How Paying The Rent Can Boost Your Credit Score

September 29th, 2011

DailyFinance

By: Sheryl Nance-Nash

Numbers can drive you nuts. Some folks don’t like the digits that reveal their ages, others get frustrated by the ones that make up their bank balances. Some parents can’t figure out the “new math,” and some of us are still a little shaky on the old math. But one number nearly everyone would agree they’d like to raise is their credit score.

In these times when credit is still tight, money is short, and jobs are hard to come by, the benchmark of your credit score carries more weight than ever.

In a sense, your credit score is a crystal ball that’s meant to reveal your character, and building a credit history is key to making that picture clear. Traditionally, that meant taking on debt that you could then pay off, like a mortgage, car loan or credit cards. But in terms of your credit history, paying your rent on time meant nothing.

Now, there’s an option for the nation’s more than 100 million renters — the newly launched RentReporters.com, which verifies your rent payments with your landlord and securely provides the information to Payment Reporting Builds Credit, which then can be included in a FICO Expansion Score.

Experian announced earlier this year that it would accept rent payment data as a traditional credit item on its national credit reports.

“Having been where many of our customers are now, I know firsthand the economic circumstances that can result in a poor credit score,” said Crispin Luna IV, founder and president of RentReporters.com, in a prepared statement. “RentReporters.com allows essentially every renter in the U.S. to take one step closer to homeownership and leverage their rental payments towards a better credit profile.”

What You Need to Know

It’s a fairly simple process to get started: Sign up on the site, provide a few details, and once the data is uploaded, you’re good to go. “You don’t have to worry about destruction or storage of payment records, staying in contact with landlords, or a landlord being unable to rate a tenant’s payment history,” Luna explained to DailyFinance.

The service is free for landlords, but for renters, an annual membership costs $89.95, with a $49.95 renewal fee, or you can pay an initial set-up fee of $39.95 and $5.95 a month.

Is it worth the money? “There are significant fees,” advises Leslie McFadden, associate editor at Bankrate.com. “Compare the cost and benefits of this service to other credit-building methods, such as secured credit cards.”

Generally speaking, the idea is sound and could benefit a lot of people, particularly those who are under-banked or non-banked, says Ken Lin, founder and CEO of CreditKarma.com, a consumer education site.

Still, it’s somewhat uncharted territory. “There is not enough statistical data to determine the absolute relationship of rent payments to credit default,” says Lin. “This type of modeling is not widely used and it is not widely accepted by creditors. Outside of Experian, who is just beginning to test this, you are paying money for something that isn’t widely accepted or proven.”

He also thinks it’s too expensive. “You could spend a bit more and get a secured credit card. Most secured credit card issuers report to all three bureaus, and this is a widely accepted way of building credit, even if you don’t have credit to start.”

Mike Melby, co-founder and CEO of PayDivvy.com, which offers online bill payment services, suggests an alternative: “Many other bill payment companies such as PayDivvy, AccountNow and ReadyDebit offer credit reporting for free, as a part of their bill pay service.”

Lastly, says Lin, rent bureaus are subject to gaming. “Whereas banks have automated credit reporting logic, rent bureaus are subject to landlords who will have inconsistent interpretations of ‘on time.’ They may also be inaccurate because of any number of biases. For example, a renter could report a friend as their landlord to help build credit. Future creditors that rely on credit scores won’t like the subjectivity and human bias when it comes to risk,” warns Lin.

Long term though, any type of payment history will be useful. “Rent is one idea, but probably not the best,” says Lin. “Utilities and mobile services might be much better risk indicators, since they take the human factor out of the report and have equal market penetration. Moreover, these type of payments are more similar to credit risk. For example, you might always pay your rent because housing is a necessity. But cells phones or cable bills are not, and much more similar to how consumers’ prioritize their finances when money is tight.”

Melby offers a more optimistic view. “If you are in a similar situation to many Americans today, you’ve racked up loads of credit card debt and dealt with a lot of late payments, which may have affected your credit score,” he says. “A service like this will not work magic overnight, but it will help over time. Every little bit helps, so seize the opportunity … just make sure you are doing it time and cost effectively.”

Click here for the full report from DailyFinance

Romney Waits as G.O.P. Flirts With Alternates

September 29th, 2011

The New York Times

By: Jeff Zeleny

The Republican who may have the strongest shot of winning the White House, at least in the eyes of President Obama and his advisers, is Mitt Romney. Now, if Mr. Romney could only persuade Republican voters.

After a summer spent skillfully navigating the obstacles of an unpredictable race, and after consistently rising above his rivals during three debates, Mr. Romney still faces one central question: Will he ever be able to satisfy Republicans?

The latest drumbeat of adoration aimed at luring someone new into the race — this time, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey — is also a slap at Mr. Romney, whose effort to consolidate support from donors and party activists is impeded every time another potential candidate surfaces.

“Who knows, maybe he’ll get in,” Mr. Romney said in New Hampshire on Wednesday, smiling when asked about the speculation surrounding Mr. Christie. “It’d be fun if he got in.”

The time has long passed for Mr. Romney to be the first choice in the hearts of many Republicans. So his strategy, by necessity, has evolved into being the last choice, an eat-your-vegetables candidate who may only be seen as more appealing when he is matched up alongside his rivals.

