Investments vs Insurance

Cash value life insurance plans, including Universal and Whole Life, have a very definite and useful place in many (most?) folks' risk management portfolio. One of the criticisms of both UL and WL, though, is that they're "lousy investments."Quite so.In point of fact, life insurance professionals are essentially forbidden to use the terms insurance and investment(s) together. And that's as it should...

Health Wonk Review: It's a New Year edition

Jared Rhoads hosts the first HWR of 2012, and it's a great way to kick off the new year.This is Jared's 4th time hosting, and it shows, with interesting selections and helpful summari...

Life (Former) Partners

Last Spring, we continued our coverage of Life Partners (LP), a holding company that buys and sells life insurance policies to (unwitting) investors.Or should we say, sold:"The SEC announced ... that disclosure and accounting fraud charges will be levied against Life Partners Holdings Inc ... The SEC also alleges that CEO Brain Pardo, general counsel Scott Paden and CFO David Marten misled shareholders...

ObamaWaiver©s, Shecantbeserious, and Corruption

And yes, I realize that the title is somewhat redundant. According to Judicial Watch, our suspicions that these little party favors were, in fact, Thank You gifts to Obamastration supporters seem pretty well confirmed:"While it's not possible using this HHS report to pin down the exact share of the $4.5 billion that was paid to plans covering union retirees - it seems very unlikely that share is less...

History Lesson

Many of my clients were children of the depression. The big one, where unemployment was 25% and many staples were rationed.Their parents were part of the greatest generation. Men (and women) who fought for the rights of those they did not know, both here and abroad. Some gave their life so we could be free while others returned...

MassDunh!

As we've previously remarked, MassCare's health insurance mandate lacks any real teeth. One reason for that is, of course, that the penalty for failing to purchase health insurance is a joke.So what's the Bay State's answer?"Massachusetts residents who do not have health insurance would face a higher financial penalty in 2012 ... the maximum penalty ... would be $105 for each month that an individual...

Texas Loss

Residents of Texas hoping to have "free" help from government employees to find affordable health insurance are SOL.A $2.8 million grant allowed the state to hire nine employees to staff a toll-free hotline. More than 6,000 Texans called in during the past year, seeking advice on how to find affordable coverage, or help filling...