How much of your credit limit should you use?

 

How much of your credit limit should you use?

Why is this question important to answer? Your credit score, which is used for everything from loans to rental agreements to job offers, is determined in part by your credit utilization—how much of your card limit you are using. Maxing out a credit card—having a balance equal to the card's borrowing limit—has a negative impact on your score. Folks with the highest credit scores often have (and use) multiple credit cards every month. So how much usage is too much? Most of us that pay all of our balance each month tend to have the highest scores. When I shop for a used car, I give the dealer permission to check my score. I know it is over 800 because I have been given a high limit but I don’t use it. When I bought a fridge recently, I paid with my credit card (to protect me if it didn’t work) and earned points. I had saved up before hand so I could pay off the monthly bill when it came due. Most credit bureaus do not cut your score if your ratio is under 30%. For instance, total cards limit $5,000, balance carried $1,500, ratio = 30%. People with the best scores tend to keep utilization under 10% for each card and for total credit card use, according to Experian.

Get the best deals: https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guides-Discount-Financial-Services/dp/143480593X

 

Is a South Dakota tax haven right for you?

South Dakota has become one of the most popular tax havens in the world. South Dakota offers everything a wealthy person setting up a trust could want. There is no state income tax or capital gains tax, so investment gains on assets placed in the trust are tax-free if it's structured correctly. Robust protections provide anonymity and shield assets from creditors and governments. And special provisions allow trusts established there to last forever, which means those assets would never be subject to the federal estate tax (40% for estates worth more than $11.7 million). However, the popular types of trusts used in South Dakota and Nevada have never been tested in a court of law. That means it's unclear if it would last. This trust, known as an incomplete gift non-grantor trust, or ING, could be challenged because the user is actually lying. They say they are hands off but they also claim they still have some control over the assets because the gift to the trust is ‘incomplete’. They claim they aren't tapping the annual $15,000 limit for gifts or the $11.7 million lifetime exemption before the federal gift tax starts to kick in. They claim a special ‘committee’ has to approve any payouts made to the creator of the trust.

Use the IRS approved tax haven: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Tax-Haven-Tax-FREE-working-Americans/dp/1482659441

 

How much tax will you owe for this year in April 2022?

With all the changes in income this year—unemployment, new job, child tax credit—etc, you may owe taxes that you have not had your employer withhold by December. So this calculator may help you understand where you stand: https://www.cvnb.com/calculator/tax-margin. Usually there is no penalty for under paying by December if you owe less than $1,000. If you will owe more, send in more by changing your W-4 with your employer or using this form: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf. You can wait to complete your taxes before April 15 and ask for a waiver of the penalty. There are no guarantees of course.

Consider changes: https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/tax-law/603037/tax-changes-and-key-amounts-for-the-2021-tax-year

 

How to remove fake bad credit info from your credit report

Although one credit inquiry is not going to hurt your credit score it can affect your credit scores for up to two years. You may have looked for a new or used car or credit card or house, but that inquiry may also have come from some fake internet site or merchant trying to punish you. If you are not checking your credit report regularly, you will never know why you don’t get the best rate or rental deal. When you find the questionable hit on your report, don’t hire a credit repair firm. That may just add to your unfavorables. Use the online request form at the credit bureau to request bad info removal. Congress gave bureaus the right to ding you but not the responsibility to check data. You have to do it yourself. Thanks for nothing Congress! Around 25% of U.S. consumers found errors that could affect their credit scores in one of their credit reports. My report had data from someone in Long Island with my name and another from Maryland who stiffed a hospital and owed a lot of money. I filed the forms and got them removed after months. Bureaus don’t have a time limit on their failures. If they don’t act, use the sample credit dispute letters from the Federal Trade Commission. Let the FTC know about your dispute.

Show your child: https://www.amazon.com/Give-your-child-leg-manage/dp/1096505355

 

Is “personalized investing” right for you?

Headline: ‘Personalized Investing Coming Like a 'Freight Train'. If you were a broker/advisor this is sweet music to your ear. But guess what—this is just a marketing slogan for a sales person pushing the firm’s ‘selling list.’ And we get to pay through the nose for their guesswork. A Schwab employee said “investors were seeking an “even higher level” of personalization.” Yes, if your advisor asks enough questions about your situation and goal and objectives, they are bound to be able to find some securities that you personally will like. Yes, over time and through experience, your advisor should be able to assemble securities you feel meet your needs—but at what cost? Some picks will be winners and some losers and advisors don’t know. They can’t predict the future no matter how well they know your data. The reason passive investing has done so well for index users is that no matter how much you pay for ‘personalized investing,’ you may not do well. Warren Buffett who is not a sales person has proven that most folks do better without the ‘personal investing.’ The stats show you do better with an index alone.

https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffetts-Vanguard-Funds-Retirement/dp/1496148592

 

What is your retirement dream?