No candidate in the Republican field has spent more time preparing to be president than Mr. Romney. (That, some supporters believe, is not entirely a positive attribute.) He relentlessly studied what went wrong with his 2008 race and has unquestionably become a better candidate, as he showed during back-to-back debates in September.

He has managed, so far, to finesse his way around the concerns of ideological shape-shifting that once seemed a deal breaker to many conservatives. Questions about the health care plan he signed into law as governor of Massachusetts have not overshadowed his candidacy. And he has not been pushed to address his Mormon faith, which created a stir four years ago and prompted him to give a speech seeking to explain his beliefs.

Now, just when it seemed that Mr. Romney might finally reap the rewards of his work, as conservative leaders openly groused about the unsteady performance of Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, another week in his campaign has been spent watching donors, party establishment figures, the news media and voters flirt with Mr. Christie. And the month of September is ending just as it began, with a contingent of Republicans still searching for a fresh candidate to challenge Mr. Obama next year.

“It’s human nature to think the grass is always greener somewhere else,” said Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, whose presidential candidacy ended when he was overtaken by the rise of Representative Michele Bachmann. He endorsed Mr. Romney and predicted that other Republicans would too, saying, “He’s the most capable, most knowledgeable and most electable candidate.”

In the case of Mr. Christie, a contingent of prominent Republican donors has been leading the effort to enlist him. The high-profile effort has warned away many contributors from signing on with Mr. Romney or Mr. Perry until they have a clear sense of the field.

“There is enough chatter and phone calls and static — whatever you call it in the spy business — that everyone is just sitting around,” said Ray Washburne, a Dallas businessman and top donor to Mr. Pawlenty who has not realigned with a candidate. “There is confusion among the main donors. No one has signed up with either major campaign in the last three weeks.”

Several Republican contributors in New York and elsewhere said they found Mr. Christie more appealing, even though their business experience is similar to that of Mr. Romney, who spent years working at a private equity firm. They view Mr. Christie as having the credibility to unite the establishment and Tea Party enthusiasts.

There are still some factors working in Mr. Romney’s favor.

A renewed focus on fiscal matters, rather than social issues, has helped Mr. Romney avoid what had been persistent questions about his previous support for abortion rights. It also has allowed him to keep his message focused on the economy.

Still, the passion surrounding Mr. Romney’s candidacy has failed to match the fervor of the moment for Republicans, many of whom are angry, hungry and determined to defeat Mr. Obama. The next phase of the campaign, where Mr. Romney is likely to be the subject of attacks from his rivals, will help answer whether voters are willing to be pragmatic and support a candidate who has a stronger general election appeal.

As Mr. Romney campaigned at a town-hall-style meeting in New Hampshire on Wednesday, he was praised by a questioner for becoming a better candidate, a comment that drew applause from his audience. But several other voters suggested they retained a level of ambivalence about his candidacy.

“That piece of magic that got Barack Obama elected, I don’t know if Romney has that,” said Susan Bertrand, a nurse from Massachusetts, who came to see Mr. Romney in Goffstown.

A friend, Sherry Boudreau, a nurse from Salem, N.H., added, “If you could only combine Mitt Romney with Herman Cain.”

The rapid rise of Mr. Perry’s candidacy initially worried many Romney supporters. They feared that the authenticity that oozes from the Texas governor could reinforce the notion that the former Massachusetts governor adapts his positions and persona to the needs of the moment.

That has become the central theme of criticism from Mr. Perry, who has steadily increased his attacks on Mr. Romney’s credibility as a conservative. He has urged Republicans to select a nominee who has the sharpest distinctions with the president. He has referred to Mr. Romney as “Obama-lite.”

At the end of a meeting with voters on Wednesday at St. Anselm College, where he directed nearly all of his attention to the president and not his Republican rivals, Mr. Romney brushed aside questions about whether he was insulted that some were not pleased with his candidacy.

“I’ve got a lot of people in this country who are pleased with my candidacy,” Mr. Romney said, “and my job is to make that even larger.”

Click here for the full report from The New York Times

Obama Administration Asks Supreme Court To Review Healthcare Law

September 29th, 2011

The Huffington Post

By: Mark Sherman

Raising prospects for a major election-year ruling, the Obama administration launched its Supreme Court defense of its landmark health care overhaul Wednesday, appealing what it called a “fundamentally flawed” appeals court decision that declared the law’s central provision unconstitutional.

Destined from the start for a high court showdown, the health care law affecting virtually every American seems sure to figure prominently in President Barack Obama’s campaign for re-election next year. Republican contenders are already assailing it in virtually every debate and speech.

The administration formally appealed a ruling by the federal appeals court in Atlanta that struck down the law’s core requirement that individuals buy health insurance or pay a penalty beginning in 2014.

At the same time, however, the winners in that appellate case, 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business, also asked for high court review Wednesday, saying the entire law, and not just the individual insurance mandate, should be struck down.

The Supreme Court almost always weighs in when a lower court has struck down all or part of a federal law, to say nothing of one that aims to extend insurance coverage to more than 30 million Americans.

The bigger question had been the timing. The administration’s filing makes it more likely that the case will be heard and decided in the term that begins next week.

Repeating arguments it has made in courts across the country in response to many challenges to the law, the administration said Congress was well within its constitutional power to enact the insurance requirement.

Disagreeing with that, the 26 states and business group said in their filings that the justices should act before the 2012 presidential election because of uncertainty over costs and requirements.

