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One of the mounting financial woes resulting from the ongoing worldwide global economic crisis is being under-insured or uninsured. Having adequate health and life insurance is important, and it is one of the benefits of being employed. When faced with the prospect of losing your job, you cannot help but worry about your insurance, as well. In reading a press release from Affinion, it is obvious that the risks and worries related to going uninsured are real and affect not only me, but millions of others, as well.

Insurance offers security to people and their loved ones in the event of major life occurrences such as illness and death. When this is taken away, that little peace of mind that exists in trying times is totally eroded. The cost of medical bills, even with the new healthcare reforms, is still out of the reach of millions without some form of insurance. For many persons like myself, the worry is more than about meeting my needs, it is more about taking care of my family.

Reading the Affinion press release did offer some hope concerning alternative forms of insurance that I can explore. Accidental, Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) insurances can help take away the worry concerning meeting many of my obligations in the case of job loss or reduction in my earning opportunities.

This information was taken from a press release titled, “Affinion Group Survey Reveals That Underinsured Consumers Need Alternative Solutions in Light of Current Economic Climate”. To read the entire release, click here.

Nearly half say unreimbursed loss of as little as $500 would have “severe” impact on financial stability
As unemployment rates continue to climb, one often overlooked aspect of people being laid-off is their access to affordable insurance. In a national recent survey conducted by Affinion Group, a leading marketer of insurance services, nearly two-thirds of respondents admitted to living paycheck-to-paycheck “often” or “always.” The survey questioned more than 1,000 adults to determine the threat to consumers from limited access to affordable insurance in light of the current economic conditions. Overall, the findings revealed that a majority of consumers believe they could be at risk for losing their health benefits and life insurance should they ultimately lose their job, placing an even greater importance on alternate insurance programs.

At Risk of Being Uninsured

When asked how long they believed they would have access to affordable insurance, nearly two out of three respondents either believed that they would have access for less than one month or didn’t know how long they would have access to affordable insurance. Distressingly, only 19 percent of respondents believed they would be able to afford their insurance for more than 6 months following the loss of their job, and this number dropped to 14 percent when looking at respondents under the age of 45.

Accidents are Costly

Nearly half of respondents, 45 percent, believed that an out-of-pocket cost of as little as $500 would have a “severe” impact on their financial stability. This is problematic given that the average cost of hospitalization is $560, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This also comes in an environment where 62 percent of those people surveyed stated that they live paycheck-to-paycheck either “often” or “always.”

“The results of this survey confirm some of our worst suspicions: this economic climate has exposed consumers to a toxic combination of underemployment and underinsurance,” said Ron Clarke, Senior Vice President of Insurance Services at Affinion. “The high cost of insurance and the out-of-pocket expense associated with a hospital stay of as little as a day or two are leaving a substantial portion of the country at risk of being unable to afford the security and peace-of-mind that they need.”

Considering Loved Ones and Alternatives to Going Without

Of the adults surveyed, more than half expressed that they were either “concerned” or “extremely concerned” that their loved ones would be financially vulnerable in the event of an accident or the death of the respondent. At the same time, many participants did not understand the cost savings that can be offered by having a less costly alternative Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) plan, with only 25 percent of respondents correctly identifying the savings of a $100,000 AD&D plan is more than $75 over that of a typical $100,000 annual term life insurance policy. Affinion Group encourages consumers to work with a trusted financial institution, credit union or association to gain access to AD&D Protection, which is typically offered on a group rate basis, and underwritten by leading, highly rated insurers, and presents a viable alternative for coverage to protect against unforeseen events.

“Many of the participants of the study did not understand the cost savings and security that an AD&D plan can offer to them and their families,” continued Clarke. “Managed appropriately, AD&D is the type of supplemental insurance alternative that families can turn to in order to secure their financial well being in the event of an emergency.”

The full results of the survey can be found here.

