Financial Planning 101 "The Basics" - Protecting Your Assets - GoFuckYourself.com

will76 · 03-01-2010, 10:56 AM

Financial Planning 101 "The Basics" - Protecting Your Assets

The majority of us here are either self-employed, small business owners or employees. We spend the majority of our time working hard, in an effort to make money and become successful. Our lives are consumed with two main goals: being better than our competition, and trying to handle adversity and avoid pitfalls like stolen content, new laws (2257), visa regulations, lawsuits, etc. What we fail to focus on is what we do with our money AFTER we make it. Many of us have never thought about the "financial" side of things, much less do we have the time to learn what should be done with the money made from our businesses and how to protect it, ourselves, and our family... today and several years from now.

This will be my first of several ?GFY educational series? posts, where I will be sharing my knowledge of financial related matters.

Please note: The information I will be sharing is based on US law. While some of the topics mentioned below may only apply to people living in the US, the general concepts may still be useful to everyone.

There are 3 main components to Financial Success.
1. Protect your assets
2. Plan for retirement
3. Accumulate wealth

For this first post I will be focusing on the first and most important component - protecting your assets. You already know how to make money. I am going to help educate you on making sure you don't lose it.

Protect your assets:

First of all, what are your assets? Obviously the money you have in the bank, your home, your business, any investments you may have, but don't forget the most important asset you have is you!

What good is it to bust your ass to make money just to have something happen to take it all away from you. Before you try to accumulate wealth you need to first put an iron shield around yourself, so all of your efforts are not wasted. If you do not take this first step you are basically playing russian roulette with your wealth / assets.

If you are successful then you have likely put in thousands upon thousands of hours to achieve that level of financial success. However, there are several things that can happen in a matter of seconds that can destroy everything you have worked for. The good news is that you can protect yourself from these disasters. You just need to know what they are and what you need to do to avoid them from happening to you.

#1 Health Insurance:

The most important thing you need is proper health insurance. Do you have health insurance? If you do, do you know what your deductible, co-pay and co-insurance rates are?

Did you know that medical bills from inadequate health insurance coverage (or no coverage at all)is the #1 cause of bankruptcies in the US. Have you ever thought what will happen if you get cancer, have a heart attack, or any other of the thousands of types of illnesses that can land you in the hospital with huge medical bills? And for those of you who say "I am young and in good health nothing will happen to me"... first of all that is very naive. Secondly there are several other things that can happen to you that
can cause you to have 100K's of dollars in medical bills such as getting into a car accident.

Two bad things happen to you when you end up in the hospital. Not only will you incur thousands of dollars in medical bills but you are also unable to work so your income is reduced or goes away all together. If you have accumulated any assets/wealth and you don't have health insurance you are one bad car accident or illness away from watching it all disappear.

Health insurance, relatively speaking is not THAT expensive. The cost will vary from person to person, depending on factors like your age, sex, occupation, current health condition, and coverage selected. Selecting the correct coverage is very important as well. You need to understand what your contribution will be as well as what your max out-of-pocket is in the event something terrible happens.

Also, it is very important that the coverage you select fits you the best so you can get the best bang for your buck. For example, if you are younger and in good health, in many cases it will be most beneficial for you to select a higher deductible since you are less likely to go to the doctor or hospital. A higher deductible will cause you to have a lower
premium (charge) each month. If you are self-employed you could then take what you would be saving each month and set up a Health Savings Account (HSA). HSA's are also tax deductible, so your contributions will become another write off helping you to pay fewer taxes at the end of the year. When you eventually do go to the doctor, hospital, dentist, eye doctor, buy prescription pills, etc. you can use the money from your HSA to pay for it. (I can go into more detail with HSA's later if anyone is interested.)

You ultimately need to talk to a health insurance agent who can look at the whole picture and help set up the best coverage for you. To give you a real life example, I am in good health (preferred status), 33 years old, non smoker, married (no kids) and pay $280 a month for a policy for my wife and I that has a 6K yearly deductible (high deductible), 80/20 co-insurance, with a max out of pocket of 10K. I also have dental insurance included as well. I contribute $200 a month to my health savings account which is basically paying myself (to be used for medical related bills) and taking a tax deduction on it.

#2 Disability Insurance:

Ok, so above I explained only half of the equation of "what happens if I become ill or get into an accident". Proper health insurance will limit your risk and protect your assets by covering the majority of your medical costs. But, what about your income? If you are disabled for a long period of time, or worst permanently disabled, how will you continue to make money?

This leads me to the next thing that everyone should have ? disability insurance. Health insurance protects you from large hospital bills. Disability insurance protects your income if you are unable to work for an extended period of time, or forever depending on the seriousness of your injury/illness. Who is going to run your business if you lose your vision, the use of your hands, or any other injury that will prevent you from working. If
you stopped working today, how long would you be able to survive? How would that affect your family or anyone that relies on you financially?

Let me repeat: health insurance protects you from medical bills. Disability insurance protects your income. Typically you are able to protect about 2/3 of your income, but you can do a lesser amount if you feel that is all you need to live off of. You would also receive the disability proceeds tax free. Disability insurance in most cases is available to age 65 and you can even set up an optional rider for you to get some or all of your money back depending on the claims you made.

Keep in mind disability insurance is not for minor injuries. It is for major injuries where you would no longer be able to work. For example, if you become paralyzed, blind, or confined to a hospital for several months etc... major medical conditions to prevent you from working, disability insurance would kick in to replace your monthly income.

Real life disability insurance example: I just recently changed to a new disability policy for a lower amount of coverage, but added a rider (option) that provides a refund of premiums. I pay $119 a month for $4,000 month coverage till age 65. Since I am 33 years old, if I were to become permanently disabled tomorrow and unable to work, this policy would pay me out a total of $1,536,000 over the next 32 years. For my particular policy, at age 65, i will be refunded all of my premiums minus any distributions I may have received.

#3 Life Insurance:

Life Insurance can be used for many things. It may prove to be beneficial to you both while you are living and after you are gone. For this post I will be focusing only on the benefits of life insurance once you are deceased. The main purpose of life insurance is coverage for premature death. (To protect your family / beneficiaries once your income is gone.)

Health insurance protects your from potentially losing everything due to medical bills if you were to become very ill or have a bad accident. Disability insurance will protect your income if you were to become permanently disabled from that illness or accident. Lastly, Life Insurance will protect your future lost earnings for your family's sake once you are gone.

There are two main types of life insurance: Term and Permanent. Term life insurance is very affordable. It's cost depends on your age, medical condition, etc. In future posts I will explain the differences between term and permanent insurance and the benefits of each. Later on I will also explain benefits you can receive from your own life insurance policy while you are still living.

The younger you are, typically the cheaper life insurance is for you. In some cases you can lock in your premium until you are 65 - 100 years old depending on the type of policy. You are never too young to get life insurance.