On the issue of timing, their cause got an unexpected boost from retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who said voters would be better off if they knew the law’s fate law before casting their ballots next year.

The 91-year-old Stevens said in an Associated Press interview that the justices would not shy away from deciding the case in the middle of a presidential campaign and would be doing the country a service. “It would be better to have that known about than be speculated as a part of the political argument,” Stevens said in his Supreme Court office overlooking the Capitol.

Though the Atlanta appeals court struck down the individual insurance requirement, it upheld the rest of the law. The states and the business group say that would still impose huge new costs.

In another challenge to the same law, the federal appeals court in Cincinnati sided with the administration. In a separate Supreme Court filing Tuesday night, the Obama administration said it does not appear necessary to grant review of the Cincinnati case and the government added that consolidating the two cases could complicate the presentation of arguments “without a sufficient corresponding benefit.”

The law would extend health coverage mainly through subsidies to purchase private insurance and an expansion of Medicaid. The states object to the Medicaid expansion and a provision forcing them to cover their employees’ health care at a level set by the government.

The individual insurance mandate “indisputably served as the centerpiece of the delicate compromise that produced” the law, according to the states, with Florida taking the lead.

The administration said in the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the law’s changes in the insurance market, including requiring insurers to cover people without regard for pre-existing health conditions, would not work without the participation mandate.

The insurance requirement is intended to force healthier people who might otherwise forgo insurance into the pool of insured, helping to reduce private insurers’ financial risk.

Both appeals stressed the importance of resolving the overhaul’s constitutionality as soon as possible, which under normal court procedures would be by June 2012.

While a decision in that time frame would come in the midst of a heated presidential campaign, the NFIB said it is more important to resolve uncertainty about costs and requirements than drag out consideration into 2013 or beyond.

“When you talk to our members and other small-business owners about what is the biggest problem they’re facing, they say uncertainty,” said Karen Harned, executive director of the NFIB’s legal division. “When you ask what, one of first answers is the health care law.”

Stevens, who retired last year, said his former colleagues would not be affected by the potential impact of their decision on Obama’s re-election chances.

“They’ll decide it on the law. I’m totally convinced of that,” he said.

Obama appointed Stevens’ successor, Elena Kagan.

Stevens said that if he still had a vote on the court on timing, he would cast it in favor of hearing the case sooner rather than later. He would not say how he would vote on the issue of the law’s constitutionality, although he said the court’s 6-3 decision in a 2005 case involving medical marijuana seems to lend support to the administration’s defense of the law.

Stevens wrote the opinion that held that the Constitution allows federal regulation of homegrown marijuana as interstate commerce. A central dispute in the health care case is over Congress’s power under the Constitution’s commerce clause to mandate the purchase of health insurance.

In addition to the competing rulings on the law’s validity, a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled that it was premature to decide the law’s constitutionality. Citing a federal law aimed at preventing lawsuits from tying up tax collection, that court held that a definitive ruling could come only after taxpayers begin paying the penalty for not purchasing insurance.

The administration suggested that the Supreme Court should consider that issue because of the appellate ruling.

The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., also heard arguments in yet another lawsuit against the overhaul last week. That court has no timetable for its decision.

The other states aligned with Florida are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Click here for the full report from The Huffington Post

Zinc Found Critical Within The Brain To Improve Memory And Cognition

September 29th, 2011

Natural News

By: John Phillip

Zinc is an essential mineral known to improve skin tone, aid wound healing, fight cancer and shorten the length of the common cold. Researchers publishing in the journal Neuron now identify the crucial role this super-nutrient plays in support of memory formation and cognitive stability. Additionally, they have found that zinc may also play a part in controlling the devastating occurrence of epileptic seizures. For the first time, scientists have been able to watch zinc in action as the nutrient regulates communications between neurons and the hippocampus to improve memory and learning capabilities. Ensuring proper intake of zinc is an important step toward optimal brain function and may prevent cognitive decline as we age.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center and chemists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology collaborated to study the effects of zinc on brain function. Scientists experimenting with mice used a chemical that binds with zinc to eliminate it from the brain of the test animals. They found that in the absence of the mineral, communications between neurons was significantly diminished and that zinc is vital for controlling the efficiency between nerve cells in the hippocampus.

For more than a half century, scientists have understood that high concentrations of zinc are deposited within nerve cells; called vesicles, they package the transmitters which enable the nerve cells to communicate. The highest concentrations of brain zinc are found among the neurons of the hippocampus that control the high functions of learning and memory.

Researchers Find Zinc Levels in the Brain Control Memory and Learning Functions

By artificially regulating the level of zinc in the brain of the test animals, researchers were able to confirm that eliminating zinc from the neural vesicles also prevented enhanced communication. By increasing levels of the mineral, they were able to significantly restore enhanced communications in the hippocampal region to improve learning and memory capabilities.

The results of this study conducted on mice can be extrapolated to humans because zinc is known to play a similar role in the brain of both species. Zinc deficiency in the typical western diet is rapidly becoming a serious problem that threatens human health. Due to poor farming practices and the abundance of nutrient-deprived processed foods, many children and adults suffer from a chronic insufficiency of the mineral.

Over time, lack of zinc from dietary sources can result in immune system depression, decline in sexual health and increased risk of dementia and cognitive decline. Dietary sources of zinc include organic liver, beef and lamb. Vegetarians can include nuts, seeds and peas to obtain the micronutrient. Alternatively, zinc supplements are available (30 to 50 mg per day) to help maintain healthy systemic levels that improve memory, learning and cognition.

