Thursday, November 13, 2008
Generic Cosopt!
Cosopt (dorzolamide hydrochloride with timolol maleate) was approved on 11/6/08 by the FDA. Cosopt is used to reduce pressure in the eye (glaucoma).
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Who to Vote For?
The following is my response to a friend who says we should vote for Obama because then we'll have universal healthcare:
"You obviously don't work in the health care or insurance industry or haven't talked to anyone from Canada. Universal health care is extremely expensive and inferior to coverage available in the private sector. If you want to see the right way to do healthcare, take a look at Medicare part C & D. Letting the private companies compete has resulted in prescription coverage costing billions less than what was predicted. The best way to solve the health care problems is to reward healthy decisions and to make the consumer pay a large portion of the cost. The problem we have is that health care costs are rising because of overuse. Our generation runs to the doctor every time we have an ache or pain we brought on ourselves and expect it to be paid for. Quit smoking, exercise, maintain a healthy weight weight, eat your vegetables, drink water, sleep 8 hours a night, etc. If you still get sick with something major, then use your health insurance. If we all did that, half the hospitals and doctors wouldn't even be needed. The vast majority of health costs (95%???) comes from a small minority (5%???) of the population. Almost all of those costs can be traced to smoking and obesity. The biggest problem we have in this country is not letting people suffer the natural consequences of their actions. "
I'm still undecided and don't like any of my choices. All I know is that the choices I make in all the other areas of my life will have a much bigger impact on mine and my family's future than who is chosen as president.
"You obviously don't work in the health care or insurance industry or haven't talked to anyone from Canada. Universal health care is extremely expensive and inferior to coverage available in the private sector. If you want to see the right way to do healthcare, take a look at Medicare part C & D. Letting the private companies compete has resulted in prescription coverage costing billions less than what was predicted. The best way to solve the health care problems is to reward healthy decisions and to make the consumer pay a large portion of the cost. The problem we have is that health care costs are rising because of overuse. Our generation runs to the doctor every time we have an ache or pain we brought on ourselves and expect it to be paid for. Quit smoking, exercise, maintain a healthy weight weight, eat your vegetables, drink water, sleep 8 hours a night, etc. If you still get sick with something major, then use your health insurance. If we all did that, half the hospitals and doctors wouldn't even be needed. The vast majority of health costs (95%???) comes from a small minority (5%???) of the population. Almost all of those costs can be traced to smoking and obesity. The biggest problem we have in this country is not letting people suffer the natural consequences of their actions. "
I'm still undecided and don't like any of my choices. All I know is that the choices I make in all the other areas of my life will have a much bigger impact on mine and my family's future than who is chosen as president.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Jumping Through Hoops!
Wow! I haven't posted forever (and probably won't again for awhile)! October is usually insane for me, but this year it's like insanity decided to smoke some PCP. It's been great for business, but not so much for my sleep schedule. Usually my main concern is getting through all the training and certification for the next year's new plans, but this year on top of that I've been dealing with everyone's concerns with the financial markets and insurance company difficulties. Then just as things seem to be settling down somewhat, CMS came out with a bunch new regulations, saying that I have to have written permission to talk to a prospect, that it has to be signed at least an hour before I talk to him or her, and I have to keep it on file for 10 years. Even if it's my own grandma. The good thing is that it at least gives me an excuse to go pheasant hunt for an hour after she signs it!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
AIG and the Amusement Park
With AIG showing up on the news every night (or every minute on the internet), I've had a few questions come my way along the lines of, "What's going on with AIG? Do I need to switch companies?" The strongest statement I can make is, "I am making no changes to my AIG policy" (which happens to be the biggest policy I've sold for them, both in premium and coverage amount).
As both a policyholder and agent I've been following the situation closely. Every news story and press release has its own bias and angle, but they have a consistent theme. AIG is not broke. They have over a trillion dollars in assets. The problem is that it's not a trillion dollars in cash sitting in a vault. It's in long-term investments, real estate, etc., where they don't have instant access to it. The crisis is a short-term liquidity problem.