"cliff notes"
#1 Health Insurance - protects your assets from medical bills.
#2 Disability Insurance = protects your income if you become disabled and can not work.
#3 Life Insurance protects your family if you die premature, especially if you haven't acquired a lot of wealth for them to live off of for the rest of their lives.

will76 · 03-01-2010, 10:58 AM

Other uses of life insurance:
Life insurance can also be used to protect your estate as well as fund buy-sell agreements between business partners. I'll touch on these two topics briefly now but go into details in future posts. If you die and have acquired a lot of wealth, life insurance can be used to pay the estate taxes your family would be required to pay (estate tax laws are constantly changing). In many cases a child will inherit the family business but have to sell the business because he can not afford to pay the estate taxes on it. One of the other similar types of situations where life insurance becomes very beneficial is when there are multiple owners of a business. You can use life insurance to fund a buy-sell agreement where if one partner dies the life insurance proceeds enable the remaining
partner(s) to buy the deceases partner?s share of the business from his family / beneficiaries.

Putting all of this into perspective and what it means to you... How much do you spend on car insurance every year to protect your car? How much do you spend on insurance for your home? EVERYONE pays car insurance and if you own a home you very likely pay insurance for that as well. Why do you pay money every year to protect material items but not to protect your health or income, or life? Does it make sense to get into a car accident and have insurance to fix the car but have zero insurance to cover your
medical bills or loss of income? Why would someone have insurance to fix a
$35,000 (or more) car, but not have insurance for potentially $100,000's of medical bills and millions of dollars of lost income. Which do you think is more important to insure?

In closing, before you can focus on acquiring wealth and building assets, you need to put the proper protection mechanisms in place to make sure all of your hard work doesn't disappear in the matter of seconds. If you try to build wealth without the proper protection its like owning a store in a bad neighborhood, with no security system or alarm, and leaving the back door unlocked.

Everything I have mentioned above is what I consider the foundation to long term financial success. In case you are wondering I personally have health insurance with an HSA account, disability insurance, and life insurance. Why work so hard, make good money, but not protect it properly?

About the author, his experiences, opinions and services offered:

I started learning about health, life and disability insurance as well as several other retirement options, tax strategies, estate planning, etc. from my financial planner about 8 years ago. This is something that I enjoy learning about and have spent a lot of time educating myself on these topics over the years.

In the coming weeks I will be putting together a website that will provide a lot of valuable information covering everything I have mentioned in the post. I am also able to provide you with coverage for many of those services, if you are interested in getting coverage for yourself. I just recently became licensed to sell health and life Insurance. My business
partner, Ryan, is also licensed and is an attorney as well. If we can't help you I have my personal financial planning who has 25 years of experience to help assist us. Also, I plan on having a section of the website for "preferred partners" listing other professional services that may be of benefit to you.

Our industry needs to be educated more on these matters. From protecting your income, to long term retirement, to tax savings advantages, doing an llc vs. s-corp, buy-sell agreements, I am here to help you free of charge. I am not trying to "sell" you, just educate you so you can make the best decisions for yourself. I also want to make you aware of things you may have never thought about before. Often people do not think about these issues until it is too late and the damage has already been done. Feel free to
work with any financial planner / insurance agent you like. I'm here to share with you everything I have learned and help you if you would like me to assist you further.

Another reason I decided to help other people like myself in the adult industry is because of negative experiences I have had with some local companies in the past due to the nature of my business. I have been denied service by attorneys, accountants, and even a disability insurance company because the nature of my business is adult related. You can obviously feel comfortable speaking with me and know your information is kept strictly
confidential.

There are several other topics I will be covering in future posts. However, if you have any questions in general about any of the material I have touched on above feel free to ask. Please, only serious questions will be responded to. If you have a difference of opinion that is great, I am far from a ?know it all?, but please state your case if you disagree
with something by backing it up with substance, replies like "you are wrong" will be ignored and will not be responded to.

If you read this far I hope you have found this post to be beneficial and it helps you.

The information provided in this post is for informational purposes only.
This information is not intended to be nor should it be viewed as legal advice. Although every effort is made to provide accurate and useful information, Unbiased Services, its owners and/or representatives assume no legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information provided here.

Sethseekstruth · 03-01-2010, 11:03 AM

Nice, I hope we get more stuff like this

Eric · 03-01-2010, 11:05 AM

Great stuff Will, thanks for doing this!

will76 · 03-01-2010, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric

Great stuff Will, thanks for doing this!

no problem, so many people just don't know about this stuff at all or just don't want to think about it.

I'll be back in a couple hours to take any questions.

Kolargol · 03-01-2010, 12:37 PM

Parts of it are more specific for USA but otherwise it's useful advice for everyone.

myjah · 03-01-2010, 03:40 PM

Will, thank you for participating! Looking forward to the rest of your articles coming down the pipe line as well! Very useful info and worth the read.

TampaToker · 03-01-2010, 08:37 PM

Interesting read Will some times you don't think about these things

Brujah · 03-01-2010, 08:42 PM

What are some options for the self-employed who have been turned down for insurance? Some for a pre-existing condition, some for a recent doctor visit or having taken a specific prescription medicine in the past few years. People who can afford to pay and would like to have insurance, but are being turned down.

Barefootsies · 03-01-2010, 08:52 PM

Nice read sire.

will76 · 03-01-2010, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brujah

What are some options for the self-employed who have been turned down for insurance? Some for a pre-existing condition, some for a recent doctor visit or having taken a specific prescription medicine in the past few years. People who can afford to pay and would like to have insurance, but are being turned down.

I'll answer this the best I can now and consult with my colleague tomorrow to make sure I gave you the best answers.

Pre-existing conditions are conditions for which the insured has received diagnosis, advice, care, or treatment during the last 6 - 12 months prior to the application. Time periods vary from state to state and may vary with the type of policy. In individual health insurance policies, these conditions may be excluded or covered after a probationary period.

From my understanding you could do the following:

1. Apply to other companies (if you have only applied to one) to see if the other companies will accept/reject you.
2. Accept coverage with the pre-existing condition as an exclusion.
3. Wait the adequate amount of time from the date of that doctor's visit or when you stopped taking those prescription pills (if it was temporary). Then reapply without having to disclose that information depending upon the time frame set by the state you live in and the type of policy/company you are applying for.

If you were still turned down and couldn't get insurance, then your state should offer health insurance for high risk individuals. In Louisiana we have the Louisiana Health Insurance Association. I found this link (not my site) explaining how this works, for my state at least. http://www.lahealthplan.org/pool_info.html

I haven't dealt with situations like this personally and I am only sharing with you information I learned from the classes I took. I will double check this tomorrow to find out if there is anything else I am missing that might be more helpful.

fatfoo · 03-01-2010, 10:32 PM

Get a dollar. Don't spend a dollar. You'll have a dollar left tomorrow.

Don't spend a dollar for a week. You'll have a dollar left in a week.

The Heron · 03-01-2010, 10:32 PM

Some states have an 'insurer of last resort' in michigan it is blue cross blue shield which is a big company to start with. Anyhow they accept everyone so maybe consider moving to a state that has laws that are more flexible and help people. I mean damn you work online, move!

will76 · 03-01-2010, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatfoo

Get a dollar. Don't spend a dollar. You'll have a dollar left tomorrow.

