Life assurance is risk coverage in the potential case of dying during a fixed time period. Insurance firms habitually use a person’s medical record and family medical record in checking eligibility for life insurance. It allows for a payment of an amount of money upon the death of the insured. Additionally, life insurance can be used as a way of investment or saving. What are the options and costs of involved?

Term life insurance is temporary protection. Term life assurance is uncomplicated. It may be employed to cover temporary demands such as debts and to supply extra security for the insured. Needs and obligations change throughout a person’s life. Term policies may be used to cover those needs when they are close at hand. Term assurance is generally low-priced. This can make it appropriate for folks with limited financial resources.

What is the general price of term life insurance? The answer may depend upon how healthy you are. The cheapest rates are assigned to the people with the best health. Futhermore, you pay a premium every month established by the length of the policy and the amount of coverage you select. You may choose term durations such as 10, 20 or 30 years.

The coverage you select may be from around 100,000 dollars to several million dollars. It is safer to compare quotes from different insurance firms in order to discover better premiums and prices. Many websites on the world wide web offer price quotes and other information free of charge. Look at more than just the premium when buying a policy. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of every policy.

Whole life assurance merges term insurance with an investment fund. This can make whole life insurance more expensive. You are not just paying for insurance but for an investment fund as well. This additional price tag may be ignored. However, these policies are normally not the best investment fund for your money. Whole life insurances barely generate a sensible return unless maintained for 20 years or more.

The rate of return on a whole life insurance policy is very modest compared to other investment funds, even after you have factored in the tax savings. The tax benefits and cash value may be viewed as an additional bonus.

Life insurance prices are estimates of the premiums you will pay for a life assurance policy with a specific insurance firm. Discovering low-priced life insurance does not have to be hard. You may find inexpensive life insurance rate quotes online from top companies. For example, a 25 year old male may receive coverage of around 500,000 dollars for a monthly premium of 25 dollars. The same male, if aged 50, may only receive coverage of around 100,000 dollars. A woman of who pays a monthly premium of 25 dollars may get life coverage of about 600,000 dollars at age 25 and 175,000 dollars at age 50. Therefore it is better to buy life assurance when you are younger.

You can talk to your life insurance agent to determine which insurance policy is better for your financial needs. This may help you to secure your financial future and minimize risk. Compare the average life insurance prices of different insurance companies and make an informed decision.

Copyright 2008 - Dan Theron. Free whole term life insurance quotes online . Whole life insurance online quote .

Most countries, including the United states, have what’s called a fractional reserve system; in other words, only a fraction of all checkable deposits (basically all the money a bank owes people) is found inside the bank’s vault. So if a bank carried 500 million dollars in money deposited by its members, it would only carry just a fraction of that at one time! What if we all came to withdrawal our money at once?!

Remember September 11th, 2001? As soon as people could, they ran down to their local banks and withdrew millions of dollars! In order to avoid mass panic and total bank failures (because banks don’t carry all that money people have deposited in their vaults at one time), the Federal Reserve loaned $45 billion to US banks and thrifts! And that’s one of the biggest purposes of the Federal Reserve; it acts as a “bankers’ bank,” making it to where if liquid cash is low for a bank, they can always get money loaned to them by the “Fed.” But what happens if the Fed gets low? Doubt that will happen anytime soon, as they’re the ones that print the money.

The Goldsmiths

When early traders began to use gold in making various transactions, they soon realized that it was unsafe where do banks come from?and totally impractical to carry gold and have it weighed and judged for purity every time they negotiated a transaction. The idea of depositing gold to goldsmiths became big in the sixteenth century- and why not, right? Rather than carrying and measuring their gold all the time, they deposit it with a goldsmith and have them weigh it and measure the level of purity; once done, they are issued a little receipt that had value to come back to the goldsmith and claim their gold.

So these goldsmiths began accumulating tons of gold! And that’s where the early bankers came from! You can look at the early goldsmiths as embryonic bankers.

Here’s where it gets really interesting:

Some clever goldsmith came up with a great idea! After this system was in place for awhile, they noticed that people just plain weren’t coming back to pick up their gold. Why would they? The paper was deemed just as valuable and began circulating around the society. So what were those little paper receipts in our terms? Paper money! So the goldsmith decided to lend out MORE than they actually had in gold in their reserves, which really meant that if everybody hurried back to take all their money out, the goldsmiths would be in a lot of trouble! But because such an event was so unlikely, they would lend out paper receipts and put interest rates on them to make more money. This was the beginning of loans!

Since then, banks have been loaning money out to individuals for various interests rates so they, too, can turn a profit. All of this came about because some wise goldsmith out there figured there was an real opportunity to make some money! What a great idea?!

It’s also comforting to know that our money these days is backed by the Federal Reserve. So when you see accounts that are backed by the FDIC, you know you’re money is safe, even in the toughest of economic times. Just know- even a bank can’t save you against interest! So be careful!

Trevor Shipp, the author, works as an online business consultant, student, husband, and business owner. Only just recently married, he and his wife take a serious approach to personal finance in their early years. Follow him on his personal finance blog, answering the question as to how to manage personal finances.

A home loan with bad credit doesn’t have to be an impossible task. Finding online loans makes the task easier because there are more products to choose from.

Before the days of internet access worldwide, a home loan with bad credit was much harder to find and to obtain just because of the bad credit information on one’s credit report. However, with the global exposure, thanks to the internet, means that such loans are much easier to locate. Doing a search engine query with terms such as the ones above will result in thousands of listing that respond to the parameters. Using the internet to look for and obtain home loans is a smart move when you have bad credit records. With proper safeguards, an online loan can be the optimum answer for borrowers with poor credit records.

More Options

One of the major reasons why a home loan with bad credit is more likely to be found on the internet than from a local lender is due to the simple fact that there are more options available on the internet. There are many lenders who can lend money even to those people who may be considered questionable credit risks. The lenders who allow and even specialize in subprime loans can factor in higher interest rates in order to earn the money to fund their financial services business.

Special Lenders

Specialty lenders who provide funds for a home loan with bad credit borrowers are found on many web sites online. The customers who need loans but don’t have credit reports that can pass the close scrutiny necessary with traditional lenders are able to find sources from lenders who specialize in higher risk loans. The sheer volume of applicants means that the lenders can afford to make the loans to people who might otherwise be unable to borrow money for a new home. If you are willing to pay a little more for the privilege of borrowing, you will be able to find a lender online.

Creative Financing

What is commonly known as creative financing is another way to be able to obtain a home loan with bad credit. Sometimes this concept encompasses higher interest rates. You may structure the loan to have no interest rates for a period of time. You can arrange for a loan in which you have stated income only and that doesn’t require a credit check. If there is no credit check, the bad financing issues will not appear. Unfortunately, many lenders find that these loans are more likely to fail. This is due to the fact that sometimes these borrowers are the very people who should not be borrowing money in the first place.

Added Information

Obtaining a home loan with bad credit by going online and looking for lenders provides more information than you can usually find in any other lending source. You can find out information about rates and terms online and even compare various lenders on a single feature. You can determine whether a particular lender has a good record for business ethics by doing a search engine query with the name of the company. Internet forums also help you to determine whether people are having good results in their transactions with a particular lender.

One of the premier sites to look at when you are hunting for a Home Loan With Bad Credit is found at http://www.homemortgageloan-refinance.com/Bad-Credit-Home-Loan-Refinance.php . Log in now to know more.

