Life Insurance Blog | Efinancial

Bow-Wow! Pet Insurance Saves Dog’s Life with Human Pacemaker

  

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“She was walking over to her bed and just fell over,” says Eriny Scinto of Stratford, Connecticut,. “I thought she was having seizures but, basically, she was having heart attacks.”

The Scintos’ other dog had bone cancer at the time. “I couldn’t face losing both of them,” says Erin. “My husband, Robert, and I don’t have any children so our pets are like our kids.”

After rushing Sadie to the emergency vet clinic, the Scintos were told she had a third-degree heart blockage and was at risk of sudden death. Sadie needed a pacemaker to live.

The next challenge was finding one in time. There are no pacemakers made specifically for dogs, but manufacturers sometimes donate expired units to veterinary hospitals. Some people ask that their pacemakers be removed after their deaths and re-used for animals. Demand far exceeds supply, however. About 300 pacemakers are implanted in dogs each year, but at least 10 times that many dogs could use one.

The Scintos’ veterinarian was able to locate a suitable pacemaker at Tufts University Veterinary School in Grafton, Massachusetts, a nearly two-hour drive away.

The race was on. “I had to drive quite quickly,” says Erin. “They told me ‘Don’t let her fall asleep or get too comfortable.’ I was blaring really loud music and kept reaching one arm into the back seat to make sure she wasn’t sleeping.”

At Tufts, a veterinary cardiologist implanted the pacemaker into Sadie’s neck, with a wire connecting it to her blocked heart. “They saved her life,” says Erin. “The pacemaker is actually operating 99 per cent of the time, so she needs it to live. And she’s doing great on it. It’s just amazing.”

The total cost for Sadie’s vet bills came to $6,295, of which the couple’s 24PetWatch pet insurance paid a large share. “24PetWatch insurance is awesome; I tell people that all the time,” says Erin.

Busting The Top 10 Insurance Myths (A Slide Show)

  

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Investopedia, a Forbes company, has produced a slide show of these myths with a capsule debunking of each, and a few useful links. A real hit-or-myth proposition

Myth No.1: I Don’t Need Coverage, I’m Single With No Dependents
What’s that? You’ll have no debts, medical or funeral bills? Are you sure?

Myth No.2: I Only Need Coverage Equal to Twice My Salary
See above, then add mortgage and family.

Myth No.3: My Term Life Insurance at Work Is Sufficient
Not for everyone. Did you include estate taxes, spouse and children?

Myth No.4: The Cost of My Premiums Will Be Deductible
Not unless the policyholder is self-employed and the coverage is used to insure the business.

Myth No.5: I Absolutely Must Have Life Insurance at Any Cost
Probably true, but without debt or dependents, not always.

Myth No.6: I Should ALWAYS Buy Term and Invest the Difference
If you know you must be covered in later years, permanent coverage may be a better idea.

Myth No.7: Variable Life Is Better Than Straight Universal Life
Market performance and account fees can debunk this myth.

Myth No.8: Only Breadwinners Need Life Coverage
If the deceased is a  homemaker, the costs of daycare and household management are substantial to say the least.

Myth No.9: I Should Always Purchase the Return-of-Premium Rider
A cash-flow analysis will reveal the truth, or falsity, of this myth.

Myth No. 10: I’m Better Off Just Investing My Money
In a word…Hogwash!

“Life Insurance Settlement” Reports Released by the GAO and SEC Reaffirm Consumer Option to Surrendering a Policy

  

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Are American consumers better off trading in their mature life insurance policies for a “Life Settlement” compared to surrendering the policy back to the insurance company? Two U.S. government agencies took a closer look at the practice.

The Financial Reform Bill – How Will it Affect You?

  

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The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau now has the authority to craft regulations, launch investigations and act on consumer complaints. Having a problem with your bank or credit card company? You now have someone to call!  Here are other ways the new financial reform act will affect average Americans.

Your Credit Score and Loans: First, the new CFPB will not oversee all loans. Financing from auto dealers, gyms and dentists are among those that frequently bypass the need for a bank by offering their own credit lines, often through a third party. This type of credit will not fall under the same regulatory eye of the new watchdog agency

if you ever learn of an “adverse action,” such as being denied a loan, or being offered a higher interest rate based on your credit profile, the bill allows you to access a free copy of your credit report and credit score with no strings attached.

If you qualify for a mortgage, your loan will stay closer to home than in the past. The bill requires lenders to keep a 5% stake in the mortgages they originate unless the loans meet a certain criteria. That means lenders won’t be able to offload some of the higher risk associated with some loans. Interest rates could take a hike to cover that gap.

Consumers with adjustable-rate mortgages and other complicated mortgage products would no longer have to pay pre-payment penalties if they want to pay off their mortgage early. The bill will also prohibit brokers and bankers from earning bonuses based on the type of loan they sell, which would reduce the incentive to write higher-risk loans.

Mortgages won’t come easy though. If you’ve had a loss in your business, you could be denied that mortgage, even if you have a high credit score and money in the bank. Other stricter lending standards requires lenders to document a borrower’s income. No more “income not stated” shortcuts.