Don't spend a dollar for a week. You'll have a dollar left in a week.

that is my advice for the casino. Don't spend the money there and you are guaranteed a winner

Brujah · 03-01-2010, 10:41 PM

In re: Florida state-sponsored risk pool

Florida Comprehensive Health Association (closed to new enrollees since 1991)

will76 · 03-01-2010, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brujah

In re: Florida state-sponsored risk pool

Florida Comprehensive Health Association (closed to new enrollees since 1991)

I just did a little research, if you are in Florida this should help you. Looks like it is their new program that replaced the one mentioned above.

http://www.coverfloridahealthcare.com/

every state should have something setup for people who can't get insured.

Brujah · 03-01-2010, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by will76

I just did a little research, if you are in Florida this should help you. Looks like it is their new program that replaced the one mentioned above.

http://www.coverfloridahealthcare.com/

every state should have something setup for people who can't get insured.

I'll check that out, but keep in mind my point was also to highlight how many people don't have insurance because it's not always easy to get, even if they can afford it. It's not just people who are lazy or broke but professionals too, but especially the self-employed and the options are very limited.

Update: I just checked the information, and went through the carriers for my county, and it was the exact same providers that turned me down. There's nothing wrong me either. I'm mostly healthy, non-smoker, not overweight, but I had visited the doctor and had an inconclusive diagnosis. One of the attorneys I know had a similar issue, except he had taken something like lipitor for a year, about 3 or 4 years ago but hasn't needed it since.

will76 · 03-01-2010, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brujah

I'll check that out, but keep in mind my point was also to highlight how many people don't have insurance because it's not always easy to get, even if they can afford it. It's not just people who are lazy or broke but professionals too, but especially the self-employed and the options are very limited.

Update: I just checked the information, and went through the carriers for my county, and it was the exact same providers that turned me down. There's nothing wrong me either. I'm mostly healthy, non-smoker, not overweight, but I had visited the doctor and had an inconclusive diagnosis. One of the attorneys I know had a similar issue, except he had taken something like lipitor for a year, about 3 or 4 years ago but hasn't needed it since.

I hope I didn't come across as sounding like people don't have insurance because they are lazy or broke (or cheap), thats wasn't my intention. In most cases, I think people in our industry who don't have it just don't think about it or just don't know better, especially the younger guys who think they are healthy so they don't need to have health insurance. In some cases they may rather spend the money on a nice sports car note instead of health insurance. I wouldn't be surprised with some people. But mainly what I was pointing out is how important it is to know what coverage you have and making sure it is best for you. I would bet 9 out of 10 people have no idea what their deductible, co-insurance, co-pay and max out of pocket is etc.

I looked some more into the coverflorida website and from my understanding you may need to let them know that you are applying through the cover florida plan or make some mention of it. From reading the website it sounds like you shouldn't get denied going through their plan.

Quote:

Question: Will I be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition?
Answer: No, Florida applicants with pre-existing health conditions will not be denied enrollment in a Cover Florida plan. However, Cover Florida plans can exclude payment for treatment of a specific pre-existing condition for one year. After one year, the plan must cover for treatment of pre-existing conditions. During the one-year period, however, you are covered for services that are not related to your pre-existing condition.

I can make some phone calls tomorrow for you if you like? Hit me up if you want me to look into this more.

Also, if you think your diagnosis was from something you were taking that you are no longer taking, you can wait and try again as I mentioned in my first reply.

This stuff isn't rocket science but it isn't exactly easy either, especially dealing with how different states do different things. I can personally understand though how confusing it can be to everyday people. I was that person about 8 years ago. I got my health insurance directly from blue cross and was paying a high premium with low deductible, had no idea what anything was because i never used it. Had no clue how any of it worked. I can relate and appreciate how most people feel.

I also took a 40 hour class a couple weeks ago to help educate myself more.

Brujah · 03-01-2010, 11:46 PM

Appreciate the info, and if I can't find something more out about it after this info already, I'll contact you.

Epistler · 03-02-2010, 12:35 AM

Really well written Will

. Thanks for posting this useful information.

will76 · 03-02-2010, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brujah

Appreciate the info, and if I can't find something more out about it after this info already, I'll contact you.

No problem, good luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Epistler

Really well written Will

. Thanks for posting this useful information.

thanks, hope some people read it and it helps them. I have a lot more to cover.

will76 · 03-03-2010, 05:05 PM

important stuff here... I hope the lack of replies mean that everyone has already protected themselves.

and not busy reading drama threads... priorities people!

If anyone has any questions feel free to post and I will get back to you tonight.

baddog · 03-04-2010, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by will76

#2 Disability Insurance:

Do you also have SDI?

Pandoras · 03-04-2010, 08:03 AM

This is really great , thanks for sharing

J. Falcon · 03-04-2010, 08:09 AM

Great information, thanks.

Zuzana Designs · 03-04-2010, 08:13 AM

Very well written Will. Thanks

selena · 03-04-2010, 08:33 AM

Long term disability insurance is something that I definitely need to look into. Health insurance I have, but I do not have life.

For reasons far too long to go into here, I have been turned down for life by more than one company because of something an asswipe doctor put in my records that ended up on my MIB. I had never heard of MIB before this happened. If you are like me, it is a organization/company owned by hundreds of insurance companies. They use the information that they gather to make underwriting decisions.

The report itself falls under the same type of guidelines as a credit bureau report in that you have the right to see them, you can challenge the info on them, and they will give you a free one once a year.

To the best of my knowledge (which is admittedly limited) a MIB will exist on you if you have applied for life or health insurance with one of the insurance companies that is part of the group.

More Info

Nice post, Will.

will76 · 03-04-2010, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baddog

Do you also have SDI?

To be honest I am not familiar with what SDI is, so I looked it up. It appears to be disability insurance offered by the state, " State Disability Insurance " offered in California. Let me know if that is correct or if you are talking about something else.

If so, no I don't have that, I live in Louisiana and I am not aware of any non private (govt) type of disability insurance available here other than social security disability.

will76 · 03-04-2010, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by selena

Long term disability insurance is something that I definitely need to look into. Health insurance I have, but I do not have life.

For reasons far too long to go into here, I have been turned down for life by more than one company because of something an asswipe doctor put in my records that ended up on my MIB. I had never heard of MIB before this happened. If you are like me, it is a organization/company owned by hundreds of insurance companies. They use the information that they gather to make underwriting decisions.

The report itself falls under the same type of guidelines as a credit bureau report in that you have the right to see them, you can challenge the info on them, and they will give you a free one once a year.

To the best of my knowledge (which is admittedly limited) a MIB will exist on you if you have applied for life or health insurance with one of the insurance companies that is part of the group.

More Info

Nice post, Will.

You are right about the MIB. All insurance companies use the Medical Information Bureau (MIB) and report to it any adverse information they find out about their clients. Keep that in mind guys if you lie on your app about something that you already made a claim on or something that was documented they will find out about it.

