Annuity Help: How to Get Good Help?
Many people today are looking for help with their annuities. The biggest challenge seems to be that most of the help is biased. What exactly do I mean? I mean that there is always a vested interest for the person who is helping you with your annuities. They are out to sell you something so you don’t know if they are doing it for your best interest or for theirs.
For instance, let’s say you were looking for a fixed annuity. If you work with an agent who has a bias towards variable annuities or gets paid more for selling variable annuities, you may end up with something that doesn’t fit your needs. Also, if you end up with a banker or financial advisor who does not do a good job at addressing your financial needs and concerns, you may end up with the investment of the day instead of the investment that’s right for you. And by the time you realize it, it may be too late.
So how do you get help with your annuity? First and foremost you must help yourself. What is really good is to take inventory of where you are currently and where you want to be. Look at your current investments and your goals. Take a snapshot of your financial situation. This may sound elementary but most people don’t do it. But the key is to do it before you seek help from an outside source.
Look, the reason is simple. The more you know going in, the better the chance that you will get what you want. Doing your financial homework is a critical piece of getting the right help. A good financial advisor will ask you to help him understand you so you can help him to help you. This is crucial to your financial future. Getting help with your annuity or your investments means helping yourself first.
The most important aspect of this comes at the time you need to make a financial decision about your annuities or your investments. If you know what you want, you will be able to figure out what you don’t want. For example, if you want safety of principal and the advisor offers you a variable annuity, you can easily say no because you know that won’t fit your goals. Also, the opposite is true. If you don’t know what you want, you may know what you don’t want and that may be a good place to start.
The bottom line is annuity and investment help begins with yourself. Understand your financial situation, your time frames, your needs for liquidity, and your goals. The specific investments and annuities you will use to accomplish your goals will come second. The more you help yourself, the more likely it is you will end up with the right annuity. Good luck and remember…
Ignorance is not bliss…
Now that you know more about how to get good annuity help, learn more about that shocking secrets about your annuities that your agent doesn’t want you to know by visiting AnnuityMD.com
Tony Bahu is author of the controversial book, ‘Annuities: The Shocking Truths Revealed.’ More information can be found at AnnuityMD.com
Cheap Car Insurance – Best Tips For Insuring Teen Or Student Drivers
If you have a new teen driver in your family, here are some of the best tips for insuring a teen or student driver. It’s important to get the best if not the cheapest car insurance quote to properly prepare because 16-year-old drivers have more auto accidents than any other age group.
Getting the best insurance plan will help alleviate a few problems. You want to make sure that your teenage or student driver is insured but get low cost car insurance too.
Make sure to keep your teenager on your current insurance policy. You should be able to get a lower rate if you add on your teens to your insurance plan rather than buying a new one. You may also be able to get a multiple policy discount by adding them that way. If you have more than one vehicle be careful about which car the teen is assigned to. You don’t want the insurance agent to assign them to the most expensive car.
Have the insurer assign the teen or student driver to the least expensive car. They will have to drive this car solely so keep this in mind. You don’t want them to get in an auto accident in a car they are not insured for because there are penalties and increases in the insurance premiums that will undoubtedly follow.
You’ll want to add on some additional liability insurance. This is important in the event that the teen or student driver gets in an accident and causes damage to a vehicle and is then shown to be negligent. If the teenager gets in an accident, and damages go beyond your insurance upper limits, amounts not covered by your car insurance can be cause for a lawsuit against you.
You’ll definitely want to raise your deductible. Increasing your deductible will save you money on your insurance premiums. If you go from a $300 deductible to a $1,000 deductible you can save about 15%-25% on your premium. Make sure you get several cheap car insurance quotes
Insurance companies have quite different rates and price their insurance policies for student or teen drivers at different insurance rates. Check online with one of the websites that offers a way to compare rates from several insurance companies at one time before you purchase a policy.
These teen or student driver insurance tips will help you save money, get the best and cheapest car insurance quotes and protect yourself in the event that your teen is involved in an auto accident.
For more tips on how to save money and get free online cheap car insurance quotes and find the best auto insurance online go to http://www.Cheap-Car-Insurance-Quotes.info for cheap car insurance advice, info on auto insurance discounts and more
Annuities: Finding Help You Can Trust
The cries are heard from the distance, “I need help with my annuities.” Nothing has changed…just a lonely senior who can’t trust anybody with her annuity because every time she asks for advice, someone tries to make her invest in a different annuity…Sound familiar? Well you are not alone.
