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Affordable Healthcare Insurance

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Affordable Healthcare Insurance 

As a financial advisor and consultant, I strive to make sure you get a a good return on your money. Health insurance is one of the biggest, and maybe the biggest, cost we have in our monthly budget. It’s incredible to me that many people are paying more for their health insurance than their house payment. That’s nuts!

Many people get their health insurance from Obamacare (the so called Affordable Care Act), or from group insurance at work.

Obamacare is affordable if you are low income. In that case your premiums can be quite low and you may not even have a deductible. But if you are making over $50,000 a year or more, the cost and deductibles start to increase dramatically.

Let me give you an example of Obamacare pricing. Here are the parameters using my zip code in Alabama: 45 year old husband, 42 year old wife, two children 15 and 14, making $75,000 a year. The website says the family may qualify for a subsidy of $696 a year. There are six plans available ranging in price from $204.79 to $838.75 monthly. The premium depends on the deductible and level of care.

So you may think that $204.79, after the $696 subsidy, is great for a family of 4. Well let’s see. The deductible for the family is $12,900 for the year. In other words, the family pays for everything, even to see the doctor, to the tune of $12,900 before any benefits whatsoever kick in. As an advisor who has met with 1,000 plus families and individuals in my career, I don’t know too many that have $12,900 available to them for healthcare expenses. So this family pays $204.79 x 12 months = $2,457.48 in monthly premiums, plus $12,900 in deductible = $15,357.48, before they can receive any payment for medical cost. They pay for all their doctor visits, all medications, any visits to urgent care or the emergency room, anything and everything having to do with their healthcare until they reach the deductible. The deductible per individual is $6,450. How’s that working for you? Continue reading →

Four Cornerstones of Total Well-being

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Four Cornerstones of  Total  Well-being

Four Cornerstones of Total Well-BeingI’ve been thinking about this topic for a while now.  Getting this right can attract great fortune to your life. The more “well” you are, the better decisions you will make in life. The better decisions you make, the better life you will have for yourself and your family. We must all strive to be healthy in all aspects of our lives. Not anchoring our lives with these four cornerstones of total well-being will create tremendous stress in our lives. Stress is so disruptive. The more stress we remove from our lives, the better we function and the more successful we become. It’s easier said than done, but it is so worth it!

The four cornerstones of total well-being are psychological, physical, financial, and spiritual. When one or more of these is lacking, we cannot achieve total well-being. We just can’t be all we can be, to borrow the Army’s expression. In this blog post, I will address two of the four cornerstones of total well-being…physical and financial. Get these two right and you will be well on your way to total well-being.  

Four Cornerstones of Total Well-being…Physical

It’s been said if you don’t have your health, you have nothing. I say if you reach your golden years in bad health, it doesn’t matter how Four Cornerstones of Total Well-Beingwealthy you are. You will still be miserable. Not only that, you can destroy your wealth just trying to get healthy, or stay alive. What kind of quality of life will you enjoy, and how much will your family suffer in the process? If you can prevent that, why wouldn’t you? Continue reading →

Safe Money Investments

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What are Safe Money Investments?

The definition of “a safe money investment” is money you cannot afford to lose.

I believe that the money you’ve saved for retirement (or are currently saving for retirement) is money you can’t afford to lose. So I’m going to show you the best place to save money without risk.

Let me say that if you don’t have an old 401K plan or IRA, then you will want to start your Infinite Banking Concept policy for you future financial needs. But, if you have one of these qualified plans, then you NEED this information.

Let me give you two scenarios. In the first one you faithfully save for retirement each month, and all your money is at risk in the market. It goes up and down, and you have no idea what it will do month to month or year to year. You hope years later you’ll have more than you contributed. In the second , you save for retirement each month, but none of your money is ever at risk in the market. In grows nicely over time, but it never goes down in value. Not ever!

Which would you choose?

Safe Money InvestmentsLet’s say your retirement money is in an old 401K from your previous employer, or you rolled it over to an IRA. Take your pick: 1)…all the money is in the market at risk going up and down with no idea what it will do month to month, year to year. Or 2)…all the money grows nicely and it never goes down in value…not ever. You’d be sure that in the future you’d have a nice nest egg without risk or worry, guaranteed.