I'm surprised that no one will write you for life insurance especially if you have health insurance. If you want any help contact me and I would be happy to dig into it and see if I can get anywhere with it for you. Disability is a combination of health insurance + income. Its basically like applying for health insurance with proof of your income. Your premium will be determined mainly by your age, job occupation, and health condition, and amount covered. If you are in pretty good health and not trying to cover tens of thousands a month in income, your disability insurance will not cost you a ton of money.

I would be more than happy to help you, just let me know.

atom · 03-04-2010, 04:06 PM

Good, well written article. My wife, son and I all have medical insurance which we pay out the ass for and it is a 10g deductable. Sucks but if something major happens at least we are only 10g in the hole. Pretty frustrating considering we still pay $429 month for the policy.

I have a few investments along with a life insurance plan, as does my wife. Disability is something I have never looked into. I know its something to be taken seriously but between Health, Life and putting a set amount of money aside into our long term investments. Im not sure we could even afford it.....

will76 · 03-05-2010, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atom

Good, well written article. My wife, son and I all have medical insurance which we pay out the ass for and it is a 10g deductable. Sucks but if something major happens at least we are only 10g in the hole. Pretty frustrating considering we still pay $429 month for the policy.

I have a few investments along with a life insurance plan, as does my wife. Disability is something I have never looked into. I know its something to be taken seriously but between Health, Life and putting a set amount of money aside into our long term investments. Im not sure we could even afford it.....

It is possibly that your health insurance plan qualifies for a HSA account since it is a high deductible plan. If not you can switch it to an HSA approved account. HSAs (Health Savings Account) allow you to put money into a savings account and tax deduct it. It is a great tax write off for self employeed who pay for their own health insurance.

For example, say you put $200 a month into your HSA, that would be $2400 at the end of the year you could use as a tax write off, putting money right back into your pocket depending on your tax bracket. If you are in a 28% tax bracket for example, that is $672 of extra money in your pocket.

Also, the money builds up in your health savings account and in the event that you need to pay towards your deductible, for medication, dental, glasses, or anything medical related, you can take it out of your health savings account and not your personal checking account. Note: once the money is in your HSA it is suppose to just be used for medical related purposes. If used for anything not related to medical expenses you are subject to a penalty. The money is yours, you don't use it or lose it. Whatever the balance is at age 59 1/2 you can withdraw the money if you like and do anything you want with it.

Your premiums aren't that bad. If you went with a low or no deductible plan you could be paying in the $1,000 a month range. If your health is good, you aren't too old, and your occupation is not risky, disability insurance should be pretty inexpensive depending on how much income you are looking to protect.

Do you have a term life policy or whole / universal life ?

heymatty · 03-05-2010, 10:37 PM

Nicely written article. The health insurance options take quite some time to sort through, we just recently moved to a HSA and high deductible plan.

One thing to add to people getting life insurance, its a good time to write a will. Make sure the money gets distributed exactly how you would want it.

darksoul · 03-06-2010, 02:02 AM

Isn't this all insurance thing like a big pyramid scheme ?
Sooner or later it will collapse.

wdsguy · 03-06-2010, 04:49 AM

Nice writeup with alot of good info, what state is your financial planner in btw?

I have everything covered except the disability insurance.

will76 · 03-06-2010, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdsguy

Nice writeup with alot of good info, what state is your financial planner in btw?

I have everything covered except the disability insurance.

Louisiana is where we/he live and work out of, but he is licensed in several different states. It's not hard to get licensed in different states, it's just typically something you don't do until you have a need to. Providing services on the internet, sooner or later I hope to have a need to get licensed in all 50 states.

Cyber Fucker · 03-06-2010, 10:28 AM

Good info, thx for sharing!

Shap · 03-06-2010, 12:10 PM

It's sad to see how many people have pissed away retirement and a great life in exchange for short term gratification. Unfortunately I know more people in this industry who have blown millions than people that have saved millions.

Shap · 03-06-2010, 12:11 PM

Btw cool of you to take the time to write and post this Will

CDSmith · 03-06-2010, 01:43 PM

#1. Health insurance
#2. Disability insurance
#3. Life insurance

I am so glad I live in Canada. But that only covers #1, thus I buy extra disability insurance and also life insurance. I realized a long time ago that as a business owner working for myself that no employer would be providing these things for me.

I've always said treat your business like a business. That includes having everything that matters to your financial future properly insured, claim all income, work smart rather than hard, pay your taxes, save and/or invest a % of what's left, and honor your word to those you do business with.

xxweekxx · 03-06-2010, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shap

Btw cool of you to take the time to write and post this Will

how do you save your money shap?

will76 · 03-06-2010, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shap

It's sad to see how many people have pissed away retirement and a great life in exchange for short term gratification. Unfortunately I know more people in this industry who have blown millions than people that have saved millions.

It's mind blowing. Absolutely mind blowing. I've run calculations in situations showing what someone would have ended up with at retirement if they would have put the money into a long term guaranteed investment vs buying a $100,000 sports car. It would make people who bought a garage full of them (who are now broke and sold them off pennies on the dollars) cry if they could see how much that money could have grown into 20,30,40 years from now.

I'll throw some rough numbers out so people can really see what I am saying. If you get a 7.2% growth rate on your money, it will double every 10 years. There are guaranteed long term investments you can do to get a rate like this.
Years Total
0 $100,000
10 $200,000
20 $400,000
30 $800,000
40 $1,600,000

So if you are 30 years old, would you have rather the nice sports car or $800,000 at age 65 ? especially if you stopped making lots of money and had to go get a job, you will never be able to retire, but hey you had a nice sports car for a couple years, and will be able to tell nice stories about it to your grand kids

This is really cool, if you can let the money grow (as shown above) for 40 years. Take someone 25 years old that made lot of money and instead of blowing it, he took $100,000 and invested it as shown. At age 65 (40 years) if he pulled out 6% a year to live on he would have $96,000 a year income. So he puts $100,000 away and 40 years later he will have $100,000 a YEAR for the rest of his life, and the kicker is he never touches the principle, which can continue to grow at 7% since he is only taking out 6%.

Don't get me wrong everyone wants to have fun and blow a little money. But a lot of people in our industry took all of their money and blew it on toys. The little investing that they do is into a restaurant or bar or something very high risk that they wind up getting screwed on. I came up with the saying " do you want to look rich or be rich ". I think we know where a lot of people in our industry fit into that.

Everyone should have a plan for themselves and take a percentage of their money and put it towards short term (some risk) and long term secure investments, to be diversified in different things, if you want to put some in gold, stocks, real-estate etc... as long as you are diversified and put some of it into secure long term investments (plan b) if all else fails you know you will at least be able to retire later in life and enjoy it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shap

Btw cool of you to take the time to write and post this Will

Thanks.

xxweekxx · 03-06-2010, 09:38 PM

will, what if you are rich, but save up and stil spend money,

say you make $100k a month, and you put away $80k, then whats wrong in blowing $20k a month on a car payment for say a ferrari plus a mortgage on a $1mil house..

you gotta live a little.. i save a lot but im not flying economy class for a 12 hour trip, if i couldnt afford first class then my long hours and giving up my teenage/early 20's will all mean nothing...