Often times when speaking to a senior about their annuities, I ask them their biggest complaint. Time and time again they say that it is hard to find someone who can help them with their annuity without trying to sell them another one. It is not uncommon. The truth of the matter is, many annuity agents are not out to help the client, but to help themselves (I am sure you are not surprised). They want to make the “fast buck” without regards for the client’s needs or investment objectives. The unfortunate part is that, this isn’t going to change.
Honest help with an annuity is hard to find. Insurance agents don’t get paid for their time, they usually only get paid for making a sale. So it’s no wonder why they always recommend another annuity. I once visited someone who needed help with an annuity that an agent “talked him into.” The problem was, in order to get into this annuity, the agent talked him into surrendering his old annuity and paying a $13,000 surrender charge to do so-AND THE ANNUITY HE PUT HIM INTO WAS WORSE THAN THE ANNUITY HE GOT HIM OUT OF…When I asked him why he called the other salesperson in the first place, he told me he just needed to make a small withdrawal from his annuity and didn’t know how…And the agent tricked him into switching it into another annuity and paying a huge surrender charge which he could never recover due to his age…Fortunately it wasn’t too late and we were able to reverse his transaction.
It’s unfortunate but there are many people who have this kind of experience. The more you know, the easier it will be to avoid these kind of experiences. And the easier it will be to now taken advantage of. Many people are taken advantage of every day when it comes to their financial investments and their annuities more specifically.
The bottom line is this. If you need help with your annuity, you need to be vigilant. Many agents are out there for their own good and you must be aware of this. Utilize your resources and learn the right questions to ask your agent before making a decision. Sure, you may just give up and never get help but the worst decision is no decision. Help with your annuity is hard to find, but not impossible…Good luck and remember
Ignorance is not bliss…
And remember, if you do want good annuity help, or to learn more about that shocking secrets about your annuities that your agent doesn’t want you please visit AnnuityMD.com
Tony Bahu is author of the controversial book, ‘Annuities: The Shocking Truths Revealed.’
Annuities Investing: The Whole Truth
Do you ever feel like you haven’t been told the whole truth? Kind of like something is missing? Well, you are not alone.
With many investors awestruck over the last several years by the declining stock markets, many feel like they’re out in the cold. Why didn’t my broker get me out? Why didn’t I get out? What did I miss? Was there a better place for my money? They want to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
And when you think of investments, annuities are always one of the options. But what have you heard about annuities? Have you heard about your friend who put all of his money in annuities and actually made money during the 3 year decline? Or was your friend the one who bought the annuity he couldn’t get out of without paying 25% surrender charges? Are annuities good or bad? Should you invest in annuities?
Well, I am here to tell you, you don’t know the whole story. There are many things you haven’t been told and I’m here to tell those things to you. I know this because I receive phone calls and e-mails from people all across the country sharing stories with me. And the fact that this is true, has literally caught the attention of many.
So you must learn the whole truth about your annuities or an annuity you may be interested in investing in. There are many sources out there but you have to evaluate what their intention is. If they are annuity sellers, you can count on the fact that you probably won’t learn about the disadvantages of annuities.
So what does this mean to you? It means being able to play on a level playing field. It means knowing whether you’ve been told the truth and sold the truth or just another lie to get you to buy. You need help avoiding the mistakes that are being made every day due to investor ignorance.
So if you own an annuity or are thinking about an annuity, you must be vigilant about discovering the whole truth. You need to seek out the whole truth. It has been said that up to 90% of annuity sales are possibly unsuitable. I don’t know if it’s that high but I do know you certainly don’t want to fall in that category. And in order to do that, you must seek the unbiased truth by doing your homework.
Remember, Ignorance is not bliss…
And remember, to learn more about that shocking secrets about your annuities that your agent doesn’t want you, please visit AnnuityMD.com
Tony Bahu is author of the controversial book, ‘Annuities: The Shocking Truths Revealed.’
Variable Annuities: Do I Have to Die to Get My Money Back?
Would you like your money back when you are dead? Well, that seems to be the question when it comes to variable annuities. Here is the reason.
As you may be aware, variable annuities are constantly being criticized. One particular reason is that they happen to typically be expensive. The expenses in a typical variable annuity can be as high as 4%. This usually means that if the market averages 9% over a specific time period, you may average way less because of the fees.
That’s not the only variable annuity drawback. There are also issues of taxation. Yes, they are tax deferred but are they accumulating taxes unnecessarily? Well, that may be the case. I always mention this but capital gains taxes are so low right not that it almost makes sense to pay them as opposed to a tax deferred ‘income tax’ even though your money is being compounded.