Click here for the full report from Natural News

WI Judge Declares That Raw Milk Is Off Limits

September 29th, 2011

Natural News

By: Ethan A. Huff

After being petitioned for clarification about his decision in a recent legal case involving individuals freedom to consume raw milk and own “shares” of dairy cows, Judge Patrick J. Fiedler vehemently declared that individuals “do not have a fundamental right to consume the foods of their choice,” and essentially reiterated his state’s position that raw milk is simply off limits.

The Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund (FTCLDF), on behalf of Zinniker Family Farm in Elkhorn, Wi., and several other farms, filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) back on Feb. 25, 2010, asking it to clarify its interpretation of the law in regards to raw milk (http://www.ftcldf.org/litigation-wi…).

Wisconsin is among the most restrictive US states as far as raw milk is concerned. Raw milk sales to consumers are prohibited — but private cow share agreements in which individuals purchase “shares” of their own cows, are exempted. However, due to the onslaught of raids in recent years against raw dairies, private raw milk buying clubs, and even raw milk cow share programs, the plaintiffs simply wanted to clarify Wisconsin’s stance concerning these alternate forms of accessing raw milk.

And they got their answer. According to a recent report by The Complete Patient, Judge Fiedler believes that no individual has a “fundamental right” to consume any food without government permission. Even though the Ninth Amendment to the US Constitution establishes that the government has no business interfering in the affairs of individuals outside of what has been specifically enumerated to it, which, of course, includes freedom of food choice, Judge Fiedler apparently believes otherwise.

To summarize Judge Fiedler’s response, which was obviously written in an arrogant and condescending tone, individuals have no fundamental right to own or use dairy cows, to consume the milk from their own cows, to board their cows off their own property, or even to produce and consume the foods of their own choice, period.

You can read Judge Fiedler’s entire disturbing response here:
http://www.thecompletepatient.com/s…

Groups like FTCLDF will continue to challenge such illegal and unconstitutional restrictions against raw milk, particularly in individual states like Wisconsin where officials have illegally prohibited it. But individuals that value this priceless freedom must also also stand up and resist Big Brother’s concerted assault against food freedom, no matter form it may take.

Click here for the full report from Natural News

6 Ways Your Diet Affects How You Feel

September 28th, 2011

US News

By: Angela Haupt

You are what you eat? Maybe not, but you do feel what you eat. Research suggests that certain foods affect mood—for better or worse. Dietary changes can trigger chemical and physiological changes within the brain that alter our behavior and emotions. “Most people understand the link between what they eat and their physical health,” says registered dietitian Elizabeth Somer, author of the 2010 book Eat Your Way to Happiness. “But the link between what you eat and your mood, your energy, how you sleep, and how well you think is much more immediate. What you eat or don’t eat for breakfast will have at least a subtle effect by mid-afternoon, and what you’re eating all day will have a huge impact today and down the road.”

Here’s a closer look at how your diet could be affecting your mood.

1. You don’t eat regularly. Food is fuel; skip a meal and you’ll feel tired and cranky. “It’s like trying to run a car without gas,” says registered dietitian Keri Gans, author of The Small Change Diet. When you go too long without eating, your blood sugar sinks and mood swings ensue. Aim for a meal or snack every four hours. Breakfast is particularly important—especially for children: Studies show it helps kids perform better and get into less trouble at school. And breakfast makes both kids and adults less prone to cravings and more likely to maintain a healthy weight. But remember: All morning meals aren’t equal. “We’re not talking about a doughnut and coffee here,” Somer says. She recommends high-fiber cereal with a handful of fruit, or a cup of oatmeal with some milk and berries.

2. You skimp on carbs. Carbohydrates have long been demonized, but your body needs carbs to produce serotonin—a feel-good brain chemical that elevates mood, suppresses appetite, and has a calming effect. Research suggests that low-carb dieters are more likely to feel tired, angry, depressed, and tense than those who get the recommended amount. The federal government advises that 45 to 65 percent of daily calories come from carbs, or 900 to 1,300 calories a day if you’re following a 2,000-calorie diet. Some carbs, however, outshine others. Only complex carbs—high in fiber and packed with whole grains—have a positive effect on mood, whereas simple carbs (think candy, cake, cookies, and other sugary choices) bring you down. Need a quick mood boost? Try an all-carb snack, like a couple cups of air-popped popcorn or half a whole-grain English muffin. “You’ll feel happier and more relaxed very quickly,” says Somer.

[Feeling Sad? Seven Instant Mood Boosters]

3. You fall short on omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s—found in fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines—improve both memory and mood. Research suggests that low omega-3 levels are associated with depression, pessimism, and impulsivity. Indeed, depression rates are typically lowest in countries like Japan, where oily fish is a diet staple. Most experts recommend at least two servings of fatty fish per week; other sources include ground flaxseeds, walnuts, canola oil, and omega-3-fortified eggs. There’s also omega-3-fortified margarine, peanut butter, and granola bars.

