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March 12 2010
Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) Are Awesome – 7 Reasons
As the owner of an independent health insurance agency and the founder of a website for comparing health insurance providers I often get asked, “What type of health insurance do YOU have?” Of course, no one health insurance company or health insurance plan is right for everyone because everyone has different needs, lives in a different area, etc… but I can certainly feel comfortable telling people that I personally have a Health Savings Account (HSA) and I absolutely love it!
Here are 7 reasons why I love my HSA:
#1 All Contributions to my HSA are Tax Deductible
Every single dollar that I contribute into my HSA every year is deductible on the front of my personal 1040 tax return (up to certain annual limits imposed by the IRS – for 2010 the maximum deductible HSA contribution is $3,050 for singles and $6,150 for families with those age 55 or over getting an extra $1,000 allotted maximum contribution amount). This HSA contribution deduction is great because it is an “above the line” deduction meaning that it is deducted before arriving at your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) number. To make this deduction even better there are absolutely no income phaseouts for the HSA contribution deduction so you could be Bill Gates or Warren Buffet and still take the full HSA contribution deduction. The more money you make the more attractive this deduction is to you.
#2 The Money in my HSA Grows Tax Free
All of the money in my Health Savings Account grows tax free as long as I use the money in the account for qualified medical expenses or wait until I am age 65 or older and use it for my retirement. Yes, you heard me right “Tax Free” not just “Tax Deferred” as you may be accustomed to hearing about with a 401K or other similar tax deferred account.
#3 I Can Choose any Health Insurance Company I Want
Another reason I love my HSA is that the HSA itself is simply a savings account with some special paperwork so that it receives special treatment from the IRS. The HSA itself is NOT health insurance but is simply the second component of what is commonly thought of as a HSA health insurance plan with the first component being a high deductible health insurance plan (according to the IRS a high deductible health insurance plan is any health plan with a deductible of at least $1,200 for singles and $2,400 for families – so still pretty low minimums). What this means is that many different banks offer Health Savings Accounts and you can choose the bank that you prefer to set up your HSA and then buy your high deductible health insurance plan from any insurance company that you like. You can even purchase a plan from United Healthcare one year and then shop around in year two and switch to a potentially cheaper plan with Humana and then in year three switch to Blue Cross Blue Shield, etc. This ability to constantly comparison shop and not be tied to one particular insurance provider is a great benefit to an HSA (as your actual savings account component of the plan still stays with your original bank).
#4 I Pay Very Low Monthly Premiums
The higher the deductible is on your health insurance plan then the lower your monthly premium payments will be. Since a high deductible health insurance plan is a requirement for opening a Health Savings Account then one of the nice things about the plans is that the monthly premiums are comparatively very low! I would much rather save a large sum of money every month by paying less in premiums each month than paying extra for a very low deductible and co-pays.
#5 I Am Firmly In Control of My Health Care Dollars
The beautiful thing about an Health Savings Account as compared to a Flexible Spending Account is that while Flex Spending Accounts require you to use up the money in the account every year all of the money that you contribute to an HSA rolls over from year to year. In fact, as mentioned above, even if you don’t end up using the money in your HSA for medical expenses (a good thing!) then when you reach age 65 you can withdraw the money tax free for your retirement. Most HSA custodians will give you an option to place your HSA money into a savings account, investment account, etc. as the decision is up to you as to where you place your HSA account money.
#6 I Can Rest Easy
Admittedly some people simply sleep better at night knowing that they have a very low deductible and low co-pays for things like doctor’s visits and prescriptions and I understand that but I like to think of it like this - After your first year of contributing the maximum to your HSA then unless you use up all of the money with a large unforeseen medical bill then you will have enough money in your HSA for years two and on that even if you have to meet your deductible then as long as your HSA health insurance plan covers all expenses 100% once the deductible is met then you effectively have zero out of pocket costs because you already have the money in your HSA account! Sure, if you start an HSA tomorrow and you have only contributed a couple hundred dollars into the account so far and you get hit with a big medical bill then you will have to come out of pocket for your deductible amount but once you have maxed out your HSA contribution for a year or two then you are essentially home free with potentially no additional out of pocket costs even for large medical bills!
#7 HSA Setup is Very Easy
If you can open a savings account then you can open a Health Savings Account just as easily. If you can apply for a regular health insurance plan then you can apply for a high deductible health insurance plan just as easily. Almost every bank has HSA’s available and almost every health insurance company has high deductible health insurance plans available. Setting up an HSA is so easy that I probably took twice as long to write this article as it would take you to apply for both a Health Savings Account at your bank and a high deductible health insurance plan at your health insurance company.
What are you waiting for? What do YOU think about Health Savings Accounts!
About the Author: Joel is a CFP© that loves writing personal finance articles and anything related to small business. You can find him working on some of his most recent projects which include websites for comparing credit cards and car insurance.