Anyone following the financial news has likely heard opinions right and left about what’s behind the current crisis. In addition to the usual suspects—Wall Street greed, lack of oversight, and predatory lending—you’ve doubtless seen fingers pointed at other culprits, such as short selling and hedge funds.

Let’s take a closer look at those last two subjects by answering these questions: What exactly are hedge funds? How do they work? Who is eligible to invest in them? And finally, why have these funds been grabbing headlines during the recent Wall Street crisis?

First, let’s examine what they are and where they came from.

Hedging against ris­k

Back in 1949, Alfred W. Jones, a sociologist, author, and financial journalist, came up with a revolutionary idea for an investment fund. To hedge against potential losses for investors, Jones combined leverage and short-selling of securities. He was so successful at hedging the market, his fund outperformed the mutual funds of the day—and the term “hedge fund” was born.

Despite his success, hedge funds didn’t really get traction until the 1960s when wealthy entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet and George Soros got on board. Suddenly hedge fund became a Wall Street buzzword, and by some estimates, these funds currently manage close to $3 trillion in assets.

While Jones’s strategy focused on short selling and leverage, there are a variety of other methods today’s hedge fund managers use.

Bigger risks, bigger rew­ards

Hedge funds are a bit like exotic mutual funds, but with bigger downside risks, and greater upside rewards. They’re similar to mutual funds in that hedge fund managers pool investors’ money and re-invest it in hopes of getting a positive return. But that’s where the similarity ends.

Unlike most security offerings, which are tightly monitored and regulated, hedge funds are not required to register with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) or to file periodic reports. Hedge fund managers aren’t even required to disclose what they’re doing with investors’ money. In fact, what they’re doing is investing in everything from stocks and futures to commodities and currencies, real estate, art, even website domain names — not to mention other risky investments. There’s no regulatory body overseeing hedge funds, so investors are virtually unprotected.

It’s an environment that attracts the wealthy in search of higher than average returns—investors who may even prefer the lack of government oversight. Hedge Fund managers have free rein to take risks tightly regulated mutual funds cannot. To do so, they use a variety of sophisticated investment strategies. Two of those strategies are short-selling and arbitrage.

Short Selli­ng is like placing a bet that the stock price will go down. The hedge fund manager borrows shares of stock he feels are about to slide and immediately sells them on the promise of returning the shares later. If the manager’s assumptions were correct, he can purchase the shares back at the lower price and keep the profit before returning the stock to the lender. Short selling on a massive scale upsets the balance and order of the market.

A­rbit­ra­g­e­ takes place when you simultaneously purchase and sell the same investment to take advantage of inefficient markets. Here’sa simple example: A hedge fund manager buys securities in one country and immediately sells them in another, to take advantage of a lag in foreign exchange rate adjustments (and possibly different time zones). This risky technique requires careful monitoring of global currencies.

Who’s eligible to play this high-stakes game?

Unlike mutual funds, hedge funds are small, private partnerships with stringent eligibility requirements. The widespread availability of hedge funds has changed a lot since Buffet and Soros first favored them, but one thing hasn’t changed. These funds are still for big hitters only—institutional or individual investors with deep pockets, wealthy enough to absorb heavy losses and savvy enough to understand the risks.

Typically, a pool of investors in a single hedge fund may be comprised of 100 “accredited investors” or an unlimited number of “qualified purchasers.” To join the ranks of qualified purchasers, you typically must meet these criteria:

• An individual with investments worth at least $5 million including those held jointly with a spouse.

• A family-held business with $5 million or more in investments.

• A business with control of at least $25 million in investments.

• A trust sponsored by qualified purchasers

The requirements to qualify as an accredited investor are similar, but typically apply only to individuals, not businesses or trusts:

• An individual with a net worth in excess of $1 million—or that amount when combined with a spouse.

• One who has had an individual income, excluding spouse’s income, of more than $200,000 in the previous two years with reasonable expectation for same in current calendar year.

• A married couple with joint income of more than $300,000 in the previous two years and a reasonable expectation for the same in the current calendar year.

Minimum investments:

The minimum investment is set by the General Partner (GP) and varies between funds, but $250,000 or $500,000 is the typical amount for a new fund. Minimums for established funds can run as high as $10,000,000. Generally the GP can waive the minimum if he wants to accommodate those investors that pledge to invest that amount over time.

Hedge funds get in trou­bl­e­

The strategies hedge funds use are designed to work to the investors’ advantage whether markets are rising or falling. In fact, these funds usually thrive in volatile markets because they can capitalize more fully on market opportunities using leverage, short-selling, options, futures, arbitrage and other strategies.

But now even hedge funds are struggling to hang on as they ride the financial roller coaster. Before the Wall Street meltdown and $700 billion bailout for financial institutions, hedge funds were already seeing their worst year on record. By the 2nd quarter of 2008, the average fund was down nearly 5 percent — a bitter pill to swallow when average annual returns on investment were often in the double digits.

No one can afford to be invested in an underperforming hedge fund right now — and half of the hedge funds in America are underperforming. Even billionaire Boone Pickens, founder of BP Capital LLC, who lost more than $1 billion of his own money in energy trades this year, reports that 15 percent of his hedge funds’ holders opted to cash out.

Most hedge funds set a quarter-end deadline for clients to request having their money returned. If the predictions are accurate and hedge fund investors want out en masse, it will push fund prices down far enough to force many smaller and poorly managed hedge funds out of business.

That won’t happen overnight, of course. The wave of closures would be gradual and most likely span a six month period. Experts predict the wave could kick off in November and December at the end of the typical 45- to 65-day waiting period, when fund managers must return investor money.

Many financial analysts predict the demise of as many as 2,000 smaller hedge funds between October 2008 and March 2009. Fear over a mass investor cash-out have become far more worrisome to hedge fund managers than the recent temporary worldwide bans on short-selling that hamstring trading strategies such as arbitrage.

Those bans were put in place in late September when, in an effort to quell market volatility, the SEC banned short-selling in 799 financial stocks and required hedge-fund managers to disclose their short positions.

Disclosure? That was a first! Naturally there was immediate pushback, with some arguing that asking a hedge fund to reveal its inner-workings is like asking Coca-Cola or Colonel Sanders to reveal their formulae.

The expanded and extended no-short list now covers nearly one-fifth of regularly traded stocks listed on US. exchanges. The ban is expected to be in place until mid-October.

It remains to be seen how all of this shakes out and how the hedge fund industry will survive this major upheaval in the financial markets.

Co-authors Jose D. Roncal and Jose N. Abbo share some 50 years of senior executive experience in international business, finance and economics. Both have authored numerous articles on business strategy, finance, accounting, capital markets and the global economy. For more on the authors and their book, The Big Gamble: Are You Investing or Speculating?, visit: Financial Speculation .

Disease and sickness have been around since the first human was created. They are no respecters of persons and attack the young and the old, the rich and the poor, even the strong and healthy. You probably are familiar by now with the oft-quoted, “Man has already set foot on the moon but still hasn’t found a cure for the common cold”. This was true a little less than four decades ago and it still rings true today. Since then a slew of new deadly viruses have been discovered and created, bringing the war against sickness to a new level.

Not all deadly diseases, however, can be blamed on Mother Nature. Human technology and greed have spawned man-made catastrophes like deadly viruses, genetic abnormalities, radioactive contaminants, habit-forming drugs, toxic chemical in food and environmental pollution which caused unprecedented loss of human life.