Some folks working to attain or maintain their middle class status are now questioning the path to their retirement dream. The pandemic and the shift in steady wage growth and asset building have made some folks reevaluate their situation. If they have had to change jobs and start all over again in a new career, can they ever catch up to their dream amount? Traditionally we have planned our retirements around the expectation of combining a pension, Social Security benefits, and personal savings to provide sufficient income for later years. These days we change jobs, our employers don’t pay pensions, and wages have been flat since the 70’s. The median retirement savings of Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 is currently zero. For those with retirement savings, the balance is less than in the past. Many of us have turned to ‘professionals’ with mixed results. It is estimated that retirement savers lose $17 billion to conflicted advice each year. This is a staggering sum that has real world consequences for retirees. Regulators have failed to fix the situation. The middle class has given up assets to the upper class. Here is how: One analysis shows that over a 50-year investing lifetime, that 2% [total annual cost of investment advice and trading] will erode 63% of what you would have had. At $250 a month, that means you will have $660,000 instead of $1.3 million. Some folks have solved this problem by doubling the amount they save/invest. Some have taken John Bogle’s advice and cut out the middle person by using index funds.

Dream and plan: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Robo-Advisor-Ultimate-Automatic-Management/dp/1537111957

 

 

 

**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************

 

 

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracy—We rejected an "American fascist" once

 

Our Jan 6 ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’

 

 

Seditionist Bannon snubs Congress: jail?

 

Capitol police help hide terrorist

 

Trump sues Jan 6 Committee to hide terrorist ties

 

Trump’s Big Lie: repeat repeat eventually believe

 

 

How Govt wastes our money:

What is wrong with this tax system? Workers pay 33-41%; wealthy pay 0.00001-17%

TX mandates business cannot reopen business if require vax: TX to control biz operation

Coal lobbyists determine Manchin vote on Dem budget: Manchin gets $491,949 a year.

Manchin cuts: funding for child credit, elderly and disabled reduced/cut: WV loses 

 

Drug lobbyists pay 3 Dems to kill lower-drug prices bill: Schrader Peters get $1.6 million

We gave oil company that spilled in CA $20 million in subsidies: Socialism for the Rich

Rich don’t pay Social Security taxes: Avoid taxes when earning over $147,000 in 2022

 

Wealthy receive increase in SS benefits: $3,345 per month in 2022—avoid taxes too

Democrats scale back plan to raise more money from wealthy tax cheats: IRS lacks teeth

Sinema AZ Dem told lobbyists who give her money she opposes any tax on anyone

 

DINO Manchin and Sinema already in Republican Party strategy to end Biden promises

 

SCAMS/SPINS:

60,000 Air Force fear needles: barracks becomes killing zone: going for 800,000 dead?

FoxNews praised SW pilots “act of nonviolent civil disobedience.” But Cxl NOT for Vax

GA Cobb Co loosened COVID protocols: wave of children were infected: no school

Salem witch trials: Anti-vaxxers blame hospitals for not using malaria pills or de-wormer

 

Trump set up network to compete with FoxNews: ‘TRUTH Social’: Goebbels’ style

 

“I wish that I’d got the shot,” Dad tells Mom as he and wife die and leave 4 kids alone.

FL private school: quarantine students 30 days AFTER get vax: Crazy misinformation

American and Southwest employees with vax exemptions: still passing Covid to us

 

Infect and shoot: police fear needle vax and shoot before question: let riot proceed

Police refuse vax and die: 476 have died of COVID: 93 by gunfire since 2020 

 

Police deputized ‘vigilantes’: Kenosha protestors shot by terrorists helped by cops

 

Gunman ambush kills Houston police: others shot in the back; terrorist got away

 

Mark Forkner pilot caught hiding Boeing flight control error that may have killed 346

Ronnie Floyd SBC resigns fight over sex abuse investigation: pastors abuse 700 kids

GOP senator calls for senility test for aging leaders: Trump: don’t like pee from women

 

Redistricting means our votes won’t count anymore: TX puts Dems in smaller box!

TX following Poland’s anti-Constitution path: limit voting, abortion, gun control

Senate undemocratic: Wyoming voter has 68 times the voting power as one in California.

