LOAN | INSURANCE | MORTGAGE

Yes, you may want to consider a long term care insurance plan if you don''t want to drain your retirement savings and other investments in the future! It is currently estimated that nursing home costs are more than $10,000 per month. Imagine, how much this will cost you on an annual basis if you had to pay this money out of your pocket if you needed care from a nursing home ! This would be financially devastating without long term care insurance.


Did you know that prior to the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, most Americans were able to count on Medicaid to assist them with long term health care. The Deficit Reduction Act changes all of that. This new law places the majority of long term health care costs on you, especially if you have assets. Unfortunately, middle class Americans will be hit the hardest with this new law.

How does the Deficit Reduction Act affect me if I need nursing home care and have assets ? Well, for the most part, you will need to exhaust your assets before you will be eligible for Medicaid. Under this new law, there is a five year look back period from the date that you apply for your Medicaid benefits. This five year look back period, is to ensure that you have not transferred assets to relatives, friends, or other individuals. If you have transferred your assets to someone, Medicaid will count this against you and you will have a period of penalty wherein you will not qualify for benefits. Basically, this means that you could be out of money and Medicaid will not pay for your nursing home care

The other side of this new law is that even if you have not transferred your assets to someone, you cannot have more than $500,00 in home equity. The majority of your assets including trusts and annuities are viewed differently under this new law.

It is important, that you consider long term care insurance as part of your retirement planning. With passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, it is a must! Unless you are independently wealthy and don''t mind coming out of your pocket with more than $10,000 per month for your prospective nursing home care! For the average person, this would be a severe financial hardship.

What age should I consider getting a long term care insurance plan ? You may want to consider in your early to mid fifties. However, it is recommended that you consult your insurance agent or financial advisor about this.

Planning is important, in order to assist you in eliminating a potentially devastating financial disaster. You want to live out the golden years of your retirement as stress free as possible. So make sure you plan for your future long term health care needs !

Have you ever worked out how much you spend on insurance ? Try totting up your premiums – we suspect you'll be surprised! You'll be even more surprised to discover that there's a probability that you've also duplicated some of the cover you're paying for. Cut the duplication out and you're certain to save money.


Lots of people have insurance cover for legal expenses, loss of income, theft, even death, without even realising it. This can arise because many of us don't fully understand what's covered by the policies we have, especially if the policies had been arranged for us by financial advisers and brokers.

It's truly shambolic say many dentists referring to the recent overhaul of the NHS dental service. The situation has become so bad that dentists are leaving the NHS in droves. Seven out of ten dentists have either quit the NHS or have signed their new NHS contract temporarily and "under dispute". This means that come July this year they have the right to refuse NHS patients and switch entirely to private practice.
The hullabaloo is all about the new NHS contract which many dentists allege has been rushed out and forced upon them without proper consultation. A survey in the Daily Mail found that almost one third of dentists were still negotiating deals with their health authorities just three days before the deadline. The final rush has led to resentment, anxiety and confusion amongst dentists over what is in effect a complex packages of changes.

As far as the patient is concerned, the new contract greatly simplifies charges. Instead of some 400 different dental charges, there are now just three standard charges. Patients will be charged £15.50 for each check-up, £42.40 for fillings irrespective of the number of fillings and £189 for more complicated work such as crowns and bridges. Each of these charges pay for a complete course of treatment, irrespective of how long it takes and no matter how many teeth have to be treated.

But dentists believe that these three price bands will persuade many patients to delay treatment leading to an explosion of tooth decay. Says Dr Anthony Halperin from the Patients' Association, "I'm concerned that many patients will wait until they need multiple treatments to try to get value for money. If that does happen, it is likely we will see a significant rise in tooth decay".

This unprecedented exodus of dentists from the NHS means that up to 16 million patients could be left without state dental care. And there's no guarantee that if you do decide to go private, you'll find a dentist who'll treat you. There are reports that dentists are becoming very choosey about who they'll treat. It seems possible that some dentists will only accept patients who are well off or who have dental insurance.

So how do get insured ? Well, without doubt, the Internet is going to be the place to find the best deals. Try searching under "dental insurance" and you'll find lots of options. Of course, many dentists will leave details of one or two insurance schemes in their waiting room but dentists aren't insurance experts and are not in a position to provide expert insurance advice.

Insurance companies are now widely promoting dental insurance but they'll only sell their own products. We believe the best option is to find a specialised dental insurance broker. These brokers will essentially find you the best option from a wide array of dental insurance and dental capitalisation schemes. There is a third option - cash plans – but these tend to include a wide range of medical treatments with dental treatment being one small part of the insurance cover.

Dental Insurance

The problem for the patient is the wide range and complexity of the policies available. Almost every insurance policy is different with its own set of pros and cons. The broker's job is to assess your needs and come up with suitable policies within your budget.