HandballJim · 03-07-2010, 12:54 AM

some good infomation here, thanks

now I would love for someone to post the steps for filing taxes for an LLC, tips, etc. I went to barnes and noble today and purchased J.K. Lasser's Small business taxes 2010.

Relentless · 03-07-2010, 07:48 AM

Nice write up.
Two quick additions...

1) When choosing health insurance pay particularly close attention to the cap on coverage. Many plans cap coverage at a million dollars, some at even less. A million dollars isn't much if you or a family member gets very sick or has a catastrophic accident. You'll pay more for insurance with no cap but it is well worth it because that's what prevents bills from bankrupting you.

2) Be very careful which company you buy life insurance from. If all goes well they won't be paying anyone for 20 years or more and YOU won't be around to fight with them when it's time to collect. Pay more if necessary for the same coverage from a solid provider. Choose one that has been around a long time, is highly rated and is well capitalized. Not all life insurance companies are the same.

will76 · 03-07-2010, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relentless

Nice write up.
Two quick additions...

1) When choosing health insurance pay particularly close attention to the cap on coverage. Many plans cap coverage at a million dollars, some at even less. A million dollars isn't much if you or a family member gets very sick or has a catastrophic accident. You'll pay more for insurance with no cap but it is well worth it because that's what prevents bills from bankrupting you.

2) Be very careful which company you buy life insurance from. If all goes well they won't be paying anyone for 20 years or more and YOU won't be around to fight with them when it's time to collect. Pay more if necessary for the same coverage from a solid provider. Choose one that has been around a long time, is highly rated and is well capitalized. Not all life insurance companies are the same.

1. I only work with all the big national health care providers: Blue Cross, Coventry, Humana, Aetna, etc... In most plans the life time max has been raised in the last couple years to 5 million. You are right it is very important to look for and you want that number to be closer to 5 million than say 1 million.

2. Good points too. You don't want to work with a fly by night type operation or something that is very new. The life insurance companies I work with have been in business for over 100 years.

will76 · 03-07-2010, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxweekxx

will, what if you are rich, but save up and stil spend money,

say you make $100k a month, and you put away $80k, then whats wrong in blowing $20k a month on a car payment for say a ferrari plus a mortgage on a $1mil house..

you gotta live a little.. i save a lot but im not flying economy class for a 12 hour trip, if i couldnt afford first class then my long hours and giving up my teenage/early 20's will all mean nothing...

Nothing wrong with that at all. I was explaining the same thing in another thread, touched on it in this one but didn't get into details. The main thing is to have a plan, decide what % of the money you make will go to different things, with some of it going to just having fun and blowing it.

The problem with most people is that if they make 100K a month they put $0 of it towards long term retirement. Even if you only took 20K a month and put it towards retirement and took the 80K to spend on other investments like real-estate or spent it on toys and blew it, etc... than you still would be setting yourself up real good for retirement.

In the example above, if you took 20K every month and put that into retirement, after 10 years you would have saved up 3,347,000 (7.2% rate). Now lets say your business failed and you lost everything. If you started pulling 6% from your retirement you would have about 200K a year to live off of.

IMO, since most of us are self employed and majority of us are successful or semi successful (right now), it is important to have a Plan B. Our business and short term investments like real-estate, stocks, gold are Plan A. We have all seen people make and lose fortunes in the last 10 years in both our industry, the stock market, and the real-estate industry. One year you can be making 1M and the next 100K. It is even more important when we are making really good money to take a percentage of it to build plan B to at least insure if all else fails with Plan A in the future, that we can still retire at 65 and not have to work until we die. On the other hand if Plan A never fails, then great you have even more money in Plan B you can play with when you get older, or leave it to children, or give it to charity. Better to be safe than sorry.

xxweekxx · 03-07-2010, 09:48 AM

where are you getting 7%/yr from?? retirement plans?? cuz i dont know how many investments will yield 7%+ guaranteed a year

will76 · 03-07-2010, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxweekxx

where are you getting 7%/yr from?? retirement plans?? cuz i dont know how many investments will yield 7%+ guaranteed a year

I am in the process of rolling over my personal IRAs into a ROTH IRA using an equity index annuity. The equity index has a 10 year agreement and you need to put at least $10,000 into it to open it. I am using this for retirement and don't plan on touching it for 30+ more years so no concerns there for me.

Since it is an equity index, it has a min and cap rate. The minimum is 7.2% and the cap is 12%. So if the index makes 15% you make 12%, if the index makes 2% you make 7.2%. The minimum guarantee of 7.2% is only good if you go the whole 10 years. Also if you break it early there is some penalties. Without the guarantee you would then get actual market value. Also this particular company is offering a 8% matching bonus on the initial deposit.

Like with any investment contract read everything and understand all of the terms and conditions.

If you have any specific questions about the equity index annuity I mentioned here feel free to contact me directly and I can help you.

TrainWreckContent · 03-07-2010, 02:58 PM

really good readd! thanks for the info and i am looking forward to your next lesson...keep up the good work

quiet · 03-07-2010, 03:04 PM

7.2% guarantee... damn. i wish there was something like that in Canada.

03-01-2010, 11:05 AM	#4
Eric Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: The Helm! Posts: 8,818	Great stuff Will, thanks for doing this! __________________ No One

03-01-2010, 03:40 PM	#7
myjah Back in the harbor Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 11,482	Will, thank you for participating! Looking forward to the rest of your articles coming down the pipe line as well! Very useful info and worth the read. __________________ VP of Marketing AVN Media Network Skype: AVNJill [email protected]

03-01-2010, 08:42 PM	#9
Brujah Beer Money Baron Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: brujah / gmail Posts: 22,157	What are some options for the self-employed who have been turned down for insurance? Some for a pre-existing condition, some for a recent doctor visit or having taken a specific prescription medicine in the past few years. People who can afford to pay and would like to have insurance, but are being turned down. __________________ Free Premium Domain Lists and Tools at Clickmojo.com For Sale: Obscenity.com

03-01-2010, 08:52 PM	#10
Barefootsies Choice is an Illusion Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Land of Obama Posts: 42,635	Nice read sire. __________________ Should You Email Your Members? Link1 \| Link2 \| Link3 Enough Said. "Would you rather live like a king for a year or like a prince forever?"

