Despite the alarming cost of health care in the U.S., the largest health insurance companies continue to post record profits for three straight years. While you might think those profits are straight out of frequent and large premium increases, another trend is driving insurer profits.Bigger co-payments to see a doctor may be discouraging people from making doctor appointments. Even among those with health insurance benefits, covered members are seeking less health care. Health insurers just continue to pocket the premiums whether or not they spend much on doctor and hospital care for members.With health care reform, insurers are being required to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums collected on health care for the members paying those premiums. That could take a bite out of record profits, but insurers also have another advantage.High-deductible health insurance plans have been seen to discourage health care consumption. To lessen the risk of people putting off seeing a doctor until their health deteriorates, health care reform has also taken a lot of the risk out of plans with high deductibles.High-deductible Health Insurance Plans Totally Cover Preventive CareAs premiums rose, both companies offering employees health insurance and people shopping for their own health insurance switched to high-deductible health insurance plans to keep their insurance premiums low. Before health care reform, policyholders were hesitant to spend from $1,000 to $10,000 to meet the deductible. That meant not seeing a doctor for far too many people.Health care reform doesn’t change plans previously purchased, but it does mandate that any plan you buy after health care reform became law provide recommended preventive care with no out-of-pocket costs. That means the plan’s deductible does not apply to annual checkups, many vaccinations, and the most common screening procedures to detect life-threatening problems like cancer, diabetes or heart disease.With 100-percent preventive care coverage, high-deductible health insurance plans have become a legitimate way to invest in your own future rather than in an insurer’s profit margin. With preventive care covered, you’re less likely to meet a plan’s deductible. As long as your health is relatively good, you can take on a little more risk by trading low premiums for a high deductible.A Health Savings Account Is An Investment In Your FutureTo invest in your future, look at the policies that allow you to open a Health Savings Account (HSA). With one of these tax-advantaged accounts, you can invest what you save on premiums in bonds, mutual funds, stocks or an interest-earning savings account. No matter how much your HSA earns, the balance will roll over from year to year and you won’t have to pay taxes on the growth.At any time before or after retirement, you can withdraw HSA funds to see a dentist, get a medical massage, or buy any number of health-related services without paying taxes on the withdrawal. You can spend your HSA money for your spouse’s or partner’s or dependent’s health care, too, even if they are not covered by your policy. Just be careful to only use HSA funds for legally eligible health-related products and services, or you’ll have to pay a 20% penalty.Every year that you contribute to your HSA, though there is no minimum requirement to do so, you can lower your taxable income by the amount you deposit before April 15. Add what you save in taxes and on premiums to your tax-free interest, and you’ll see a real investment in your future. HSA health plans are a way to keep your money in your account, rather than an insurance company’s account.
Invest In A Health Savings Account Instead Of An Insurance Company
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Take Care of Physical Assets Before Putting Business for Sale
No body wants to sell a business that he has nurtured with his time, money and hard work. However, many times, business owners are forced to sell their business due to certain unavoidable circumstances of financial issues. The even worse part is that the process of selling a business can sometimes be very difficult. The first difficulty you come across before putting your business for sale is evaluation of its fair value.There is so much preparation to do before putting a business for sale that it is often hard to decide the starting point. Preparing a list of tangible assets and classifying the ones that can be included in the sale can be a good place to start.Among the tangible assets, real estate being the most important physical property usually needs the maximum attention. In addition to real estate, other major tangible assets, include vehicles, office equipments, operating equipments, and inventories. All of these assets may or may not exist in every business, but making a clear list of assets for sale will make things transparent between you and the buyer. Buyer will also get a clear idea about the things he is getting in return of his investment.Real estate, office building, and land are usually the most important parts of any business. The location of business plays a major role in deciding the value of any business and therefore you can choose to treat real estate as a part of the business or can sell it as a completely independent entity. You may also choose to sell only the business while keeping the office premises under your control. In such cases, the buyer has the option to move the business to a new location.Having all the office equipments in a proper working condition means the business needs no immediate investments in terms of infrastructure. This brings in a positive response for your business. Equipments that need upgrades and maintenance should be taken care of before putting your business for sale. If everything looks nice at the first appearance, it will definitely add value to your business.Calculating the value of inventories is also an inseparable part of any business. It is advisable to divide the inventories on the basis of their current state – raw materials, half-made products, and finished products. It is better to keep away goods that are damaged or expired.Sorting out the tangible assets before you put your business for sale also helps you avoid any sort of discrepancies in the future. It will also help you identify what remains with you after the selling process is over. At the same time, it gives the buyer an idea about what he is getting in return of his hard-earned money.
Like A Walk In The Desert – Easy Home Based Business
Imagine you are lost in the desert. You have been walking for miles, are exhausted and dehydration is beginning to take its toll. Right when you believe all hope is lost, you catch a vision of the very thing you’ve been praying for. You see what appears to be your source of life…water! You are now rejuvenated and a new energy is released within you giving you the strength to forge your way forward to get to the very thing you need the most. Following an agonizing fight to reach the water, you are slapped in the face by the truth of what lies before you, nothing but more inhospitable desert; it was a mirage. This is similar to the experience many people face when they think they have landed an easy home based business.Please understand my purpose here is certainly not to deter you from starting a home based business. There are wonderful perks and benefits to having a successful home based business. It is however to prepare you for the reality of the home business industry. Additionally, you should understand is that an easy home based business is a perceived idea, instead of a tangible thing.Easy Home Based Business ExpectationMuch like a mirage in a desert, people see what they want to see, regardless of reality. In the case of an easy home based business, people are looking for an easy solution to their problem. People practice wishful and hopeful thinking. When we answer an easy home based business ad, we are really hoping it will be the answer to our prayers. We read the testimonies of how easy it is, and because we need to change our situation, we desperately want to believe it is for real.So we choose to buy into the testimonies, and forfeit a few dollars to receive our easy home based business starter kit. We get energized and excited at the thought of finally finding the answer for generating the additional money our family needs. We can hardly contain ourselves as we check the mail every day anticipating its arrival. We know with the receipt of this package, we’ll be on our way to receiving checks in the mail and our life will be changed forever.Easy Home Based Business RealityThe day is finally here. Finally our life altering easy home based business is about to be started. The box is torn open and once again, the harsh reality is staring us in the face. The package is not what we thought. Rather than money flowing in, all we see is the amount of money we need to come up with to actually launch this program. As with the mirage, we are now numbered among the countless individuals lost in the desolate desert.I have witnessed this too many times in our industry. Usually when people fail, it’s not at the fault of the company, but rather due to a misalignment of their expectation versus reality. Even when you are forthright and explain that it won’t be easy, people still want to believe in the idea of an easy home based business. It is the get rich quick mentality that leads people down the wrong path. Although the majority of individuals will tell you they don’t want a get rich quick scheme, honestly they do. A get rich quick scheme is exactly that, a scheme.Changing Your Easy Home Based Business PerceptionDon’t throw in the towel on finding the right home business just yet. I am here to tell you that real opportunities are everywhere. You simply need to be open to seeing businesses as they are, not what you hope they are. Adjust your understanding of what an easy home based business is. You first need to realize that solutions don’t just come to you, you need to take action and work for what you want. Make a decision to find a business worth working and a goal worth fighting for. Also understand that being successful has nothing to do with luck; people don’t just stumbe upon great opportunities, they seek and prepare. Lastly, understand that a something for nothing proposition is really a nothing for something sales pitch. Don’t give up on your dreams, but rather go after them with vigor expecting that victory never comes without a battle.