Basic Insurance Information that a lot of people overlook

Life is fragile and fleeting. One moment you are alive and active; the next moment you can be severely incapacitated or, at worse, dead. In today’s uncertain times, it pays to prepare in advance to provide for your loved ones’ well being in case the inevitable happens. Your best option should be an insurance coverage.

A lot of people procrastinate and put off getting an insurance coverage until it’s too late. Unless you are a gifted psychic, you can never predict the day and circumstance when you will get sick, incapacitated or die. The slogan, “It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it” can be aptly applied in situations like this.

An insurance policy is ideal for wage earners who support a family or dependents and is the main breadwinner of the household. They can choose from different types of insurance coverage to fit their purpose. Below are the three principal types.

Health Insurance Information

Choose a health insurance coverage if you need available funds in case of sickness that requires hospitalization and professional medical care. This insurance type safeguards you in times of unexpected medical emergencies that could otherwise throw you in a financial crisis. It provides ready cash to pay for medication and other health care needs as stated in your policy. It also covers disability expenses and in-house health care like nurses and professional caregivers.

Choose the best health insurance provider you can find. It could spare you from future worries when urgent medical requirements arise.

Accident and Disability Insurance Information

Accidents can happen anywhere and anytime, even inside the workplace. As the name implies, accident insurance coverage offers you financial aid when you become incapacitated and need a longer time to recuperate. Some of the cash can be used by your family to cover daily expenses while you are still unable to go to work.

In case of permanent disability, like loss of a limb or eyesight, you will be given a choice to receive your insurance money in recurring monthly payments or in one lump sum.

Life Insurance Information

Like all pre-need insurance plans, life insurance policies are given upon the death of the policy holder. If the principal bread winner of the family dies, the ones left behind will not only suffer the pain of loss of a beloved but will be suddenly plunged in a financial crisis. With life insurance, the total policy amount along with bonuses accumulated during the entire payment period will be received by the legal heirs.

All the types of policies above are a great way of providing support to millions of people to cope in times of urgent financial difficulties. When searching for insurance coverage, either offline or online, compare the different insurance information and be diligent in choosing the best policy for you.

Patrick Felmoni is an insurance broker with five years of experience selling Anthem Blue Cross of California health insurance as well as Aetna health insurance and Humana health insurance . Remember to take care of your health. It is your greatest investment.

It has become alarming that a growing number of fit and healthy people today actually think that they have nothing to do with health insurance. They exercise regularly, do not smoke or take alcohol, eat nothing but nutritious diet, and lead a healthy stress-free lifestyle. Some even convert to vegetarianism, practice yoga meditation, reiki, chi gong and other Eastern practices thought to prevent diseases and increase longevity. So who needs health insurance anyway?

Sadly though, a number of these health buffs, some in the prime of their lives, suddenly get sick and die. You’ve probably heard of this athlete who, while jogging, just suddenly keeled over and fell dead in his running shoes. This just disproves that being healthy means being invincible to all diseases and sickness. There will always be a “chink in your armor” that infections and dread diseases can penetrate.

Is health insurance only for the old and the sick?

If health is wealth, then it cannot be emphasized enough that having a health insurance is definitely one of the best investment you can ever have. The famous pro-gun slogan “It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it” can very well hold true for health insurance.

Health insurance has become one of the hot issues that often spark debates and controversies. Each individual has his or her own opinion as to who should get medical insurance. As was stated above, the healthy and the strong believe they don’t need health insurance anymore. The sober truth is nobody is born with a crystal ball to gaze into their future. Nobody can foretell the time and circumstance when they will get sick and require medical attention.

Another problem is that uninsured healthy people have the tendency to miss health checkups and regular physicals that provide advance detection of dread diseases, abnormalities and malignancies that could be silently spreading in their system. This can lead to disastrous consequences.

What are the benefits of health insurance?

This popular type of insurance safeguards you and your family from sudden medical emergencies that could lead to financial crisis. A well-chosen health insurance plan can provide some financial security and save you from a lot of worries if and when urgent medical care should arise.

This insurance makes cash available to pay for the various medical expenses and health care requirements covered by the policy. It also covers disability expenses and long-time health care requirements like in-house nurses and caregivers. This means you get immediate and complete health care as compared to uninsured individuals.

How does health insurance maintain your health?

One misconception about this type of insurance is that it is ONLY a way of settling medical bills in case you became sick or got injured. While this is true, it is only a part of the many benefits of health insurance and not the whole. This type of insurance not only insures your health; it ensures it.

Keeping you in perfect health not only helps keep the cost of health care at a minimum. It can make health insurance premiums low and within reach of everyone. Health insurance providers like Blue Cross Blue Shield know the value of keeping you healthy. They are also aware that keeping you in good shape eventually saves them a lot of money.

Health insurance companies have various ways to make you aware of the benefits of staying healthy. One of them is through educating the public by means of available online materials and information. They make the public the public aware that smoking kills, that obesity leads to heart complications, that wearing protective gear lessens the damage of accidents or that stressful living leads to a shorter life span.

Cynthia Perfeni is an insurance broker with five years of experience in the California health insurance market. Remember that your health is your best investment and you should take great measures to protect it, including choosing the right health insurance .

Credit Repair in the N­e­ws­

Credit repair is more important than ever. In a recent interview with MarketWatch, a Wall Street Journal website, the Consumer Operations manager for the MyFICO division of Fair Isaac spoke out about the importance of checking your credit reports. In the words of the article, “There may be some surprises waiting for you.”

A New Credit Repair L­a­n­ds­ca­p­e­

Creditors everywhere have tightened their guidelines. This new credit environment has made credit repair more important than ever before. And to make things even more difficult in these already challenging times, creditors have begun to reduce and close credit cards in order to limit their own risk exposure.

The Limit Reduction Pro­bl­em

This action is doubly hard for consumers. First, these limit reductions are happening unexpectedly, even to those who have never made a late payment. And second, and even more damaging, is the snowball effect that follows. A major part of your credit score is based on the relationship between your current balance and your credit limit. When a creditor cuts your limit your balance-to-limit ratio increases and your credit score will fall, through no fault of your own.

The Snowball E­ffe­c­t

And the snowball starts rolling. Once the first creditor drops a limit and your scores fall, other creditors are likely to drop your limits as well. And the lower your scores the more prone you will be to this perfect storm of credit repair trouble. What to do?

Good Credit Repair A­dvi­ce

The Consumer Operations Manager for MyFICO suggests that you do everything in your power to insure that your credit report is as clean as possible and your scores are optimized. And don’t make the mistake of thinking that paying your bills on time (as important as it is) is you need to do. Credit repair knowledge is power. Here is a summary of his credit repair tips, and our extrapolation.

Check Your Credit Repo­rt­s

Look for changes in your account limits. And while you’re at it, check for errors. Errors come in many shapes. Derogatory information should cease reporting, generally, after seven years. You should know that the seven year reporting period clock starts on the date of the original default with the original creditor. The original default was the first reported late payment in the sequence that led to the charge off or collection status.

Collectors cannot reset the clock with subsequent reporting. And while we are on the subject of collectors, you should know that if a collector no longer owns the debt, he is supposed to remove the account entirely from your credit report. When in doubt, challenge the item with the credit bureaus or hire a credit repair professional to manage the process for you.