Billions and trillions of dollars are difficult for me to grasp, so here's how I'm thinking of it. Hopefully this will help you to. This situation is parallel to me going to an amusement park with my family and $100 cash in my pocket. I'm not planning to spend that much, but want to have it just in case. The first ride, my younger son tells me repeatedly he can't ride the merry-go-round because he'll throw up. I tell him, "That's ridiculous. Nobody get's sick on that little ride". I drag him onto it, and after about a minute he pukes up his breakfast. Then my wife smells his vomit and loses her breakfast too. Luckily my son's wearing an old t-shirt, so instead of trying to clean it up, we throw it away and spend $25 on a new Hawkeye t-shirt at the gift shop that's really only worth $10. Of course now the second son wants a Cyclone t-shirt to make it "fair". I don't want the day to be ruined already, so I avoid the fight and buy it. No problem, I've still got $50 and my ATM and credit cards.
However, an hour later my wife and son are both "starving" because they barfed breakfast. So we go to the hot dog stand. Hot dogs are $5 and pop is $4. Even though the price is ridiculous, I bite the bullet to keep the peace. I think that maybe I should use my credit card, but the cashier tells me it's a $50 minimum for credit card purchase. Do I spend $18 of my cash, or spend another $32 so I can use my card. Either way stinks. I figure I'm better off spending the cash and just not being extravagant the rest of the day. I've got $32 and 8 hours left in the park. I should be fine.
Six hours later, everything has been a blast. We've played a few games, had a few snacks, and my cash is gone. But I can get by another 2 hours. If they get hungry, I can stall a couple of hours by promising that I'll take them to McDonald's across the street on the way out. No big deal.
But an hour later we go by the ice cream stand and both kids start screaming for ice cream. They're hot and tired, and it sounds pretty good to me too. I tell them I'll go to the ATM and get some cash, even though I know the ATM has a $10 charge since it's not my bank. They get in line while I go to the ATM. But when I get there, the ATM is down. Out of cash. There's a couple grand in my checking account, but no way to get it. What do I do? Other than asking strangers for a handout (the ice cream stand doesn't take credit cards), my only other option is to pull them out of the ice cream line and head to the parking lot. I just keep my head down and avoid the stares of the people watching me drag the crying kids out trailed by my angry wife. I'm a really great guy, but I sure don't look like it to the other people in the park. It stinks, but we'll survive.
And then the straw that breaks the camel's back. We get the truck and head to the gate. Parking is $8 ($1 per hour--didn't think it was that expensive at 9:00 this morning). Cash only, no checks or plastic. The attendant thinks he's a U.S. Marshall and won't let me out without paying. I scrounge the floor, ashtray, bottom of my wife's purse and come up with $4.72 in change. Not good enough for Johnny Law. The 20 cars behind me are honking, kids are screaming, mosquitos are biting, and now I have to pee. I'm on the verge of a meltdown because I can't come up with $3.28 at that moment. The only thing that's going to save me is if someone behind me comes up and gives or loans me a few dollars to get me the heck out of the parking lot.
That's where AIG is at, on a global scale. The $85 billion loan should get them through the short term problem and back on the right track. In retrospect, there are plenty of ways they could have avoided this problem, just as I could have started out with more cash, not forced my son onto the merry-go-round, rinsed his old shirt out instead of buying new ones, drank from the water fountain instead of buying pop, and so on. I learned a lot of lessons and won't make those mistakes again. I just need a little help to get out of the parking lot and back on the road home. I'm having an acute financial crisis right now, but I'm confident I can pay my mortgage and light bill, just as I'm confident AIG can pay anything it needs to on my policy.
As both a policyholder and agent I've been following the situation closely. Every news story and press release has its own bias and angle, but they have a consistent theme. AIG is not broke. They have over a trillion dollars in assets. The problem is that it's not a trillion dollars in cash sitting in a vault. It's in long-term investments, real estate, etc., where they don't have instant access to it. The crisis is a short-term liquidity problem.