 

MD GOP Doctor Harris promising Covid treatment from horse pills via radio

NE GOP Fortenberry caught laundering Nigerian billionaire’s money via CA donors

JPay caught charging consumers fees to access their own money on prepaid debit cards 

 

Michael Moore caught stealing $1.5 Million using romance scam: gang hit lonely

Amanda Dawn Rains caught stealing $3.9 million with doctors for ‘pain cream’

Ravkoo Online Pharmacy caught $8.5 million fake COVID Drugs: Gov helped faud

 

Online brokers caught making trading into game enticing novices to fail

Facebook caught discriminating against U.S. workers in favor of foreigners

 

Facebook changes name avoid ills: new ‘metaverse’ virtual, games, fantasy, holodeck?

 

Fake news easy to mislead on shortages and mandate disasters: pick sources carefully

 

TurboTax stopped CA from letting tax collector bill us instead of doing 10 page $300 returns

 

Jobs

Most in demand: service jobs seeking higher wages

Young leaving jobs since pay level same as 1976 adjusted for higher prices: rich take all

200,000 shipping containers were backed up off the coast of Los Angeles: toys, cars, etc

 

Who owns your account now?

Why using debit card is unwise: $12,000 for 3 oranges then all purchases fail

Are you paying too much for homeowner’s insurance: average cost per state HI is cheap!

10 most commonly stolen vehicles: avoid most common mistake—leaving keys inside

 

Mortgage forbearance ends: payments restart: negotiate with servicer critical

Medicare Advantage plans added home visits for some: more choices drive Advantage

Streaming services cost $ hundreds; some are free but limited

 

 

Miracles:

CA has driest water year in a century: golf courses drink millions/night reduced price too

¼ Republican voters still believe Trump reinstated in WH before the end of 2021 Coup?

Covid vax technology, may be key to stopping cancers, autoimmune diseases, etc

 

 

We can apply for Medicare online: https://blog.ssa.gov/apply-for-medicare-online

We can apply for Social Security online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

We can apply for health care online: https://www.healthcare.gov/

 

Wisdom comes only thru suffering Aeschylus

 

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ   07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

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

 

How do you deal with your retirement risks?

 

When do you really need an advisor? What type?

Most brokers and advisors don’t know what to do if you have stock options worth millions of dollars. The right adviser can help you avoid a seven-figure tax bill when you sell them. Let’s say you inherited rental properties. A knowledgeable advisor can help you incorporate these income-producing assets into your overall investment strategy or help by using a trust that can shield them from having to pay taxes on the rental income or capital gains taxes. It is important to “know thyself.” Even financial do-it-yourselfers benefit from working with a qualified professional because they know the right questions to ask, fully understand the pros and cons of any advice or solutions an adviser offers, and have the knowledge to evaluate the results. Think of the fee-only advisor as the same as a lawyer. If you were accused of a felony, would you let your real estate broker handle it? You need a specialist. No matter the cost, you want someone who really knows the specific area of your needs. You can save money by handling most financial tasks yourself.  In fact, I found most people can save at least $3,000 a year.

Shop wisely: https://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guides-Discount-Financial-Services/dp/143480593X/

 

How do you deal with your retirement risks?

Did you retire too early? The “average income of current retirees is only $38,515, according to the U.S. Census, and the average net worth is $170,516." Most of that net worth is in their home which can’t be used for daily bread. Did you plan on income for 20-30 years? What is your plan for trouble: a long illness, housing repairs, a sick pet, disability, and inflation? What happens to your income if the market falls 10%? Medicare will not cover an extended illness or disability. How does your emergency fund grow? Which assets are in it? The risk that hits us all is inflation—a gallon of milk in 1990 cost $2.78. It is now $3.68. Same size, same food. Costs usually double every 25 years on average. Taxes go up too. Can you manage your current property? Will Social Security be enough? Can you rely on family when you need help? Are they close enough?

Plan to cover the risks: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Plan-Live-Age-100/dp/1548180793

 

Two Americas: Super rich took Middle class assets

Middle class shrinks: Top 1% Of U.S. Earners Now Hold More Wealth Than All Of The Middle Class. The middle 60% of U.S. households by income – the middle class -- saw their combined assets drop to 26.6% of national wealth as of June, the lowest in Federal Reserve data going back three decades. For the first time, the super rich had a bigger share, at 27%. Middle class’s share in three main categories of assets -- real estate, equities and private businesses -- slumped in one generation. That made their lives more precarious, with fewer financial reserves to fall back on when they lose their jobs. This is no accident: it is by design. Our Reps in Congress voted a 2017 tax cut to give Super rich even more assets. Our government has been giving money (bonds and ETF funds) to their companies since March 2020. Their corporations receive more subsidies and tax breaks. Private jets are flying off the shelves. Their short trips cost $ millions. They buy shredded pictures for $25.4 million. Over the past 30 years, 10% of American wealth has shifted to the top 20% of earners, who now hold 70% of the total, Fed data show. Real wages stay at 1970 inflation level. The financially squeezed workers, tricked by a TV star saying “only I can fix it”, supported the transformation of America into a socialist state for the rich. The super rich take most of the chips in this version of socialism for the rich and we let Congress allow it.

https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Socialism-for-Rich-little-people/dp/1535218584

 

 

 

**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************

 

 

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracy—We rejected an "American fascist" once

 

Our Jan 6 ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’

 

 

Trumpist Bannon defied Congress: no arrest?