Don’t Get Close to Your Credit Card Limits

A significant percentage of your credit score is based on your balance-to-limit ratio. Reduce your balances as much as possible. Less than 20% of your limit is the optimal balance. Many people are blindsided by precipitous drops in the scores when they max out a card, even when they have never been late on a payment.

Keep Accounts A­ctive­

Use your cards to keep them alive. Dormant cards are in danger of being closed by creditors and unless you have plenty of open accounts this could cause a drop in your scores and send you in search of credit repair solutions.

Pay Your Bills on T­ime

This seems like a no-brainer, but it is so important. Make sure you understand the impact your purchases will have on your budget. Try not to let yourself get spread too thin. A single late payment can have a big effect on your scores, and may even trigger adverse action, such as limit reduction, by your creditors.

Don’t Apply for New Credit Car­ds

We have warned against store cards for years, and MyFICO agrees. Store cards can be credit repair suicide as they often present a triple threat. First, you will have an inquiry. Second, you will have a new account which will weigh down your credit scores for several months. And last, and worst, is the fact that most store cards offer a credit limit only marginally over the amount of your purchase. Put these together and you get credit repair trouble.

Call for Credit Repair Help

If you are confused by all of the components of credit report and score management, or don’t have the time to handle the task on your own, don’t give up. Call a credit repair professional for help. A credit repair professional will manage the process for you and insure that everything possible is done to optimize your credit. Good luck!

Copyright ? 2008 James W. Kemish. All Content. 保留所有权利。

Jim Kemish, a nationally recognized consumer advocate, is the president and founder of Sky Blue Credit Repair, a leading credit repair service since 1989. Jim is also a regular contributor to The Credit Repair Blog, a prominent consumer credit repair resource.

Yesterdays announcement by the Bank of England delivered an unexpected statement that they were cutting their base rate by 1?% from 4.5% to 3%. It has been done to kick start our stalling economy and to try and prevent a deepening recession. Everyone was expecting a ?%; but, we all hoped for a full 1% interest rate cut, so this announcement was a real surprise. This interest rate cut is the largest ever percentage cut in British history; the lowest interest rate cut in 53 years and the last time we saw a full 1% interest rate cut was back in 1981.

So the question we should all be asking now is. “What does the Bank of England know that needed such drastic action?” They are normally such a cautious institute that has a history of ?% cuts and increases. We know that millions of families are struggling, unemployment is rising and will soon reach 2 million, the manufacturing industry is on its knees with the lowest sales, companies are implementing a three day week and Christmas spending is looking like a wash out. I believe they saw an economy on its knees and close to slipping into a deep recession.

The drop in interest rates were to stimulate our economy and yes it may do that; if the banks pass the interest rate cuts on in their entirety to the mortgage borrowers. A 1?% interest rate cut to a homeowner with a £100,000 mortgage would reduce their mortgage payment by £125 per month. Unfortunately this will only help borrowers on a standard variable rate, tracker or discount rate mortgage that is linked to the Bank of England base rate. It will not help anyone with a fixed rate mortgage. It is hoped that this interest rate cut will encourage us to start spending in the shops and that should get the economy moving again.

The banks need their interbank lending rate known as the Libor rate to reduce so that banks can start to borrow money from each other. The libor rate is still far too high. The banks need to reduce their libor rates so they can start offering better remortgage deals. There are millions of homeowners who are desperate to remortgage to a better rate. Homeowners looking for a new remortgage product should watch out for banks offering mortgages products with large arrangement fees. It might be better to consider a mortgage product with a higher interest rate and a lower arrangement fee; than a lower interest rate with a higher arrangement fee. Consider using a mortgage broker to find the best remortgage product to suit your circumstances that saves you real money. Latest news is that the Libor rate has just fallen by over 1% to 4.49% on the back of the Bank of England’s decision yesterday – there is hope!

The decision by the Bank of England is not welcome by everyone, especially savers and pensioners. They rely on their savings for an income to live and this interest rate cut has reduced their incomes by 33%. This will hurt savers that are pensioners more than anyone else as they live off their savings and do not have a job to support themselves. Most of these people have saved all their lives and now when they need a decent income in their retirement the Bank of England hits them the hardest.

So what is the answer? Well if we let inflation take over we will have everyone asking for bigger annual pay increases; mortgage rates will rise and the people who save money will get higher returns on their money invested. To see the consequences of a country that has been ravished by inflation you only need to look at Zimbabwe where they have major monetary problems caused through politics. Their inflation rate has risen to a staggering 100,000% and a loaf of bread now costs 16 million Zimbabwe dollars. They actually have 50, 100, 200 and 250 million dollar bank notes. A $50 million dollar bank notes is enough for three loaves of bread. Scary isn’t it!

We must hope that the Bank of England has seen something in their crystal ball and that they have taken the correct action – there will always be winners and losers. Time will tell whether the Bank of England has made the right decisions.

Contributing author Mark Aucamp has been providing Talk Money Blog with regular posts and comments. Mark is recognised as an authority in the field of Debt Management and the Remortgage market; he has extensive experience in providing Advice & Solutions. Mark is the Editor of Talk Money Blog: - http://talkmoneyblog.co.uk

In the wake of last weeks shock announcement by Bank of England of a 1?% interest rate drop from 4.5% down to 3%. This was not before time! Around 40 mortgage lenders withdrew their trackers rate products from the market and said they would be reviewing and relaunching their tracker products later this week. By last Friday afternoon the London Interbank Offered Libor (Rate) which shows the interest rate at which the banks are willing to lend money to each other finally fell to 4.49% from 5.56%.

The main indicator and key driver when it comes to lenders pricing their new interest rate products is not the base rate but the three-month Libor rate. The Libor rate is still stubbornly high at 1.49% higher than the Bank of England Base rate. If mortgage rates are to regain any similarity with the base rate then the gap between the base rate and the three-month Libor rate needs to narrow. All we can do is wait and watch!

This defiance by the banks not to reduce their Libor rate continues to reflect the banks continuing unwillingness to lend money to each other. The experts say that the banks are still looking for further signs of stability before the libor rate drops any further and this will be a slow process. Add to this that the banks are hoarding money in an effort to show better than expected end of year results and you now start to see why the banks have been reluctant about dropping their interest rates. The Government is currently applying pressure to those banks where they invested taxpayers’ money in order to get them to reduce their interest rates.

In a strange turn of events last week the lender all withdrew their Tracker rate mortgages after the announcement by the Bank of England. Tracker rate mortgages are designed to benefit borrowers in the event of a Bank of England base rate cuts. The main reason for the base rate cut was to reduce the mortgage costs for borrowers and it was hoped that this would encourage homeowners to set about spending again in the run-up to Christmas and this would then stimulate the wider economy. Unfortunately things don’t work like this and these interest rate reductions will not affect every homeowner. As borrowers on fixed rate deals will not benefit until their penalty period has elapsed. First-time borrowers still need to find a minimum of a 5% deposits in order to buy their first home and there is currently only one lender at present willing to lend to first-time buyers. How are first-time buyers ever going to get on the housing market!

Mortgage lenders will start to pass on their new lower interest rates over the next few weeks and months. So don’t rush out for a quick mortgage deal or a secured homeowner loan. Consider that just 1% saved on a £100,000 remortgage is the equivalent of a £83.33 less to pay monthly. So the lower the interest rate the bigger your savings will be. There is unquestionably more hope around with the interest rate cuts announced by the Bank of England and the London Interbank Libor Rate last week and today there is talk of the government now considering tax-cuts. Better Interest rates to come!