Charge cards: Plastic card “swipe fees” are now going to be regulated for the first time. Visa and MasterCard currently charge debit swipe fees of around 1% to 2% of the transaction amount, which convenience stores and gas stations claim are “among the highest rates in the industrialized world.”   Want to put chewing gum on your card?  You may need to stock up. The bill also allows merchants to decline the use of credit cards for small-dollar purchases.

Airfares could be coming down to earth if the Air Transport Association is right that commodities speculation is what had led to sky-high fuel prices. That speculatton is being done away with. Fees for extra bags will need to be taken up in another bill.

Want a straight ahead, no-nonsense competitive quote on life insurance?  Let Efinancial show you the money-saving power of its life insurance search engine.

Online Vote Highlights Financial Hardship Many Young People Face When a Parent Dies With Little or No Life Insurance

  

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The LIFE Foundation awards scholarships to students who are struggling to pay for college because their parents died with little or no life insurance.

For many, grieving was compounded by their families’ struggles to make ends meet, pay funeral costs and other bills, or simply put food on their tables. Nearly six in 10 applicants said the deaths of their parents or guardians resulted in their families moving to less expensive housing; half said their surviving parents or guardians had to take on additional jobs or work longer hours; and 47 percent said their families had to turn to friends and family for financial help.

Alert: Know these ATM Scams That Can Empty Your Bank Account!

  

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In the traditional ATM scam known as skimming, thieves place a card-skimming device into the card insertion slot. The skimmer can steal account information stored on the magnetic strip on back of the card when it is dipped into the machine.

The new twist? Clear plastic overlays also are placed on top of the PIN pad to capture personal indentification numbers. Also, some skimmers can text the stolen bank account information and PINs directly to the scammer so that person never has to return to the scene of the crime.

With ATM machines popping up practically everywhere, the tendancy for many is to simply take their ATM cards for granted. The result of this complancy? ATM theft is a serious  problem.

A recent issue of Scambusters, the online consumer watchdog publication, spelled out 8 Tips to Help Protect Yourself From ATM Theft:

1.  Get in the habit of using the same ATM machine for your transactions. Become familiar with it and be able to recognize changes to the machine.

2. Use ATM machines inside banks rather than on the street (where they’re easier for thieves to access).

3. If you’re visiting an unfamiliar ATM machine that is not inside a bank, examine it carefully for devices. Card or cash trapping devices need to be glued or taped to the card reader or cash dispenser. Look for ‘extra’ cameras beyond the basic and generally obvious ATM security.

4. Never rely on the help of strangers to retrieve a confiscated card.

5. Never use an ATM machine when other people are lingering.

6. Report confiscated cards immediately. If you can, don’t leave the machine. Instead call the bank from the ATM where your card was taken using a cell phone.

7. Don’t use ATM machines with extra signage or warnings posted on the machine.

8. Never follow a link in a supposed bank email notice. If you are wondering if your bank has really contacted you via email, then close the email and directly type your bank’s website address into your browser. Visit your account and look for update notices directly on your account or bank’s website. The email is almost always a phishing scam.

A bit of good news for consumers: If a thief steals money from your accounts or makes fradulent charges, banks likely will make good on the problem.

For example, one bank’s policy states: “Customers affected by any type of fraud are fully reimbursed.” But beware, the same policy may not hold true for commercial business accounts.

Skimmer scams make it even more critical that consumers check bank statements for unusual activity and report it to their bank as quickly as possible!

The “Social” Insurance Factor: Will Your Rates Change Based On Your “Tweets”?

  

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The research report on Social Media by the Altimeter Group predicts that insurance companies may use social data (in the not-too-distant future) to enhance their customer database. Just as today’s companies use previous purchasing behavior, demographics, psychographics and other studies, the researchers expect companies to take advantage of the social data that customers are providing to the public, in order to make better decisions.

Rewarding good drivers with lower rates is nothing new according to the researchers. Just look at Allstate’s advertising campaign. Insurance and healthcare companies want safe and healthy customers.

Social media is simply the most modern way that people are choosing to go public with their hobbies and lifestyles. Case in point: A Canadian woman who claimed medical disability, but was soon denied after the employer and insurance company discovered Facebook pictures of her on a beach.

Are You What You Tweet or Post to Facebook?

Here are three ways companies could influence rates based on social data according to Altimeter Group findings…

1. Monitor activities: Some insurance company could monitor what members are saying, then offer suggestions on wellness, activities, and being healthy. Overtime, they can develop intelligence and eventually predictive models based upon members published information and their overall well being. With that kind of data you can expect companies to “quickly be able to size up new members based upon their existing social behaviors online in order to influence the packages and rates they’ll offer.”

2. Penalize ill-behavior: Insurance companies could monitor customers, and those that participate in a negative way online could be penalized. Example: Checking into bars four times a week consistently when it’s not your job could yield a 10% increase. Anyone who earned the “Crunked” badge (going to four places in one night, referring to binge drinking) could receive a 10% increase in fees (unless of course, you’re the Budweiser delivery person). Or, anyone posting pictures of them skydiving or any picture while driving on the freeway from the drivers seat, would yield an increase in car insurance.