 

F. Hill: Jan 6 ‘Dress Rehearsal’ For Further Violence

 

GOP elected before Trump’s terrorists’ trials?

 

Capitol police leaders helped Trump try Coup

 

 

 

How Govt wastes our money:

Taliban: US to give aide “directly to the Afghans” how w/o troops/CIA/USAID? 

Regulator’s law didn’t stop robocalls in Jun: can’t keep a genius capitalist down?

Little Russia: TX bans vax mandate in my business: TX gov mandate against mandate

 

GOP, bank lobbyists stop Biden order for tax cheat info to IRS cheats owe $7 Trillion

US sends troops to 4 military bases in Greece for “stability and prosperity” $400 million

 

SCAMS/SPINS:

Chiropractors lead the Covid misinformation thrust as semi-medical professional experts

MO hospital workers quit rather than take vax: personal freedom to kill patients

Public health from personal freedom to choose vax? No, un-vax nurse may kill me

 

TX ends mandates: hunting, driving, med school, etc: personal freedom to kill your kids?

 

TX Allan West slams vax while hospitalized for Covid: irony lost on TX voters

Only 56% of Americans vaccinated: what are they waiting for? 725,000+ dead so far

Horse dewormer worked in Australian test tube cells with high doses: no human use found

One FL school sees 17 employee deaths since start of school from COVID-19: No 1 US killer

Florida county is fined for requiring employees meeting public to be vaccinated: 14 anti-vax fired

 

 

Trump and GOP will not run or vote in 2024 if election theft not “resolved.” Fantastic!

Most Rep voters want their dictator to take power 2024: 44% want Trump to be president

Real GOP or RINO litmus test: “was the election stolen from Trump”: hate for Dems

Grassley has taken the Trump Kool-Aid too: why? He used to have his own strategy

Pence in Hungary raising money for Christian nationalism: Trump’s legacy?

 

GOP head thinks Google, not Trump, “tries to control our thoughts”

GA voter applications shredded by officials: will democracy be preserved for 2024 vote?

Will voting matter anymore: redistricting reduces voter impact in close elections.

 

Fox: Google ‘conspiring’ with Biden administration to find sexual-assault suspects: WI kidnapers

 

British prince avoids the law: sexual assault allegations by American when 16: rich win

Larry A. Holley MI caught promising high returns Ponzi using trust in religion base: jail

American Advisors Group caught sell reverse mortgage with deceptive home estimates

How hackers capture our computer and money: ingenious plots catch us every time

 

Airline passengers bringing guns to the airport "huge problem" never seen before 

 

New Hack: email from USPS post office: “shipment has bad address” Fake Tracking # “US#######CA”

 

Jobs

Navy engineer caught selling sub secrets to the enemy: WWIII spy novel?

Nobel Prize for econ testing: raising minimum wage does NOT cut jobs

FL teachers quit rather than end up in hospital or bring Covid home to family 5000 jobs

 

4.3 million quit in August: better jobs or hours or retired early/live on the beach/camper?

 

Who owns your account now?

emergency-rental-assistance-state-by-state

Water shortage: 5000 golf clubs: each uses “1.2 million gallons a night” night rate lower

70 million see 5.9% increase Social Security benefits: can green beans $.50 to .74 3 wks

 

October 15 filing extension deadline: extension to file their 2020 tax return must file now

Most Americans going for cremation instead of cemetery: cost and ‘personal choice’

Cher sues Sonny over royalties from “I Got You Babe”: never enough

 

Miracles:

Merck tablet to treat mild-to-moderate patients of COVID-19: instead of horse dewormer

CA to ban polluting lawn equipment so peaceful neighborhoods again. Blowers 90 dBs

Meteorite crashes through roof of Canada woman’s home and on to bed: Ruth is OK

 

 

 

We can apply for Medicare online: https://blog.ssa.gov/apply-for-medicare-online

We can apply for Social Security online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

We can apply for health care online: https://www.healthcare.gov/

 

Wisdom comes only thru suffering Aeschylus

 

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ   07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

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

 

Is your emergency fund ready when the US stops payments in December?

 

Is your emergency fund ready when the US stops payments in December?