Billions and trillions of dollars are difficult for me to grasp, so here's how I'm thinking of it. Hopefully this will help you to. This situation is parallel to me going to an amusement park with my family and $100 cash in my pocket. I'm not planning to spend that much, but want to have it just in case. The first ride, my younger son tells me repeatedly he can't ride the merry-go-round because he'll throw up. I tell him, "That's ridiculous. Nobody get's sick on that little ride". I drag him onto it, and after about a minute he pukes up his breakfast. Then my wife smells his vomit and loses her breakfast too. Luckily my son's wearing an old t-shirt, so instead of trying to clean it up, we throw it away and spend $25 on a new Hawkeye t-shirt at the gift shop that's really only worth $10. Of course now the second son wants a Cyclone t-shirt to make it "fair". I don't want the day to be ruined already, so I avoid the fight and buy it. No problem, I've still got $50 and my ATM and credit cards.
However, an hour later my wife and son are both "starving" because they barfed breakfast. So we go to the hot dog stand. Hot dogs are $5 and pop is $4. Even though the price is ridiculous, I bite the bullet to keep the peace. I think that maybe I should use my credit card, but the cashier tells me it's a $50 minimum for credit card purchase. Do I spend $18 of my cash, or spend another $32 so I can use my card. Either way stinks. I figure I'm better off spending the cash and just not being extravagant the rest of the day. I've got $32 and 8 hours left in the park. I should be fine.
Six hours later, everything has been a blast. We've played a few games, had a few snacks, and my cash is gone. But I can get by another 2 hours. If they get hungry, I can stall a couple of hours by promising that I'll take them to McDonald's across the street on the way out. No big deal.
But an hour later we go by the ice cream stand and both kids start screaming for ice cream. They're hot and tired, and it sounds pretty good to me too. I tell them I'll go to the ATM and get some cash, even though I know the ATM has a $10 charge since it's not my bank. They get in line while I go to the ATM. But when I get there, the ATM is down. Out of cash. There's a couple grand in my checking account, but no way to get it. What do I do? Other than asking strangers for a handout (the ice cream stand doesn't take credit cards), my only other option is to pull them out of the ice cream line and head to the parking lot. I just keep my head down and avoid the stares of the people watching me drag the crying kids out trailed by my angry wife. I'm a really great guy, but I sure don't look like it to the other people in the park. It stinks, but we'll survive.
And then the straw that breaks the camel's back. We get the truck and head to the gate. Parking is $8 ($1 per hour--didn't think it was that expensive at 9:00 this morning). Cash only, no checks or plastic. The attendant thinks he's a U.S. Marshall and won't let me out without paying. I scrounge the floor, ashtray, bottom of my wife's purse and come up with $4.72 in change. Not good enough for Johnny Law. The 20 cars behind me are honking, kids are screaming, mosquitos are biting, and now I have to pee. I'm on the verge of a meltdown because I can't come up with $3.28 at that moment. The only thing that's going to save me is if someone behind me comes up and gives or loans me a few dollars to get me the heck out of the parking lot.
That's where AIG is at, on a global scale. The $85 billion loan should get them through the short term problem and back on the right track. In retrospect, there are plenty of ways they could have avoided this problem, just as I could have started out with more cash, not forced my son onto the merry-go-round, rinsed his old shirt out instead of buying new ones, drank from the water fountain instead of buying pop, and so on. I learned a lot of lessons and won't make those mistakes again. I just need a little help to get out of the parking lot and back on the road home. I'm having an acute financial crisis right now, but I'm confident I can pay my mortgage and light bill, just as I'm confident AIG can pay anything it needs to on my policy.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Who Helps You Spend?
Who helps you spend? Everyone? Nobody?
There's never a shortage of people wanting to sell us something to get our money (or kids, spouses and grandkids wanting us to buy them something). No shortage of people wanting you to save or invest with them either. But there is little or no guidance on how to access and use the money you've saved and invested, especially retirement money.
Why? Because the companies and their representatives we invest and save with have much to lose and little to gain by you withdrawing money. Also, if money is in a 401k, you are rarely still working for the company when it's time to start using the money, so you don't have access to human resources professionals.