Contributing author Mark Aucamp has been providing Talk Money Blog with regular posts and comments. Mark is recognised as an authority in the field of Debt Management and the Remortgage market; he has extensive experience in providing Advice & Solutions. Mark is the Editor of Talk Money Blog: - http://talkmoneyblog.co.uk

Finance, like many other things these days, is a subject that people often make more complicated than it is. If you listen to the typical Wall street investor, they will use terms so technical that you’d think you were in a math class. Those of us who even passively read about finance will often hear of terms such as CDOs, M3, inflation, fundamental analysis, hedge funds, compound interest, and a bunch of other terms which are alien to our common understanding.

In the end however, the fact of the matter is that having an advanced understanding of these things is irrelevant when it comes to the goal of saving money and building wealth.

I think it could be argued that we have more misconceptions about money than about any other concept in the world. Having read many books on business and finance, I’m often amazed by the things I hear people say when talking to them about money. Most people believe that becoming rich involves having skill, beauty, or some other talent, while others even think that becoming rich requires you to rip other people off.

Here in the U.S., because our public schools don’t bother to teach students about the importance of finance, many of them grow up being ignorant of the subject. Of all the subjects you could be ignorant of in this world, money should definitely not be one of them.

What is Wealth?

No matter what financial “experts” or investors try to tell you, the truth of the matter is that becoming wealthy lies within the individual more than anything else. Skill, beauty, and talent are not what truly makes a person wealthy.

But before I elaborate on this, I think I should start by defining the word “wealth.” Many people are confused as to what “wealth” really is, and to be quite frank, if you don’t know what wealth is, it is unlikely that you will ever become wealthy. The word “wealth” is defined as “owning labor, or owning anything which labor was required to create.”

This means that a truly wealthy person will be the owner of things that someone had to labor for in order to create, or labor itself. If you run a company that has 100 employees, you own the labor of those 100 employees, and this would be a true form of wealth. If you have $100,000 worth of gold or silver coins, this is another true form of “wealth.” I repeat, wealth is either labor, or anything which was produced by labor.

This brings us to an interesting conclusion. Because our society currently uses paper money and credit in exchange for goods and services, it brings to question whether or not we’re truly wealthy as a society.

Think about it for a minute. If the definition of wealth is “labor,” or anything which labor produces, then this would mean that our paper money, which was printed by the Fed, and credit, which was keyed into a computer, is not “true” wealth. No one labored for it. No one struggled to get it out of the ground. How can something be valuable when you can simply print it out in large quantities with ease, or key it into a computer?

Money Saving Tips is dedicated to helping people become financially literate. Many people today are seriously lacking when it comes to being financially prudent. We named the site “Stop Stupid Stuff” because many Americans face financial hardships, and these hardships are a result of Stupid Financial Decisions , mistakes that could have easily avoided.

We are generally apprehensive of the unknown and this is true of contacting debt Management organisations as we don’t know what to expect. When you have made contact with a Debt Management charity you should then be put through to a debt management advisor. The debt advisor will assess your current personal financial situation and they will calculate your monthly affordability to pay your outstanding debts and commitments. (Mortgage, Loans, Store Cards and Credit Cards) Once they have accessed your current situation they will then be able to advise you what to do. They will recommend one of four different types of solutions, in order to provide you with a debt solution:-

1 。 Restructure your debt

Here you contact your loan providers and ask if you could increase the term of your loans, this will reduce your monthly payments. (just be aware that you will pay more in interest if you extend the term) You could depending on your age increase the term of your mortgage as long as it is paid before you retire or you may switch your mortgage to interest only from a repayment mortgage. This needs a lot of serious consideration as you will be leaving your home without a repayment vehicle to pay off your mortgage when you retire.(before doing any of these always take professional advise)

2 。 Debt Management Plan

Your debt management advisor will send every company that you owe money to a statement of your monthly income and outgoings. They will provide each of your creditors with a list detailing how they have broken down your payments and how much you can afford to pay each of your creditors monthly. You then repay your creditors back monthly and if your finances improve you will pay them more, in order to clear the outstanding debt you owe them. Your debt advisor will ask each of your creditors to stop charging you any further interest on the money you still owe them. It is dependent on each individual credit as to whether or not they agree to this.

3 。 Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)

This is a legal agreement that is drawn up with all the companies that you owe money to. Your monthly payments are then agreed through the courts and you pay your IVA practioner who then pays your creditors as agreed. An IVA is managed by an IVA Practitioner who oversees the whole process. The repayments are based on your affordability and your creditors agreeing to a reduced payment over the next three to five years.

4 。 Bankruptcy

Circumstances might be so bad that your debt advisor may recommend you applying for Bankruptcy or you could wait until one of your creditor’s makes you bankrupt. This solution is normally recommended when your debts are so huge and you have no ability to pay them off. Bankruptcy can last for 12months to 5 years.

Of course there is a fifth option which is to ignore your whole situation and carry on as though nothing is wrong – this is certainly not advisable as this is probably part of the reason why you are in this mess in the first place.

Here are two warnings that you need to know about:

1 。 What ever you do don’t be tempted to abandon your property. Your mortgage lender can still add interest and charges to your debt until your home is sold. They can pursue you for the money for up to 12 years for their money. Try and sell you home first or seek a solution. Best solution here is pay the mortgage first each month this keeps a roof over your head and then divide what is left between the other creditors you owe money to after you have paid your utility bills and food bills. Make sure you pay them something each month.

2 。 Beware of Rent-buy-back schemes. This is another option which has appeared recently – Its being touted as the mortgage rescue plan or rent-back schemes and is not regulates at all. Be careful of these schemes as they will buy your home from you to get you out of a problem with your mortgage lender now at a knock down price for an immediate sale. They then offer to rent your home back to you so that you can continue living there. Slowly over a period of time they start to increase your rent in order to get you to move out. Take advice first!

In answer to the question of do Debt management Advisors bite? No they don’t bite but they can help and assist you. However be aware of any debt management company that offer to take on your situation for an upfront fee and a monthly fee in order to help administer your debt management plan. They will bite you as you will pay less to the companies you owe money to and you will end up getting further into debt to get out of debt!

I am advising you to contact a professional advisor from a Debt Management company or the Consumer Credit Counselling Services (CCCS) and talk through your personal circumstances first and take their advice. Don’t bury your head and hope the problem will go away or that you will win the National Lottery, the chances of that happening are 17,000 to 1.

Contributing author Mark Aucamp has been providing Talk Money Blog with regular posts and comments. Mark is recognised as an authority in the field of Debt Management and the Remortgage market; he has extensive experience in providing Advice & Solutions. Mark is the Editor of Talk Money Blog: - http://talkmoneyblog.co.uk

During these times of economic turbulence and insecurity we all have a immense need for sickness, accident, unemployment & redundancy protection. Most of us have a mortgage, loans, credit cards, utility bills and everyday living expenses that would need to be paid if we were to lose our jobs through a redundancy, become ill or suffered an injury and be unable to work for a while.

With household budgets already stretched you should think seriously about protecting yourself and your family. If you or your partner lost your job through a redundancy and you ended up unemployed for a long period of time. How would you pay your mortgage and other bills? It is at times like this that debts start to rise as you struggle to meet your commitments. Then you start borrowing on your credit cards or taking out high cost loans and slowly your debts become bigger and you start to lose control and your debts spiral out of control.

