Life Insurance Book Review

How much fun would it be to go see Dog the Bounty Hunter?

Actually, I’ve got no interest in meeting him.  But it would be great to have a hawaiian vacation.  Apparently the weather is pretty much stable there year around at about 72 degrees (21 celsius or so).  So no matter when you go you know it’s not going to be too hot or too cold.  Not like up here in Canada .

‘Course if I’m staying in Hawaii it’d be nice to be staying at a Maui beachfront vacation home. Nice, stay right on the beach under the palm trees.    Play in the sand, enjoy the sun.  That’d be a fabulous vacation.

If you’ve read this far you know I’ve been looking at a site on Hawaiian beach rentals.  This is as neat a spot as the french property site I looked at a while ago.  Lots of little villas and cottages to rent right on the beach.

Aaaaaaahhhhhh, something to think about as I return to my insurance websites….:).

YALIQW.  Yet another life insurance quoting website.

Seems like even the insurance companies are now getting into the game of running online life insurance quotes.  www.americadirect is a site run by Fidelity Life, an american insurance company that is well known in the term life insurance for aggressive pricing (that’s good for consumers).

Unfortunately, it looks like their website has been set up by their actuarial department.  They’ve got all sorts of issues.  First, the lady on the front page is pointing at something - but all it is is more text.  An image like that should be used for a purpose, and if she’s pointing, it should be pointing at something.  As it is, it’s just a random picture that is more than taking up space - it’s distracting the visitor from the entire purpose of the site - term life insurance quotes.

Secondly, they’ve got two insurance quoting buttons - and they both look different.  No idea why that is.  Plus, they’ve got about 5 or 6 images/buttons on the page designed to draw the eye.  That’s fine, except they’ve got too many which makes it distracting. And the important ones (the life insurance quoting buttons) aren’t the most prominent ones.  It’s actually been designed to draw the eye away from where they want it.

When you actually try and run a quote though is when it starts getting cute.  If you just click on the submit button you get a message that says ‘We’re sorry, something went wrong.  We’ve been notified of the problem’.  I think what they mean to say is that I didn’t enter in a name and phone number and to return me to the quoting page.  Did nobody test this stuff?

But here’s the crowning touch.  With a name like AmericaDirect I’m inclined to suspect this is an American site, no?  Then why on the term insurance quoting page is it asking for a postal code? A Postal Code?  How Canadian .  Either somebody used offshore developers, of they’re hiring Canadians to do their work.  Whatever happened, they need to do some buttkicking over the testing of this.

Sorry, this site is not only not ready for prime time, it shouldn’t even be live on the internet yet.  The fact that it’s put out by a player in the term life insurance market makes the foul up even more odd.

At some point in our lives we’re all going to need to deal with loans.  Whether it be homeowner loans, business loans, or car loans, they’re something that we all make use of to enhance our lifestyle without large outlays of capital.

For my money, car loans are a neccessary evil early in life.  Most  20 year olds simply can’t afford the many thousands needed to buy their first automobile.  A car loan makes that a possibility instead of being out of reach.  That also explains why car leasing is such a hot commodity these days.  In years past, I’ve done both and much prefer the loan.  At the end of your series of payments you own the car, and to me that’s worth something.  Of course, as we get older and start to become a bit more financially stable, car’s can be bought outright - absolutely the way to go if you can manage it.

Secured loans or home owner loans are a great way to increase the value of your house through renovations.  Not only do you increase the future value and saleability of your home, but you get to enjoy the enhancements immediately. It’s hard to go wrong sinking money into your own residence.

And while I’m no fan generally of being in debt, business loans make sense for a lot of companies, particularly for those starting out.  In my first business I used this technique to secure a large range of inventory.  That inventory allowed me to fill customer’s orders faster than my competition and gave me the edge I needed to grow a strong business.  Paying a bit of interest on stock you’re turning over rapidly can be a great thing.  For example, say you take out a loan to buy $1000 of inventory, with the intention of paying back that loan at 5% at the end of the year.  Very simply, lets say that costs you $50 to do that.  Now, if you sell the product at a 10% markup, and can turn over your inventory 10 times in that year (buy $1000 of inventory, sell it, use it to buy more inventory) you’ve made the full $1000 back to repay the loan, plus pay the $50 interest, plus you’ve got $950 left over.  And that’s ignoring compounding completely.  In short, business loans can be a good thing.  Conversely, when you run a business like I do, having absolutely no business debt is a great feeling as well. But if running a startup that takes some initial capital, I wouldn’t hesitate to look into business loans.

Exchange traded funds are a burgeoning investment vehicle.  Wikipedia indicates that the number of these funds has blossomed from less than 100 to over 400 in 2006 - a sure sign that these are something to be watched.

Basically exchange traded funds are investment vehicles where the return is linked to some sort of index.   So unlike a traditional individual stock where your investment ebbs and wanes with the specific company, with these your returns are linked to the underlying index.  For example you might invest in a fund that tracks with the Nasdaq.  Your returns on that fund would then be correllated to the performance of the Nasdaq.

There are at least two distinctive advantages of these types of investments over traditional mutual funds investments.  First, these funds can enjoy more favorable tax treatment (depending on your jurisdiction).  Secondly, ETF’s generally have a lower expense ratio. Over time these lower expenses can compound significantly, resulting in a higher return.  That spells more money for the investor.

The website www.etfguide.com also has more details on ETF versus mutual funds.

Another website from down under, Start Finance.

Start Finance is a home financing company, providing loans for Australians looking for a home mortage.  In North American terms they’re a mortgage broker.  They deal with multiple vendors to shop you out the least expensive rate.  And that’s a smart move.  I personally use a mortgage broker every time I finance and it gets me as good or better rates than I can get directly, without the hassle of negotiating.

Their site also has some handy tools such as a table to tell you how much you can afford to borrow, a detailed list of things you need to get your mortgage financing, as well as the ability to apply for your Australian mortgage online.

If you’re hesitant to apply online, you can also apply by phone.  They show a list of a dozen large name lenders on their website as well, most of them household names.

Just after Christmas, here’s a timely site: Balance transfer credit cards. Here’s the dealio; rather than paying the exorbitant interest rates on your regular credit card, you sign up for a credit card with a low or 0% APR rate for a limited time. Then quite simply, you transfer your existing credit card balance to the new card that charges substantially less interest. Voila - you’re saving a ton of money on interest.  And for those that carry a balance on their credit cards you’ll know that that’s a substantial savings.

The site www.creditcardassist.com has a variety of credit card offers and offers reviews (I would assume those reviews are biased, but hopefully they’re informative). They’re showing offers from such companies as Chase, Visa, HSBC, MasterCard, Amex, and so on.  They’ve also broken their products down to show such things as how low the initial APR rate is, how long it’s offered for, annual fees on the card if any, the regular APR, and here’s a neat one - how good your credit rating has to be to get that card.

Here’s a very cool site I came across: Properties for sale in france.  Check it out if for no other reason than to see what’s for sale over there.

I had a browse through and one thing is very striking.  Properties overseas have one distinctive difference than most north american properties - you can get OLD houses.  Not a couple of years old, not a century home, but something that’s hundreds of years old. In fact you actually buy ruins in the countryside. Here’s the description of another one: “Situated in a small hamlet 5 minutes from Bédarieux (all amenities) a large winemakers stone barn to renovate into a house.”  Again, how cool is that?

I don’t know if they have a system similiar to the MLS here in north america, but this site is chock full of very interesting houses in france that are for sale.  Worth a browse just to see the neat houses that are available.

In the past I’ve used promotional marketing products to promote my various websites. I’ve always used a local firm - but I’ve come across an online site that offers similiar products but allows you to shop online.

I’ve ordered such items as t-shirts, pens, etch-a-sketches, golf shirts, coffee mugs and baseball hats with my company’s logo to promote my sites. I typically provide these products as giveaways to my prospects or business clients. Out of all of them, the metal coffee mugs and the etch-a-sketches were definitely the biggest hits. The most success I’ve had with these business promotional products was as free contest giveaways on some of my professional forums.

What I’m trying to do with these items is promote my services and get forum viewers to participate. In order to do that I’ve set up easy to enter contests where simply posting or participating qualified the visitor for entry into the contest. For example, on the etch-a-sketches engraved with my logo, the entry might consists of a simple post by the visitor suggesting various uses for the etch-a-sketch. That makes it very easy for people to enter, and some of the posts are bound to be a hilarious read for other visitors. It also encourages people to register at the site and post - which can then lead to further postings by them….and then increasing the size and posts of the community. All in all a very inexpensive and fun marketing tool.

Other times I’ve used these products as corporate gifts where I’ve provided t-shirts and mugs as thanks for client’s business.

When I’m promotional products like this I’m looking for a few things. I’m always concerned about pricing - when ordering in high volume I’m generally looking for something in the few dollar range rather than $20-$50 or higher. I also want items that are going to get used or stick around for a while so that the client sees my logo on an ongoing basis or remembers the product fondly. As a result, while I’ve purchased pens as giveaways, I’ve always purchased high quality pens rather than the dirt cheap ten-cent items. That way the client gets a nice pen that they’ll actually use. The etch-a-sketches were also a big hit for no other reason that EVERYONE loves them. While some folks claimed they were for their kids, I’m not so sure that was always the case. That being said, some of these folks did give them to their children - and again there’s some real value there. Hard to beat when your clients come home from the office with a real cool toy for their children, engraved with your logo - makes them look like heroes. I know my kids loved these items.