What's the result of the lack of help? In my practice, I usually see one of two extremes. Either a person pulls out more than he or she should, often paying much more in taxes and penalties than necessary, until the nest egg is either gone or drastically reduced to the point that the standard of living falls. I see the other extreme much more often. In those cases, fear of the money running out prevents it being used at all. Those people don't live any better than those who have spent their nest egg. The money sits earning a small amount of interest with nothing taken out until age 70 1/2. Then only the RMD's (Required Minimum Distributions) are taken. Then 20 years or so later at death, the descendents (usually adult children) receive the money and have to pay taxes on it. This often puts them into a higher tax bracket where they end up with a fraction of what their parent intended for them to get. Most of the children would much rather have had their parents spend more money on themselves instead of passing it on.
There's great news regarding a solution to this problem. There isn't one! There are many. You need a professional to sort it out. The best piece of advice I can give is is to actually formulate a plan instead of just "thinking about it" and maintaining the status quo. Equally important is to run, not walk away, from someone who talks to you about a product without delving into your wants and needs. The new generation of annuities, life insurance and other products have better performance and guarantees than products of just a few years ago. However, small, somewhat hidden differences between products can make one a perfect fit for your neighbor but cause huge problems for you. The wrong "help" can be worse than no help at all.
There's never a shortage of people wanting to sell us something to get our money (or kids, spouses and grandkids wanting us to buy them something). No shortage of people wanting you to save or invest with them either. But there is little or no guidance on how to access and use the money you've saved and invested, especially retirement money.
Why? Because the companies and their representatives we invest and save with have much to lose and little to gain by you withdrawing money. Also, if money is in a 401k, you are rarely still working for the company when it's time to start using the money, so you don't have access to human resources professionals.
What's the result of the lack of help? In my practice, I usually see one of two extremes. Either a person pulls out more than he or she should, often paying much more in taxes and penalties than necessary, until the nest egg is either gone or drastically reduced to the point that the standard of living falls. I see the other extreme much more often. In those cases, fear of the money running out prevents it being used at all. Those people don't live any better than those who have spent their nest egg. The money sits earning a small amount of interest with nothing taken out until age 70 1/2. Then only the RMD's (Required Minimum Distributions) are taken. Then 20 years or so later at death, the descendents (usually adult children) receive the money and have to pay taxes on it. This often puts them into a higher tax bracket where they end up with a fraction of what their parent intended for them to get. Most of the children would much rather have had their parents spend more money on themselves instead of passing it on.
There's great news regarding a solution to this problem. There isn't one! There are many. You need a professional to sort it out. The best piece of advice I can give is is to actually formulate a plan instead of just "thinking about it" and maintaining the status quo. Equally important is to run, not walk away, from someone who talks to you about a product without delving into your wants and needs. The new generation of annuities, life insurance and other products have better performance and guarantees than products of just a few years ago. However, small, somewhat hidden differences between products can make one a perfect fit for your neighbor but cause huge problems for you. The wrong "help" can be worse than no help at all.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
I Have "LiveStrong" Survivor Notebooks
Just a quick note to let you know I now have "LiveStrong" Survivor Notebooks. They are available at no charge. It is a notebook to track cancer treatments, doctors, etc. It's a great resource for both inspirational and practical information. If you or someone you know could use one, just let me know and I'll get one to you or them.
Monday, May 26, 2008
"Live 'Til I Die"--Memorial Day
I had a conversation with my 9 year-old to day about Memorial Day, about how traditionally people go and decorate the graves of their dead relatives. We talked about how we should honor their memory every day, not just once a year. One way I'm doing that is by naming my new project "Live 'Til I Die" in honor of Grandpa Green.
He put together working hard and working smart as well as anyone I've ever known. I had trouble keeping up while working with him on his farm even when I was a fit teenager and he was on Social Security with heart trouble and diabetes . The "Live 'Til I Die" comes from what he always said whenever Grandma would get on his case about his blood sugar when he put real sugar and cream in his coffee to go with his glazed donut. He'd always say, "I'm gonna live 'til I die!". We all worried that he would lose his eyesight, feet, etc. He had been so active throughout his life that we thought he'd be miserable in his final years. Instead, he was hit head-on and killed by a drunk driver, so I guess he showed us.
