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... look at your present clients to see if there are individuals who have outgrown their present policies. You may have some good prospects for a rollover into a Single-Premium Whole Life policy. Existing Prospects: The magic word is prequalify. To invest in a Single-Premium Whole Life policy, prospects must have a significant sum of money saved. If the prospects don't have the lump sum, there's no use explaining the benefits of the policy to them. But again, be sure they realize that this sum may be generated by cashing in their present Life policies. Standard-vehicle investors: Over $1 trillion is invested right now in standard vehicles such as Certificates of Deposit, passbook savings accounts, money market accounts, and treasury bills. About 75% of your clients and prospects have one of these investments. Municipal bond holders: A substantial number of your clients and prospects invest in municipal bonds-the municipal bond market amounted to $97 billion in 1986. What are the drawbacks? The rate of return is locked in for five to 30 years. The bond may decline in market value and the interest must be reinvested as it is received. Retirees must consider this interest income in determining their income for the year. If they have earned more than the law allows, some Social Security benefits probably will have to be repaid to the government. Clients with IRAs: Approximately 80% of your clients have IRAs-show them how to continue receiving tax-advantaged treatment with this Life policy. Commercial Lines clients and prospects: Don't forget to market the policy to businessowners. Businesses can use Single-Premium Whole Life to meet a variety ...

... current economic conditions. Government bond funds also fit into this category. Although these funds only invest in securities issued by the U.S. government and its agencies, they can still be risky. The value of the shares in a government bond fund can rise or fall in relation to fluctuations in interest rates. Investors can even buy shares in a bond fund that only invests in securities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae, as the federal agency is often called. As is the case with other government bonds, fluctuations in the interest rate can cause a decline in the investor's principal. The interest on government bond funds is subject to federal taxation. In general, however, it will be free of state and local taxes. Tax-Free Bond Funds-The tax-free bond fund invests in municipal bonds issued by cities, states, and other governmental entities. The income from these funds will be free from federal income taxes. As a general rule, only individuals in a high tax bracket would benefit from a tax-free bond fund, since the tax savings on this income offsets the lower interest rate that is usually paid. Within a family of funds, there might be more than one kind of tax-free bond fund. One type will utilize only high-quality municipal bonds; another might use only insured municipal bonds. While insurance will guarantee payment of the interest and principal, the value of the bonds in the portfolio can still fluctuate. There are even some tax-free bond funds that are geared to investors from one particular state. The portfolio is arranged so that the income is also free from ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Disaster Recovery: How Working Together Speeds Recovery 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor This content has not been rated yet. DISASTER RECOVERY: HOW WORKING TOGETHER SPEEDS RECOVERY You've spent thousands of dollars and hundred of hours developing a sound disaster recovery program. Staff and management are trained to act quickly to mitigate damage and safeguard lives and property. But you may be disturbed to learn that survival hinges largely on something you've had no control over - your state and local emergency management planners. It seems like an obvious match, but the private sector's disaster planning specialists and their municipal counterparts have no history of coordination. That's starting to change, though. The evolving concept in disaster mitigation theory links the life of the community with the health of its businesses. That means communities increasingly see restoring business quickly as the way to save themselves after a crisis or catastrophe. It also means that business owners can become a stakeholder in their local catastrophe response planning programs. BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY ARE INTERDEPENDENT Disaster response planners have realized that communities suffer exponentially after a disaster and that the longer businesses remain incapacitated, the more devastated the community will be. A given area's people form both its customer base and its employee base, so every business that fails after a catastrophe could cause long-range harm to the community's people, economy, and tax base. Yet the traditional model for municipal contingency planning has addressed facility survival, not business continuation. Today's disaster planners now recognize that business survival, not just physical restoration of damaged property, is paramount. To that end, local disaster ...

...CIGNA opened two new markets: municipalities with less than 10,000 people and ...cy has only signed about a dozen municipalities and a few private ambulance co...

... MSDS's received, or obtain MSDS's if requested by an employee. And they must train workers on what to do in the event of a spill or leak. However, written hazard communication programs will not be required. EFFECT ON STATE RIGHT-TO-KNOW LAWS Preempts all state (in states without OSHA-approved job safety and health programs) or local laws which relate to an issue covered by the federal standard without regard to whether the state law would conflict with, complement, or supplement the federal standard, and without regard to whether the state law appears to be at least as effective as' the federal standard. The only state worker right-to-know laws authorized would be those established in states and jurisdictions that have OSHA-approved state programs. These states and jurisdictions include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut (state and municipal employees only), Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York (state and municipal employees only), North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. FEDERAL WORKERS As with the original version of the hazard communication standard, federal workers would be covered by executive order. This is one of a series of fact sheets highlighting U.S. Department of Labor programs. It is intended as a general description only and does not carry the force of legal opinion. Login or Register (for FREE) to gain access to thousands of other great articles. Need more reasons to join? Need insurance for you, your business or your ...