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Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) Are Awesome – 7 Reasons
March 11 2010
Learn How To Explode Your MLM Lead Generation
MLM Lead Generation is a topic where a lot of people have different point of views on, but I’m going to reveal my point of view on this topic and the way I truly feel about it. Okay, lead generation for your network marketing business is vital if you plan on having any success with this industry. There is a 97 percent failure rate within the industry, and I believe one of the main reasons why is lead generation. People jump into network marketing thinking about how much money they can make, and all their problems will be solved as soon as they get started in this industry.
Well, I’m here to tell you that I was one of those people, and reality kick in after I went months without making a single penny to my name. I had a company replicated website, and I was marketing it like it was the next big thing since the gold rush. I didn’t know any better, and I just wanted to sign people up in business opportunity so I can make money with good intentions on helping do the same thing. I was spending all kinds of money on targeted website traffic, banner ads, classified newspaper ads, and pay per click marketing. I probably got a total of 5-10 leads total during that time frame, and nobody join me in business. I even purchase leads from lead vendor companies, and let me tell you the truth about that because it was a waste of money, but I gained priceless wisdom from the experience.
I do not recommend purchasing any leads from lead vendor companies because those leads are not targeted for any network marketing business opportunity. I recommend getting free leads over the Internet from lead vendor companies so you can practice your phone skills and posture while being in a relax state of mind when your prospecting on the phone with leads that you generate on your own. The best way to master MLM Lead Generation is to generate your own leads to a video lead capture page with an opt-in form or your personal WordPress blog
I believe the most cost effective way to master MLM Lead Generation is by using Viral URL and Viral Host accounts. You can send out a total of 6,000 emails every three days on each account for a year, and it will cost you $394. You can’t beat that with a yard stick because that averages out to $1.64 per account every time you send a email out to targeted prospects.
In the email you send out, you can send the prospects to your video lead capture page or personal blog so you can start building a relationships with people who opt-in to your form. The viral emails can provide you quality leads every three days with one click of a button. All you have to do is remain consistent with it and you will experience results. This method will provide you with leverage allowing you to get more done in less time, and you can focus more on prospecting with leads on the phone which is consider a high income producing activity.
MLM Lead Generation is not hard to figure out once you have a mentor, lead generation system, and the right tools, it only takes work and remaining consistent with one marketing strategy until you master it in the form of having it on autopilot. A lot of people fail with remaining consistent with network marketing because 80 percent of any marketing will not bear any results to your business, but the other 20 percent will generate 100 percent of your results in business.
Learn more on generating MLM Lead Generation by clicking on these links. MLM Leads Generation are easy to generate if you have the right system & mentor.
MLM Leads Critical Tips
In order to successfully sell any product or service, a buyer of the product or service has to be found. This buyer may be a sole individual or a company or any other entity which is interested in the product or service and has the financial strength necessary to buy the product or service. This person or entity is called a sales lead. In the multi level marketing (MLM) industry this sales lead is also referred to as a lead.
All MLM businesses require leads in order to survive. Generation of MLM leads are generally thought to be the first step in any sales process. The next step is to try and sort out the most suitable clients from the leads database according to the product being sold. This step is called the qualification of the lead. Once the lead has qualified, the product has to be promoted and explained to the MLM lead. The lead which shows interest in the product, if any, is then a “hot” lead or a network marketing lead that is most likely to buy the product. In a perfect situation, the lead which has shown interest in the product offered also purchases the product. So, the conclusion to approaching a perfect lead is always a sale, presentation or agreement.
To run a successful MLM business, it is imperative to have or develop a strong leads database. An leads database can be purchased online which can be costly or MLM leads can be generated using various sources available like the internet or from the often irritating cold calling process.
Cold calling is the process in which the businessman contacts a prospective lead by telephone and tries to sell the product to the person. This person is not expecting this call and is typically unaware of the product. While this is a very popular method, the effectiveness is often questionable. Nowadays, the best way to generate leads is by using the internet. One such popular and effective way is to develop a personal website. This website should concentrate on selling the hottest product around, the businessman himself and should have detailed information about the businessman and everything related to him and the product which he hopes to sell. Writing is another way in which prospective leads can be attracted. Writing regular Blogs, writing MLM related articles, having a newsletter and other such practices are very helpful. This technique is followed by some very prominent people in the MLM industry like Jonathan Budd. Using the ever growing and extremely popular social networking websites can also generate leads.
To generate great leads today, it is a necessity for the businessman to have some degree of proficiency in computers and the internet. Generating leads is considered to be better than buying leads. Generated leads have better quality, are responsive and are much cheaper than bought leads which aren’t always very effective.
MLM leads are the life blood of all marketing business organizations.
Learn more on generating your own MLM Leads
by clicking on these links. 40-50 MLM Leads are easy to generate when you are marketing over the Internet.
One Positive Result From Plummeting Home Values
I recently received a notice from my lender that I had overpaid my Escrow account last year and I was due a refund. Woohoo! Due to my plunging home values, my property taxes have been decreased. Even better, my mortgage payment was adjusted to $55 less per month (double woohoo).
These are obviously welcome developments, although I’m not sure how much there is to be excited about in light of the vaporated equity in my home. Oh well. I live in Florida, therefore have higher property taxes than many other states, so some of you may not have received similar adjustments even if your situation is similar. Please leave a comment and let me know your state and if you received an adjustment.
