Patrick Slayton’s Blog

Is your pension in the “Red Zone”?

You can keep your retirement plans in the green zone.  Contact me for details

2009: Do you wish you could take additional deductions?

It might not be too late.  Contact me for details before it is too late!

Ali Wise and your voice mail

If you deal with Protected Health Information (PHI)  you are probably aware of the changes that were included in the February stimulus bill.  The new definition includes any breach in any medium.  For a legal discussion of the relevant issues, see the document linked below.

http://www.hunton.com/emailblast/pdfs/stimulus_package_includes_breach_notice_obligations_and_substantial_changes_to_hipaa.pdf

That brings us to the star of this post, Ms. Ali Wise, who after breaking up with a boyfriend used a service called spoof card to access the voice mail of his new flames.  By using spoof card to fool the voice mail system into believing that she was the account holder she was able to access and delete voice mails she did not want her rival to hear.  Do you receive sensitive messages via your voice mail?  Is your voice mail configured to require a password every time?  It should be.  The article below details Ms. Wise’s activities.

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/04/30/2010-04-30_fashionista_ali_wise_avoids_voicemail_jail_time_with_plea_bargain_community_serv.html

Lord Acton and National Health Care

Lord Acton said in an 1887 letter to Bishop Creighton:  “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”

At the heart of the President’s health plan, there is a group of political appointees who will make decisions on who receives care, what setting it is received in, and what treatments will be approved or not approved.

What sort of power do you suppose that they will have?

Ineffective Marketing

One of the things that I did not mention in my introduction was my college major. I majored in communications. Communications includes public speaking and advertising.

I received a marketing  email from Brian (his real name, so far as I know) the other day. The subject of the email was “re: Patrick, this is the Holy Grail of leads”. The obvious intention of the subject was to make it appear as though Brian was responding to a request I had made for information. Let’s take a minute to think about this: I (Patrick) wrote an email to Brain. In the subject line, to personalize it for Brian, I entered “Patrick” as my first word. Brian is now doing me the favor of replying to this poorly constructed request. This ranks right up there with the herbal male improvement spam.

Regardless of the medium, effective marketing communications attract the favorable attention of the viewer.  They do not scream “I am junk, press delete or change the channel now”.

Additional Living Expense: What You Must Know

Additional Living Expense (ALE), Coverage D, can provide reimbursement when your home is uninhabitable.

Here are some key points to consider.

First, your home must be uninhabitable because of a loss insured.  In plain language, the cause must be something covered under your policy.  General power outages are usually excluded.  If a tree falls on the line that feeds your neighborhood, there will be no coverage for ALE in most cases.  A tree that falls on the line that connects your home to the pole is not excluded.  In most cases your additional living expenses can be considered.

Second, if there is coverage, it applies to the additional expenses to maintain your standard of living.  This is an important point.  Expenses that you would normally incur are not additional, and are not covered.  As an example, if you normally spend $75.00 per week for food at home, reasonable amounts that you spend in excess of $75.00 per week for dining can be considered.  What’s reasonable?  Most folks who spend $75.00 per week on groceries generally don’t eat lobster seven nights in a row.  This does not mean that you must eat off of the dollar menu at the local hamburger place all of the time either.  Just use good judgment.  This is a brief example, the expenses that can be considered for payment and offset are too numerous to list here.  If you have questions consult your policy or your agent.

Finally, you must take the first step, nothing happens until you file the claim.  Once the claim is filed, there are steps you can take to help it to a speedy payment.  Keep your receipts, they can be submitted to document your expenses.  Prepare a list of your normal expenses for comparison.  If your motel is farther from your job than your home, you may wish to claim the additional mileage; keep a written log.  Again, most of this is basic common sense.

According to news reports in my area, there are still thousands of  families who are several days away from having their power restored.  It is my hope that they will be able to return to their normal lifestyle as quickly as possible.

Disclaimer:  The preceding is general guidance.  The terms and conditions of your policy will determine coverage and payment of any claims.  Contact your company’s customer service center, your agent or your adjuster if you have questions.

Cash Value Life Insurance, the Family Protector

A friend called late last week.  Her brother-in-law had been unexpectedly laid off, leaving his family in a tough spot.  Ashley’s (not her real name) first thought was to withdraw money from her IRA to help her sister’s family.

Since Ashley is not yet 59 1/2, she would have been subject to a 10% penalty in addition to income taxes due on the amount of the withdrawal.   As we discussed her situation, Ashley remembered a whole life policy she had purchased years ago.  It turned out  there was sufficient loan value in the policy to meet her needs without using her IRA.  In most cases, loans from a life policy do not create tax liability.

It is important to review your policy before requesting a loan.  Policy guarantees may be affected as a result of receiving a loan, and existing loans and unpaid interest will be deducted at the time of a claim.  Finally, if you are unable to make payments on a policy loan, make every attempt to pay the interest as it comes due.  Unpaid interest is added to the loan, which may eventually cause the policy to lapse.

Disclaimer:  The foregoing is based on general information which is available to the public and should not be considered as specific professional advice.  I am not engaged in the business of providing legal advice or the practice of accounting.  Every situation is unique.  Seek the advice of a competent professional.

Interest-Free Loans, Tax Time Bombs

This seems like a timely topic since we will all be receiving our W-2 and 1099 forms over the next week or so.

According to the Treasury Department, more than 16 billion dollars is “invested” in U S Savings Bonds which have passed maturity.  It’s difficult to call this an investment, since modern Savings Bonds do not pay interest after maturity;  they are in effect, an interest-free loan to Uncle Sam.

Most people think of Savings Bonds as a tax-deferred instrument,  taxes are not due on the interest until the Bond is cashed in.  This answer is only partially correct.  The correct answer is that the interest must be reported as income in the earlier of the year that the Bond is cashed in, OR the year in which the Bond matures.  This information can be found in IRS Publication 550.  For many families, the Bonds are an “out of sight, out of mind” way to save money.  Overlooking this interest can lead to costly penalties.  As tax season approaches, take a few minutes to make sure that you have a complete list of your investments and savings to take to your tax professional.  A few moments of preparation now will save time and unpleasantness later.

Disclaimer:  The foregoing is based on general information which is available to the public and should not be considered as specific professional advice.  I am not engaged in the business of providing legal advice or the practice of accounting.  Every situation is unique.  Seek the advice of a competent professional.

Here goes.

Since you are here, I imagine that you know a bit about me.  To fill in the gaps, I live in Southeast Missouri and I am an insurance and photography professional.   I earned my first insurance license in 1987, and I have recently branched out into claims adjusting.

I started fooling around with cameras about 40 years ago.  I was first paid for helping a wedding photographer while I was in high school.  My passion (from the photographic perspective) is landscape and wildlife photography, but I also shoot portraits and weddings.  I have gone from a 620 camera to an instamatic 110 camera, to Canon digital slrs (my current equipment).  The first 35mm camera I used was an Argus “brick”.  My photography has appeared in the Independent Journal, the Southeast Missourian, and as a lead story slide on KFVS 12.  A collection of my landscapes is currently on display at Broadway Books and Roasting in Cape Girardeau.

My blog will contain information that I find interesting, that I think will also interest you.  It may be related to any or all three of the above, or related to another topic of interest to me.  My hobbies are flyfishing, computer programming, photo editing (sort of goes with the photography), writing, basic website design, and a few others.  I may even do requests.  If you have arrived at this space in the mistaken idea that you will find information on fiber arts, you are lost!  Try this blog instead. (Hi mom)

Patrick