So where does the notion of getting your money back when you die come in? Well, let me explain. One typical benefit of a variable annuity (please check your specific annuity for EXACT details), is that the amount of principal you invest becomes your MINIMUM death benefit. So if you lose principal due to stock market conditions, your initial investment will still be your death benefit. One note, however, is that some insurance companies have changed that to only be true if you invest in a manner that is considered appropriate (not too risky).
With that said, some often state that a variable annuity is the annuity where you can only get your money back if you die!!! Well, it certainly feels like that when we are in a market that won’t seem to turn positive. So, yes, you may only get your money back when you die. Is that how you want it?
Well, it’s one way to look at things. Variable annuities can be tricky. It’s important to understand that they are not always what they appear to be at face value. As great as they may appear to be, it may be worth taking a more in depth look unless you only want your money back when you die.
Some of the more not so obvious things about the variable annuities are the so called guarantees that they come with. These guarantees on the surface look great but a more in depth look at them typically reveals something that is not so great. It’s just worth mentioning this because there are things you absolutely must know before you get involved with a variable annuity and it’s very important to do your homework.
To learn more about the drawbacks of variable annuities, or to view videos educational videos regarding annuities, please visit the The Annuity Video Blog.
Tony Bahu is author of the controversial book, ‘Annuities: The Shocking Truths Revealed.’
Car Insurance Fraud and Scams: How to Avoid Them
Being in a car accident is a difficult thing whether the accident was your fault or not. Unfortunately, there are individuals out there who make it their career to scam people in one way or another and they do it by endangering lives, causing financial pain, and causing mental anguish.
That is why it is good to be aware of these frauds and scams because the unsuspecting are usually those who end up with higher insurance premiums, points against their license, and even cancelled insurance. Don’t let this be you. Be aware of what these scammers do and do everything you can to avoid it.
The types of scams
There are several scams that are well known amongst law enforcement and the general public alike. These scams include:
- The Exaggeration Scam: This is the scam in which the individual doing the scamming has inflicted prior damage to their car to make it look like the damage occurred in their accident with you. These individuals stage the accident, although the crash may be legitimate. Because their vehicle was not appraised prior to the accident, the damage they inflicted on it cannot be proven to be or not to be part of the accident. They are given the benefit of the doubt and they receive payment for that damage from your insurance.
- Rear-ender Scam: The scammer will dodge out in front of you and will then slam on their brakes. They make sure that they do this when you don’t have enough time to brake and avoid hitting them. Unfortunately, the police and the insurance companies automatically assume the second car is at fault in a rear-end crash.
Another unfortunate thing about the rear-ender scam is the fact that a false medical claim usually follows. The scammer convinces a doctor that they sustained injuries in the crash. What happens is that your insurance pays for their pain and suffering, as well as their medical bills. Sometimes these scammers may even have a medical accomplice who receives a payoff for their cooperation.
- The Good Samaritan Scam: This is the individual that waves you on when you can’t see if traffic is coming. However, they wave you into the path of their partner and they ram right into you. What happens is that it looks like you drove out into traffic, which makes it look like your fault. When the cops arrive, the waver denies they ever waved you on.
How to avoid these scams
First and foremost, you need to be a defensive driver. You have to always stay alert and not always trust those around you. If someone waves you on, don’t trust them. You still need to creep out into the street until you can see. You can wave at them to thank them, but don’t gun it out into traffic. You also need to do everything you can to make sure there is plenty of space between you and the car in front of you. If someone darts out in front of you, you need to slow down just in case.
Furthermore, you should be sure to document everything in case of an accident. Keep a disposable camera in your car to take pictures of the accident and make sure you listen to what all of the witnesses say to the police. You also want to acquire a copy of the police report when it is available so that you can tell your insurance company about your suspicions. Insurance companies are experienced in stopping scammers, so provide them with everything you have so that you can turn the tables on the scammers.
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Homeowners Insurance for Stay at Home Moms
There are several factors that stay at home moms in particular should consider when deciding what kind of homeowners insurance they need and how much to buy.
Damage to Your Home
Be certain to double check your policy and make sure you are covered adequately. You may have to purchase separate insurance for fire, flooding or other natural disasters.
You can keep costs down by evaluating the likelihood of each event and adjusting your deductible to reflect the risk. You can often get a discount for having storm shutters or smoke detectors.