High end metal drink mugs have also been a big hit in the past for me. I received numerous feedback posts about visitors who love their new mug and use it everyday on the train or commute into work - even years later. Again, it’s hard to beat marketing like that, and for a few dollars, you sure can’t beat the cost.

All of these items - and in fact 700.000 more - are available online at a company called MBH promotional products. Check them out if your interested in easy online ordering of corporate gifts, promotional items, and other business promotional tools.

I’d previously written about a site that deals with increasing your credit score by somehow tagging onto someone else’s credit score (this is for Americans). Well, if folks are going to increase their credit score by hanging on the tailcoats of someone else, there’s got to be a site looking for the other half of the equation - for folks with a good credit score.
And sure enough, there is. You can see a bit more information on how this works at TradeLineBroker.com. They’re actively seeking people with good credit rating. Apparently it works something like this - you get a credit card where somehow folks with poorer credit rating are attached. Buy something with the card, pay it off. I guess that’s how the credit rating gets transferred. And of course, you get paid for doing this. How much? It’s not clear from their site what the pay rate is.
Looks like a tough call. Is there any danger to this for folks with good credit ratings? I don’t see how, but I don’t honestly understand why this whole scheme works either. Either way, if you’ve got good credit ratings and want to maybe earn some cash, check out the folks at www.tradelinebroker.com and see what they’re offering.

The folks over at all-about-excellent-retirement have a new twist on an old subject; driving affiliate sales through retirement - but targetting old folks. Sorry, I meant ‘retirees’ .

The site basically discusses how to get into affiliate sales (primarily ebooks) using websites. The owner discusses such things as leveraging your knowledge to create ebooks on whatever topic you’re familiar with and then selling that; he also discusses briefly how affiliate marketing works, though admittedly without calling it that specifically or going into too much detail.
He’s got a good point though - targetting retirees and those looking to help fund their retirement is an excellent niche market. A computer and an internet connection is something just about anyone can have, and retirees looking to fund their retirement plans have two things of use in that market - time on their hands to sink into learning this type of marketing, and likely some specialized expertise or knowledge in whatever markets they’ve worked in that they can leverage in this market.
In the midst of all that, the site owner is also doing some affiliate marketing aimed at retirees . Green tea anyone? .

Here’s one from down under - www.moneybuddy.com.au. It’s a newish website dedicated to home loans, car loans and credit cards in Australia.

They’ve got a very nice looking site that’s a dream to navigate around. I played around a little bit and was quite impressed that they’ve actually got an online shopping service for Australian credit cards. You can select a few parameters and it instantly kicks out a detailed list of providers and their rates. How cool is that?

They’ve got sections on home loans, credit cards, and car loans. They also have an a variety of informative articles on budgeting for your car, reserve bank interest rates (that must be an Aussie term?) as well as an extensive financial services directory for Australians that includes insurance, car loans, home loans, credit cards, and personal financial services. All in all, a very well rounded financial hub website for Australians.

Here’s a bit of an odd idea - buying gold bullion online. The folks at Bullion Vault apparently let you purchase your own gold and they store it in the center of your choice (London, New York, etc).

On the negative side, I expect you really don’t have access to the actual gold - is there any way to tell for sure that the gold is actually there? Probably not. It seems well suited for people somehow looking to get rich quick, or for the tinfoil hatters amongst us who believe that you’ve got to physically own the gold (though you’re still dealing through an intermediary here).

On the plus side, gold has been a solid investment for as long as I can remember. In fact, I can remember in the 70’s when gold started out at around $35CDN an ounce. Along came the Iranian diplomatic standoff, and gold soared to over $1000CDN an ounce. People were pulling their gold caps out of their teeth to cash them them, it was that crazy. Lots of people made an awful pile of money over that. And back in the ’70’s, a $1000 was REALLY a $1000.

If you’re like me and manage a small business selling a product or a service, you’ve probably struggled with credit card processing systems. I recently was pointed to yet another company offering these services; they’re website is located at http://www.advantageprocessors.com.

Seems like these folks do both high risk and low risk transactions for companies - however the credit card companies define ‘high risk’. Typically that’s for companies looking for MOTO credit card processing (MOTO stands for Mail order and Telephone Order). Having previously run a MOTO business myself dating back to the mid to late 1990’s, I’ve gone through these hoops a number of times. The fact is, the actual credit card companies don’t have a clue about risk and don’t evaluate individually at all.

I was one of the first 1000 companies to do online credit processing with Visa in Canada. Back in the day, companies like Advantage processors weren’t around and the credit card companies would put you through hoops. I used to have to fill out 25 page forms (seriously!) that included everything from my computer password protection, to how my ISP performed backups. Aaaah, those were the days. Nowadays I sign up with one company who handles all of my online and offline processing in one spot, for all my credit card companies. Companies like this proved a much needed interface between credit card companies and small businesses. The number of these types of companies helps keep this type of service competitive. Things have progressed a lot in the last 10 years in this area, it’s definitely been a boon to my business.

