FEED Validator

for Atom and RSS and KML

Congratulations!

This is a valid RSS feed.

Recommendations

This feed is valid, but interoperability with the widest range of feed readers could be improved by implementing the following recommendations.

line 13, column 90: Self reference doesn't match document location [help]

... rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
                                             ^

Source: https://fuel-brand.eu.org/feed/

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
>
<channel>
<title>fuel-brand.eu.org</title>
<atom:link href="http://fuel-brand.eu.org/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org</link>
<description></description>
<lastBuildDate>Sat, 01 Apr 2023 20:33:43 +0000</lastBuildDate>
<language>en</language>
<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3</generator>
<item>
<title>How Some Life Insurance Policies Fail and Leave Grieving Families to Struggle Financially</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/how-some-life-insurance-policies-fail-and-leave-grieving-families-to-struggle-financially/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/how-some-life-insurance-policies-fail-and-leave-grieving-families-to-struggle-financially/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 01 Apr 2023 20:33:43 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=37</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Many people own life insurance, but let’s face it. It’s probably not a purchase that most people brag about to their friends like they might if they had just purchased a new Corvette, but they made the purchase anyway because … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/how-some-life-insurance-policies-fail-and-leave-grieving-families-to-struggle-financially/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Many people own life insurance, but let’s face it. It’s probably not a purchase that most people brag about to their friends like they might if they had just purchased a new Corvette, but they made the purchase anyway because they love their families and want their family to carry on living their current lifestyle in the event of the primary breadwinner’s untimely death. While this article doesn’t apply to people who own term insurance, those who bought permanent life insurance, which is life insurance with an additional savings component, will find this information very important.
To understand the problem, I will first give you a brief primer on life insurance, and then explain how something that seems like a sure bet can go so wrong. Life insurance can be separated in to two basic types, term and permanent life insurance. With term insurance a person pays a certain amount of money, called a premium, for a period of time, from one year up to 30 years. During the specified period of time, as long as the insured person is paying the premium, the insurance company is obligated to pay a certain amount of money, called a death benefit, to the insured person’s beneficiary in the event the insured person dies during that time period. If the person does not die in that time period the insurance company keeps the money as well as the earnings on that money. While there are different types of term insurance nowadays, including “return of premium” term which returns the insureds premium dollars at the end of the term(but not the earnings on the money), the general jist of term insurance is that a person is covered during a certain period of time. If they want coverage beyond that time period they have to buy another policy. Term insurance is really not the focus of this article so if that’s what you have you can stop reading now if you wish, and rest assured that as long as you pay the premium, and the insurance company remains financially solvent, your family will be paid in the event of your untimely death.
The other type insurance is called permanent insurance. Permanent insurance is insurance that has a death benefit to it, similar to term, but also contains a savings “sidecar”, this gives the policy a value called cash value. The premiums are paid on the policy, a portion is pulled to pay for the insurance and the remainder goes into the savings sidecar. There are three primary types of permanent insurance that vary depending on what is done with the savings component. The first type of permanent insurance is Whole Life Insurance. The savings component of Whole Life Insurance is invested in the general fund of the insurance company where it earns interest. The amount of interest apportioned to a particular individual is depended on how much of the money in the general fund belongs to that individual. Some policies if they are are “participating” policies also earn dividends. Generally speaking whole life policies are not a lapse danger as the amounts that it earns are guaranteed by the insurance company. As long as the insurance company remains solvent it will pay out a death benefit. The only problems a person who owns a Whole Life policy typically runs into is overpaying for insurance, and the death benefit not keeping pace with inflation.
The second type of permanent insurance is called Universal Life Insurance. With Universal Life Insurance the savings sidecar is a separate account, as opposed to Whole Life where the savings sidecar is invested into the general fund of the insurance company. Universal Life Insurance’s main advantage is it’s flexibility. For example, if you are a landscaper in the northeastern part of the country and basically have your winter months off, you could buy a Universal Life policy, fund it heavily during the spring, summer, and fall when you’re raking in the big bucks, and then not pay anything during the winter months. As long as there is a certain amount of money in the savings sidecar (based on insurance company formulas), nothing needs to be done. Also, if you need additional insurance because you just had a child, you don’t need to buy another policy. As long as you are insurable you can increase the death benefit on your current Universal Life Insurance policy and pay the extra premium. The money in the savings sidecar of a Universal Life Insurance policy is typically invested in ten year bonds. The Universal Life policy has a guaranteed interest rate to it, as well as a current rate. The money in the sidecar typically earns the slightly higher current rate, but the policy owner is only guranateed the guaranteed amount. Keep this last thought in your mind because after I describe Variable Insurance in the next paragraph, I’m going to tie these two together in the following paragraph and that final concept is the thing that’s going wrong
The final type of permanent life insurance is Variable Life Insurance. It can be either straight Variable Life Insurance, or Variable Universal Life Insurance, which combines the versatility of Universal with Variable Life Insurance. Variable Insurance came about due to the awesome bull market in stocks that ran basically uninterrupted from 1982 through 2000. People wanted to invest as much as possible in the stock market and the thought of investing money in an insurance policy that invested in lower yielding bonds was quite distasteful to many. So the Variable Insurance Policy was built. With Variable Life the savings sidecar can be invested in insurance “sub-accounts” which are basically mutual funds within a Variable Life, or Variable Annuity. In fact, many sub-accounts exactly mirror a particular mutual fund, some mutual fund managers manage both their respective fund as well as its sub-account “sister.” So with the Variable Life policy buying insurance no longer meant leaving the high flying stock market, you could have the best of both worlds by protecting your family AND investing in the stock market. As long as the savings in the sidecar was at an adequate level things were fine. Again, remember this last line because I’m about to show you how the whole thing goes to pot.
In the heyday of Universal Life Insurance and Variable Life Insurance interest rates were high and so was the stock market, and the insurance industry had two products that were custom designed to take advantage of the times. The problem came about when the agents designing these policies for the public assumed that the high interest rates and high flying stock market would never end. You see, whenever these products are sold, several assumptions have to be made outside of the guaranteed aspect of the policies which is typically about 3-5%, depending on the insurance company. The current values are paid out based on the prevailing rates or returns of the time, and that’s exactly how the policies were designed. I can still remember when I began in the insurance industry back in 1994, when the experienced agents in my office were were writing Universal Life with a hypothetical 10-15% interest rate. Variable Universal would be written anywhere between 10-20%. Happy days were here to stay. Or were they? Unfortunately, those interest rates started heading south about the mid-1990s, and as we all know, except for a couple of years, the stock market didn’t do so swell after the 2000 tech bubble, maybe two or three “up” years out of eight and possibly nine. This is a real problem because many families’ futures were riding on the assumptions that were made in these policies. Many policyowners were told to pay during their working years and then to quit when they retired and the policy would be fine, the returns earned on the savings sidecar would keep the policy in force. There are countless Universal and Variable Life policies in bank and corporate trust accounts, as well as in dresser drawers and fire proof safes that were bought and assumed that as long as the premiums were paid, things were good to go. Many of these policies are sick or dying as we speak. Some people, or trustees will get a notice letting them know that they need to add more money or the policy will lapse, of course by this time “red line” has already been reached. The people who get this notice may even ignore it because hey, the agent said that all would be well, “pay for 20 years and the family will be taken care of when I meet my maker.” So the policy will lapse and nobody will know it till it comes time for the family to collect their money, only to find out that they will meet the same fate as Old Mother Hubbard’s Dog. If anybody reading this can picture the litigation attorneys licking their chops, waiting to let insurance agents and trustees have it with both barrels for negligence, don’t worry that onslaught has already begun. But if you have one of these policies, don’t count on the 50/50 prospect of winning a court case, do something about it!
One of the first things I do when I get a new client that has an existing permanent life insurance policy is do an “audit” of that policy. Just like the IRS does an audit to find out where the money went, I do an audit to find out where the premiums went. The way this is done is by ordering what is called an “In Force Ledger” on the policy from the insurance company. The In Force Ledger will show the status of the policy now under current conditions, as well as several other scenarios paying more or less money. It will also show if the policy is lapsed or will lapse in the future. By doing this audit the policyholder may get something that they didn’t have before, OPTIONS!
For example, take a 50 year old policyowner, who is also the insured on the policy, and the In Force Ledger showed that the policy, under current condtions is going to lapse when the policyowner is 63 assuming premium payments were going to be kept the same, and stock market conditions were going to stay the same (this was in early 2007 and this policy was a Variable Universal Life, it probably would not have lasted till 63, given what has happened in the stock market.) Since the policyowner is the family breadwinner, they have a 16 year old daughter, and their savings could not sustain the wife and daughter in the event of an early death of the breadwinner, whether or not to keep the life insurance is not even a question, life insurance is absolutely needed in this case. Now the next question is, does he keep on paying on a policy that is going to lapse or write a new one? For that I go to some business associates at an insurance brokerage I work with, and find out how we can get a new policy without a huge increase in premium, in some cases the it is possible to get an increase in death benefit and a decrease in premium. How can this be done since the policyholder is older than when the policy is written? Easy. With the advances in medicine between 1980 and 2000 (the years the mortality tables used were written), people are living longer, conditions that used to cause death such as cancer, people are surviving and even live normal lives after the cancer is eliminated. It used to be you either smoked or you didn’t. Now allowances are made for heavy smokers, social smokers, snuff users, cigar smokers etc. One company will even allow mild cannabis use. So in some cases your policy may not be lapsing, but a person may be overpaying even though they are older. Maybe they smoked socially then, but quit 5 years ago, but their policy still has them listed as a smoker paying the same premium as someone that smoked like a chimney. What happens if the solution that makes the most sense is a new policy? We do what is called a 1035 Exchange into a new policy, that allows the cash value of the current policy to be transferred to the new one without being taxed. What if the insured doesn’t want another life insurance policy but wants to get out of the one they are currently in and not pay taxes? Then we do a 1035 Exchange to an annuity, either variable or fixed. I’m currently using a no-load annuity that works great and the expenses are low. Is a 1035 Exchange right in every situation? Absolutely NOT! Many things must be explored before making the exchange, especially on a policy written before 1988 when the tax law on insurance policies changed for the worse, in the above example it proved to be the correct move, but in the end it’s up to the policyowner and family as to what direction to go.
In conclusion, if you have a permanent life insurance policy that is 5 years old or older, make sure you have it audited. The cost (nothing), versus the benefit (a family that doesn’t have financial worries in their time of grief) makes this decision a no-brainer.
<div class="mads-block"></div>]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/how-some-life-insurance-policies-fail-and-leave-grieving-families-to-struggle-financially/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>The Basics – What Insurance Is, Why Do You Need Insurance?</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/the-basics-what-insurance-is-why-do-you-need-insurance/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/the-basics-what-insurance-is-why-do-you-need-insurance/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 01 Apr 2023 20:31:37 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=35</guid>
<description><![CDATA[According to Wikipedia, insurance is: “Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/the-basics-what-insurance-is-why-do-you-need-insurance/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[According to Wikipedia, insurance is:
“Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed small loss to prevent a large, possibly devastating loss”
Insurance can be Personal or Business one, but the main goal of insurance is to insure you or your business against a possible loss. Term insurance can be described as:
- A small loss that prevents a large, possibly devastating loss.
Insurance protects you against financial loss in a future if you have an accident. Insurance is a contract between you – a policyholder (person or entity buying the insurance), and the insurance company. Policyholder’s payments are called premium.
At Free Insurance Quotes Site we have some great offers that you don’t want to miss! Feel free to fill out the form and do the insurance quote. Most important – it’s free of charge and you can save up to $550 for year or more!
There are a lot of types of insurance, but let’s stick with the main ones:
Auto Insurance
Auto insurance also known as
- vehicle insurance
- car insurance
- motor insurance
It is purchased for cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles. The primary use of auto insurance is to provide protection against losses incurred as a result traffic accidents.
There were more than 180 million automobiles in USA in 2006. About 175 million were covered by auto insurance companies. It’s the largest auto insurance market in the world. There are more than 35 million automobiles in Russia. About 34 million are insured as well. China – 10 million insured automobiles.
Auto insurance provides:
a) Property coverage – it pays for thief or damage of your car
b) Medical coverage – it pays for your responsibility to others for bodily injury or property damage
c) Liability coverage – it pays for the cost of treating injuries, lost wages or even funeral costs.
Insurance premium varies for males and females, teenagers and adults. According to the statistics males drive more miles than females and consequently have a proportionally higher accident involvement at all ages. Teenagers who have no driving record will have higher car insurance premiums as well.
Owners of sport cars, motorcycles would have higher insurance premiums as opposed to compact cars, midsized cars and electric cars.
Your auto insurance policy is a contract, most polices are issued from six months to one year period. In USA, Russia, Brazil, Japan auto insurance company should notify you by mail, phone or any other method to renew your policy.
Home Insurance
As auto insurance, home insurance provides compensation or insure you against damage of a home from disasters. Sometimes it’s called hazard insurance or homeowners insurance as well. In the real estate industry it is abbreviated as HOI.
This is the type of insurance that covers private homes. It can include:
- losses occurring to one’s home 
- loss of home use 
- home contents 
- loss of other personal possessions of the homeowner
In some geographical areas, it is necessary to buy additional insurance plan for certain types of disasters, for example:
- flood insurance 
- earthquakes 
- war
They excluded from original policy plan and require additional coverage. Home insurance policy is a lengthy contract. It names what will and what will not be paid in the case of various events. It can be seasonal or long term.
Home insurance company should notify you by mail, phone or any other method to renew your policy.
Health Insurance
Health insurance is the type of insurance that pays for medical expenses. It also known as:
health coverage 
health care coverage 
health benefits 
Policy can be purchased by individual or company on group basis to cover its employees. Health insurance policy is a lengthy contract. Policyholders should pay premiums to help protect themselves from unexpected healthcare expenses. Insurance contract can be renewable annually or monthly.
In 2008 approximately 84% of USA citizens have health insurance:
About 9% purchase health insurance directly 
About 60% obtain it through an employer 
About 20% of Americans obtain health insurance from various government agencies. 
In 2006, there were 16% of Americans (47 million people) who were without health insurance. Average spending is higher in the individual market. Many medical expense plans include coverage for dental expenses. Stand-alone dental insurance is also available.
Health care system is mainly in private hands in USA. Hospitals and doctors generally funded by payments from patients and insurance.
Hospitals provide some outpatient care in their emergency rooms and specialty clinics, but primarily exist to provide inpatient care.
In 2008 a report by the Commonwealth Fund ranked the USA last in the quality of health care among the 19 compared countries. According to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the United States is the “only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage”.
Life Insurance
Life insurance is also known as life assurance. Insurer (or Life Insurance Company) agrees to pay sum of money upon the occurrence of the policyholder’s death, illness, critical illness, terminal illness or other event. Policyholder pays a fee at regular intervals or in lump sums. This fee is called a premium.
Life insurance can be:
Temporary. 
It’s life insurance coverage for a specified term of time for a specified fee (premium). Usually premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else.
Permanent 
Type of insurance that remains in force until the policy matures (in other words pays out), unless the policyholder fails to pay the specified fee when due.
As with most insurance policies, life insurance is a contract between the insurer and the policyholder whereby a benefit is paid to the designated beneficiaries if an insured event occurs which is covered by the policy. 
Insured events that may be covered include:
Protection policies 
Investment policies 
Illness 
Each contract may include limitations of the insured events. Usually they a written to limit the liability of the policyholder: for example claims relating to war, suicide or fraud. Any misrepresentations by the insured on the application will cause the nullification of the contract.
Upon the insured’s death or illness the insurance company requires acceptable proof before it pays the claim. For example list of necessary documents that required upon the policyholder’s death:
Death certificate 
Completed, signed and notarized claim form 
If insured’s death looks suspicious, it can be investigated by insurance company before deciding whether it has an obligation to pay the claim. Proceeds from the policy may be paid as a lump sum or as an annuity.
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/the-basics-what-insurance-is-why-do-you-need-insurance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Everything About Life Insurance!</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/everything-about-life-insurance/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/everything-about-life-insurance/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 01 Apr 2023 20:30:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=33</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I want to start off this 2010 with an article regarding Life Insurance. Many people find this topic morbid but believe me when I say this contract is as important as a Will and should be taken just as seriously … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/everything-about-life-insurance/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[I want to start off this 2010 with an article regarding Life Insurance. Many people find this topic morbid but believe me when I say this contract is as important as a Will and should be taken just as seriously as health insurance. Due to the length in details of this article I have provided chapters for easy reading. I hope this will educate you on Life Insurance and the importance of its necessity. (Note: For better understanding “You” is the policy owner and the insured)
Chapters:
1= Introduction
2=When/If you have Life Insurance already
3= Difference between a Insurance Agent and Broker
4= Types of Policies
5= What are Riders and popular types of Riders
6= The medical exam
1) About general Life Insurance: 
This is a contract between you and an insurance company to pay a certain amount (the premium) to a company in exchange for a benefit (called the Death Benefit, face amount, or policy amount) to the beneficiary (the person you want to get paid in the time of your death). This can range based on the type of policy (which will be discussed momentarily), your health, your hobbies, the Insurance company, how much you can afford in premiums, AND the amount of the benefit. It sounds overwhelming but it is not if you have the right agent or broker.
Now many people can say that Life Insurance is like gambling. You are betting that you will die in a specific time and the insurance company bets you won’t. If the insurer wins, they keep the premiums, if you win…well you die and the death benefit goes to the beneficiary. This is a very morbid way of looking at it and if that is the case you can say the same for health insurance, auto insurance, and rental insurance. The truth is, you need life insurance in order to ease the burden of your death. Example 1: A married couple, both professionals that earn very well for a living have a child and like any other family has monthly expenses and 1 of the couple has a death. The odds of the spouse going back to work the next day is very slim. Odds are in fact that your ability to function in your career will lower which RISK the cause of not being able to pay expenses or having to use one’s savings or investments in order to pay for these expenses NOT INCLUDING the death tax and funeral expenses. This can be financially devastating. Example 2: lower middle income family, a death occurs to 1 of the income earners. How will the family be capable of maintaining their current financial lifestyle?
Life insurance is about the ability of lowering the risk of financial burden. This can be in the form of simple cash or taxes via estate planning.
KEY Definitions:
The Insured: The person that is covered by the insurance company (He/She does NOT have to the policy owner)
The (policy) Owner: The one that pays the premium, controls the beneficiary, and basically owns the contract (Does NOT have to the insured…hope you understand it can be either/or).
Face Amount: Also known as the death benefit. The amount to be paid to the beneficiary.
The Beneficiary: Is the person/persons/organization who will receive the face amount (death benefit)
2) When/If you have Life Insurance: 
First, you should review your beneficiaries once a year and your policy approximately once every 2-3 years. This is free! You need to make sure the beneficiaries are the people/person you want to get paid! Divorce, death, a disagreement, or anything of the sort can make you change your mind about a particular person to receive the benefit so make sure you have the right people, estate/trust, AND/OR organization (non-profit preferably) to receive the benefit. Furthermore, you need to review every 2-3 years because many companies can offer a lower premium OR raise the benefit if you renew your policy or if you find a competitor that sees you have been paying the premiums may compete for your business. Either way, this is something you should consider to either save money or raise the policy amount! This is a win-win for you so there should be no reason not to do this.
3) Life Insurance Agent or Broker, what is the difference?: 
The major difference is an Agent is usually an independent sales man that usually works with different insurance companies in order to give the client the best possible policy while the Broker works for a particular company. My personal advice: always choose an Agent. Not because I am one myself BUT because an agent can look out for your benefit by providing different quotes, types, riders that are available (explained later), AND pros/cons regarding each insurance company. If you don’t like a particular insurance company, tell the agent and he should move on to the next carrier (if he persist for some odd reason, fire him). Buyers BEWARE: The Agent should get paid by the carrier that is chosen, not by you specifically. If an Agent asks for money upfront for anything, RUN! There are also Insurance consultants that you pay but to keep things simple, see an Agent. Consultants and Agents are also great in reviewing current policies in order to lower premiums or increase benefits.
4) Types of Policies: 
There are 2 main categories: Term and Permanent Insurance. Within each of the 2 categories have sub-categories. I will explain them at a glance in order for you to make the best possible choice for you and your loved ones. Remember, you can have estate/trust or a organization as the beneficiary. (Note: There are even more sub-sub-categories within these sub-categories but the difference are so small and self explanatory that I have not included it in this article. Once you speak to an agent you will have enough knowledge by this article that you will know what questions to ask and know if you agent is right for you).
Term Insurance: A temporary policy in which the beneficiary is paid only upon death of the insured (you) within a specific time period (hence the word “Term”). Term Insurance is usually less expensive with a smaller death benefit. Some do not require medical exams BUT expect to pay a higher premium since the risk of the insurance company is unknown. Also, term insurance normally does not accumulate cash value (explained in permanent insurance) but can be purchased on top of your permanent policy (for those that may have coverage already):
Convertible Term: Ability to convert policy to permanent. There are some REALLY GOOD policies that require no medical exam, driver history, or hazardous avocations at a certain point in order to convert to permanent coverage guaranteed with all the benefits that permanent insurance policies has to offer.
Renewable Term: Able to renew a term policy without evidence of insurability.
Level Term: Fixed premiums over a certain time period than increases (great for those that are young adults and expect within 10 years to have a increase in pay).
Increasing/Decreasing Term: Coverage increases or decreases throughout the term while the premium remains the same.
Group Term: Usually used for employers or associations. This covers several people in order to reduce premiums. (Great for small business owners)
Permanent Insurance: Just as the name states, this provides coverage throughout the lifetime of the insured. This also builds cash value which is fantastic for tax purposes because if you loan out money to yourself using this cash value there are no tax implications. Few policies may have in general withdrawal tax-free. However in most cases, If you withdraw the cash value you pay the only the taxes on the premiums (the amount that grew) which is fantastic. Just make sure your agent knows not to have the cash value grow larger than the death benefit otherwise it is subject to 10% taxes! Surrender charges may also apply when you withdrawal so PLEASE consult with an agent who can assist you with these details. You should consider Permanent Insurance if you have a family and don’t mind an increase in premiums (amount you pay) by a few dollars compared to term.
Traditional Whole Life: Pay a fixed amount of premium in order to be covered for the insured’s entire life which includes accumulating cash value.
Single-Premium Whole Life Insurance: Whole life insurance for 1 lump sum premium (usually that 1 lump sum is very large in order to get a great death benefit).
Participating Whole Life Insurance: Just like Traditional Whole life except it pays you dividends which can be used as cash OR pay your dividends for you! There is no guarantee that you will be paid the dividends, this is based on performance within the insurance company.
Limited Payment Whole Life Insurance: Limited payments for whole life but requires a higher premium since you are in fact paying for a shorter amount of time. This can be based on payment amounts (10, 20, 30, etc payments) or a particular age (whole life is paid up at age 65, 75, 85, etc).
Universal Life Insurance: Flexible premiums with flexible face amounts (the death benefit) with a unbundled pricing factors. Ex: If you pay X amount, you are covered for X amount.
Indexed Universal Life: Flexible premium/benefit with the cash value is tied to the performance of a particular financial index. Most insurance companies crediting rate (% of growth) will not go below zero.
Variable Life Insurance: Death Benefit and cash value fluctuates according to the investment performance from a separate account of investment options. Usually insurance policies guarantee the benefit will not fall below a specified minimum.
Variable Universal Life Insurance (also called Flexible Premium Variable Life Insurance & Universal Life II/2): A combination of Variable and Universal which has premium/death benefit flexibility as well as investment flexibility.
Last Survivor Universal Life Insurance (also called Survivorship or “Second to die” Insurance): Covers 2 people and the death benefit is only paid when both insurers have died. This is FANTASTIC and somewhat a necessity for families that pay estate taxes (usually High-Net-worth individuals).
5) Life Insurance Riders, what is it and why is it very important: 
Rider is the name of a benefit that is added to your policy. This provides special additions to the policy which can be blended and put together. There are SO MANY types of riders that I would have to write a different article regarding Riders (and insurance companies add new types of riders often) but I want to at least name the most popular (and in my opinion, the most important) that you should highly consider when choosing a policy. Riders add to the cost of the premium but don’t take riders lightly; it can be a life saver!
Accidental Death Benefit Rider (AD&D): Additional death benefit will be paid to the beneficiary if you die from a result of an accident (ie: Car accidents, a fall down the stairs). This is especially important if the insurer travels often, relatively young, and has a family. Please note: You can buy AD&D Insurance separately.
Accidental Death & Dismemberment Rider: Same as above BUT if you lose 2 limbs or sight will pay the death benefit. Some policies may offer smaller amounts if losing 1 eye or 1 limb. This is great for those that work with their hands.
Disability Income Rider: You will receive a monthly income if you are totally and permanently disabled. You are guaranteed a specific level of income. Pay attention to this detail, depending on the policy it will either pay you depending on how long the disability lasts OR time frame of the rider.
Guaranteed Insurability Rider: Ability to purchase additional coverage in intervals based on age or policy years without having to check insurance eligibility.
Level Term Rider: Gives you a fixed amount of term insurance added to your permanent policy. This rider can add 3-5 times the death benefit or your policy. Not a bad deal!
Waiver of Premium Rider: If you become disabled which results to the inability to work/earn income, the waiver will exempt you from paying the premiums while your policy is still in force! There is a huge gap between policies and insurance companies so the devils in the details with this rider.
Family Income Benefit Rider: In case of death of the insurer, this rider will provide income for a specific time period for your family.
Accelerated Death Benefit Rider: An insurer that is diagnosed with a terminal illness will receive 25-40% of the death benefit of the base policy (The decision is made between the insurer and the insurance company). This will lower the death benefit however depending on your finances or living lifestyle, this rider should not be taken lightly and should seriously be considered.
Long-Term Care Rider: If the insurer’s health compels to stay in a nursing home or receive care at home, this rider will provide monthly payments. Please Note: Long Term Care insurance can be bought separately for more benefit.
6) The Medical Exam: 
This section is not to scary you away but to mentally (and possibly physically) prepare you for the medical exam so this way you know what to expect and can get the lowest possible premiums while receiving the highest possible death benefit. This really shouldn’t be a concern if you work out regularly and maintain a healthy eating habit (notice I said habit and not diet. Diets don’t work for long term).
The exam is mandatory for most insurance policies. Many term insurance do not require one but expect a low death benefit and/or higher premium. The idea of the exam is not just to see if you’re insurable but to also see how much they will charge the insurer/policy owner. The exam is done by a “paramedical” professional that are independent contractors hired by the insurance company who either come to your home or has an office where you/the insurer visit. They are licensed health professionals so they know what to look for! In very few cases the insurance company may ask for an “Attending Physician Statement (APS)” from your doctor. This must be provided by your doctor and NOT copies by you. TIP: The “paramedical” job is to give the insurance company a reason to increase your premiums so don’t give any details that are not asked.
First part (either called Part 1 or Part A) is complete by the Agent or by you. Part 2/B is the paramedical or physician portion. The best bet is to have your agent contact a paramedical that specializes in mobile exams for an easier exam for you. Paramedical will contact you to schedule an appointment. The exam is not optional so it’s not a matter of yes or no but when and where. This entire exam will cost you nothing except time so make the time, life insurance is important!
The paramedical/physician will take your medical history (questions), physical measurements of height and weight, blood pressure, pulse, blood, and urine. Additional tests will vary based on age and policy amount (yes, the higher the death benefit = the more tests that must be provided). Now if the policy is substantial, the insurance company may not send a paramedical but require an actual Medical Doctor to exam you. Of course, this is chosen by the insurance company so remember my tip earlier! This exam may even include a treadmill test and additional crazy exams in order to see if you qualify for that substantial amount and low premium. On the flip side, if you choose a low insurance policy, you will just have a paramedical doing simple tests that mentioned earlier with no additional exams.
What they are looking for: Paramedical/Physicians are looking for health conditions that may shorten your life. Remember, insurance companies are here to make a business and if you’re a liability then it might be a risk they do not want to take or raise the premium to make the risk tolerable. Blood and urine is taken to see the following:
- your antibodies or antigens to HIV
- Cholesterol and related lipids
- Antibodies to hepatitis
- Liver/kidney disorders
- Diabetes
- Immunity disorders
- Prostate specific antigen (PSA)
- Drug tests such as cocaine
The Results: They are sent directly to the insurance company’s home office underwriters for review. Many times you can request (must be written request) to receive a copy of the results however many insurance companies will automatically do this. Many times they will find abnormalities but it’s usually not a concern and just speak to your medical professional for a follow up (remember: the insurance company will look at these exams with a “fine tooth cone” in order to see what the risk are). The underwriters will look at the exam results and the application (remember part 1/a? well, now they want to see if your also lying) and determine the premium amount. Smokers pay more; any nicotine in your system will consider you a smoker, even if it is just socially.
The premium is determined by a category that you fit in. This really depends on the insurance company on how they factor but the general rule is if you are a higher risk, you pay higher premium. If you are standard risk, you will pay a standard premium, and if you are a preferred risk, you will pay a low premium.
You can decline the policy after you receive the final quote after the exam but do remember this: All results will become part of the MIB group’s database (Medical information Bureau). This is a clearinghouse of medical information that insurance companies use to store information after you apply for Life/Health/Disability Income/Long Term care/Critical Illness insurance. So for seven years it will be on database. You can receive a free report annually (like a credit check) at their website which I included at the bottom of this article.
Now that you know practically everything there is to know about life insurance. I hope you realize how important it is. It may seem like a lot but the hardest part is simply choosing what type of policy is right for you. This can be done with the help of your Agent. In the end, everyone is different and everyone should analyze their own situation and need for the beneficiaries. If you have even the slightest concern for a loved one regarding what will happen if you was no longer with us then you should consider life insurance. There truly is a feeling a relief once you know you and your loved ones are covered regardless of how much you or that person makes. For many that feel that their loved ones don’t need the death benefit due to whatever the case may be (“they earn enough money to survive” is the biggest reason I hear against life insurance), this can be a simple last gesture of “I love you” or appreciation for them being part of your life.
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/everything-about-life-insurance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Japan’s Insurance Industry</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/japans-insurance-industry/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/japans-insurance-industry/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 01 Apr 2023 20:28:36 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=28</guid>
<description><![CDATA[During the heydays of the 80′s and the first half of 90′s, like rest of its economy, Japan’s insurance industry was growing as a juggernaut. The sheer volume of premium income and asset formation, sometimes comparable with even the mightiest … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/japans-insurance-industry/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[During the heydays of the 80′s and the first half of 90′s, like rest of its economy, Japan’s insurance industry was growing as a juggernaut. The sheer volume of premium income and asset formation, sometimes comparable with even the mightiest U.S.A. and the limitation of domestic investment opportunity, led Japanese insurance firms to look outwards for investment. The industry’s position as a major international investor beginning in the 1980′s brought it under the scanner of analysts around the world.
The global insurance giants tried to set a foothold in the market, eyeing the gargantuan size of the market. But the restrictive nature of Japanese insurance laws led to intense, sometimes acrimonious, negotiations between Washington and Tokyo in the mid-1990s. The bilateral and multilateral agreements that resulted coincided with Japan’s Big Bang financial reforms and deregulation.
Building on the outcome of the 1994 US-Japan insurance talks, a series of liberalization and deregulation measures has since been implemented. But the deregulation process was very slow, and more often than not, very selective in protecting the domestic companies interest and market share. Although the Japanese economy was comparable with its counterpart in USA in size, the very basis of efficient financial markets – the sound rules and regulations for a competitive economic environment – were conspicuously absent. And its institutional structure was different, too, from the rest of the developed countries.
The kieretsu structure – the corporate group with cross holdings in large number of companies in different industries – was a unique phenomenon in Japan. As a result, the necessary shareholder activism to force the companies to adopt optimal business strategy for the company was absent. Although initially touted as a model one in the days of Japan’s prosperity, the vulnerability of this system became too evident when the bubble of the economic boom went burst in the nineties. Also working against Japan was its inability to keep pace with the software development elsewhere in the world. