Nothing is the Way it Seems on Wall Street

Nothing is the Way it Seems on Wall Street

            Warren Buffett has turned his $6,000 paper route earnings into $60 billions during his lifetime. He credits compounding NOT stock trading for his success. He does not "play" Wall Street's games.

      He says: "The market is a way to transfer money from the impatient to the patient." 

The odds of the average trader and investor becoming wealthy from their "play" are very long. The owners structure the odds so that they don't lose. The winners have information we don't have.

            Compounding is our investment edge. Buffett’s way makes us rich from patience.

http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Way-Seems-Wall-Street/dp/1492752916

Is your bank a pain in the wallet?

Midwest-based TCF National Bank has by far the highest ratio of complaints to total deposits, with 24.9 complaints per billion dollars of deposits. Sovereign Bank (9.1 complaints per billion of deposits) and Capital One Bank (6.5 complaints per billion of deposits) ranked second and third, respectively. Buy only what you need and save: http://www.amazon.com/Get-What-You-Pay-financial/dp/1492384100/

Easy explanation of ObamaCare Exchange plans

There are 4 levels of service and cost. There is a smoking penalty. States provide specific Exchanges offerings from private insurers. You are buying at a group discount. Your services are standardized so insurers can’t cheat. Buy only what you need.  http://finance.yahoo.com/news/choose-between-bronze-silver-gold-123000025.html

GE LTCi rates go up, again

Genworth Financial announced that it has begun filing for long term care insurance in force premium rate increases on certain Privileged Choice and Classic Select policies sold between 2003 and 2012. GE says: “Although these policies have generated positive operating earnings to date, the premium rate increase on these policies will help offset lower than priced-for returns, primarily due to improvements in life expectancy and lower-than-­anticipated lapse rates. These premium rate increase requests are being made in addition to the premium rate increase filings announced in 2012 on certain older blocks of in force long term care insurance policies.” There are alternatives: http://www.amazon.com/Long-term-Care-Insurance-better-alternatives/dp/147006877X

ObamaCare premium average $328 BEFORE subsidy

Americans will pay an average premium of $328 monthly for a mid-tier health insurance plan when the Obamacare health exchanges open for enrollment next week, and most will qualify for government subsidies to lower that price, the Obama administration said on Wednesday. States with the most uninsured like TX, have lower rates: Texas has been among the Republican-led states most fiercely opposed to Obamacare, but its monthly rates came in below the national average, HHS said. In Austin, Texas, with 76 plans to choose from, a 27-year-old would pay $169 per month for the lowest cost mid-tier plan. In Dallas-Fort Worth, with 43 plans to choose from, that price was $217 per month, the report said.

Maybe this plan ain’t so bad!

SCAMS           “Deficits don’t matter” Republican godfather, Dick Cheney, 2002

Medigap owners overcharged by 4 insurers

Four insurers will pay a total of $2.2 million in restitution to holders of Medigap policies after the companies overcharged the 3,475 seniors, violating state law by failing to dedicate the required amount of premium payments to medical bills instead of administrative costs and profit.

The companies -- American Progressive Life and Health Insurance Co. of New York, Excellus Health Plan of Rochester, First United American Life Insurance Co. of Liverpool, and Transamerica Financial Life Insurance Co. -- will pay refunds averaging $624 per policyholder. Checks are scheduled to go out beginning Monday.

The state law requires that at least 65 percent of premium dollars for individual policies and 75 percent for group policies go to medical benefits. For nonprofit companies, the requirement is 80 percent. Insurers forget why in business!

We paid agribusiness corporations a record $17 billion because their profits were low!!

As of early August, indemnities for 2012 losses under the federal crop insur­ance program stood at a record $17.396 billion. Most recipients are large corporations whose profits were less than last year and we make up the difference to them. http://www.agweb.com/article/policy_journal_Sept2013/

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

Save up to 200% on securities and every financial need

Get What You Pay For: Save 200% on stocks, mutual funds, every financial need

Avoid taxes and fees. Let your money compound.
Cut out the middleman/woman. Buy only what you need.

The best guarantee of lifelong security is having money. We grow our savings in a tax-FREE investment account. It assures us of money when we need it. We stop paying unnecessary taxes. We avoid overpaying for products and services by buying only what we need directly from manufacturers, not salespeople. We save $3,000 a year. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1492384100

ObamaCare saves $1.2 billion in premiums already

6.8 million of us saved an estimated $1.2 billion on health insurance premiums in 2012, due to the “rate review” provision of the Affordable Care Act, which brought unprecedented accountability to slow the growth of health insurance premiums. We received a check for $324—Blue Cross Blue Shield charged more than they needed to cover their overhead and profits. ObamaCare requires insurers spend premiums on claims not on executive perks. http://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Resources/Fact-Sheets-and-FAQs/ratereview05192011a.html

Vanguard helps millions reach goals

With $2.2 trillion in assets to manage for investors, Vanguard is the top retail mutual fund firm. Many 401k and college savings plans use Vanguard because its funds are owned by investors not stockholders. All services are provided “at cost.” Many money managers, charging 1-3% of your assets, are now using ETFs (index funds) from Vanguard as part of their offerings. Investors have not yet learned that high-paid money managers pay only 0.05% for the ETFs they are resold by their advisor. Pay less; keep more: http://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Without-Wall-Street-Commissions/dp/1442168137

GOP health ins plan costs more than ObamaCare!

The first comprehensive Republican alternative to President Barack Obama's health care plan, a large group of House conservatives is unveiling legislation that provides an expanded tax break for consumers who purchase their own health care and increases government funding for high-risk pools.

The plan endorsed by the Republican Study Committee would let individuals who purchase coverage claim a deduction of $7,500 against income and payroll taxes, regardless of the cost of the insurance. Families could deduct $20,000.

ObamaCare’s exchanges let individuals buy coverage from insurers and receive a tax deduction also. The ObamaCare’s family deduction is not so generous as the GOP plan. Most taxpayers don’t owe $20,000 in taxes anyway! This is socialism for the rich.

Think long term with investments

Habitable conditions on planet Earth will persist for at least another 1.75 billion years and perhaps as much as 3.5 billion years, according to a new study conducted by astrobiologists at the University of East Anglia.

Is your advisor giving you the best options for YOU or him/her?

The government promised to spell out how your advisor should act in giving YOU the best options. Brokers do not have to give you the best advice, only advice that won’t hurt you. New rules surrounding fiduciary standards will have to wait, and wait, and wait some more as financial advisors last week learned that the U.S. Department of Labor has pushed back yet again its proposals to amend the definition of a fiduciary. Unfortunately, when the lawyers start making rules about ethical conduct, we all lose. It is better to trust only those who have no bias about financials. http://www.amazon.com/Unbiased-Advisors-Network-helps-tax-FREE/dp/1470106841

Do you really need life insurance anymore?

In a survey, 55 percent of seniors said they have allowed their life insurance policies to lapse, viewing it as a liability instead of an asset. More than 80 percent of adults aged 66 and over were not aware that they can sell an existing life insurance policy for a cash payout. Maybe you don’t need life insurance anymore. There are several options:  http://www.amazon.com/Life-Insurance-Need-Save-right/dp/1480002178

SCAMS           “Deficits don’t matter” Republican godfather, Dick Cheney, 2002

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

What happens if you are laid off?

Your "Go-to-Hell" Fund: How will you live if everything "goes-to-hell"?

The best guarantee of lifelong security is having money.
Most Americans have less than a month of expenses saved.
         What would happen to your family if you suddenly had no income? 70 percent of us say we could only afford to take off for one month or less of unpaid vacation before everyday expenses would force us to return to work, according to a survey by the LIFE Foundation.
How can we protect our families? We don't need complicated insurance, mutual funds, or financial products to have the good life. I help you decide which financials are best for you, now and later. Just $18.95. 

http://www.amazon.com/Your--Hell-Fund-goes---hell/dp/1492325627

Was your new used car totaled by storm Sandy?

USAA officials now admit that some vehicles it branded as total losses after being damaged by Hurricane Sandy's floodwaters later were resold and put back on the road.

The San Antonio-based insurer totaled some 4,000 customer vehicles damaged during last year's storm in the Northeast.

USAA earmarked 174 of those vehicles to be sold for parts only because they had no titles. But USAA later found some buyers who bought them at auto auctions fraudulently obtained clean titles with the intention of putting them on the road again.

Is having homeowner’s insurance enough?

After a year of waiting, some Sandy victims close to giving up. "The city told me to use my structure money to raise my house," said Joe Mirmina, who lives three blocks away from McFadden on James Street in Milford. "But the bank won't let you do that. I have the money to repair my house, but I can't until the house is lifted." Although McFadden's house is already raised, there's still plenty of work to do. He said when his house is finally repaired, he'll likely need to sell it to make ends meet. Use your discounts:  http://www.amazon.com/Homeowners-Insurance-Beware-Coverage-Policy/dp/1480100870

GOP against Obamacare because:

http://www.gop.com/news/research/the-case-against-obamacare/

GOP decided to come up with a plan in Jan 2011. Nothing as of 9/13.

They pledge to change laws to allow buying from another state, expand HsA, prohibit declines by preexisting, prohibit lifetime spending cap, prohibit declined because sick and prohibit govt-paid abortion. These were originally GOP plans.   http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/GOPHealthPlan_061709.pdf

All of these have been accomplished by ObamaCare yet GOP voted the 40^th time to repeal ObamaCare and has yet to make a plan. Stalling until 2016, is the plan, it seems. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/07/18/a-gloating-gop-needs-an-obamacare-alternative/

Is group long-term care insurance right for you?

Group plans often cause people to receive less benefits for more money, according to one study. Group plans may lump you with sicker people. Group plans make enrollment easy but are designed for higher premium per benefit dollar. Individual long term care insurance policies are a better value in almost every way. The major hole in group plans is an inevitable part of the process: it isn’t that the rates are intentionally high. The flaw in the policies lies in the structure of enrollment. There is no medical underwriting for the employer’s convenience. Couples’ premiums with good health were an average of 36.12% less than group plans. Individuals’ premiums with good health were an average of 15.49% less than group plans. Compare: http://www.amazon.com/Long-term-Care-Insurance-better-alternatives/dp/147006877X

Retirees lose company health care—So much for lifelong loyalty

America’s biggest employers, from GE to IBM, are increasingly moving retirees to insurance exchanges where they select their own health plans, an historic shift that could push more costs onto U.S. taxpayers. About 44 percent of companies plan to stop administering health plans for their former workers over the next two years, according to one survey. Last month, United Parcel Service Inc. told workers it would no longer provide health care for 15,000 spouses who can get benefits through their own employer. Retirees feel GE “stripped them of something of substantial value that they believed they earned,” Dennis Rocheleau, 71, a former GE labor negotiator. “They’re saving millions of dollars and the people they’re taking it from are the ones who can afford it the least,” Rocheleau said in an interview. http://www.amazon.com/Health-Insurance-ONLY-right-policy/dp/1480125083

Is your income keeping pace?

The top 1 percent of American households had pretax income above $394,000 last year. The top 10 percent had income exceeding $114,000. The very wealthiest Americans earned more than 19 percent of the country's household income last year—their biggest share since 1928, the year before the stock market crash. And the top 10 percent captured a record 48.2 percent of total earnings last year. 95 percent of the income gains reported since 2009 have gone to the top 1 percent. That compares with a 45 percent share for the top 1 percent in the economic expansion of the 1990s and a 65 percent share from the expansion that followed the 2001 recession. The top 1 percent's share of income bottomed out at 7.7 percent in 1973 and has risen steadily since the early 1980s, according to the analysis. Your investment edge is … the miracle of compounding. http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Simple-Essential-Financial-Life/dp/1492258849

State Farm wants auto rate hike in Illinois

Time to claim your discounts and save $22,000 over time: http://www.amazon.com/Vehicle-Insurance-Beware-Double-Coverage/dp/1480027634

SCAMS           “Deficits don’t matter” Republican godfather, Dick Cheney, 2002

Your bank and medical records read by government employees/contractors

NSA unlocks encryption used to protect emails, banking and medical records. US and British intelligence agencies have successfully cracked much of the online encryption relied upon by hundreds of millions of people to protect the privacy of their personal data, online transactions and emails, according to top-secret documents revealed by former contractor Edward Snowden. "Project Bullrun deals with NSA's abilities to defeat the encryption used in specific network communication technologies.”

Project “Bullrun” produces a lot of bullxxxx, $53 billions of bullxxxx. But 2 kids from Kyrgyzstan (Russia) defeated NSA “intelligence” and bombed Boston. They were “discovered” by a quick-thinking Chinese civilian when his GPS car was kidnapped. The bombers bought the explosives at the same store as the Times Square bomber!

The kits are advertised by the company as “barely legal.” “Best mortar/canister kit you can get,” reports one reviewer on the Phantom Fireworks website.

You can still get 2 free when you buy 1 box. You don’t need a license!

Maybe NSA should watch the store instead of reading my emails!

That $53 billion can pay for health care for over 2 million American families without health care.
 

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

Alerts available at http://dankeppel.blogspot.com/

The Essential Financial Life

Keep It Simple: The Essential Financial Life

The best guarantee of lifelong security is having money.
Complicated finance doesn't work.
Complicated products are expensive.
Complicated money plans are not followed.  

      Wouldn’t you like to assure yourself of tax-FREE growth and income for the rest of your life? We don't need complicated insurance, mutual funds, or financial products to have the good life. We avoid the two KILLERS of wealth accumulation—taxes and fees.

I help you decide which financials are best for you, now and later. You make your money work harder for YOU; not your advisors. You don't give them 2-3% of your money every year. Your investment edge is … the miracle of compounding. http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Simple-Essential-Financial-Life/dp/1492258849

Do you support American-made goods? Buy a Toyota Camry not Ford Fusion

Camry is THE reliable American-made car—80% by American workers. Most mass- market ‘foreign’ cars are made in America, while a lot of ‘American’ cars are NOT fully made in America.  http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2011/06/how-much-of-your-car-is-made-in-america/index.htm  Many expensive cars are made outside the US including Caddy SRX. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/MadeInAmerica/page/made-america-car-american-made-13795239 Manufacturers source car parts by price, including transportation. Just like beer.