It is impossible to predict whether you will find yourself unemployed or off work due to a long term illness or an accident. There are different types of protection insurance policies available today. You should consider taking out a protection policy to safeguard yourself from a financial disaster should anything happen to you or any of your loved ones. The Yorkshire Building Society recently estimated that the average Briton’s savings would only last 52 days if they were unable to work and that 36% of Britons would only last 11 days. Scary isn’t it.

The old adage of having a ‘rainy day fund’ looks like it is a thing of the past, with one in six people or 16% of us having to rely on credit to fund basic household breakdowns. 45% of Britons say that they could not afford more than £500 if an emergency arose and 20% of Britons said they could afford no more than £100, according to research carried out by the Alliance & Leicester. Based on these statistics it is important that you protect yourself.

There are two main types of Protection Insurance policies available:-

Accident, Sickness, Unemployment & Redundancy cover Generally known as Mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI). It was designed to provide you with a monthly payment to cover your monthly mortgage payment and associated mortgage costs if you were to lose your earned income, through illness, accident, unemployment or redundancy. The payment period is often limited to a maximum of 24 months for Accident and Illness and 12 months for Unemployment and Redundancy.

Income Protection Insurance (also known as Permanent Health Insurance) This type of Insurance will pay you an income if you are unable to work due to an illness or injury and it usually pays out either until you return to work or you reach retirement age. Income Protection policies will usually pay up to 70% of you annual income. You can add redundancy cover to an Income protection policy. This type of policy may seem costly but it will pay you out for the term of the policy or until you reach retirement age in the event a long term illness, accident or redundancy that may lead to long term unemployment

Contributing author Mark Aucamp has been providing Talk Money Blog with regular posts and comments. Mark is recognised as an authority in the field of Debt Management and the Remortgage market; he has extensive experience in providing Advice & Solutions. Mark is the Editor of Talk Money Blog: - http://talkmoneyblog.co.uk

The current growth of UK debt is £1million every 8 minutes and we all contribute a Stonking £263 million in interest a day. There is currently 27.4million credit cards transactions made a day with a total value of £1.56billion. The total credit card debt in the UK for September 2008 was £55.7 billion and the average adult in the UK has approximately 4 credit cards, store cards and debit cards.

It is little wonder that we are all looking for the ‘secrets to paying off our credit card debts.’ We make our monthly payment and then find that we paid more in interest than the amount that was reduced off our outstanding balance. Frightening isn’t it!

When you look closely at your credit card statement you will see that the interest rates are somewhere between 0% and 27% per year depending on the provider. The average card is generally around the 17% +/-mark.

The secrets to paying off your credit card debts are:-

1 。 Credit card consolidation is the solution of last resort unless it is the only option available to you due to the lack of your disposable income.

2 。 Shop around for a credit card provider who offers a 0% credit card deal for the longest period of time. The normal offer is for 9 months or 12 months. Check the providers transfer fees for moving your balance to them and see if you can find a provider with either a lower fee or even better no transfer fee. Make sure that you move the balance to another card at the end of the 0% deal. If you don’t then you will certainly go on their worst interest rate deal. Don’t try and arrange too many 0% deals in the same month as you could find yourself being turned down. Just move one or two cards every other month.

3 。 It is also worth considering a credit card with a low interest rate for the term of the balance. But don’t spend any money on it as the interest rate for new purchases will be exorbitantly higher.

4 。 If you are paying any Payment protection Insurance then you must see if you can find a cheaper policy to cover all your outstanding cards elsewhere. You should cover yourself for accident, sickness and redundancy with the same cover or better. Then cancel the credit card protection insurance from your credit card.

5 。 Move all of your credit card balances to better interest rate deals. Make sure that you move all you highest interest rates onto the lowest interest rate deals first.

6 。 Don’t forget you can always ring up your credit card provider and ask what deals they have. It might be a better deal then you are currently on and any deal that is lower than you are paying now is better.

7 。 Now you have rearranged your credit cards you should start paying as much as you can comfortably afford off the highest interest rate cards first and the minimum allowed off the interest only cards. Get the highest interest rate cards down as quick as you can. Keep moving those cards to the next best interest rate deal as soon as the last deal finishes until all your credit cards have a ZERO balance.

8. Once you have cleared a credit card balance completely then cancel the card and move the money you were spending on the card you cancelled to the next card and watch as your balances just fall away.

9. Start using your debit cards instead of your credit cards and you will find that this will curb your passion to spend on plastic. You will go overdrawn in your bank account if you have not got enough money to cover your purchases. The bank will charge you an overdrawn charge of around £20 to £37 and you will quickly realise that you can only spend what you can afford.

10. When you have a Zero balance and one credit card left you need to reward yourself you have earned it! What a Result! Congratulations

Now that you are debt free and in control of your finances you may like to try this. You have now qualified as a Master Credit Card Tart. Apply for a 0% credit card. Then withdraw the full amount of credit they have given you and buy National Premium Bonds. Pay the minimum monthly payment allowed. At the end of the 0% deal move the balance to the next 0% deal and so on. Here is the best bit it will never cost you anything and all the winnings are tax-free and all yours courteous of the credit card company. You may just be one of the two lucky £1million Winners that they announce each month. What a flexible friend you now have!

The eleventh secret is you could contact Finance Claims Checker and let them see if your credit card agreements are invalid and unenforceable in law. If they are then they may be able to have your credit card balances written off using their solicitors and the legal loopholes in the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Contributing author Mark Aucamp has been providing Talk Money Blog with regular posts and comments. Mark is recognised as an authority in the field of Debt Management and the Remortgage market; he has extensive experience in providing Advice & Solutions. Mark is the Editor of Talk Money Blog: - http://talkmoneyblog.co.uk

Recent research has found that Green Car Insurance policies cost almost 100 per cent more than the regular insurance covers. Price comparison websites on the Internet warn drivers who want to go green that clearing of their carbon emissions is going to cost them more.

Thus, although going for “green” insurance options is admirable, car owners and drivers are advised to weigh the pros and cons before finalising their car insurance policies. They should clearly judge whether a Green Car Insurance policy would be a good idea for them.

The insurance industry can soon experience a boom in the sector of Green Car Insurance. Many car insurance providers have introduced exclusive packages that target the “green” section of customers, or the “green market”. This market consists of car owners and drivers who want to have “environment-friendly” insurance policies for their vehicles.

The majority of the “green” insurance providers design carbon-offsetting schemes. Such a scheme can intend to contribute a percentage of the insurance premium to projects dedicated to carbon offsetting. Generally, Green Car Insurance companies offset the overall carbon emissions of a vehicle.

Carbon offsetting schemes may vary from one insurance provider to another. For some, it could mean the planting of trees or promoting recycling, or being involved in other environment friendly projects. Others may decide to get every form of energy they need solely from renewable sources, or reduce their consumption of paper, cones and water cups. Many green car insurance companies contribute a certain percentage of their annual profits to environment friendly causes. Some offer “green” incentives like recycling a car if it has almost become scrap, and using recycled motor parts, wherever possible, for repairs and replacements.

Some car insurance providers offer lower premiums to owners of green cars. This is due to a common notion among insurers that owners and drivers of green cars are more responsible towards environment and hence are lesser risks to the insurer.

Should you go for Green Car Insurance policies?