4. You neglect important nutrients. Getting too little iron can spell depression, fatigue, and inattention, research suggests. Iron-rich foods include red meat, egg yolks, dried fruit, beans, liver, and artichokes. Scientists have also found that insufficient thiamine can cause “introversion, inactivity, fatigue, decreased self-confidence, and a poorer mood,” according to a recent report published in the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science. Thiamine abounds in cereal grains, pork, yeast, cauliflower, and eggs, and getting enough increases well-being, sociability, and your overall energy level. Equally important: folic acid, which helps fend off depression. Green veggies, oranges, grapefruit, nuts, sprouts, and whole-wheat bread are good sources.

[What to Eat to Feel Happier]

5. You eat too much fat. That bag of potato chips isn’t good for your waistline or your mood. Greasy choices—particularly those high in saturated fat—are linked to both depression and dementia. What’s more, a large, high-fat meal will almost instantly make you feel sluggish. “It takes a lot of work for our bodies to digest fat,” Gans says. “And since there’s more work going on, you’re obviously going to end up feeling tired.”

6. You chug without thinking. What you drink affects your spirits as much as what you eat. In moderate amounts, caffeine can enhance physical and mental performance, but too much can spur anxiety, nervousness, and mood swings. Stick to one or two cups daily to dodge the negative effects. “Coffee, for example, is a stimulant, and when it wears off, you’re going to feel a drop,” says registered dietitian Constance Brown-Riggs, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. “In terms of feeling better or having more energy, it’s far better to drink water as your primary beverage.” Another smart choice? Low-fat or skim milk. Dairy products contain lots of whey protein, which antidotes stress, improves mood, and enhances memory. One cup a day will induce a sense of well-being and relaxation. If you’re not a milk person, green tea—an antioxidant powerhouse—also fights depression. It contains theanine, an amino acid that helps combat stress.

Click here for the full report from US News

Don’t Let a Lifetime of Saving Be Ruined by Bad Planning

September 28th, 2011

DailyFinance

By: Michelle Zayed

Tom Binns officially retired 15 years ago. It took a lifetime of saving — careful planning at every step and short-term sacrifices to achieve long-term goals — for him to finally reach that milestone of financial freedom. Still, even though his 9-to-5 earning years are now a memory, new financial responsibilities are ever present.

As many retirees have discovered, even if you’ve saved enough to live comfortably, the golden years don’t buy you a reprieve from money worries. In fact, being retired can make you even more vulnerable to fiscal strife if you’re not prepared. According to a survey done by TD AMERITRADE, 57% of baby boomers will help their children out financially while putting their own retirement savings at risk.

A couple of years ago, for example, Binns’ son was laid off from a manufacturing job. Since then he hasn’t been able to find employment with the same level of pay and benefits. So Binns helps out with his son’s expenses — including those associated with caring for an autistic granddaughter. What’s more, Binns also pays for the care of his mother, 97, who is in assisted living.

“This wasn’t part of my retirement plan but was dealt with under ‘planning for the unforeseen,’” Binns says.

The Best Laid Plans…

Anyone can make a plan and stick to it, but when life throws a curveball, it’s hard to not lose your footing. Binns, a self-described Southern boy from Tennessee, has been able to handle life’s financial curveballs better than most.

The 73-year-old said he has a genetic trait of frugality in him, and he developed a flexible financial plan that allowed him to retire — on time — despite the death of his wife, job losses, salary cuts, and caring for others.

“There are a lot of twists and turns that will affect your retirement funding. Job loss, recessions, birth of children, unexpected uninsured calamities, divorce, illness, death of a spouse, lawsuits, relocation expenses, dot-com meltdowns, housing bubbles, inflation, stagflation, and on and on,” Binns says. “You can’t plan for all of them, but you must be aware of their possibility.”

Five Pillars

Binns’ saving practices may be a little on the extreme side (he sold eggs and milk from his farm to his own family — granted, at a discount). But his idea that retirement would bring him freedom is pretty typical.

For Binns, work was simply a means to make money to retire. Mapping out a plan to maximize his earnings every step of the way was how to achieve his goal. He based his strategy around five basic guidelines — rules that can help steer anyone toward a successful retirement.

1. Invest in yourself. “The decision to pay myself first was the best investment decision I ever made,” Binns says. “It’s a guaranteed way to accumulate wealth as opposed to accumulating things.”

Much like an athlete spends countless hours in the gym, Binns invested in himself. A portion of every paycheck would go back into his 403(b) plan. He remembers back when he earned $325 a month and would immediately take $50 of it to put toward retirement savings.

According to a Fidelity Investments study cited by 401k Planning, employees who continued to contribute to their 401(k) plan over the past 10 years have seen their retirement account balances more than triple, even accounting for the bear market in 2008 and early 2009.

2. Live below your means whenever possible. In a credit-driven society, it’s all too easy to spend beyond your means and accumulate debt. The financial meltdown of 2008 was due in part to people (including those who work on Wall Street) taking on costs beyond what they could handle.

Binns made a point to live well within his means. “I resisted raising our standard of living by getting a more expensive car or house and only gradually replaced hand-me-down furniture,” Binns says. “We sometimes had some very creative meal planning when we had to delay a trip to the grocery. Through it all, we never felt deprived of anything. You have to remember that this was before cellphones, Internet, cable TV, $4 coffee, computers, BlackBerrys, iPads, iPods, GPSes, and all the other things we can’t live without now. ”

Avoiding debt kept his family’s finances from being thrown off-kilter. For example, when his son was born, their salaries were cut in half for a while. “I took up some of the slack by teaching night classes at a prison and teaching a GED course at night. It’s amazing how a loss of income can be adjusted for if you have minimal debt,” he says.