Damage to your home could be minor enough to warrant a do-it-yourself fix rather than filing a claim and seeing your rates skyrocket. A little roof damage with no leaking or structural harm is often no reason for a whole new roof. You might be better served by climbing up and re-shingling the affected portion.
In the case of major damage or a whole home loss, make sure your policy covers emergency housing. A hotel is highly preferable to a shelter, especially if you have children.
Burglary and Theft
If someone breaks in and steals all of your electronics, your jewelry and your prized purebred cockatoo, you might not ever get back the sentiment of your lost property but you should be able to replace its monetary value.
The number one way to be sure you are adequately recompensed is to keep receipts for everything valuable that you purchase, snap a photo of it too, and keep both with a copy of your policy in a safe secure place.
For some items, the insurance will only pay for actual cash value, so consider getting replacement value insurance for items like expensive televisions or computers. Very high dollar items like a diamond ring may be subject to limitations unless you get a rider on your policy that covers that specific item. The insurance company will want an appraisal for riders.
You can usually get a discount on the personal property portion of your policy if you have a security system.
Accident Liability Coverage
If a guest in your home is hurt, the injured party can file a claim on your homeowners insurance policy. It is very, very important to have adequate liability insurance if you have children and their friends come over to play on a regular basis.
An umbrella policy will cover claims up to a million dollars, but be cautious about advertising the fact that you have high coverage; some people are unscrupulous enough to fake a fall if they think you are worth suing!
Umbrella policies are an especially important option if you have a dog, swimming pool, or trampoline in your yard that could pose a hazard to visitors.
Many Americans don’t even know what they are covered for, and misconceptions abound. Making sure that you have sufficient coverage is just responsible!
Make sure you know what you are covered for and where you are vulnerable, and consider what homeowners insurance you should have to cover every eventuality.
Rayven Perkins has been a stay at home mom, surviving on one income, for over 8 years. Visit her site Homeowners Insurance for SAHMs for more important information about homeowners policies and ways to reduce your expenses.
What Conditions Can Interfere with Being Approved for Home Insurance?
Individuals who seek out home insurance can actually be denied. This denial isn’t a discrimination issue or a lazy insurance company. There are simply aspects of a home or the land the home sits on that an insurance company will not cover based on their own rules and regulations. They are also not able to make exceptions due to the fact that they may only be authorized to carry certain types of insurance for certain types of properties. That is what makes insurance companies so different from one another. What one may cover, the other may not. That is why it is important to shop around and not be disappointed if your application for home insurance is denied.
Conditions that can result in a denial
There is also the fact that an individual may fill out an application and wish to take on a particular deductible. For example: a customer wishes to take the policy with the $5,000 deductible. That may seem fine at the time. However, the application comes back denied because it is determined that the individual’s home sits in an area that is prone to flooding. Being that a flood prone area can cost the insurance company a lot of money, they may not have a plan that can cover such a circumstance or they may require something such as a higher deductible. They may require that individual to carry a policy with a $10,000 deductible instead of the $5,000. This means that the homeowner has to pay that $10,000 deductible before the insurance company will pay the rest. This may or may not be a turn off to the homeowner due to the fact that they may or may not be able to find a better deal.
Another reason why an insurance company may not choose to provide an individual with coverage is because they use the credit report as a tool in the decision-making process. Not every homeowner has good credit. They may have been able to acquire the home through special loans, but the insurance company may have certain criteria that must be met on the credit report. Then again, an individual can be changing insurance companies, but their credit has fallen to the wayside due to circumstances in the past. If the insurance company goes by credit and credit is bad, then they may decide to deny the application for home insurance.
The location of the home may also be a deterrent. Just like the home in the flood prone area that was mentioned above, an insurance company may find that an area is too high risk for them to cover. This could mean an area with a high crime rate or whatever they consider to be high risk according to their standards. They may also find that the home is in bad condition such as bad wiring, a damaged roof, a plumbing system that could cause irreparable damage or too many claims within the last few years that can deter them from providing coverage. Coverage may also be denied if a home is housing more than one family.
What to do if coverage is denied
It is more or less up to the insurance company as to what cannot be covered. Even something as simple as a swimming pool can deny coverage. However, ask neighbors who they are using and acquire multiple quotes. The lender who provided the mortgage may also be able to recommend an insurance company. All you have to do is ask around and do a little research and you’ll find a company to cover you. Just don’t be upset if you’re denied.