A typical policy helps to set the picture for what's available. A policy with Western Provident pays the first 25% of each dental treatment but you claim up to £250 per year towards routine treatment such as check-ups, fillings and visits to the hygienist. Emergency dental treatment is often very expensive so you're covered up to £1,000 per year with the maximum claim for accidental dental injury set at £250 per treatment. The cost? If you're between18 and 49 the premium is £12.48. For those aged between 50 and 69 it's £15.90 per month.

Capitalisation Schemes

A capitalisation scheme invariably works out the most expensive but it's the option favoured by many dentists. Before you take out a capitalisation policy, your dentist carries out an assessment of your dental health and places you in one of five or so, treatment groups. The group you're in then sets the cost of your scheme. The worse your dental condition, the more you pay.

For example, a capitalisation scheme from Denplan costs between £9 and £30 per month.

Cash Plans

The last alternative is a composite health cash plan. These plans cover you for a wide range of health treatments from dentistry to eye treatment, hospital treatment, physiotherapy, chiropody even allergy testing. Each treatment has a maximum claim value but they tend to be a bit on the mean side. In our view, you're much better off with a dental insurance policy or a capitalisation scheme.

Fortunately, even if you have defaulted on your payments, it does not necessarily mean that your property will be foreclosed. There are various alternatives to a foreclosure that you can take. Some of these are:

Paying the delinquency. Generally, all lending institutions are required to accept all the payments that were delinquent and reinstate the loan. The delinquent payments that you have to pay may also include some legal fees especially if you are already in the foreclosure stage. There are also lending institutions that require certified funds in order to reinstate the loan.

Forbearance and Repayment. One of the most common ways of resolving a delinquent mortgage is to work out a plan with your lending institution where in you get to pay a part of your delinquency every month on top of your regular monthly payments. If you are in a situation where you are not able to meet the monthly mortgage payments, your lender can elect to extend the forbearance by suspending payments for a certain period of time up until you can start a repayment schedule. <

Payment Assistance. Some state and local governments and also private charitable organizations have instituted programs that help people with delinquencies pay all or part of their mortgage obligation for a certain period of time.

Reamortization. In a reamortization, the delinquent mortgage amount is added to the loan balance as a way of bringing the mortgage payments up to date. This move increases not only the total loan amount but also the monthly payments. Of course, the increase in payment will not be as large if the life of the loan is also extended.

Private sale. A private sale of the property affected by the delinquency can also be done as it will allow you to meet your obligations as well as get any equity that may have accumulated. In private sales it is usual that the amount is greater than the stated amount owed on the loan.

Most of these alternatives presume that you will be able to pay your mortgage payments at some point. But there is also a particular foreclosure alternative called a loss mitigation program. The federal government as well as the mortgage industry established this type of program as a way of stopping foreclosures. Under this program you are given options that will not only assist you in keeping your home even if you do not have the financial capability to pay for the mortgage payments. With these types of programs, it becomes so much easier to address the problem of foreclosures.

To deposit the taxes, you forward money per the bank specifications. You will also need to file a Federal Tax Deposit Coupon, Form 8109, with the deposit. The IRS typically sends these forms to you at the beginning of each calendar year. If you don't receive any, you can download the form from the IRS site or ask your tax professional.

When To Deposit

You must deposit employment taxes either once or twice a month. The IRS will send you a schedule at the end of each year for the subsequent year. As a general rule, you want to file within a few days of each pay period.

Failure To Deposit

Collecting employment taxes is a high priority of the IRS. Since the taxes include money deducted from an employee's paycheck, the IRS views an employer's non-payment as a form of theft. If you fail to pay, you can expect the IRS to come down hard on your business and, potentially, shut it down. In short, make absolutely sure you deposit the employment taxes.

In Closing

There is no other way to put it – paying employment taxes is a pain. Just make sure you pay them to avoid the wrath of the IRS.

Various dental insurance plans with numerous variations are available today. You should take proper care and time to consider all options.

Most expensive plans :
Direct reimbursement plans

These plans are the most expensive of the lot. They operate by paying for employee dental coverage from a pool of money set aside by the company for this purpose.

The simplicity of this plan makes it the most effective, the reimbursement is made by a simple formula doing away with the complexity of co-payments, deductibles etc. Even though ADA strongly recommends this plan, this kind of direct dental care may not be affordable by smaller companies.

Least expensive plans :
Managed care plans

Similar to a medical HMO, managed care dental plans need to pay for the treatment through regular co-payments and choose forma pool of dentists to get treated. These plans do various cost-control measures and can more affordable for small businesses.

The co-payment amount varies according to procedure. Preventive procedures are usually performed without co-payment, however advanced procedures will bear higher co-payments.

The choice lies with the company and their financial managers, however great care is recommended in choosing the plan.