So, I just got a check for a little over a thousand bucks (from overpaying last year) that I can throw into savings (no, I’m not going to buy a new Apple iPad with it). Also, I have about $55 extra in my monthly budget. Or maybe I should continue to add the $55 as “extra” payments on my mortgage? Check out my recent post on how much money is going towards paying down the loan balance.
I’ve recently had a double whammy of a tax return and an Escrow refund in a single month. While this was my money to begin with, it’s nice to have an influx of money come into the picture. The key is to not go blow it on a trip or a new shiny gadget. If you’re in a similar situation, use the money to fully fund a Roth IRA for the year or put it towards a down payment. Or, maybe you need to pay off a credit card. Do the smart thing for your financial situation!
March 10 2010
She slept on her feet till the car moved.
via Are we there yetzzZZZZ on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
No, we can't translate "Yes we can"
Ten years ago, the best-available translation software analysed the source text to determine its structure: subject, object, nouns, verbs, phrases, etc. From the structure tree, a new text could be generated in the target language.
The precise details of Google’s translation algorithms are not published, but the structure tree is not the main mechanism. Instead, there is a corpus – an enormous database of parallel works. These are works available in more than one language as a result of a previous human translation.
Based on equivalents found in the corpus, Google obtains translations for various multi-word fragments from the source text, then blends those together into what is usually a coherent sentence in the target language.
The system doesn’t work so well on fragments that weren’t translated in the corpus. For example, the phrase “Yes we can” was used prominently in Barack Obama’s election campaign, and was therefore included untranslated in many foreign language news reports. You can see this in a search for [obama “yes we can”] on google.de.
As a result, Google Translate is not always able to translate that phrase, even when used in a context unrelated to Barack Obama.
In a test I performed today, I found that the phrase “Yes we can” was not translated into these languages:
Catalan, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portugese, Slovak, Spanish, Turkish.
It was translated into these languages:
Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Danish, Estonian, Filipino, Galician, Greek, Haitian, Hebrew, Hindi, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Persian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Swahili, Thai, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish.
What can we conclude from this? Probably that the corpus for each language on the first list includes a higher proportion of Obama campaign reports than the corpus for any language on the second list.
[Thanks Ilan and Philipp!]
[By Roger Browne | Origin: No, we can't translate "Yes we can" | Comments]
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Biking directions added to Google Maps
Today we've added biking directions and extensive bike trail data to Google Maps for the U.S. My team has been keeping close tabs on all the public support for biking directions that’s been steadily coming in, but we knew that when we added the feature, we wanted to do it right: we wanted to include as much bike trail data as possible, provide efficient routes, allow riders to customize their trip, make use of bike lanes, calculate rider-friendly routes that avoid big hills and customize the look of the map for cycling to encourage folks to hop on their bikes. So that's exactly what we've done.
Let's say you want to bike to work, or maybe you want to drive less and spend more time outdoors. Biking directions can help you find a convenient and efficient route that makes use of dedicated bike trails or lanes and avoids hills whenever possible. To find biking directions, select "Bicycling" from the drop-down menu when you do a directions search:
So, how does it work? Well, I'm based in Seattle, along with the rest of the biking directions team. The city is notoriously hilly, but also has some great trails and a strong cycling community. Let's say I'm trying to get from Golden Gardens to a friend's house in Montlake:
This route avoids hills (phew!) and puts me on the Burke-Gilman trail for most of the journey. When I need to get off the trail to cross town, biking directions makes sure to keep me on bike-friendly roads and avoid some of the city's busiest intersections. The time estimate for the route is based on a complex set of variables accounting for the type of road, terrain and turns over the course of my ride. If I decide that I want to stop at Woodland Park Zoo along the way, I can click on the blue path and drag it to my desired route — just like with driving directions — and we'll still customize the journey for cycling suitability. Over on the Lat Long Blog, you can read more about all the unique tweaks and calculations factored into our routing algorithm.
We've also added information about bike trails, lanes and recommended roads directly onto the map. This can help you get a better sense of your route, or let you find trails nearby for a recreational ride. When you're zoomed into a city, click on the "More" button at the top of the map to turn on the "Bicycling” layer. You'll see three types of lines appear on the map:
- Dark green indicates a dedicated bike-only trail;
- Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
- Dashed green indicates roads that are designated as preferred for bicycling, but without dedicated lanes
Thanks primarily to our partnership with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, we now have more than 12,000 miles of trails included in biking directions and outlined directly on the map. We also have data on bike lanes and recommended streets for 150 cities across the country. We'll continue to add new trail information and encourage riders to send feedback (biking directions is in beta, after all) and route information for inclusion via the “Report a Problem” tool. When Map Maker is available in the U.S., all riders will be able to directly contribute their local knowledge about trails, bike lanes and suggested routes.
We know that many of you have been anxiously awaiting this feature, so head over to http://maps.google.com/biking to try it for yourself and then hop on your bike!
Posted by Shannon Guymon, Product Manager
Maybe Soup is currently being updated? I'll try again automatically in a few seconds...