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Better Ways to Get Cheaper Life Insurance Quotes
A lot of people try to avoid obtaining life insurance because of the fact that they think it is an unnecessary expense. We all know that the whole world is getting more and more expensive to live in by the day, so we feel why we should not pay out where we don’t need to, and that is where it all goes wrong. Life insurance is a must and should be taken with great thought. It has always been said that life insurance can be quite costly, but we will take a look at how you can keep the costs down.
There are some major aspects that may increase your premium by up to 60%. Firstly life insurance brokers and lenders will look at the weight of a person. So if you are applying for life insurance and you are classed as overweight, I would look at reducing your weight before you initially apply so it does not get saved in your records, as this may further increase your premium. Next if you are a smoker, how long have you actually been smoking for? If it has been for a few years then I would look at quitting for at least 15 months and then applying. This way you can class yourself as a non smoker and get dramatically reduced rates.
Most importantly you should look at your lifestyle to see if you are performing any dangerous activities, such as sky diving, or even if your job is of a dangerous nature you should be on the search for a safer alternative. Insurance firms are less likely to give cover to somebody that they believe is a risk to themselves. Basically if somebody came to me and said they jumped out of an aeroplane on a weekly basis, there is a very low chance I would offer them cheap life insurance, because of the simple fact that they are at more of a high risk of dying then anybody else, this is just my personal opinion.
Finally you should search around different companies and get different quotes as not everywhere will be the same price. Some insurance firms may even offer an option for dangerous sports cover. You should also try looking at the option of term life insurance cover which has the ability to reduce your rates dramatically, as you will only be paying for a term of insurance whether it’s from a few months to a few years, you are guaranteed to get better rates than a lifelong policy.
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West Palm Beach Health Insurance for Students
The West Palm Beach health insurance options for students offer great coverage for reasonable prices. Student health insurance coverage is one of those topics which seem to take a back seat to other insurance needs. One of the reasons is because students are covered under their parents family health insurance policies until they reach the age of 18 (or sometimes) in many cases. Then one day the student reaches 18 years old and here come the notices they are no longer covered under the health insurance policy.
When the student goes to college the rules change. Campuses offer health insurance coverage, but it tends to be expensive and limiting. Usually the insurance can only be used at the campus health center, and many people need more comprehensive health care than college and university health facilities can provide. It is great that students can purchase coverage when needed but the campus policies often do not provide the best options. In West Palm Beach health insurance coverage can be purchased to accommodate the special circumstances of the college student.
The Florida state legislature is always grappling with the need for health insurance for students attending college. The kinds of solutions they are considering include requiring health insurance before students can enroll in classes or increasing the allowed age of dependent coverage. Instead of a student dropping off the family health insurance plan at the age of 18, they could remain covered up to age 25. Requiring coverage to enroll in classes may not make sense, but extending the age of coverage is a good solution for many situations.
When your college aged children leave home one of the worries is how well they will take care of themselves as responsible adults. Mom and dad have always been around to remind their son or daughter about doctor appointments or to question illnesses. Now it is up the young adults to do what is necessary to stay healthy. But that doesn’t stop parents from worrying. When in West Palm Beach health insurance for a student many miles away is also a peace of mind policy.
There are plenty of horror stories floating around about students who let injuries or sicknesses go untreated because they did not have health insurance. Very few, if any, people go off to college with a reserved cash account available to use to pay for health care. Eventually mom or dad finds out their child has a health issue, and the first thing they do is arrange for health care services with a local physician or health care provider. Having good health insurance insures the student gets all of the health services needed.
If you live in West Palm Beach health insurance for adults over the age of 18 is easy to find. Students need to be covered for unexpected illnesses and common injuries. College students love to ride bikes, participate in athletics and are generally physically active. Making sure they have health insurance gives the peace of mind, that if anything happens, health insurance makes it easy to get quality health care.
When a soon-to-be college student lives in West Palm Beach health insurance may be the very last thing on his or her mind. As a parent though, you know how suddenly you can need good health coverage in the event of illness or injury. An accident or injury can cost thousands of dollars to treat which can impact the family budget at a time the cost of college is already straining available money.
If it is necessary to reduce the cost of the policy the insurance broker can help. There are many different kinds of policies available that can be customized to fit your budget. For example, deductibles can be increased or an HMO provider can be chosen. It pays to shop around for West Palm Beach health insurance.
Andy West is a writer for Get Online Quotes which offers Florida medical insurance plans. For West Palm Beach health insurance needs contact Get Online Quotes.