Which would you choose?

It’s a no brainer! Of course you don’t want your money at risk. Of course you want your nest egg to grow and never go down in value. But most people have their money at risk. And what happens when the next recession or market down turn occurs? And it will occur.

Why do people put their hard earn retirement dollars at risk. Why do YOU do it?

I believe it’s because people just don’t know any other way to save for retirement. They’ve been told that in order to get a good return on your money, they need to put it at risk. No risk, no return as the saying goes. That’s simply not true.

There are ways you can dependably save for retirement, receive a good return on your money, and never see it go down in value. When it comes to your retirement money, this is how the bulk of your money should grow…no risk, good return. You want to make sure that after decades of saving for retirement, you WILL have a nice nest egg. Don’t let anything happen, near your time to retire, that will jeopardize that money.

Continue reading →

What is The Best Way to Save for Retirement

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Saving Money For Retirement

Saving money for retirementWe’ve all heard how important saving money for retirement is. You hear it from the Dave Ramseys and Clark Howards of the world on their talk shows geared towards the masses. You hear it from your employer who wants you to contribute to your 401K plan. There have been hundreds of books written on saving money for retirement.

What is the best way to save for retirement is still the question many people ask. In this blog post I will address that question in a simple to understand manner that actually makes sense. So stay with me, and you will learn so much.

Most people aren’t really sure if what they are doing is the best strategy for them. I will go over the most common ways most people save for retirement and when should those strategies be used. I will also cover some of the prevailing wisdom in the media. Can you even trust it? Let’s get started.

Retirement Savings Options

Retirement savings optionsWhat are the typical retirement savings options? Well there’s the 401K at work. Then there is a 403B plan used by teachers, hospital workers, and other non-profit entities. There is the SEP, Simplified Employee Pension plan, that is used by small businesses. If nothing is provided by your employer, you can open an IRA, traditional of Roth. The vast majority of people are using one of these plans. They all have a few things in common….your contributions are tax deductible and your money is usually in mutual funds. And some company manages the plans for you. The Roth IRA contributions are not tax deductible, but the earnings can be drawn out tax free in the future.

Are these plans good for you? They are better than nothing. If you get a matching contribution from an employer, that’s a good thing. But over the years there has been a lot of negative press about 401Ks and mutual funds. I won’t go into all that in this blog. But here is my take on when these can be good and when they can be bad. Continue reading →

Personal Success…It Thrives Within You

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Do You Want Personal Success?

Personal successI have an online mentor who became a multi-millionaire after starting with practically nothing. He doesn’t personally know me, but I follow his teachings online where I am learning how to succeed in the internet business world. Looking back at the last 18 months or so of trying to learn this business, I realize that I’ve fallen short even though I’ve learned how to create websites like this and write blogs like this. You know what…I didn’t consistently follow through with the success steps for this business. So I push on with more vigor towards the day more and more income will flow my way from these endeavors. I realized there are no excuses in life. 

Oh we can try to make excuses. And sometimes they actually sound pretty good. Heck, we even believe them at times. But deep inside….come on now…you know it’s just an excuse.

How To Become Successful

So I began to think hard on this question…how to become successful. How can I have success in life? What does it take to succeed in everything I set my mind to?

I won’t pretend I have that answer for you. I am not the “Guru of Success”. I’ve had my successes AND my failures. I can only tell  you what I will do going forward. Better yet, I will illustrate it for you and for me.

My internet mentor shot this video. It’s powerful and it had quite an impact on me. I wanted you to see it.

I want all of you to know success in 2016…..personal success in all you do. I want you to have success in LIFE.

I want only the very best for you….but that very best is on YOU! Watch the video….and be certain you can succeed. Continue reading →

Cut Your Healthcare Costs

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The Rising Cost of Healthcare

With Obama Care and the poor general health of the American public, healthcare spending is going through the roof. If you have a group Blog cartoon high cost of Obama careplan at work, you have seen your premiums rise, many times quite drastically, over the last three years. If you have private insurance and make a good income, you may no longer be able to afford health insurance. Now what happens? Your health insurance is killing your budget, or you no longer have health insurance. The cost of your healthcare is just too much now. I will discuss with you how to cut healthcare costs for you and your family. Continue reading →

How To Backup Your Computer

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How To Backup Your Computer…An Important Question

how to backup your computerYou’d think that this would be an easy question to answer. After all, if your computer goes down, or is stolen, what will happen to all that very important data on your computer? Not just important documents, but what about all your family photos and videos? That’s easy Victor…I’ll just buy an online back up service.