3. Plan for the unexpected. It’s difficult to plan for The Great Unknowns in life, but Binns knew hardships would arise at some point, so he created a just-in-case emergency fund.

Binns says it helped him when his first wife was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It also means that he is prepared to help out his elderly mother. “My dad didn’t leave her much, and she has been making it on a small pension and Social Security, which doesn’t come close to covering her expenses. She is coming to the end of her resources as we pay more and more to keep her safe and comfortable. When her money runs out, I am prepared to take up the slack. ”

4. Be an investor, not a gambler. Investing has been an evolving process for Binns. “I saw inflation and recession and ‘stagflation’ but just kept on looking for investments to put salary increases into. I took profits from time to time (and a few losses), but I was always looking for something else to invest in rather than toys to buy.”
That said, not all of Binns’ investment decisions were winners. “My worst financial decision was to get a $50,000 home equity loan and put it all in Intel (INTC) stock,” he says. “That was not investing; it was gambling.”

He also learned the hard way not to blindly follow “hot tips.” “I lost a small percentage of my net worth by listening to some hype from my friends who knew some ‘sure-fire winners’ back before the dot-com meltdown,” he says. He got off lucky, compared to a friend of his who ignored Binns’ pleas not to put every penny he had into one stock. “He had to go back to work at the age of 70.”

5. Never stop being a student. While there is no one-size-fits-all investment strategy, there is one thing that all investors need in their plan: knowledge. Without it you will shortchange your future, Binns says.

Many people have seen their savings trickle down to nothing because they have not read up before investing. The best approach is to invest in something they understand. More importantly, Binns says, know the rates, the risks, and especially what it costs to make each investment.

“Study investing as much as possible so you can take care of things that otherwise would require a fee from somebody,” Binns says. “One thing that will increase your retirement nest egg is to avoid fees and commissions as much as possible. Everything taken out lessens the final value of your investments. You want to fund your own retirement, not the person’s who is taking the fees and commissions.”

Click here for the full report from DailyFinance

How to Save on Health Insurance

September 28th, 2011

DailyFinance

By: Loren Berlin

Late September marks the beginning of “open enrollment,” the multi-week period when employees can select their employer-offered benefits, including health care plans. “It’s an opportunity to shop, so to speak, with regards to health care,” explains Yasmine Winkler, a senior vice president at UnitedHealthcare (UNH), one of the nation’s largest private health insurers.

While many Americans groan at the prospect of reviewing our benefits — so much paperwork, so many confusing terms — open enrollment is an important chance to ensure we’re getting the most bang for our health care buck. To that end, I spoke with Winkler and Michael Mahoney, vice president of consumer marketing at the insurance broker GoHealthInsurance.com, for tips on the most cost effective ways to select benefits.

In the first installment of this two-part series, the experts discuss how to save money on employer-offered benefits. In the second part, we’ll consider cost-saving strategies for people who don’t have employer-offered health insurance, and instead purchase individual plans.

1. Learn the Lingo

Health insurance terminology is vast and complicated, so find a website that can provide you straightforward definitions and explanations that you can refer back to as you work through your benefits. Good ones include Wisegeek.com, AARP and Bankrate.com,

2. Identify Which Benefits Need … and Which You Don’t

“A lot of people take employer benefits for granted. They don’t dive in on the details, they just know they’ve always had insurance through work,” says Mahoney. “But it may be that you have benefits you don’t need. For example, if you’re not planning to have a kid soon, you may not need maternity coverage.” In instances where your employer’s plan offers benefits you don’t need, Mahoney suggests pricing an individual plan that only includes your needed benefits, and comparing the two.

However, the opposite is also true. If you know that you need certain benefits, your employer-offered plan may be the cheapest way to get them. “I have three kids,” says Winkler, “and everyone in our family wears glasses, so it would be foolish for me to pass on the vision benefit given the cost of contacts, glasses, annual eye exams.” According to Winkler, many employers offer additional benefits such as vision, dental, disability and critical illness coverage for relatively low-cost premiums.

3. Establish Your Priorities

Once you know what you need, you can determine how important various aspects of your coverage are to you. You might have a certain doctor you want to use, or a specific medical facility. Is that more important to you than saving money on your monthly premium? These are questions you have to answer as you select your plan. For example, most employers offer access to both an HMO or a PPO plan. “Traditionally the HMO is cheaper but has fewer options,” explains Mahoney. “They have a smaller list of providers that insurance will pay for, and they won’t cover the service if it’s out of network.” In contrast, a PPO costs more, but has a wider range of providers and will cover some portion of the cost of service even if the provider is out of network (say, for example, that you require medical assistance while traveling out of state).

4. Compare Treatment Costs

Like most everything else in the world, the cost of medical services varies by provider and insurer. This is due in part to the fact that different providers negotiate different rates with different providers, and in part because each provider determines its own prices. As a result, most insurance providers offer tools that allow you compare the costs of various physicians and facilities, and Winkler suggests consumers use them.

“Comparing gives you a better sense of how much is paid by you versus the health plan for various services,” she says. “They give you a sense for discounts that apply that health plan has negotiated, and helps you to understand average cost of care.”

