY funded private pension, or a properly funded designed and guaranteed life insurance product. Notice Stocks bonds mutual funds are not on this list because of Market Risk. They cannot guarantee you a value tomorrow never mind a value 20-30 years from now. Never Forget 2001, 2008-2009! It can happen again! On average you get negative returns 2-3 year out of 10. Look at the graphs for Stock Market Historical performance. If you doubt there is risk answer these questions.
What is the true unemployment rate today? You need to adjust the official numbers for those who quit looking! A more meaningful number is the % of working age adults actually working!
Is the Federal and state government controlling their spending?
Is the Deficit increasing?
Is Obamacare inflationary?
Is the real cost of goods and services you need to live on increasing?
Friday, November 15, 2013
If you live in Ohio or Indiana and need Obamacare Health Insurance, check this out
I have completed OBAMACARE training and can offer the best products available from the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) or Exchange, or from the companies directly.
visit this website for help or information
http://hemahelp.com/broker/grainger/contact.html
visit this website for help or information
http://hemahelp.com/broker/grainger/contact.html
Savvy US individuals purchased over $17 Billion in 2013. What do they Know, that you don't?
Savvy individuals and investors purchased $17 B of one type of product this year. That represents almost 7% increase over last year. The investors did it to control risk, earn a decent rate of return and in many cases to guarantee lifetime income or at least guarantee income for a fixed period of time. How does that sound to you? How about Zero market risk! Is that important to you?
These products are offered by some of the strongest financial companies in the world. The companies I recommend did not lose money in 2001, 2008 or 2009. They did not require any government bailout! They actually made money in 2008-9. They are well positioned to weather the next market downturn which we all know will happen! We just can not say when.
These products work with both qualified and non qualified money. They work in ROTH and Traditional IRA accounts, SIMPLE Plans, SEP Plans or even within ROTH or Traditional 401K Plans that I run for my clients. They can be used in Trusts, can fund charitable contributions or work within estate plans.
These products are offered by some of the strongest financial companies in the world. The companies I recommend did not lose money in 2001, 2008 or 2009. They did not require any government bailout! They actually made money in 2008-9. They are well positioned to weather the next market downturn which we all know will happen! We just can not say when.
These products work with both qualified and non qualified money. They work in ROTH and Traditional IRA accounts, SIMPLE Plans, SEP Plans or even within ROTH or Traditional 401K Plans that I run for my clients. They can be used in Trusts, can fund charitable contributions or work within estate plans.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Did you know November is Long Term Care Month?
Yes, November is Long Term Care Month!
If you are in a room with only 4 adults how many of them will end up need Long Term Care (LTC)?
The answer is at least 2! I don't know who is going to need it but I know what percentage will need
it! That's over a 50% chance of needing LTC!
Do you own a house? Do you have homeowners insurance? Of course you do! Do you know that you only have about a 1 in 1200 chance of having a house fire? That's less than a 0.1% chance of a fire but you have protection against that risk.
Do you have auto insurance? About 98% of people have auto insurance. The risk of being in an accident is about 1 in 200 or 0.5%. But even with the low risk almost everyone insures the risk.
Why is that? It is because the risk of an event without the coverage is devastating to your financial health!
The risk of an uninsured LTC event is far more devastating than either of the two examples shown above. The average cost of a LTC event far exceeds the cost of replacing the average house! The average cost of a LTC event is 20 times the cost of a typical auto accident.
There are even products that protect those who are convinced it will not happen to them. If you never need it you get your money back!
If you are in a room with only 4 adults how many of them will end up need Long Term Care (LTC)?
The answer is at least 2! I don't know who is going to need it but I know what percentage will need
it! That's over a 50% chance of needing LTC!
Do you own a house? Do you have homeowners insurance? Of course you do! Do you know that you only have about a 1 in 1200 chance of having a house fire? That's less than a 0.1% chance of a fire but you have protection against that risk.
Do you have auto insurance? About 98% of people have auto insurance. The risk of being in an accident is about 1 in 200 or 0.5%. But even with the low risk almost everyone insures the risk.
Why is that? It is because the risk of an event without the coverage is devastating to your financial health!
The risk of an uninsured LTC event is far more devastating than either of the two examples shown above. The average cost of a LTC event far exceeds the cost of replacing the average house! The average cost of a LTC event is 20 times the cost of a typical auto accident.
There are even products that protect those who are convinced it will not happen to them. If you never need it you get your money back!
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Why would anyone ever put up with earning only1.9%?
I was just reviewing Bank Rate.com and it showed a National Average 5 year CD rate of only 1.9%.
Why in the world would anyone want to park funds at a bank with a rate of 1.9%? Just think about it the average inflation rate over the last 5-10 years has been over 2.5-2.9%. That means in December you have lost money every year for parking money with your bank! Ouch! Your bank doesn't loose money they lend it out for anywhere between 3.9 - 19+%. Why should you loose money so the bank can make as much as17% per year on your assets.
Did you know that solid alternatives exist?
How about the following examples. I am going to mention just a few.
The only problem is that these rates might not last for ever. Don't Delay!
1) 5 year fixed rate guaranteed 3.25- 3.5% per year.
2) 8 year monthly income stream paying 6%
3) Insured High yield but variable rate 7 year product. Contractual low rate of 1.25% with an annual upside potential of up to 7 - 7.25%. If you get the maximum only 2 years out of 7 you get almost 2.8%, if you get the max 3 years out of 7 you earn almost 3.7% and if you earner the higher rate 6 years out of 7 you would earn over 44%. Compare that to the Bankrate.com national CD rate of 1.9% with a 5 year return of under10%. Which should you choose?
Call or email to learn more or to determine if these strategies makes sense for some of your assets!
Why in the world would anyone want to park funds at a bank with a rate of 1.9%? Just think about it the average inflation rate over the last 5-10 years has been over 2.5-2.9%. That means in December you have lost money every year for parking money with your bank! Ouch! Your bank doesn't loose money they lend it out for anywhere between 3.9 - 19+%. Why should you loose money so the bank can make as much as17% per year on your assets.
Did you know that solid alternatives exist?
How about the following examples. I am going to mention just a few.
The only problem is that these rates might not last for ever. Don't Delay!
1) 5 year fixed rate guaranteed 3.25- 3.5% per year.
2) 8 year monthly income stream paying 6%
3) Insured High yield but variable rate 7 year product. Contractual low rate of 1.25% with an annual upside potential of up to 7 - 7.25%. If you get the maximum only 2 years out of 7 you get almost 2.8%, if you get the max 3 years out of 7 you earn almost 3.7% and if you earner the higher rate 6 years out of 7 you would earn over 44%. Compare that to the Bankrate.com national CD rate of 1.9% with a 5 year return of under10%. Which should you choose?
Call or email to learn more or to determine if these strategies makes sense for some of your assets!
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