Thursday, 7 July 2016

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Working on an interesting (well, to me, anyway) life case:

Gentleman is 57 years young, and recently retired(!). When he chose his pension payout, he was between wives, so chose the full amount, with no "survivorship" option. This guaranteed the highest payout amount, but also meant that once he expired, so did his pension. Now he's got a new bride, and is (justifiably) concerned for her financial well-being should he shuffle off this mortal coil.

This is called Pension Maximization, which is simply using life insurance to offset any such loss. Generally speaking, this is a pro-active strategy; that is, one does all the calculations and underwriting beforehand. But there's no reason that we can't accomplish the same goal re-actively, as in: now.

Oh, one more variable: his advisor suggested that he look at $500,000 of term, locked in for either 10 or 15 years, but then came back and wondered if we could also write an additional $250,000 five year term plan. I explained that these are in short supply (for a variety of reasons), but that also that there's a simpler and more cost-efficient way to accomplish this goal: write the plan with a $750,000 face amount and then, in 5 year's time, reduce that down to $500,000.

This avoids duplicate applications (and perhaps exams) and policy fees. It also adds flexibility: what if they end up needing/wanting the additional amount for 6 or 7 years instead of 5? This way, they can reduce the death benefit at 5 years, or 8 years, or not at all.

Pretty nifty, no?


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Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

This year's crop of National Underwriter Industry Elite Award winners has just been announced. As a past winner myself, I was pleased to see that (finally), other actual agents were included this year, including:

Leasha West, a retired Marine and successful agent who also runs a task force to help other vets, and Ron Alexander, who's worked to bring about significant marketing innovations. Brooklyn's David Simkowitz focuses on high net worth clients, and is also known for his willingness to mentor others.

Mazel tov, and welcome to the club!


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Wednesday, 6 July 2016

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For the most part, "Limited Benefit" (aka MiniMed) plans have been verboten by the ObamaTax. Which is a shame, since they could serve a very vital service, such as Direct Primary Care supplements (among other uses). There may be some good news ahead, though:

"A federal appeals court says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has no authority under the Affordable Care Act to regulate how consumers use fixed indemnity health insurance"

This would seem to open the door, but I'm not holding my breath just yet. Time will tell whether or not this actually gains traction.

I'm not generally a fan of dental insurance, but dental health is still, well, health, so this item caught my eye:

"[R]esearchers have come up with a new kind of biomaterial that not only encourages the natural regeneration of teeth, but also might eliminate root canal procedures for good."

This may not be great news for dentists who count on root canals as significant portions of income (NTTAWWT), but seems promising for those of us who don't relish the thought of oral surgery.

Hard to believe, but it's been over 8 years since my mother passed away. At the time, I noted with gratitude the ceaseless efforts of hospice angels, er, caregivers. I couldn't imagine how draining - and, ultimately, rewarding - there work is, but (thanks to FoIB Holly R) the New Yorker gives us a glimpse:

"She sees her work as preparing a patient for the voyage he is about to take, and accompanying him partway down the road. She, like most hospice workers, feels that it is a privilege to spend time with the dying"

Angels among us.


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Tuesday, 5 July 2016

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Connecticut joins the parade of failed Obamacare exchanges. Unexpectedly.

The reason?

"The move stems from an order, made Thursday, [June 30] that the company pay $13.4 million to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as part of the Affordable Care Act’s Risk Adjustment Program."

Even when Risk Adjustment works as designed . . . 

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Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

This never gets old:



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Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

It's no surprise that ObamaPlan enrollment numbers continue to decline, but the sheer magnitude of that drop off is surely something to behold. Via the fine folks at HotAir, we learn that:

"Nearly 1.6 Million People Dropped Out Of Obamacare This Year"

That represents a 13% attrition rate from the less than 13 million suckers folks who signed up for subsidized plans so far this year.

And the best part?

"The pattern of attrition is not new, and has been seen each year"

Winning!


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Friday, 1 July 2016

Insurance Tips and trik auto insurance, auto insurance quotes, auto insurance companies, auto insurance florida, auto insurance quotes online, auto insurance america

First up, the folks at Employee Benefit News ask a rather interesting question:

"Should HSAs and 401(k)s be more closely linked?"

My first reaction was "what part of health savings account" did you not understand?" But then, when one thinks about it, it begins to make sense; after all, if one stays healthy and the account continues to grow, why wouldn't one wish to maximize the return on the excess amount?

And even with the ObamaTax train-wreck, the popularity of the underlying plans continues to grow:

So, something to consider.

And thanks to FoIB Jeff M, we learn that it's not just enrollment in HSA's that's skyrocketing:

"It's Working: Blue Cross/Blue Shield Reports Heavy Obamacare Losses Across the Country"

Bending the cost curve down: How does it work?

And finally, via our friends at Consul Insurance, a tragic event raises some pretty interesting claims questions:

"Tesla’s Autopilot Has Its First Deadly Crash"

Apparently (and I hadn't really been following this), Tesla's Model S has the ultimate cruise control feature: an autopilot mode. Unfortunately it still has some rather, um, significant bugs to be worked out:

"Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied"

Seems like there would be a host of insurance-related issues here. The folks at Consul tell me these include "product liability, BI/PD, manufacturer vs operator, a bunch of issues to be settled."

Indeed.


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