5. Determine Your Risk Tolerance

“Insurance should be a financial protection product,” says Mahoney. “It should protect you when you have an accident or an illness.” To that end, Mahoney stresses the importance of thinking long and hard about your comfort with risk when you select your plan. “If you earn $25,000 a year and you have an accident and have a $15,000 deductible, that insurance really didn’t provide any protection. If your deductible is $2,000, that’s a lot more protection, but you have to pay more per month for that privilege.”

6. Take Advantage of Preventive Care

Basic preventative care — medical services intended to help you stay healthy — is covered 100% by health care providers, irrespective of whether or not you have a low- or high-deductible plan. That’s a great thing not only for your wallet but for your long-term health as preventative care can identify problems before they become serious. So, if you aren’t currently taking advantage of these free services, which usually include annual physicals, well-baby care, immunizations, mammograms and colonoscopies, get started.

7. Know the Bells and Whistles

These days, employers are offering all sorts of extras to help employees get, and stay, healthy, and most of them can fatten your wallet while helping your health. For example, many employers are now offering incentive-based plans that “give employees the opportunity – and maybe dependents – to earn dollars for healthy actions,” says Winkler. “Sometimes it’s credit towards the premium, credit towards the deductible, or maybe even a gift card. We have an employer, an international company, who offers employees the chance to win a car in a raffle when they do various healthy actions.” The activities can be as simple as taking a screening exam to educate yourself about “your numbers” — that is, your cholesterol, your blood pressure, your glucose level.

According to Winkler, another popular program is the Health Savings Account. Unlike a Flexible Spending Account, the funds of which must to be used up within the year and cannot be transferred between employers, the Health Savings Account is “like a personal bank account specifically related to health expenses,” explains Winkler. “Those dollars are yours, so if you leave, that money can go with you. It’s interest-bearing and tax-free. There are limits on it — for 2012, single coverage is capped at $3,100, and family coverage is capped at $6,250 for the tax year. But it can be deposited pre-tax from your paycheck, so there’s a lot of tax advantage to it and it’s very worthwhile.”

Click here for the full report from DailyFinance

Seizing Populist Mantle, Obama Pushes Jobs Bill

September 28th, 2011

The New York Times

By: Mark Landler

After two days of energetically raising money in the rarefied precincts of Hollywood and Silicon Valley, President Obama stopped at a big-city high school here on Tuesday to push for new ways to spend money.
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Promoting his $450 billion jobs bill, Mr. Obama said the $25 billion in the legislation for repairing and renovating schools would allow Abraham Lincoln High School, a well-kept but aging institution, to update science laboratories of a 1960s vintage.

“My question to Congress is: What on earth are we waiting for? Let’s get to work,” Mr. Obama said to a boisterous crowd of students. Speaking in shirtsleeves under a baking sun, he asked: “Why should our students be allowed to study in crumbling, outdated schools? How does that give them the sense that education is important?”

Neither Mr. Obama’s choice of Colorado, nor of this heavily Latino high school in a struggling part of Denver, were remotely accidental. He carried Colorado in 2008, and with his support wobbling in other swing states like Ohio, analysts believe he will need to hold on to it next year to put together a winning electoral map.

But Colorado, as much as any state, symbolizes the ebb tide in Mr. Obama’s political fortunes. He accepted the Democratic nomination in this state and signed the $787 billion stimulus package here. But with the jobless rate here rising to 8.5 percent from 7.4 percent since then, even Democrats here say Colorado could be an uphill battle.

The Lincoln High speech also enabled Mr. Obama to reach out to Latino voters, who helped elect him. More than 95 percent of the students here receive federal meal benefits, local officials said — a measure of the depth of poverty in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Reprising the populist themes of recent speeches in Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia, Mr. Obama repeatedly challenged Republicans to pass the jobs bill. Extending the cut in payroll taxes would put $1,700 into the pockets of a typical Colorado working family, Mr. Obama said, and refusing to do so would amount to hitting them with a tax increase. Cries of “pass the bill” competed with chants of “four more years.”

Far from rejecting the Republican accusation that he is waging class warfare, Mr. Obama now seems to revel in it.

“If asking a millionaire to pay the same tax rate as a plumber or a teacher makes me a class warrior, a warrior for the middle class, I will accept that; I’ll wear that as a badge of honor,” Mr. Obama said. “Because the only class warfare I’ve seen is the battle that’s been waged against the middle class in this country for a decade now.”

For all the populist fire on display, Colorado may be kinder to Mr. Obama than the traditional battlegrounds of the Midwest because of its more affluent and educated independent voters.

While Mr. Obama has lost support among independents generally, he retains a narrow approval rating — 50 percent to 43 percent — among those who earn more than $100,000 a year, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. A senior adviser to Mr. Obama said his message of innovating to keep America competitive would also resonate with the technology workers sprinkled through Denver’s suburbs.

If approved, the American Jobs Act would modernize at least 35,000 schools nationwide, according to the White House. But Republicans in Congress are unlikely to approve this provision, or any other spending that could be construed as fiscal stimulus.

White House officials said they expected the House to go along with a few elements of the package, like the extension of the cut in the payroll tax and the expansion of unemployment insurance. Mr. Obama has not ruled out accepting this piecemeal approach.

Mr. Obama’s brief stop in Denver wound up a hectic three-day West Coast tour that served mainly to fortify his campaign coffers after a fallow summer in which he was stuck in Washington, bickering with Republicans over the debt ceiling.