03-01-2010, 10:32 PM	#12
fatfoo ICQ:649699063 Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 27,763	Get a dollar. Don't spend a dollar. You'll have a dollar left tomorrow. Don't spend a dollar for a week. You'll have a dollar left in a week. __________________ Send me an email: [email protected]

03-01-2010, 10:56 AM	#1
will76 Making $$$$ w/ ClickCash Industry Role: Join Date: May 2003 Location: USA Posts: 18,037	Financial Planning 101 "The Basics" - Protecting Your Assets Financial Planning 101 "The Basics" - Protecting Your Assets The majority of us here are either self-employed, small business owners or employees. We spend the majority of our time working hard, in an effort to make money and become successful. Our lives are consumed with two main goals: being better than our competition, and trying to handle adversity and avoid pitfalls like stolen content, new laws (2257), visa regulations, lawsuits, etc. What we fail to focus on is what we do with our money AFTER we make it. Many of us have never thought about the "financial" side of things, much less do we have the time to learn what should be done with the money made from our businesses and how to protect it, ourselves, and our family... today and several years from now. This will be my first of several ?GFY educational series? posts, where I will be sharing my knowledge of financial related matters. Please note: The information I will be sharing is based on US law. While some of the topics mentioned below may only apply to people living in the US, the general concepts may still be useful to everyone. There are 3 main components to Financial Success. 1. Protect your assets 2. Plan for retirement 3. Accumulate wealth For this first post I will be focusing on the first and most important component - protecting your assets. You already know how to make money. I am going to help educate you on making sure you don't lose it. Protect your assets: First of all, what are your assets? Obviously the money you have in the bank, your home, your business, any investments you may have, but don't forget the most important asset you have is you! What good is it to bust your ass to make money just to have something happen to take it all away from you. Before you try to accumulate wealth you need to first put an iron shield around yourself, so all of your efforts are not wasted. If you do not take this first step you are basically playing russian roulette with your wealth / assets. If you are successful then you have likely put in thousands upon thousands of hours to achieve that level of financial success. However, there are several things that can happen in a matter of seconds that can destroy everything you have worked for. The good news is that you can protect yourself from these disasters. You just need to know what they are and what you need to do to avoid them from happening to you. #1 Health Insurance: The most important thing you need is proper health insurance. Do you have health insurance? If you do, do you know what your deductible, co-pay and co-insurance rates are? Did you know that medical bills from inadequate health insurance coverage (or no coverage at all)is the #1 cause of bankruptcies in the US. Have you ever thought what will happen if you get cancer, have a heart attack, or any other of the thousands of types of illnesses that can land you in the hospital with huge medical bills? And for those of you who say "I am young and in good health nothing will happen to me"... first of all that is very naive. Secondly there are several other things that can happen to you that can cause you to have 100K's of dollars in medical bills such as getting into a car accident. Two bad things happen to you when you end up in the hospital. Not only will you incur thousands of dollars in medical bills but you are also unable to work so your income is reduced or goes away all together. If you have accumulated any assets/wealth and you don't have health insurance you are one bad car accident or illness away from watching it all disappear. Health insurance, relatively speaking is not THAT expensive. The cost will vary from person to person, depending on factors like your age, sex, occupation, current health condition, and coverage selected. Selecting the correct coverage is very important as well. You need to understand what your contribution will be as well as what your max out-of-pocket is in the event something terrible happens. Also, it is very important that the coverage you select fits you the best so you can get the best bang for your buck. For example, if you are younger and in good health, in many cases it will be most beneficial for you to select a higher deductible since you are less likely to go to the doctor or hospital. A higher deductible will cause you to have a lower premium (charge) each month. If you are self-employed you could then take what you would be saving each month and set up a Health Savings Account (HSA). HSA's are also tax deductible, so your contributions will become another write off helping you to pay fewer taxes at the end of the year. When you eventually do go to the doctor, hospital, dentist, eye doctor, buy prescription pills, etc. you can use the money from your HSA to pay for it. (I can go into more detail with HSA's later if anyone is interested.) You ultimately need to talk to a health insurance agent who can look at the whole picture and help set up the best coverage for you. To give you a real life example, I am in good health (preferred status), 33 years old, non smoker, married (no kids) and pay $280 a month for a policy for my wife and I that has a 6K yearly deductible (high deductible), 80/20 co-insurance, with a max out of pocket of 10K. I also have dental insurance included as well. I contribute $200 a month to my health savings account which is basically paying myself (to be used for medical related bills) and taking a tax deduction on it. #2 Disability Insurance: Ok, so above I explained only half of the equation of "what happens if I become ill or get into an accident". Proper health insurance will limit your risk and protect your assets by covering the majority of your medical costs. But, what about your income? If you are disabled for a long period of time, or worst permanently disabled, how will you continue to make money? This leads me to the next thing that everyone should have ? disability insurance. Health insurance protects you from large hospital bills. Disability insurance protects your income if you are unable to work for an extended period of time, or forever depending on the seriousness of your injury/illness. Who is going to run your business if you lose your vision, the use of your hands, or any other injury that will prevent you from working. If you stopped working today, how long would you be able to survive? How would that affect your family or anyone that relies on you financially? Let me repeat: health insurance protects you from medical bills. Disability insurance protects your income. Typically you are able to protect about 2/3 of your income, but you can do a lesser amount if you feel that is all you need to live off of. You would also receive the disability proceeds tax free. Disability insurance in most cases is available to age 65 and you can even set up an optional rider for you to get some or all of your money back depending on the claims you made. Keep in mind disability insurance is not for minor injuries. It is for major injuries where you would no longer be able to work. For example, if you become paralyzed, blind, or confined to a hospital for several months etc... major medical conditions to prevent you from working, disability insurance would kick in to replace your monthly income. Real life disability insurance example: I just recently changed to a new disability policy for a lower amount of coverage, but added a rider (option) that provides a refund of premiums. I pay $119 a month for $4,000 month coverage till age 65. Since I am 33 years old, if I were to become permanently disabled tomorrow and unable to work, this policy would pay me out a total of $1,536,000 over the next 32 years. For my particular policy, at age 65, i will be refunded all of my premiums minus any distributions I may have received. #3 Life Insurance: Life Insurance can be used for many things. It may prove to be beneficial to you both while you are living and after you are gone. For this post I will be focusing only on the benefits of life insurance once you are deceased. The main purpose of life insurance is coverage for premature death. (To protect your family / beneficiaries once your income is gone.) Health insurance protects your from potentially losing everything due to medical bills if you were to become very ill or have a bad accident. Disability insurance will protect your income if you were to become permanently disabled from that illness or accident. Lastly, Life Insurance will protect your future lost earnings for your family's sake once you are gone. There are two main types of life insurance: Term and Permanent. Term life insurance is very affordable. It's cost depends on your age, medical condition, etc. In future posts I will explain the differences between term and permanent insurance and the benefits of each. Later on I will also explain benefits you can receive from your own life insurance policy while you are still living. The younger you are, typically the cheaper life insurance is for you. In some cases you can lock in your premium until you are 65 - 100 years old depending on the type of policy. You are never too young to get life insurance. "cliff notes" #1 Health Insurance - protects your assets from medical bills. #2 Disability Insurance = protects your income if you become disabled and can not work. #3 Life Insurance protects your family if you die premature, especially if you haven't acquired a lot of wealth for them to live off of for the rest of their lives. __________________ ICQ: 86364801 Email: will [at] innovativeassets [dot] com PROGRAM SHIT LIST - DO NOT PROMOTE (click link for gfy thread) FNCash \| Media Revenue