That is an easy fix, but why is it then that only about 10% or less of people have online computer backup? Beats me. I got Carbonite a long time ago. Maybe it’s because of the cost involve. I get it. Carbonite makes you pay for a year all at once. But I’ve discovered a better solution for online computer backup. And of course I want to share this with you.

First of all let’s look at the two main players in this market….Carbonite and My PC Backup. Let me make a quick comparison. Carbonite has three plans ranging in price from $59.99 to $149.99. You pay that for a year at a time. And it’s for each computer…no family plan. Each plan offers unlimited online storage. Having to pay for a year all at once, and paying the same full amount for each individual computer, may discourage people from getting it.  Continue reading →

How To Read the Stock Market

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Has How To Read the Stock Market been on your mind?

how to read the stock marketMany people are wondering where the stock market is heading. January scared many because it was dropping like a rock. Now all of a sudden the market has recovered and hit new highs. To get a little insight into what that’s all about, read my previous blog, Where Should I Invest My Money.

Just recently I was listening to a lecture given by Morningstar Inc. You know me, I like to listen to this kind of stuff. And then I get to pass it on to you. Anyway, how to read the stock market is always on the mind of Morningstar. They are the leading market analysis company, and issue the famous Morningstar Ratings to mutual funds…one star up to five stars. They weren’t all that optimistic about the future. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, but it wasn’t what most people would want to hear.

I decided to make a short video so you can see for yourself. This video is all of one slide so it won’t take long. But you’ll get a lot out of it. If you don’t watch this video, well then maybe you don’t care enough. Afterward I will explain how to avoid all the uncertainty.  Continue reading →

Where Should I Invest My Money?

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where should I invest my moneySafe Investment Options

Many people ask, “Where should I invest my money?” I know the stock market seems to have done well lately, but have you noticed how volatile it is? People are happy one day when the market goes up hundreds of points, then they are worried when the market quickly drops like a rock. Some people decide they will try their hand at investing in the market by opening a brokerage account. They see the market on the rise and decide now is the time to get it. They jump in just to see the market tank. They get scared and sell at a loss.

Sound familiar? I’m not here to tell you how to invest in the market. My website is not geared towards investing in securities. I am all about preserving what you have worked so hard to accumulate. That being said, we must be able to grow our money over time to accomplish our goals, both for the present and for retirement. So where should I invest me money so I don’t lose it? What are the best ways to invest my hard earned money?  Continue reading →

Personal Income Tax Shortfall Hits States

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How Can Income Tax Returns Hurt Your Retirement?

personal income taxI recently read a Wall Street Journal article titled Income Tax Yo-Yo Hits States. After reading it, I wanted you to know what I learned. Let me tell you folks…it’s a mess out there. Technically we’re out of the recession, but in a real practical sense, we’re not. And you can lay the majority of the blame at the feet of governments.

Last year was the last year for the Bush Tax cuts. Those tax cuts included cuts on long term capital gains. Ok, before you get bored and tune out, listen to what I’m saying. If you buy a stock and keep it for at least a year before selling it, you pay 15%, maybe less, on the gain instead of what your regular tax bracket is. Since most high income earners are in a much higher tax bracket, the long term capital gains tax is a real benefit.

Last year that benefit came to an end and this year the long term capital gains tax went way up. So there was an incentive to liquidate holdings in 2013 to keep from paying a higher tax this year. This was further enhanced by the fact that the stock market did very well last year. Thus, when all the selling took place to liquidate these assets, a whole lot of personal income tax came flowing into the state governments. So being the irresponsible politicians that most of them are, they didn’t readjust their projections enough for this year. Tax revenues have fallen drastically for many states and now they’re in trouble.   Continue reading →