What a wonderful book. It tells the story of our current understanding of risk and probability - as a story! A pleasure to read, it does not get bogged down in mathematical equations yet still easily manages to show how this field is used and applied throughout the ages.

The book covers math from ancient history as well as the real roots of risk starting just a few hundred years ago. If names like Bernoulli, De Moivre, Pascal, Fermat and Bayes are familiar, you’ll enjoy this book. The book discusses these people, their theories and work as well as much of the society and circumstances that drove their understanding of the field.

The author is clearly an expert in the field. He shows his rare skill in being able to condense complex mathematical theories and equations into a few sentences, easily understood as ‘this is what all those forumulae *really* mean’.

From its roots centuries ago, the book travels right up through modern portfolio and work and research that is still being done today. The author is able to make a few points that many should find startling, such as:

• The field of risk is a very new field. Only a few hundred years old really.
• Work is still ongoing. Unlike Euclidean geometry, areas that are now being taught in class are from researchers and field blazers who are still active and living today. This is not a dead math by any stretch of the imagination.
• It’s also clearly an area that is still imprecise, and depends to a large extent on human interaction and reaction. Numerous idiosyncracies from the population are shown (asking the same question in two different fashions will net you two different answers).

All in all, a delight to read. While the book is entirely non-fiction this is book to read for the pure pleasure rather than as work. If you’re at all interested in risk, portfolio management, insurance, or the mathematics behind it, this is a great book to pick up for the weekend.
Title: Against the Gods, The Remarkable Story of Risk, by Peter L. Bernstein, ISBN 0471295639
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5. A pleasant and stimulating read.
Who should buy this book: Life insurance agents, actuaries, anyone mathematically inclined.

Use the above link to buy this book in the U.S. or
click here to buy it in Canada.

What can I say about this book that hasn’t already been said? This is the best written and most widely read financial planning book of all time. It’s also turned into a tv program, it was that successful. Well, I suppose I could brag that I’ve met the author a number of times (he lives locally) or that I own my autographed copy that Mr. Chilton gave me.

Anyway - I read this book cover to cover when it was first released well over a decade ago. The book is still a vital read today for anyone - investors, actuaries, consumers, even insurance agents and financial planners. The reason it’s such a great book is that it’s chock full of fabulous and grounded advice for everyone. The reason it’s been so wildly successful is because it’s actually delightfully readable. It’s an easier read than a pocket novel. I can personally guarantee you’ll enjoy this book no matter what your background - and you can read it knowing that the author David Chilton is really as nice and down to earth as the characters in his book.

The Wealthy Barber is the story of a common sense barber who’s spent his time learning about financial planning. In the book he relays this information on to a number of customers who come in once a month for a haircut. Each haircut is a different lesson, one on mutual funds, one on life insurance, and so on. The story is told in the first person, by one of the guys who’s in getting his haircut (his successful sister is also along for the lessons, so there’s no ‘guy’s barber shop’ atmosphere to the book).

Title: The Wealthy Barber, by David Chilton, CFP. ISBN 0761513116
Rating: 6 Stars out of 5.
Who should buy this book? Absolutely everyone. If you’re a consumer, there’s a wealth of knowledge you’ll be able to ingest without dozing. For financial planners or industry experts, it’s a good dose of back to basics.

Use the above button to buy this book in the U.S. or
buy it in Canada

Welcome to my first blog post - ever. Quite the non-event. I was surprised how smoothly the blog software installation went. I had originally tried Moveable Type software - it seemed a bit more robust. However the templates weren’t installing smoothly. And since this is basically a hobby site I didn’t feel inclined to spend much time figuring out how to make the templates work. Wordpress OTOH went in and ran first time. So by default - Wordpress it is .

By way of introduction, I’m Glenn. I’ve been in the insurance and software field for about 20 years now and currently own and manage a life insurance hosting company. Recently I’ve been dragged into search engine marketing for many of my clients as well - most life insurance agents want to develop leads and sales from their websites and this neccesitates our driving traffic to their site.

I also run www.actuarialoutpost.com, a site for actuaries. Actuaries are the folks who price insurance, kind of a boring statistician. I handle the advertising and tech issues for the site in my spare time, leaving the moderation to my friend Traci (who is also active in the actuarial community).

But this is starting to sound like I’m looking for a date or something (I’m not) so enough about me. I set the site up because I am a voracious reader and figured I’d try my hand at blogging. As I’ve been kicking around the insurance field for so long, some of it’s rubbed off on me, so I figured reviewing insurance and related books would be right up my alley. So here we go .