So am I saying to ignore your doctors and conventional wisdom regarding your health? Absolutely not. What I am saying, is to make the most of your time, because we don't know when it will end.
Many insurance companies, investment companies, etc., have some kind of planner kit that they say is to help you leave some kind of financial legacy. In the right hands, they can be very useful. However, like any other tool, they are only as good as the person using the tool. And sometimes the tool isn't very good. The biggest problem I've seen with them is that they are a one shot deal. The advisor or agent uses it to find out where the client has money and finds a product he can sell the client which produces a commission. Then he or she moves on to the next prospect.
"Live 'Til I Die" will be different. It will be a living document with no two of them looking the same. The base of it will come from a Reader's Digest article I read in college, something along the lines of "50 Things to do before I die" (If anyone knows how to track it down, please let me know). The story was about a guy who had made a list like that when he was in high school, then made his living by going on adventures, then lecturing, writing, etc. about them. I made my own list which has been lost in one of my moves, but I have rewritten. Some I have accomplished (having kids), some I've altered (watching the Olympics in person instead of competing in the Olympics), and some I've postponed (still plan to win a national cycling championship, but will be in the 70 and over bracket when I've outlived a bunch of my competitors). However, I can't think of any that no longer interest me. Instead, I just keep adding to the list. If I stopped working today and lived to be 100, I'd still run out of time to accomplish everything I want to do.
The goal of "Live 'Til I Die" will be to help people discover what they want to do, then help them do it. Fear of loss is a much bigger factor in decision making than potential reward, so my role as an insurance agent will be to remove or minimize the fear of loss, freeing people up to accomplish dreams.
I'll be writing more about this as I develop "Live 'Til I Die". Please let me know if you have any materials or suggestions to add to this, and also if you want to be a guinea pig for the development of it.
He put together working hard and working smart as well as anyone I've ever known. I had trouble keeping up while working with him on his farm even when I was a fit teenager and he was on Social Security with heart trouble and diabetes . The "Live 'Til I Die" comes from what he always said whenever Grandma would get on his case about his blood sugar when he put real sugar and cream in his coffee to go with his glazed donut. He'd always say, "I'm gonna live 'til I die!". We all worried that he would lose his eyesight, feet, etc. He had been so active throughout his life that we thought he'd be miserable in his final years. Instead, he was hit head-on and killed by a drunk driver, so I guess he showed us.
So am I saying to ignore your doctors and conventional wisdom regarding your health? Absolutely not. What I am saying, is to make the most of your time, because we don't know when it will end.
Many insurance companies, investment companies, etc., have some kind of planner kit that they say is to help you leave some kind of financial legacy. In the right hands, they can be very useful. However, like any other tool, they are only as good as the person using the tool. And sometimes the tool isn't very good. The biggest problem I've seen with them is that they are a one shot deal. The advisor or agent uses it to find out where the client has money and finds a product he can sell the client which produces a commission. Then he or she moves on to the next prospect.
"Live 'Til I Die" will be different. It will be a living document with no two of them looking the same. The base of it will come from a Reader's Digest article I read in college, something along the lines of "50 Things to do before I die" (If anyone knows how to track it down, please let me know). The story was about a guy who had made a list like that when he was in high school, then made his living by going on adventures, then lecturing, writing, etc. about them. I made my own list which has been lost in one of my moves, but I have rewritten. Some I have accomplished (having kids), some I've altered (watching the Olympics in person instead of competing in the Olympics), and some I've postponed (still plan to win a national cycling championship, but will be in the 70 and over bracket when I've outlived a bunch of my competitors). However, I can't think of any that no longer interest me. Instead, I just keep adding to the list. If I stopped working today and lived to be 100, I'd still run out of time to accomplish everything I want to do.
The goal of "Live 'Til I Die" will be to help people discover what they want to do, then help them do it. Fear of loss is a much bigger factor in decision making than potential reward, so my role as an insurance agent will be to remove or minimize the fear of loss, freeing people up to accomplish dreams.
I'll be writing more about this as I develop "Live 'Til I Die". Please let me know if you have any materials or suggestions to add to this, and also if you want to be a guinea pig for the development of it.
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