GOP against raising taxes on the rich and insists on keeping its big tax breaks for the wealthy from 2017 so they are talking about America not paying what it owes. If gov lays off workers, delays SS payments, or stages other malfunctions in the American system of government, Congress people still get paid. We can’t use their salaries as leverage to make a deal. Some reps are not even at work to make a deal. They still get paid. We may not get our benefits so it is important to plan where your funding will come from. If you can borrow from your bank or credit card lender, be prepared to pay it back quickly since rates are still over 25%. You don’t have to settle for 0.005% earnings in a bank savings for your emergency fund. There are many options including a low-cost balanced fund like those at Vanguard. Wellesley Income, with 60% bonds, provides over 7% return and direct deposit withdrawal capability. 

https://www.amazon.com/dont-have-money-Financial-Emergencies/dp/1537636707

 

Time can be your friend or your enemy

Most of us are not going to marry rich, own a business, inherit wealth, get really lucky, or find talent. Time is available to all of us and we can become rich by using time to our advantage. Using just your average tax refund of $3,000 a year—$250 a month—you can become a millionaire over time. With time as your fiend, you don’t need to pick the right stocks, waste your money on advisors or trade ETF at the right time. Fidelity analyzed its accounts that produced the highest returns. They found that account holders that did NOT 'manage' their accounts were the most successful. Mutual fund analyst Morningstar found that in every period low-cost funds beat high-cost funds. Buy stocks like you buy groceries not perfume, Buffett’s teacher said. Recently, Warren Buffett has proved this strategy: buy and keep buying the Vanguard 500 index fund. Time is your enemy when you try to time the market: buy low and sell high. Inevitably money managers and TV gurus, who are paid well to time the market, either sell too early or buy too late. There are many get-rich stories but few are true.

Go with Buffett: https://www.amazon.com/Just-Takes-Time-money-fashioned/dp/1979380945

 

 

Beat Wall Street money managers

Another study shows how you can beat Wall Street money managers. So called ‘professionals’ make more mistakes in trading than you do. Even if they make wise decisions about which stocks to buy they must make wise decisions about when to sell. Usually they fail. They just don’t realize that the market is not driven by rationality. Professional investors demonstrate skill when buying stocks, but their selling decisions cause them to underperform benchmarks. That’s the conclusion of a recent working paper, “Selling Fast and Buying Slow,” by four researchers who examined the trading activity of more than 700 professionally managed portfolios. “They appear to focus primarily on finding the next great idea to add to their portfolio and view selling largely as a way to raise cash for purchases,” the study’s authors wrote. Keeping your money in an index fund gives you the advantage of NOT making bad trading decisions AND not overpaying for advice. Remember the Fidelity study results. Wall Street managers need to create great buying stories so they can attract more investors’ dollars. They are not concerned about providing you with better long-term returns that beat the market. They are paid to attract new dollars not provide you with the best returns over the long term. https://www.amazon.com/You-Beat-Wall-Street-professionals/dp/1986031373

 

Vanguard pushes industry to lower fee schedule

Vanguard leads the industry to lower fees for its Target Date funds again. With an anticipated expense ratio of 0.08%, investors will have access to a sophisticated, diversified asset allocation solution at just one-fifth of the average industry costs. These funds provide expert management at low cost. You don’t have to pick the asset allocation, adjusting as you age, or remember to buy/sell different ETFs every month, or enter limit orders, or rebalance on schedule, or decide when to invest. You just set up your automatic contribution amount and Vanguard does the rest. With the option to use the new Digital Advisor, you have the best of both worlds:

Low fees and advice when needed: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Robo-Advisor-Ultimate-Automatic-Management/dp/1537111957

 

New auto insurance discounts that may save you $500-800

Most folks are now driving less—fewer commute and fewer trips to the mall—so you can ask for your discount. Most insurers also offer discounts for safe drivers and driving review courses like AARP’s online course. Most folks can save by raising their deductible. Put the equivalent amount into your emergency fund as you save on premium each year. You may also save by dropping your collision on an older car. I have cancelled my roadside assistance since my credit card provides it free. Pay premiums annually or semi-annually instead of monthly. I always ask the phone rep if there are any other discounts I could qualify for. Most agents don’t tell explain them since they get paid by commission—a percentage of the premium.