Your favorites are probably made by Belgium-Brazilian  InBev, which makes Bud, Michelob, Bass Ale, Corona, Beck’s and Stella Artois. But Bud gave up on Hallertauer Mittelfrüh hops in favor of cheaper hops. The top 40 execs gave themselves a bonus from the savings. The German farmers had to retire. Yuengling and Sam Adams are the largest American-owned breweries, for now.

Are you liable for damages if you text a driver causing an accident?

A New Jersey appeals court ruled on Tuesday that a person could have a legal duty to avoid texting with someone who is driving. Disagreeing with a lower court, a panel of judges found that when a motorist is texting while driving and causes an accident, the person who was exchanging messages with the driver can also be liable for negligence.

But the bar is high. The person had a “special reason” to know the driver was on the road and would read the messages. Only in NJ though.

Donald TrumpU is asked for HIS “birth” certificate!

Last week, the New York Attorney General sued Donald Trump over a host of allegedly illegal practices engaged in by Trump's real estate ‘seminars.’ The AG's alleges nasty practices like promising actual hand-picked teachers with actual real estate experience. Donald’s “University” has no ‘birth’ certificate. Can’t practice “educating” without a license.

Did you celebrate Labor Day?

Underemployment rate near 15%. Not much to party about. Labor lost to capital: Wages fell as productivity grew nearly 8%. Output and profits increased as workers earned less. Capital earned more. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that between 2007 and 2012, wages fell for the lowest 70 percent of all wage earners, despite productivity growth of 7.7 percent. Since 1978, CEO pay at American firms has risen 725 percent, more than 127 times faster than worker pay over the same time period, according to new data.

As a result, American income inequality has skyrocketed, growing worse than it is in countries like Pakistan and Ivory Coast. Wealth inequality is worse than it was even in Ancient Rome. And, as pay skyrockets and tax rates fall for the richest Americans, the rising inequality has left the bottom 95 percent of Americans saddled with more debt than ever before.

Broker infractions on display

The SEC has approved more broker disciplinary information access. The new proposal would disclose all historic complaints dating back to 1999 for individual brokers who are currently registered or whose registrations were terminated within the preceding two years. The new proposal calls for making a former broker's record public for 10 years, so investors can access information about individuals who may work in other sectors of the financial services industry or who have attained other positions of trust. http://brokercheck.finra.org/Search/Search.aspx

Texans skip ObamaCare and go to ER

Texas again leads the nation in the rate of uninsured. More than 25 percent of the state's population under age 65 -- 5,771,479 people -- has no health insurance coverage, according to recent Census Bureau data. In 24 Texas counties, a third or more of residents are uninsured. Many of the uninsured are working adults whose employers do not offer insurance coverage or for whom the cost of coverage is prohibitive.

The health care needs of the uninsured do not go away simply because they lack health insurance. The cost of providing care to these 5.7 million people is borne by hospitals, taxpayers, and the privately insured. Hospitals are providing $5.5 Billion in uncompensated care each year. Premium costs for private insurance are $1,800 higher, on average, due to uncompensated care for the uninsured.

SCAMS           “Deficits don’t matter” Republican godfather, Dick Cheney, 2002

We taxpayers spend $53 BILLION so others can listen to our phone calls

Every year we pay people to listen in and “analyze” our talk, email, etc.

Seems like a lot for a lot of bull. Terrorists don’t speak English so the $53 BILLION may just keep a million people off the unemployment lines. Didn’t stop 9/11/01 or Boston bombing. 

Wealthy buy another country residency

Southern Europe’s cash-strapped governments are wooing wealthy home buyers from overseas by offering so-called golden visas to purchasers of high-end properties. Portugal, Greece, and Cyprus are offering temporary-residency permits to foreign investors. Min. bid is €250,000. Cyprus is already “booming with Chinese investors,” says Nikolas Michalias, a local real estate appraiser at G&P Lazarou who spends half the year in China promoting golden visas tied to real estate investments. “Every day there are more than 20 Chinese nationals landing in Cyprus to search for property.”

This sounds like Romney country: corporations are people, my friends. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2h8ujX6T0A

See the data on you that is bought and sold for $ billions everyday

The data on the site, called AbouttheData.com, includes biographical facts, buying patterns, clothing size, interests and medical needs. To see your data, you give your SS#:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/business/a-data-broker-offers-a-peek-behind-the-curtain.html How did they obtain that?

List of some companies buying and selling your information without your consent:

http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201207_cfpb_list_consumer-reporting-agencies.pdf

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ 07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

Alerts available at http://dankeppel.blogspot.com/