... to small claims court and write off the balance as bad debt. The closer the debt is to $10,000, the more careful you must be in managing your litigation. You need to have control over your lawyer's actions, while recognizing that your lawyer will have no control over some situations. Creative use of additional resources, such as independent paralegals, can help control some costs. Hire the attorney for crucial items, such as court appearances. Hire the paralegal for lesser matters, such as preparing responses to interrogatories. If your lawyer doesn't like this kind of arrangement, get a new lawyer; the business climate for lawyers is much too competitive for any lawyer to determine the client's service level. Debts between $10,000 and $25,000 are the subject of Municipal Court. A lawyer's assistance is highly advisable; the only difference between Municipal and Superior Courts are the amounts being sued over and minor limitations on the discovery process. Consequently, the costs can mount quickly. Again, control over your lawyer is paramount to a cost-effective resolution. When the debt exceeds $25,000, it becomes a matter for the Superior Court, where the discovery rules are much broader and the road to recovery thus longer and much more expensive. The key to minimizing the amount of time spent pursuing a debt depends on how complex the subject matter becomes. In this area, a common defense tactic is to vigorously pursue unlimited discover to broaden and confuse the issues. When the debt exceeds this amount, it's difficult to control the attorney functions because of the attorney's ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. State Job Safety And Health Programs 4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor This content has not been rated yet. INFORMATION DATE 19920814 DESCRIPTION USDOL Program Highlights, State Job Safety and Health Programs TOPIC Safety and Health Programs SUBJECT State Job Safety and Health Programs ABSTRACT The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 encourages states to develop and operate their own job safety and health plans. OSHA approves and monitors states' plans and provides up to 50 percent of an approved plan's operating costs. States must set job safety and health standards at least as effective as comparable federal standards. Most states adopt standards identical to federal ones. A state must conduct inspections to enforce its standards, cover state and municipal employees, and operate occupational safety and health training and education programs. Anyone finding inadequacies or other problems in the administration of a state's program may file a complaint with the appropriate regional administrator for OSHA. U.S. Department of Labor Program Highlights Fact Sheet No. OSHA 92-15 STATE JOB SAFETY AND HEALTH PROGRAMS The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 encourages states to develop and operate their own job safety and health plans. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) approves and monitors states' plans and provides up to 50% of an approved plan's operating costs. States must set job safety and health standards at least as effective as comparable federal standards. (Most states adopt standards identical to federal ones.) States have the option to promulgate standards covering hazards not addressed by federal standards. A state must conduct inspections to enforce its standards, cover state and ...

... x No Thanks Loading.. Do You Pull Teeth Or Prevent Cavities?4/30/2013 by CompleteMarkets Editor , Chris Burand This content has not been rated yet. In this document, Chris Burand tells a modern-day fable that offers a valuable lesson from the world of dentistry. What can you possibly learn from those who pull teeth and cause such great anguish? You're going to have to read it to find out. In the early 1900s a dentist, Dr. J. Daniels in San Pedro, California had a thriving practice. His clientele, for a variety of reasons — including a lack of fluoride in municipal water supply — had bad teeth. He was pretty good at pulling teeth. Whiskey was a very adequate sedative. Toward the beginning of WWII, another dentist moved to town. He started preaching and practicing dental hygiene. He worked with schools to teach children to brush properly. He hired a dental hygienist to clean patients' teeth regularly. As the 1950s approached, Dr. Daniels' business began to decline. His clients were switching over. The new dentist's business expanded. Preventative care was catching on. People began to realize that good dental hygiene was preferable to missing teeth, whiskey or no whiskey. Today, most independent insurance agencies are like Dr. Daniels. He pulled teeth and effectively solved his patients' problems, just as agents help get claims paid. But isn't it better to avoid a cavity in the first place? Wouldn't it be better if our insureds avoided incurring the claim? It's time to start practicing preventative care for our ...

... memorandum dated Oct. 8, 1993 establishes an agency-wide enforcement policy for protecting exposed workers against tuberculosis in both the private and federal sectors, including OSHA's own inspectors. Employers found in violation of the requirements can be fined. The instructions cover the applications of OSHA standards as well as the OSH Act's general duty clause that obligates employers to provide safe and healthful workplaces. INSPECTION GUIDANCE Inspection for occupational exposure to TB shall be conducted in response to employee complaints and as part of all industrial hygiene compliance inspections in workplaces where the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has identified workers as having a greater incidence of TB infection. These workplaces are health care settings, correctional institutions, homeless shelters, long-term care facilities for the elderly and drug treatment centers. Complaints received from public sector employees (state and municipal) outside of federal jurisdiction shall be forwarded by the regional office to the appropriate state agency. GENERAL DUTY CLAUSE USE Citations based on the general duty clause will be issued only to employers whose employees work on a regular basis in one of the five types of facilities listed by the CDC as having a higher incidence of TB than the general population, and whose employees 1) have potential exposure to the exhaled air of an individual with suspected or confirmed tuberculosis, or 2) were exposed to a high hazard procedure performed on an individual who may have tuberculosis and which has the potential to generate potentially infectious airborne respiratory secretions. To prove a violation of the general duty clause, it must be shown that the employer failed to keep the workplace free of a hazard to which his or her ...

... will be manageable and prudent financially. There are lots of creative tools to allow this value sharing to take place in such a manner that the senior people are not simply giving it away. I've long been a proponent of so-called phantom-stock and other deferred-compensation arrangements to bring this about. Taxes. All business should manage their costs and expenses carefully. And taxes, mainly income taxes, need to be managed just as closely as those for compensation, benefits, occupancy, and overhead. But I urge you in the strongest possible terms not to cross the line from being tax-efficient to being tax-driven. Being tax-driven so often leads to bad business decisions. A Word on ESOPs. A retired, widowed relative once told me that she was planning on shifting a large portion of her rather modest nest-egg into municipal bonds, having listened to a mutual-fund sales pitch that was evidently quite persuasive. The fact is, she needed this like a hole in the head. If there was one problem she didn't have, it was an income-tax problem. The salesman was a missionary for his product and not a problem-solver. An ESOP is not inherently a good thing or a bad thing. It is a financing tool that fits some situations particularly well and others not at all. It is a complex, highly regulated, usually expensive proposition that you must want for the non-tax reasons. If an ESOP fits your culture, then there are tax benefits to be gained, and in some circumstances these tax benefits can make a significant impact on the financing of an ownership transfer. But the negative consequences of an ...