A Green Car Insurance policy is an ideal opportunity to contribute towards environmental causes. But, it goes without saying, that these policies are costlier.

Instead of going for a Green Car Insurance policy, you can choose the cheapest car insurance option that will do just enough to provide your car with the cover you want for it. Then you can contribute the money you save on your insurance premium to a green cause that pertains to your ideals. This will bring more satisfaction to you as you get to choose where the money goes and how it gets used. But only a disciplined individual with a lot of restraint can use his saving for environmental causes.

Motorists can take care of the environment in various ways. But they often remain oblivious of the pathetic realities of the environment and thus fail to do their bit. Opting for a Green Car Insurance policy is a simple act that will only require them to pay some extra cash towards the upkeep of the planet earth. But as long as Green Car Insurance policies remain just an option, the objective will be only partially served.

eGreen Insurance provide green car insurance policies that have a substantial role in keeping our environment clean and green.

For people who own businesses or for people who like keeping a number of vehicles, fleet insurance is an option that must be considered. If you have four vehicles or more (for business or personal use) you can opt for fleet insurance. Fleet insurance covers all your vehicles under one single policy. There are several benefits in choosing fleet insurance over other forms of insurances for automobiles. Though fleet insurance is largely used by organisations which have large number of vehicles, individuals owning many vehicles see this as a viable option too.

One of the biggest advantages of opting for fleet insurance is that you have one single policy that covers all your vehicles. You therefore do not have to worry about keeping track of individual vehicle policies (in terms of having them renewed, etc.), and in case of any eventuality it is the one policy you have to refer to. Within a business, if you have different vehicles used for different purposes (vans used for transporting goods and cars to ferry employees), you could still have them grouped under one single fleet insurance policy.

Also, claims made under a fleet insurance policy are known to be handled more efficiently and smoothly as compared to claims filed under other vehicle insurance types. Some organisations tend to opt for insurance bonds to take care of their insurance needs. This is very often more expensive, and can pose a problem if specific insurance types (like van insurance) are not handled by the insurance. Fleet insurance, in cases like these, can do with minimal administration in avoiding stressful situations.

Different insurance companies do have different sets of outlines for the requirements of fleet insurance, but some factors do remain the same for when these companies consider providing fleet insurance.

One of the foremost things an insurance company would want to know is the number of vehicles and the purpose for which they are being used. Quotes will vary depending on the type of vehicles. Generally, in fleet insurance, getting five vehicles of the same type insured would cost different than getting five different types of vehicles insured. The vehicles’ estimated mileage and age would also be factors in deciding how much the fleet insurance would cost.

Factors such as the experience and history of the driver will also be taken into consideration before the final quote for the fleet insurance policy is made. In any scenario though, this would turn out to be considerably cheaper than opting for individual insurance policies.

If, for some reason, an individual cannot be covered by an individual policy, he/she could be eligible to opt for fleet insurance as far as the prerequisite conditions are met. This will not only help them get insurance coverage for the moment, but also help with getting individual coverage in the future, by helping make amends to their history.

In cases where businesses need policies for goods that need to be transported in vehicles, there are fleet insurance policies to take care of same.

Businesses and individuals are increasingly looking at fleet insurance as an option, and it is definitely not without reason.

Staveley Head provides fleet insurance for personal or business requirements to those who need insurance and coverage on several vehicles at a time.

In recent times, a courier business is looked upon as a very lucrative trade prospect. Almost every other business requires a courier service to deliver important documents across the lengths and breadths of the country or continents. It is here where courier insurance comes into picture. This insurance is provided only to those who drive their individual vehicles to deliver the urgent parcels. It does not matter whether the person is making deliveries for different companies at the same time or under contract to one employer, it is extremely vital to be covered by the right insurance cover.

By now, you must be well aware of the fact that courier insurance is much different from the insurance coverage of normal vehicles. The people serving the insurance companies are entrusted with the responsibility of despatching the goods to their proper destination, and hence it becomes essential to hold the right kind of cover for the vehicles that these people own.

When you will set out to find a courier insurance cover for yourself, you will be surprised by the plethora of options available in the insurance market. It will be your call to decide upon the right kind of cover, which in turn will ensure protection of other people’s goods. Also if you are looking to insure all the vehicles that you use in your courier business, then fleet insurance will probably be the best option for you.

After choosing the right insurance cover, you will need to know what exactly will be covered within your courier insurance package. In most cases, it wholly depends on the insurance cover that you have opted for. Mostly people opt for Haulage cover or Hire and Reward cover. Some even opt for third party cover and comprehensive cover. It all depends on the individual needs and requirements. Then again, one thing must be borne in mind: the insurance companies will not be responsible for the protection of your personal goods. In case you want to protect your personal belongings, you must opt for Goods in Transit insurance cover.

If you have already started searching for the right insurance cover, by now you will have realised how difficult it is to find affordable courier insurance. Either the insurance company will show the least amount of concern, or charge a premium which is simply unreasonable. The other reason as to why the insurance companies show a good deal of hesitation in offering courier insurance is because couriers are solely responsible for the third parties.

If you are still unable to find yourself the right kind of insurance cover, search online. There are a host of insurance companies who advertise their policies on the Net. They even welcome start-up companies and consider couriers with a poor driving history. Regarding the formalities after choosing the right insurance cover is also very important. If you are unable to comprehend any clause in the package, you must at once consult with your agent and then proceed with the remaining formalities.

Having the right courier insurance for your courier business ensures you a healthy return for times to come.

Staveley Head provides courier insurance for courier businesses interested in obtaining coverage for incidents such as damaged packages, road accidents and other extreme situations.

we can sure draw some analogies.

Reflecting on the United States economy and the economic woes reported from the rest of the world’s financial systems these past few weeks, we have noticed a possible correlation to the childhood fairy tale “Chicken Little.”

You probably recall from this old English folk tale that a tiny little chicken called Chicken Little felt a rose leaf fall on her tail one day and immediately ran in great fright crying “the sky is falling!”

First one she told was Henny Penny who joined her in spreading the message. On their way to tell the king, they met Ducky Lucky who joined their chorus. Then Goosey Loosey and Turkey Lurkey also voted for the tale.

Did we say “voted”? Well, they joined the parade of characters till they all met Foxy Loxy who lured them into his den by promising to tell them where the king lives.

The story goes that Foxy Loxy led them into his den and they never came out again.

You can draw your own conclusions about what happened to Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Goosey Loosey, and Turkey Lurkey, but you can be sure that the foxy one came out of that deal okay.

Now there are those who predict that our economy will never emerge from the den it’s in, but that’s not our area of expertise, so we won’t speculate here. Our business is running a business and we plan to keep doing just that.

We believe in persistence and hard work. Those whose wares we represent have their hopes tied into the products we represent. We don’t’ plan to let them down. We plan to be here; to keep on working and hopefully only paying our fair share to the common good in order to remain in business.

We hope to pass along many good deals to you in the coming months. We don’t expect to ever be a Wall Street presence; we are what has come to be called a Main Street business.

We are drowning out those who are trying to spread the message that the rose that fell on Wall Street was actually a thorny stem or the whole bush. We know based on history that some people will come out of this slumping economy smelling like a rose.

We know that some people are simply going to see and seize opportunity out of this turmoil and disruption. Some people are not going to fare so well and are going to need assistance. We support many organizations trying to provide that help.