03-01-2010, 10:58 AM	#2
will76 Making $$$$ w/ ClickCash Industry Role: Join Date: May 2003 Location: USA Posts: 18,037	Other uses of life insurance: Life insurance can also be used to protect your estate as well as fund buy-sell agreements between business partners. I'll touch on these two topics briefly now but go into details in future posts. If you die and have acquired a lot of wealth, life insurance can be used to pay the estate taxes your family would be required to pay (estate tax laws are constantly changing). In many cases a child will inherit the family business but have to sell the business because he can not afford to pay the estate taxes on it. One of the other similar types of situations where life insurance becomes very beneficial is when there are multiple owners of a business. You can use life insurance to fund a buy-sell agreement where if one partner dies the life insurance proceeds enable the remaining partner(s) to buy the deceases partner?s share of the business from his family / beneficiaries. Putting all of this into perspective and what it means to you... How much do you spend on car insurance every year to protect your car? How much do you spend on insurance for your home? EVERYONE pays car insurance and if you own a home you very likely pay insurance for that as well. Why do you pay money every year to protect material items but not to protect your health or income, or life? Does it make sense to get into a car accident and have insurance to fix the car but have zero insurance to cover your medical bills or loss of income? Why would someone have insurance to fix a $35,000 (or more) car, but not have insurance for potentially $100,000's of medical bills and millions of dollars of lost income. Which do you think is more important to insure? In closing, before you can focus on acquiring wealth and building assets, you need to put the proper protection mechanisms in place to make sure all of your hard work doesn't disappear in the matter of seconds. If you try to build wealth without the proper protection its like owning a store in a bad neighborhood, with no security system or alarm, and leaving the back door unlocked. Everything I have mentioned above is what I consider the foundation to long term financial success. In case you are wondering I personally have health insurance with an HSA account, disability insurance, and life insurance. Why work so hard, make good money, but not protect it properly? About the author, his experiences, opinions and services offered: I started learning about health, life and disability insurance as well as several other retirement options, tax strategies, estate planning, etc. from my financial planner about 8 years ago. This is something that I enjoy learning about and have spent a lot of time educating myself on these topics over the years. In the coming weeks I will be putting together a website that will provide a lot of valuable information covering everything I have mentioned in the post. I am also able to provide you with coverage for many of those services, if you are interested in getting coverage for yourself. I just recently became licensed to sell health and life Insurance. My business partner, Ryan, is also licensed and is an attorney as well. If we can't help you I have my personal financial planning who has 25 years of experience to help assist us. Also, I plan on having a section of the website for "preferred partners" listing other professional services that may be of benefit to you. Our industry needs to be educated more on these matters. From protecting your income, to long term retirement, to tax savings advantages, doing an llc vs. s-corp, buy-sell agreements, I am here to help you free of charge. I am not trying to "sell" you, just educate you so you can make the best decisions for yourself. I also want to make you aware of things you may have never thought about before. Often people do not think about these issues until it is too late and the damage has already been done. Feel free to work with any financial planner / insurance agent you like. I'm here to share with you everything I have learned and help you if you would like me to assist you further. Another reason I decided to help other people like myself in the adult industry is because of negative experiences I have had with some local companies in the past due to the nature of my business. I have been denied service by attorneys, accountants, and even a disability insurance company because the nature of my business is adult related. You can obviously feel comfortable speaking with me and know your information is kept strictly confidential. There are several other topics I will be covering in future posts. However, if you have any questions in general about any of the material I have touched on above feel free to ask. Please, only serious questions will be responded to. If you have a difference of opinion that is great, I am far from a ?know it all?, but please state your case if you disagree with something by backing it up with substance, replies like "you are wrong" will be ignored and will not be responded to. If you read this far I hope you have found this post to be beneficial and it helps you. The information provided in this post is for informational purposes only. This information is not intended to be nor should it be viewed as legal advice. Although every effort is made to provide accurate and useful information, Unbiased Services, its owners and/or representatives assume no legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information provided here. __________________ ICQ: 86364801 Email: will [at] innovativeassets [dot] com PROGRAM SHIT LIST - DO NOT PROMOTE (click link for gfy thread) FNCash \| Media Revenue

03-01-2010, 11:03 AM	#3
Sethseekstruth Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Richmond, va Posts: 588	Nice, I hope we get more stuff like this __________________ https://www.niteflirt.com/pid/12631704

03-01-2010, 12:37 PM	#6
Kolargol Confirmed User Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: www.footfetishsponsors.com Posts: 1,319	Parts of it are more specific for USA but otherwise it's useful advice for everyone.

03-01-2010, 08:37 PM	#8
TampaToker Confirmed User Join Date: May 2006 Location: Tampa Posts: 5,827	Interesting read Will some times you don't think about these things

03-01-2010, 10:32 PM	#13
The Heron Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Michigan Posts: 4,485	Some states have an 'insurer of last resort' in michigan it is blue cross blue shield which is a big company to start with. Anyhow they accept everyone so maybe consider moving to a state that has laws that are more flexible and help people. I mean damn you work online, move! __________________

03-01-2010, 10:41 PM	#15
Brujah Beer Money Baron Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: brujah / gmail Posts: 22,157	In re: Florida state-sponsored risk pool Florida Comprehensive Health Association (closed to new enrollees since 1991) __________________ Free Premium Domain Lists and Tools at Clickmojo.com For Sale: Obscenity.com

03-01-2010, 11:46 PM	#19
Brujah Beer Money Baron Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: brujah / gmail Posts: 22,157	Appreciate the info, and if I can't find something more out about it after this info already, I'll contact you. __________________ Free Premium Domain Lists and Tools at Clickmojo.com For Sale: Obscenity.com

03-02-2010, 12:35 AM	#20
Epistler Registered User Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 30	Really well written Will . Thanks for posting this useful information.

03-03-2010, 05:05 PM	#22
will76 Making $$$$ w/ ClickCash Industry Role: Join Date: May 2003 Location: USA Posts: 18,037	important stuff here... I hope the lack of replies mean that everyone has already protected themselves. and not busy reading drama threads... priorities people! If anyone has any questions feel free to post and I will get back to you tonight. __________________ ICQ: 86364801 Email: will [at] innovativeassets [dot] com PROGRAM SHIT LIST - DO NOT PROMOTE (click link for gfy thread) FNCash \| Media Revenue

03-04-2010, 08:03 AM	#24
Pandoras Confirmed User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: ICQ : 449-718-239 Posts: 8,447	This is really great , thanks for sharing __________________ Find the right product for the right traffic only at TeenRevenue.com If you dont covert with TeenRevenue with your TeenTraffic within 24 hours of adding our links WE WILL CREDIT YOUR ACCOUNT !!! Sigh up for for more detials and find out more

03-04-2010, 08:09 AM	#25
J. Falcon www.AdultCopywriters.com Industry Role: Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 31,338	Great information, thanks. __________________ Adult Copywriters SEO Content for Porn Sites sales at adultcopywriters dot com