In Los Angeles, at a slick West Hollywood restaurant, the president basked in the love of an entertainment-industry crowd that included the actress Eva Longoria; the director Judd Apatow; the music producer Quincy Jones; and Jeffrey Katzenberg, a DreamWorks studio executive.

“I have a dependency on President Obama,” Mr. Katzenberg said, slipping into the argot of his industry. “He inherited a crashing economy and two wars. Yet he kept us moving forward. We must keep fighting for him so he can keep fighting for us.”

Thanking Mr. Katzenberg, the president joked that some people in the room, each of whom paid $17,900 for the privilege of being there, knew him before he had gray hair. “You don’t have gray hair,” cried one, proving that Hollywood is, as ever, the land of make-believe.

Click here for the full report from The New York Times

Chris Christie Contrasts Himself With Obama In Audition For Presidential Run

September 28th, 2011

The Huffington Post

By: Jon Ward

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all but announced himself as the next coming of Ronald Reagan and cast President Obama as Jimmy Carter in a speech Tuesday night that will only inflame speculation that the Republican plans to run for president.

Christie’s long-planned speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California in many ways seemed like an audition for a potential candidacy, even though he told a group of donors before the speech that he still does not plan to run.

Asked directly during a question and answer period whether he is reconsidering his past refusals to run, Christie gave a less than convincing denial. He pointed to a video of past statements where he has said he will not run: “Those are the answers,” he said.

Minutes later, a woman in the audience rose and gave an impassioned plea for Christie to run: “I really implore you, I really do. This isn’t funny. I mean this will all my heart … I really implore you, as a citizen of this country, to please sir, reconsider … We need you. Your country needs you to run for president.”

Christie thanked her: “I hear exactly what you’re saying and I feel the passion with which you say it and it touches me.”

“But by the same token, that heartfelt message you gave me is also not a reason for me to do it. That reason also has to reside within me,” he said. But unlike in the past, Christie did not say he feels in his heart that he is not ready and does not want to run.

“I’m listening to every word of it and feeling it too,” he told the woman.

In his speech, Christie didn’t just voice obligatory Republican criticisms of Obama. He contrasted himself directly with the incumbent Democrat currently inhabiting the White House, suggesting that his own record as governor has shown him to be more prepared than Obama to carry the mantle of national and international leadership.

As governor, Christie said, he “has not sat by and waited for others to go first to suggest solutions.” But Obama, he said, “once talked about the courage of his convictions, but still has not found the courage to lead.”

“We continue to wait and hope that our president will finally stop being a bystander in the Oval Office. We hope that he will shake off the paralysis that has made it impossible for him to take on the really big things that are obvious to all Americans and to a watching and anxious world community,” Christie said.

He castigated Obama’s dismissal of a bipartisan deficit commission that “the president asked for himself,” and through repetition branded the president a failure. He blamed him for “failure to act on the country’s crushing unemployment…the failure to act on ever expanding and rapidly eroding entitlement programs…the failure to discern pork barrel spending from real infrastructure investment.”

Christie then summed up his own approach to governance: “When there is a problem, you fix it.”

He included a nod to the Democratic leaders in the New Jersey state legislature — Senate President Stephen Sweeney and House Speaker Sheila Oliver — describing them as ” two people who have more often put the interests of our state above the partisan politics of their caucuses.”

“And that’s why I call them my friends,” he said.

“In New Jersey over the last 20 months, you have actually seen divided government that is working. To be clear, it does not mean that we have no argument or acrimony. I think you all have seen my YouTube videos. There are serious disagreements, sometimes expressed loudly, you know, Jersey style,” Christie joked.

The speech came at the end of a day when speculation about Christie’s political ambitions had reached a new high, fueled by dissatisfaction among Republican activists with the current presidential field and by slyly placed non-denials and encouragement from unnamed Christie advisers in the press. At one point Tuesday afternoon, Fox News even reported that Christie had officially decided to rule out a run, only to have anonymous Christie advisers tell ABC News that the suggestion was incorrect.

Close Christie confidantes have told The Huffington Post that Christie is not running at present, but has not ruled out the possibility of a run.

It is Christie’s blunt manner and his ability to notch several accomplishments in just two years as governor, that has made him a hero to many Republicans. Christie did not fail to mention his wins: two balanced budgets in which he closed $13 billion in deficits without raising taxes, hard fought changes to New Jersey’s pension and health benefits system for state employees, and a cap on annual property tax increases.

He linked all of this to foreign relations and diplomacy through Reagan, the nation’s 40th president and a conservative icon. Christie used the example of Reagan’s decision to fire striking air traffic controllers in 1981 and said that showed to the nation and to foreign adversaries that Reagan was ” a man who said what he meant and meant what he said.”

Christie also ventured to stake out a general position on the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, aligning with a more reductionist view of the U.S. role in the world.

“The United States must also become more discriminating in what we try to accomplish abroad,” he said. “We certainly cannot force others to adopt our principles through coercion. Local realities count; we cannot have forced makeovers of other societies in our image. We need to limit ourselves overseas to what is in our national interest.”

Christie ended with another shot at the president, saying Obama spoke in 2004 of unity, but in 2012 is preparing “to divide our nation to achieve re-election. This is not a leadership style, this is a re-election strategy.”

And he suggested that the nation needs a leader willing to talk tough with Americans about meeting current challenges, someone like himself: “The biggest challenge we must meet is the one we present to ourselves.”

Click here for the full report from The Huffington Post

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