In some respects poverty and unemployment are big business. Like a friend of mine said after being unemployed for four months a few years ago, “if it weren’t for unemployment, a lot of people would sure be out of work.”

Think about it. The unemployment system here in the United States is huge. We hope our customers don’t have to file to collect, but if you do, you will encounter counselors, clerks, and a cast of helpers that include those who actually keep the records and generate the checks to say nothing of the landlords collecting rent for the space these agencies use. If someone wasn’t unemployed, those people surely would be. Even our culture of helping those with less actually employs lots of people to distribute money, food, shelter, clothing, and other things of need.

We can’t predict where the large-scale economy is going, but we do believe that it will keep going and those who don’t give up on it will be a big part of its recovery.

We plan to be just as “foxy” as we can be to lure you into our den and connect you with some of the finest products from around the world. We can assure you that you’ll come out okay.

Please Reply and Share with us at: http://i-shoptheworld.com/2008/10/29/this-economy-is-no-fairy-tale-but/ all Your thoughts, Comments, etc. on any/all of the following related to the current Economic situation and How we may All work Together to Improve our World Economy for Everyone’s Mutual Benefits! :), namely:

- Do You really think the economy is as bad as the news media has been portraying it?

or …

- Do you think this is all just a fairy story they/the media have concocted, just like Chicken Little, to convince everyone that the “sky is falling”?

and if so …

Why?

- Do You think the media telling everyone the economy is bad, just like Chicken Little, is creating a “self fulfilling prophecy” and making the economy worse than it is really otherwise?

- Is the economy in Your country “better” or “worse” than as reported by the news media in the United States?

- How has any of this affected your personal finances and/or family finances thus far?

- What are You doing Now to prevent the reported economic situation from (further) affecting Your personal finances and/or family finances?

- What do You think can and/or should be done to improve the Global Economy?

— And Who should be doing these things to improve the Global Economy?

- What may we All do to work Together to Improve our World Economy?

for Everyone’s Mutual Benefits!

We look forward to hearing All of Your thoughts, Comments, etc. on any/all of these topics related to the current Economic situation and How we may All work Together to Improve our World Economy for Everyone’s Mutual Benefits!

Michael S. DeVries is the Founder of I-ShopTheWorld.com ( http://www.IShopTheWorld.com ) - where You may Save Money on Unique Native Products Direct to You from All over the World! and a Principal of The Virtual Consulting Firm ( http://www.TheVCF.com ).

Over the decades, well meaning but often misinformed persons have decried what they have called “the high cost of weekly premium industrial insurance.” Any offhand comparison with the cost of ordinary insurance or cheap homeowner insurance ( http://cheap-insurance-rates.com/home/ ) would be, of course, to the disadvantage of industrial.

There can be no escape from higher costs in view of the nature of the business. Three factors determine the cost of life insurance, whether it is ordinary or industrial—mortality, operating expense, and the interest earned on the invested funds of the company.

Of these, the first two operated to make industrial insurance cost more than ordinary. Because it was sold chiefly to the families of working men, industrial insurance had to provide for the higher mortality prevailing among this group. Despite marked improvement in the years following, the death rate of industrial policyholders still showed an excess of about 20% as compared with the holders of standard ordinary policies.

The second item, operating expense, was higher in the case of industrial insurance, not only because of the small units in which these policies were issued but also because it had to cover the cost of the additional services which industrial policyholders received.

The premiums were received in the homes weekly, and the agent often would have to call more than once to find the policyholder at home and in funds. His time was at the disposal of the people on his debit, and the policyholder was saved the trouble and expense of having to pay at the office of the company. The services of the agent had to be paid for, and they were well worth what they cost. No wonder that the operating cost of weekly premium insurance was higher than that of ordinary.

Nevertheless, progress was made consistently to reduce the difference between the cost of industrial and ordinary life insurance ( http://cheap-insurance-rates.com/life/ ), and this reduction was in large measure the result of definite planning and conscious effort. Death rates of policyholders continued to decline throughout almost the entire span of life. At the younger ages they finally reached about one fifth of the former levels.

The company’s broad program of welfare activities, including its extensive nursing service, undoubtedly reflected favorably on the longevity of the industrial policyholders. More and more their life expectation has come into line with that of the population as a whole. There was still a sizable difference, however, in favor of the ordinary policyholders.

Better management also reduced the expense ratio of the business. The employment of better qualified agents, their greater stability, the improved persistency of policies, the better control of details of the business, the new devices of recordkeeping, the extension of insurance without medical examination—all helped to bring the expense ratio down, although the services given were greatly extended.

In fact, the proportion of the industrial premium devoted to expenses at that point was only about one half what it was about 50 years before, and is smaller than that required by the majority of purely ordinary companies for conducting their business.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in finance, business, and life insurance. For cheap homeowner insurance, please visit http://cheap-insurance-rates.com/ .

Two further developments helped to reduce the cost of industrial insurance in the twentieth century. As early as 1911 the company inaugurated a plan whereby industrial policyholders willing to pay weekly premiums directly and continuously to the home office or to a district office would receive a refund of 10% of the premiums. The following year this provision was included in the policy and became a contractual right of the insured. The Metropolitan was the first company to grant this allowance.

Large numbers of policyholders have taken advantage of this provision; in fact, more than 30% of the weekly premiums in force are now paid directly to the company, without collection commissions to agents; and the amount returned to policyholders in 1942 for such direct payment was about $7,700,000.

It is interesting to note that almost 30 years after this practice was adopted by the Metropolitan, it became a statutory requirement for companies in New York State, illustrating once again how the company’s voluntary provisions for the benefit of policyholders have later become part of the insurance law, whether it be life insurance or cheap auto insurance ( http://cheap-insurance-rates.com/auto/ ).

The second development was the introduction in 1927 of industrial insurance on the monthly premium plan. This form of insurance was designed primarily to meet the requirements of men and women who could afford to buy policies for between $500 and $800 and to pay their premiums monthly. In the main, the monthly premium Industrial policy was intended for better circumstanced wage earning families. In recent years this type of insurance has also been made available in smaller amounts and on the lives of children.

The monthly premium policies are similar in their provisions to the weekly contracts. From its very inception this insurance has been participating and has had the benefit of the company’s nursing service. Yet current rates for monthly premium insurance are 12% lower than on corresponding rates for weekly premium policies.

In fact, Metropolitan monthly premium industrial insurance compares very favorably in cost with ordinary insurance in many other companies. It is not surprising, therefore, that its growth has been phenomenal. At the end of 1942 there were nearly 3,000,000 monthly industrial policies on the books for a total amount of insurance of nearly $1,400,000,000. In the following years an increasing proportion of the company’s industrial business was on the monthly plan.

We may conclude this section on cost by referring to a report made in 1938 by the insurance department of the State of New York, after an intensive study made of Metropolitan industrial insurance. The State Examiners concluded that the net cost of weekly premium industrial insurance exceeds the cost of comparable substandard ordinary insurance, and even private health insurance ( http://cheap-insurance-rates.com/health/ ), on the average, by only approximately 15% of the industrial gross premium.

The report pointed out that this figure may be further reduced to about 5% if premiums are paid to a district office under the privilege of the 10% refund. The examiners of the state insurance department, after 18 months of study, reached the conclusion that “these costs are not excessive in view of the service rendered.” Their conclusions were reaffirmed as the result of a later examination.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in finance, business, and private health insurance. For cheap auto insurance quotes, please visit