03-04-2010, 08:13 AM	#26
Zuzana Designs All Your Design Needs Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: [email protected] Posts: 20,638	Very well written Will. Thanks __________________ Website Design - Consulting - GFY Moderator zuzanadesigns [at] gmail.com - See Our Work For GFY administration queries - info at gfy.com

03-04-2010, 08:33 AM	#27
selena Confirmed User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: On The Edge Posts: 7,991	Long term disability insurance is something that I definitely need to look into. Health insurance I have, but I do not have life. For reasons far too long to go into here, I have been turned down for life by more than one company because of something an asswipe doctor put in my records that ended up on my MIB. I had never heard of MIB before this happened. If you are like me, it is a organization/company owned by hundreds of insurance companies. They use the information that they gather to make underwriting decisions. The report itself falls under the same type of guidelines as a credit bureau report in that you have the right to see them, you can challenge the info on them, and they will give you a free one once a year. To the best of my knowledge (which is admittedly limited) a MIB will exist on you if you have applied for life or health insurance with one of the insurance companies that is part of the group. More Info Nice post, Will. __________________ ~ Doer of Things at MetArtMoney Where Flawless Beauty Meets Art ~The MetArt Network ~ selena.delgado9

03-04-2010, 04:06 PM	#30
atom Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 2,739	Good, well written article. My wife, son and I all have medical insurance which we pay out the ass for and it is a 10g deductable. Sucks but if something major happens at least we are only 10g in the hole. Pretty frustrating considering we still pay $429 month for the policy. I have a few investments along with a life insurance plan, as does my wife. Disability is something I have never looked into. I know its something to be taken seriously but between Health, Life and putting a set amount of money aside into our long term investments. Im not sure we could even afford it..... __________________ Adult is dead.... Want to push a mainstream product that works? Hit me up at adam @ Natures86 dot com

03-05-2010, 10:37 PM	#32
heymatty Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Scottsdale :) Posts: 2,188	Nicely written article. The health insurance options take quite some time to sort through, we just recently moved to a HSA and high deductible plan. One thing to add to people getting life insurance, its a good time to write a will. Make sure the money gets distributed exactly how you would want it. __________________ Cashlantis ~ Black Book Cash

03-06-2010, 02:02 AM	#33
darksoul Confirmed User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: /root/ Posts: 4,997	Isn't this all insurance thing like a big pyramid scheme ? Sooner or later it will collapse. __________________ 1337 5y54\|)m1n: 157717888 BM-2cUBw4B2fgiYAfjkE7JvWaJMiUXD96n9tN Cambooth

03-06-2010, 04:49 AM	#34
wdsguy Ryde or Die Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: California-Shanghai Posts: 19,568	Nice writeup with alot of good info, what state is your financial planner in btw? I have everything covered except the disability insurance.

03-06-2010, 10:28 AM	#36
Cyber Fucker Hmm Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: On an endless road around the world for rock and roll. Posts: 12,642	Good info, thx for sharing! __________________

03-06-2010, 12:10 PM	#37
Shap Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 8,313	It's sad to see how many people have pissed away retirement and a great life in exchange for short term gratification. Unfortunately I know more people in this industry who have blown millions than people that have saved millions.

03-06-2010, 12:11 PM	#38
Shap Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2001 Posts: 8,313	Btw cool of you to take the time to write and post this Will

03-06-2010, 01:43 PM	#39
CDSmith Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: May 2001 Location: My network is hosted at TECHIEMEDIA.net ...Wait, you meant where am I located at? Oh... okay, I'm in Winnipeg, Canada. Oops. :) Posts: 51,460	#1. Health insurance #2. Disability insurance #3. Life insurance I am so glad I live in Canada. But that only covers #1, thus I buy extra disability insurance and also life insurance. I realized a long time ago that as a business owner working for myself that no employer would be providing these things for me. I've always said treat your business like a business. That includes having everything that matters to your financial future properly insured, claim all income, work smart rather than hard, pay your taxes, save and/or invest a % of what's left, and honor your word to those you do business with. __________________ *Promote Wildmatch, ImLive, Sexier.com, and more!!* ALWAYS THE HIGHEST PAYOUTS: Big Bux/ImLive SIGNUP ON NOW!!! Put some PUSSYCA$H in your pocket. ICQ me at: 31024634

03-06-2010, 09:38 PM	#42
xxweekxx Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 6,780	will, what if you are rich, but save up and stil spend money, say you make $100k a month, and you put away $80k, then whats wrong in blowing $20k a month on a car payment for say a ferrari plus a mortgage on a $1mil house.. you gotta live a little.. i save a lot but im not flying economy class for a 12 hour trip, if i couldnt afford first class then my long hours and giving up my teenage/early 20's will all mean nothing... __________________ _________________ I am the best Last edited by xxweekxx; 03-06-2010 at 09:39 PM..

03-07-2010, 12:54 AM	#43
HandballJim Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: NYC Posts: 4,024	some good infomation here, thanks now I would love for someone to post the steps for filing taxes for an LLC, tips, etc. I went to barnes and noble today and purchased J.K. Lasser's Small business taxes 2010. __________________ HOW I MAKE LOTS OF $$$

03-07-2010, 07:48 AM	#44
Relentless www.EngineFood.com Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 5,698	Nice write up. Two quick additions... 1) When choosing health insurance pay particularly close attention to the cap on coverage. Many plans cap coverage at a million dollars, some at even less. A million dollars isn't much if you or a family member gets very sick or has a catastrophic accident. You'll pay more for insurance with no cap but it is well worth it because that's what prevents bills from bankrupting you. 2) Be very careful which company you buy life insurance from. If all goes well they won't be paying anyone for 20 years or more and YOU won't be around to fight with them when it's time to collect. Pay more if necessary for the same coverage from a solid provider. Choose one that has been around a long time, is highly rated and is well capitalized. Not all life insurance companies are the same. __________________ Website Secure \| Engine Food ICQ# 266-942-896 Last edited by Relentless; 03-07-2010 at 07:58 AM..

03-07-2010, 09:48 AM	#47
xxweekxx Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 6,780	where are you getting 7%/yr from?? retirement plans?? cuz i dont know how many investments will yield 7%+ guaranteed a year __________________ _________________ I am the best

03-07-2010, 02:58 PM	#49
TrainWreckContent Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Under a Train Wreck Posts: 8,116	really good readd! thanks for the info and i am looking forward to your next lesson...keep up the good work __________________ Need SD, HD or mobile content? Train Wreck Content & Adult Content Source has niches like Penis Enlargement Excersises, EXGF, EXBF, Tranny, Gay, Spanking, hand jobs and lots more! We also specialize in bulk packages. Need your blogs updated, site reviews, profiles, something else written? Check out: expresswritersonline! ICQ: 381-464-069 / Skype spanking.forcash / Email: [email protected]

03-07-2010, 03:04 PM	#50
quiet we'll miss you our friend. RIP Industry Role: Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Fernie, BC Posts: 25,115	7.2% guarantee... damn. i wish there was something like that in Canada. __________________ we'll miss you our friend. RIP