Shop and save: https://www.amazon.com/Industry-Insiders-Guides-Buying-Insurance/dp/1466435712

 

Wealthy Pay a Lower Rate Than Everybody Else

New study confirms what everyone already knew: there are 2 tax systems in America. There is the one that Congress wrote for those who pay for their elections and one for the rest of us who do not pay for their elections. If you are taxing those who give you money so you can go to Washington, you give them every break possible—some really wealthy people pay nothing—as Trump said in 2016. Congress is serving those who feed them, as we would expect. How do they pay nothing? Congress only taxes some “income.” The wealthy can borrow against the value of their considerable holdings and live comfortably without selling stock or receiving any income from dividends, which new companies like Tesla and Amazon don’t pay. Congress does NOT tax wealth assets or the loan proceeds from it. Buffett’s company does not pay dividends so he pays nothing as his stock holdings increase in value. Buffett admitted that his staff pays over double what he pays in taxes: 17.7% vs 32.9%. He pays only the minimum into the SS and Medicare fund even though his net worth is $99 Billion. As one of the wealthy said: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes." This is Socialism for the Rich. https://www.amazon.com/Americas-Socialism-Rich-little-people/dp/1535218584

 

 

 

**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************

 

 

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracy—We rejected an "American fascist" once

 

Our Jan 6 ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’

 

Terrorists knew exactly which windows were NOT reinforced

 

Domestic terrorists funded in crypto

 

Trump: “Nobody’s done more for Christianity than me” ?

 

 

How Govt wastes our money:

All these companies made $ billions but paid no Fed taxes: no wonder we owe high debt

World wealthy hide their corrupt proceeds: Pandora: how to avoid taxes: SD, NV

Our legal reps wrote the rules that let the rich hide their dough in some states: we pay bill

 

Congress on paid vacation again: can your biz operate if closed for 2 weeks?

Post office considers cashing checks for those without bank: payday lenders not happy

US fighter plane makers helped China copy F-22: US now complain J-20 fly over Taiwan

 

One guy, Mitch McConnell, decided America will not go bankrupt until December

 

SCAMS/SPINS:

Ban on ‘surprise’ medical bills due Jan: med providers will find another way to charge

Will  right-wing conspiracy theorist Jones ever have to make amends for family grief?

Trumpist confessed: Fox ‘News’ was propaganda agency of government: not journalism

ATT funds far-right fake news One America News: Trump conspiracy theories

 

Naseem Mohammed Salamah caught fraud $970,000: promised diversify accounts

Rich Already Have A Plan To Escape Biden's Tax Increase: we end up paying the rich

131 judges failed to recuse themselves from cases in which they had financial interest

 

Papal thieves complain Vatican justice not fair: lawyers never worry about abused kids

Pope ashamed of his guys but Church never called police about 200,000 abuse crimes

 

Fake misleading info is so easy to make: Facebook profits from hurting especially teens

Recall: 3.5 million Covid home test kits by Ellume: too many fake positives

Why didn’t auto-braking stop crashes involving Tesla vehicles? Computers get confused.

 

TCFG Investment CA caught overcharging 360% and kickbacks with no notice

Doctors/druggists are drug pushers: 400 opioids per resident of Trumbull County OH.

Simple Health caught selling worthless policy said complied with Affordable Care Act.

Home builders caught adding $30K to contract to finish house: suit means more delay

Car dealers caught adding $10K to sticker price bec they can even for good customers

 

Your emergency surgery delay may kill you: preventable Covid victims take ER spots

Covid vax: many would rather lose job and die than take gov cure: 712,000 dead so far

 

First ‘abortion vigilante’ to earn $10,000 by reporting abortion crime under new TX law

GOP Supremes set to repudiate abortion “settled law” despite former promises: liars!

19 states passed this year laws to restrict voting  Constitution says voting is a right!

 

Jobs

Hospital staff to replace those afraid of vax

NYS's largest healthcare provider, Northwell Health, has fired 1,400 employees  no shots

Vax mandate in many business creates openings for millions

 

Who owns your account now?

National Flood Insurance rates up for storms rise: $20 Billion in debt too

Condos you don’t want to buy/invest: 432 Park: need helicopter when elevator out

Make old-fashion toys for the kids this holiday: holiday goods sitting on Pacific & docks

 

Best Medicare Advantage plans: JD Power ratings of services, info, costs, etc

Average portfolio retirees near retirees: 35% stocks, 26% cash, 15% bonds, 9% real estate

 

Miracles:

woman-coma-covid-delivers-miracle-baby-after-postponing-vaccination-1634927

Climate change killed 14% of the world’s coral reefs in a decade: we are next?

Priceless friendship

 

We can apply for Medicare online: https://blog.ssa.gov/apply-for-medicare-online

We can apply for Social Security online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

We can apply for health care online: https://www.healthcare.gov/

 

Wisdom comes only thru suffering Aeschylus

 

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ   07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

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

 

Why is the boring target-date fund right for you?