About Affinion Group

As a global leader with nearly 35 years of experience, Affinion Group enhances the value of its partners’ customer relationships by developing and marketing valuable loyalty, membership, checking account, insurance and other compelling products and services. Leveraging its expertise in product development and targeted marketing, Affinion helps generate significant incremental revenue for more than 5,500 affinity partners worldwide, including many of the largest and most respected companies in financial services, retail, travel, and Internet commerce. Based in Norwalk, Conn., the company has approximately 3,300 employees throughout the United States and in 10 countries across Europe, and markets in 14 countries globally. Affinion holds the prestigious ISO 27001 certification for the highest information security practices, is PCI compliant and Cybertrust certified.

If you own several properties, or if you own one property but want someone else to take care of the general maintenance for you, you might benefit from hiring a property manager. A property manager collects rent payments, keeps the buildings and grounds maintained, and helps with business transactions such as lease negotiations and serving eviction notices. A good property manager’s main goal should be increasing your business profits. Before you team up with a property manager, there are several steps you might want to take to make sure that you are a good fit.

Talk with a potential property manager to see what they know about the local market. This is very important since a property manager should know what renters are looking for. Ask the property manager what changes they think you should make to increase the profitability of your property. While you check out the property manager’s knowledge, you also want to check out their background. Ask for three references, including a current customer, and make sure you follow up on calling the references. Ask about weak points as well as strong points since no one is perfect. You want to make sure you can handle working with a property manager’s weaker areas.

Business knowledge is a must for a property manager. Try to find one with a background in accounting. The property manager should be organized and able to keep the accounting for your property’s expenses and revenues well under control. You also want to make sure that your potential property manager is good with people since they will be interacting with your tenants. Talk with some of the tenants in the building your property manager currently maintains to assess their reputation. Happy tenants are more likely to stay on, decreasing your turnover and increasing your profits.

Prepaid Credit Cards for Daily Use

Prepaid credit cards are a very popular alternative to carrying cash and/or using regular credit cards. Even if the prepaid credit card were to be stolen, the user wouldn’t have to worry about credit card charges since the card has pre-loaded cash on it. They would just have a loss of whatever amount was pre-loaded on the card, but no worries about charges, fees or additional interest on the credit card. Prepaid credit cards are ideal for everyday use on things like grocery shopping, dry cleaners, gas, etc. They are great to use in places that don’t accept checks and for when you carry around a small amount of cash.

Avoiding Problems

You really cannot make mistakes when using a prepaid credit card. Only the amount that is loaded onto the card is the authorized amount that can be used towards transactions. The only problem that can be encountered with a prepaid credit card is if it gets lost or stolen. There is very little recourse in recouping the stolen money and your best bet would be to transfer the existing money to a different account online before it is used. Whenever you have a prepaid card in your possession, protect it just as you would a regular credit card. Don’t give out the account number or share it with any unauthorized parties.

Prepaid Credit Cards

The amount that a person places on a credit card varies widely, but they generally put enough on there to take care of any business that they have to deal with. Prepaid credit cards can be reloaded multiple times. Therefore, their ease of use and accessibility is ideal for people who need the benefits of a credit card without the additional hassles of bills, interest rates or risking going over their limit. They are great to simply do what needs to be done without any additional problems.

Using Payday Loans on a Frequent Basis

Payday loans are a common practice for many people. It’s a great way to handle emergency cash situations and get the funds needed in a hurry. People who frequently use payday loans understand the process and how to use it to work for them in a positive manner. They know what information they will need to provide each time they require the payday loans services. If they are successful in obtaining a payday loan, over time they develop a good business relationship with the loan company. This helps the borrower establish himself or herself as a reliable borrower who repays successfully. When they do this, they increase their chances and likelihood in making future loan requests.

Paperwork for Obtaining Payday Loans

Items normally asked for before obtaining payday loans varies. One consistent item requested is proof of income, whether that’s a payroll stub or a tax receipt. This proof shows the company making the loan that the borrower has the capability to repay the loan back. Other items that may be asked for include proof of identification, whether that is a driver’s license, social security card or military identification (if applicable), and proof of residence. The loan contract will usually outline what pertinent information is needed to grant any payday loans. The borrower needs to be aware of these requirements and be able to provide their proof.

A Welcomed Convenience

Using payday loans in a mature, responsible manner is an ideal situation for adults who simply need financial help on occasion. Although emergency cash loans should not be used as a means of income, using them to help in financial inconveniences is understandable. Payday loans are a great way to manage short cash falls and stretching out months when a person’s income is not enough to meet their monthly obligations.

Improve Your Credit Rating Through Debt Consolidation

When a person is late paying their credit card bills or misses paying them altogether, it negatively affects their credit rating and can ultimately affect their chances of gaining future credit. Credit activity, both positive and negative, is available to credit bureaus frequently, sometimes on a monthly basis. It outlines a thorough history of a person’s financial habits and responsibilities. Going the route of debt consolidation is a great way to improve a person’s credit rating. As the person exemplifies their financial responsibilities through timely payments, their scores will improve and their chances of accessing future credit will improve as well.

How Debt Consolidation Works

Debt consolidation involves streamlining all of a person’s debt into one affordable, monthly payment. Debt consolidation companies take all of the person’s bills and recurring monthly obligations, pay off their creditors and assign the borrower a set amount to repay the debt back on a monthly basis. This helps the borrower in numerous ways. They eliminate debt to credit card and other companies. By having only one payment amount, they decrease their chances of late or missed payments to their creditors. Ultimately, they increase their credit score by showing proof of consistent and timely payments that will reflect positively on their credit reports.

Protecting Credit Ratings

A person should take their credit scores seriously and be proactive in protecting it. So many different things can affect it, and timely bill payments are the main factor. Once a person has a negative score, it can be very difficult to mend. By being careful and taking the time to find ways to protect their credit, a person is ensuring their credit future is headed in the right direction. Debt consolidation is a method that can be used to make that journey less stressful and very successful.

In today’s world, it will sometimes be necessary to get help with your finances. While it’s possible for some people to borrow money from family or friends (potentially at the expense of the relationship), this is not going to be an option for everyone. For those who need some fast cash to avoid credit card late fees, utility surcharges, or the risk of eviction, there are several options to consider.

Pawn Shop Loans: Pawn shop loans are collateral loans that will get you money quickly without any interest, but the risk is the loss of valuable household items. If you’re completely confident that you’re going to be able to pay the loan back, you can get money by using items like instruments, jewelry, and electronics as collateral at a pawn shop. If you don’t pay the loan back on time, remember that your items will be forfeited for the same amount as your loan (covering the balance).

Auto or Equity Loans: Banks will do auto loans or home equity loans to get you money fast, and although these loans have an interest rate, they are not nearly as high as many other unsecured loans. There are two major problems with this option. One is that you will be have to own your car or have equity in your home. The second is that your home or car will be at risk when you sign this kind of loan.

Fast Cash Loans: Payday loans are an option for those who don’t have items to put up at a pawn shop, people who don’t have a major item like a car or home for an equity loan, or aren’t willing to risk using their property as collateral. These loans are unsecured, easy to obtain for those who have a job, and come with low fees so long as you’re able to pay them back very quickly.

SunLife Direct Insurance has a full range of products aimed towards the over 50’s generation of customers and specialises in this certain market niche. With Sun Life Direct Insurance there are several financial packages available to meet your requirements:

Guaranteed Over 50’s Life Insurance plan – is a plan that starts from as little as £8 per month This Sun Life Direct Life Insurance plan is a way of leaving your loved ones a cash lump sum after you have gone without the need for any medical questions or exams. You will also be welcomed with a free gift if you sign up to this plan, ranging from LCD TV’s through to satellite navigation systems.

Simple Choice Funerals – When a loved one passes away there is nothing worse than having to pick up the costs of funeral expenses, so this plan is a great way to help deal with funeral arrangements if you are between the ages of 50 and 80. The simple choice funeral plan provides transport of the deceased, support for loved ones, a dignified resting place, and cremation expenditures and arrangements.

50 Plus Protector Plan – This plan is very closely related to the first plan mentioned in this article and again allows you to leave a cash lump sum behind that will be able to grow 5% with each year you keep to the plan. Starting at just £7 per month it’s an easy affordable way of covering the costs of bills and mortgage payments when a loved one has passed away. Once again with this plan you will receive a free gift.

EasyCover – Does what it says on the tin, it is a simple plan that has been setup allowing you to decide how much cover you would like and how long you would like the cover to run for. Starting at £8 per month, you can take this plan out if you are aged between 18 and 89.

Bonus CashBuilder Plus Plan – This SunLife plan runs for the duration of 15 years and monthly premiums start from £10 with a maximum of £100 that will help those aged between 15 and 55 save for the future. This plan also offers bonuses and a profits fund.

The ink is just barely dry on all of those new credit laws Congress finally passed. And while that is definitely going to mean that those credit card companies will not be able to pull as many shady tricks on us as they used to, there are going to be some limits to it. Any law that Congress actually passes is going to be influenced by all sorts of lobbyists. And, of course, laws getting watered down are so much the norm that if it DIDN’T happen, it might be cause for a suspicion of its own (or even for outright alarm).

So credit card companies are still going to find some kind of method by which to pull a fast one on those of us who just do not pay enough attention to some of the important details in life (like our credit scores, and how much we spend). A wise person once said, “If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.” This means that, instead of just spending our money (or worse, spending more than we actually have), we need to get a little smarter about investing it.

Obviously, there are stocks and bonds to consider. Owning a good company (even if it is jus a tiny fraction of it) is generally a good idea. And of course, having a government or major corporation owe you money is pretty cool, too. But have you ever thought of commodities as a potential investment vehicle? Every major kind of commodity, from oil and natural gas all the way to gold and silver, can be bought and sold (or held until they actually deliver it to you) on the open market. And any or all of these commodities can be great sources of income, in a world in which every resource is scarce.

The second largest bank in India, ICICI bank would be raising 20,000 crores in the month of June. The bank would be raising 15,000 crore through public issue and the rest of the money through ADR issue. In India this is the biggest ever fund raising plan by any Indian bank. It is also opting for a greenshoe option which could double the net worth of the bank to Rs 24,313. As a result its paid up equity would rise by around twenty percent depending upon the share of the bank.

K V Kamath, managing director and CEO, ICICU Bank stated:

We have to look at India in the context of the existing investment pipeline of $500 million over the next three years. We would see doubling of the infrastructure and manufacturing capacity and we have to prepare ourselves for the future.

The money collected would be used for supporting credit growth for the next three years and this is for the third time that bank will be raising money. Lat time it was in October 2005 when the bank had raised 8,000 crores through a combination of domestic and ADR issues.

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Via: business standard

Things couldn’t have gotten better for Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A) class of 2008. Way ahead of the end of the term, over 79 job offers have poured into the campus already.

The young aspiring management graduates still about five months of coursework to complete before they can apply for a job, on the campus placement day. But companies are not willing to wait, they want to sign on bright young men and women at the earliest. The class of 2008 has received over 79 job offers including nine students who were given associate offers.

In a bid to extend the benefits of placement, the IIM-A board has decided to make the offers open to international students who are here on various exchange programmes.

Companies which have given pre-placement offers include McKinsey and Co, Bain and Co, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank among others.

International students are obviously happy with the decision. ‘Of course I intend to sit for placement at IIM-A because it offers great professional opportunities worldwide. The companies that come to the campus are among the world’s best and the roles that they offer are as diverse and challenging as they come,’ says Diane Gabriel, an exchange student from France.

But there are others who would rather be employers than employees. According to
Kunal Upadhyay, head, Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM-A the trend among students is to incubate their own entrepreneurial ventures. ‘In recent years, the focus of students has risen above PPOs, job offers etc to start their own ventures,’ says Upadhyay.

To encourage entreprise among students, IIM-A is offering them the choice of taking up a job within two years of passing out.