3. Reward members with pro-wellness activity: Rather than punish bad behavior, insurance companies could incentivize members to participate in pro-health programs. For example, members that regularlly publish their stats to Nike Plus, a system that connects Nike Shoes, iPods, and the internet to track running stats, could benefit from a decrease in health rates. Or, people that frequently check into healthier food alternatives like Trader Joes or Whole Foods, rather than a fast food place, may have a decrease in insurance rates for the family.

Social Insurance Rates’ Could Also Be Fraught with Challenges

Altimeter Group Web strategist Jeremiah Owyang points out that “Social Insurance Rates” are all about tradeoffs, to get a benefit, you have to give up something, here’s the risks as I see them. The data may not be accurate, information might be gamed or spoofed, there could be a chilling effect on members who clam up to evade the stick.

The conclusion? Possible opt-in programs for “Social Insurance Rates.”

Owyang expects health and insurance companies to offer an opt-in method for existing wellness programs to be extended to tools like online education courses, participating in wellness programs with peers (like Nike Plus) or allowing members to submit location based checkins to the gym, healthy eating, and other pro-health activities. “We should expect that a forward-thinking insurance or wellness company offers an online incentive based program to encourage members to connect to each other, become more educated, and live a healthy lifestyle.”

The Main Street Fairness Act – Tax Boom or E-commerce Bust?

  

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The bill was praised by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) as an equalizer that creates a level playing field for all sellers, regardless of their status as a brick-and-mortar retailer or as a purely online seller.  Opponents say the bill provides an additional tax burden and could complicate Web commerce.

In these tough economic times, the idea of a new source of revenue for troubled states appears to be winning.

“With the adoption of the Delahunt legislation, at a time when states are facing historic budget gaps, Congress can provide fiscal relief, $23 billion, for the states without a single penny of cost to the federal government,” said Iowa Representative Christopher Rants, co-chair of the NCSL Task Force on State & Local Taxation of Communications and Electronic Commerce.

Online retailer eBay aired its opposition to the legislation: ”Year after year supporters of increased Internet sales taxes recommend legislation that would impose significant new costs on hundreds of thousands of online small businesses and ecommerce entrepreneurs, which is sure to harm the economy and kill small business jobs,” a statement from the online auction company said. “At a time when unemployment rates are high and small businesses across the country are closing shop, we are confident that Congress will protect small internet retailers and the consumers they serve from another Internet tax scheme.”

Most states — including Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin — already have a “use tax” that consumers are supposed to pay on out-of-state purchases in which sales tax is not collected. Most online companies don’t have to collect state sales tax, so — no surprise — they don’t. But consumers are supposed to pay the state what it is due in use taxes.

It’s OK. You don’t need to go on the lam if you haven’t paid up. Almost no one pays the tax. And the state has bigger pots to stir than tracking down your 11 bucks. But that doesn’t make it right. Every day we read stories about how states are struggling to maintain programs and services with decreasing revenue. Here’s an area where states are missing out on tens of billions of dollars in tax revenue nationwide.

In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress was responsible for taking appropriate action and establishing reasonable guidance to enable the collection of sales taxes from remote retailers such as Internet-only sellers.

MainStreetFairness.org has this to say:  The proposed solution will give the states the power to collect revenue and help pay for necessary services.  This is a sustainable solution to help balance state budgets – without costing the federal government a dime.  The alternative is that the federal government continues to subsidize basic state operations in addition to state and local governments cutting additional jobs, creating a bigger drag on the economy.

What’s your viewpoint? We’d like to know.

Declare Your Financial Independence this July 4th Weekend

  

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Week by week, the best way to accumulate savings is to “pay yourself first.”  Use direct deposit from your paycheck or set up automatic monthly transfers from your checking account to a savings plan.  Depending on your age, a good goal for financial independence is to try and save 15 percent of all income for retirement. Retirement Accounts offering tax-deferred interest are still a great bargain whenever you start, and the sooner the better.

To avoid dependence on credit cards, or on other’s charity, set aside money in an emergency fund in case the unexpected strikes. Say you lose your job. The average length of unemployment is 34 weeks. That’s more than two months’ longer than the 26 weeks of unemployment benefits that many states offer.

Keeping credit card debt under control is another key for fimancial independence. As part of the new federal financial reform package, credit card issuers now must print on your monthly bill how many years it will take to pay off the balance and how much extra it will cost if only minimum payments are made.  That ought to sound a wake-up call to those who reach for “plastic” instead of “paper.

To stay on top of your financial picture, watch where your cash flow may be leaking, To monitor your financial affairs, several Internet services, including Mint.com, can be set up to alert when your account balances diminish or your vary from a budgetary goal.

Finally, the AP advises that you insure yourself adequately. “Make sure your medical, home and disability insurance policies are in order, along with life insurance if you have a family. A setback could destroy your best intentions.”

“For a basic rundown on the types of insurance you should have based on your life situation, check out the online primer Insure U at http://www.insurance.insureuonline.org. It is offered by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which represents state insurance officials.