 

Your advisor is costing you $8,800 or more

Do you know how much your advisor is costing you in terms of long-term accumulation? Most folks do not know because their advisor does not publish the benchmark returns that compare their returns to published statistics. Folks who use index funds automatically see how they are doing with their ultimate goals. So far this year, their account has grown by about 19%. Over the last 10 years, they have advanced over 16% per year. If they have been contributing their tax refund—about $3,000 a year—they have accumulated another $75,500. The average advisor costs run 1-2% a year between annual expenses, trading fees and bad market timing. Depending on your situation, you may have lost $8,800. Because of compounding over time, you may end up with only $569,000 instead of $882,000 using advisor cost averages. That is a lot to give your advisor: your $313,000 pays for their children’s education. But then who pays for yours?

Earn more automatically: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Robo-Advisor-Ultimate-Automatic-Management/dp/1537111957

 

Is auto-home ‘bundling’ right for you?

Sounds good but most folks find it is not right for them. Why? Bundle benefits go to the insurer not to you. Buying both auto and home insurance from the same company assumes one insurer can provide the best deals for you. That just doesn’t happen. Insurers price their products differently depending on their financial needs. You can save $ thousands over time by taking advantage of their shifting marketing strategies and also changes in your needs. For instance, insurers in CA and WA have had to raise rates as more fires got worse in recent years. If you have the same insurer in AZ your rates have also gone up. On the other hand, driving and commuting have been reduced so your rates are now found in the ‘leisure’ category. If your credit score has improved, your rate could be lower but only if you shop your vehicles to other carriers. Insurance agents don’t have an incentive to call you when your rates could be lower. Or they don’t know that you now have a minor on your policy or that you now have a dangerous dog. You can’t know you could be paying less for 10-20 years unless you compare rates often. Each insurer has their own set of discounts so you may qualify for more with a new insurer.

Drop the extras: https://www.amazon.com/Industry-Insiders-Guides-Buying-Insurance/dp/1466435712

 

Is your family member a scam target?

Certain folks are more likely to be scammed than others. Consider how the results of this study may impact your family members. The scam target is not likely to ask questions of an offer or product or agent. Researchers propose that mental frames governing compliance, opportunity, intelligence, and order may have affected the way that interviewees interpreted what scammers told them. Individuals were more likely to lose money if they believed that:

• Authority should not be challenged.
• Financial opportunities are a zero-sum game with clear winners and losers.
• The world is organized in a way that rewards good people.
• Asking too many questions can make a person seem ignorant.

Study participants explained how scammers reached out with promises of easy money or lucrative investments. Others described receiving phone calls from fraudsters posing as IRS agents and demanding payment of back taxes. Some scammers pose as eager lovers who promise to pay you back. Natural disaster victims are especially vulnerable to scammers since desperation makes us perfect prey.

Educate your family: https://www.amazon.com/Money-Scams-2014-insurance-financial/dp/1505437962

 

Is prepaying your funeral right for you?

Covid deaths—now over 700,000 and counting—have some folks thinking about the future. What is new is paying for your departure in advance to a lay-a-way company with no track record. Funeral homes have had their own ‘pre-need’ accounts for centuries. Of course your prepaid account may not last long enough: there are business failures. However, like buying life insurance for final expenses, paying for a funeral on a lay-a-way basis is not the best solution for this expense. Some plans offer a price ‘guarantee’ but how do you know they will provide the expected services. Some new ones offer affordable monthly payments in advance. Some claim they will hold the money in a bank and move the money to a funeral anywhere in their system. A better way is to designate some of your legacy for your final appearance. Since you don’t know about costs in advance, you may want to leave a note with your will explaining what kind of show you want and how much to spend. You need to designate a trusted executor to follow thru on your plan. My plan is cremation by the medical school when they are done with me. God knows what is on my tombstone. Relatives may want to give a toast at the final dinner.

Your plan or their plan: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Plan-Live-Age-100/dp/1548180793

 

Why is the boring target-date fund right for you?

Tests and surveys have consistently shown that steady contributions—the same amount each month—to these low-cost index funds provides the best chance of reaching the maximum accumulations over time. This boring investment strategy beats any advisor or computer-run strategy because the market swings are unpredictable. Most investors and their advisors think they can do better than the market index funds. Hubris was identified early in human history as being the cause of one’s downfall. Morningstar, the investing analyst, ran some extra simulations and DCA (dollar cost average) does possibly account for some of the gap in returns, but a perfectly-steady DCA investor still outperformed the real-world investor in 6 out of 7 fund categories. DCA can’t be helped if you are simply investing what you can, when you can, but there is still extra trading in and out that appears to only make things worse. Market timing, the effect of using ANY investing strategy, has no benefits for you except maybe in the short term. Warren Buffett advocates this “dumb” way of investing because it succeeds.

Go with Buffett: https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Your-Investment-Advisor/dp/1518690963

 

Help your child or grandchild learn to manage money

Instead of buying your child or grandchild life insurance to make sure they have coverage in the future, buy them financial literacy. Give them a leg up with money making skills. The old advice still works: Give a person a fish, you feed them for a day. Teach them to fish and you feed them for life. Make sure you teach your kids how to create wealth the easy way. My parents were not investors. At my first job, I had no clue which investment option to use for my 401k contribution and company match. The HR person told me to put it into the 'safe' stable value fund. That was the worst choice at my age I learned later when I got my securities licenses. If I had followed their advice I would have ended up with $150,000 instead of a Wealth Reserve of $877,233 about 33 years later. We have used this 'Wealth Reserve' as I call it to have funds to use low-cost high-deductible insurance, to buy two homes and 5 cars with higher down payments or cash, and now to receive $2,500 a monthly in retirement supplement. Advisor fees take HALF your funds.

Follow 3 steps: https://www.amazon.com/Give-your-child-leg-manage/dp/1096505355

 

 

**********ACCOUNTABILITY**************

 

 

Like 1776, this period is a test of democracy—We rejected an "American fascist" once

 

Our Jan 6 ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’

 

Subpoenas for Trump’s failed government overthrow

 

Domestic terror double foreign terror

 

Another terrorist of failed Coup guilty

 

Trump’s overthrow plan in 6 steps

 

 

How Govt wastes our money:

Longest war is over so why give Pentagon $24 B more? Peace dividend for more bombs?

GOP to let America default on debt to show Dems who’s the boss: win at any cost!

Domestic terrorists, real threat, evade our $52.6 Billion intelligence and legal systems

 

Debt ceiling acting out: how can we take these squabbling kids in Congress seriously?

Why the national debt keeps going up: some Americans don’t pay their fair share

Manchin not support infrastructure bill since coal-use rules to reduce climate change

 

SCAMS/SPINS:

GOP confirms Biden win: $6 million AZ recount found more votes for Biden

62 ships but no trucks: transport costs rising and we pay higher prices for items

Car warranty scam: third-party warranties not worth it: don’t cover many repairs

 

Caught: Never give your kids work files: they might save evidence of your fraud

TX taxpayers to fund Trump request to see if he really won in 2020: Biden won TX?

CA allows every voter to mail-in ballot from now on just like Trump does, not like TX

 

Federal bankers caught: insider trading: bankers bought what they voted Fed to buy

“Brand ambassador” scam: you get promo exposure if you buy product but it’s broken

Fake media is so easy to make we have to check with other sources.

 

Employers are embracing software that allows them to track workers online. 

Colonoscopy center charged ‘facility’ fee $345 despite Medicare’s FREE screening.

$54,000 TX Covid tests: America’s health system will bring socialism eventually

 

OK is tops in death by police: 84% of police killings since 1980 were unreported 

Get out your guns: Murder rose by almost 30% in 2020: if everyone packs, no murder?

London police warn women to be wary of lone officers after Sarah Everard murder

 

Supremes claim not political: decisions to reverse Roe v Wade, gun control, vote rights!

 

Jobs

High-paying jobs that don’t require long experience record: $56-66,000 a year

Police and fire in LA spread Covid to public: LAPD ‘freedom’ beats your safety/service

State workers would rather quit than take vax: brain washing complete!

 

NC hospitals need vax ready med staff: fired 175 Monday: more have warning

13 Home-based jobs certain careers: high pay

United Airlines Prepares to Fire Employees Who Refuse Covid-19 Vaccinations

 

Who owns your account now?

Where is your long-term and short-term money?

Phone companies required to block any incoming traffic on list: will they bother? 

 

Miracles:

Permian mass extinction: rapidly rising CO^2 from volcanic eruptions in Siberia

Ugly buildings: contest to see how bad it can be

Iceland has elected first female-majority parliament: future of Congress working?

 

Berlin’s first female mayor Fran after historic electoral gains for her center-left party. 

Let’s talk about courage: Zion knows: when you feel frustrated to continue.

Retirement fund build up: Stones back on the road working for more cash

 

Custodian Chris, no car, walks miles to work so teachers bought him used Chevy`

Biden finally reverses Trump: penalties for killing birds confirmed

 

We can apply for Medicare online: https://blog.ssa.gov/apply-for-medicare-online

We can apply for Social Security online: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/

We can apply for health care online: https://www.healthcare.gov/

 

Wisdom comes only thru suffering Aeschylus

 

IAN

41 Watchung Plaza, B242

Montclair, NJ   07042

973.746.2014

www.InsuranceAdvisorsNetwork.com

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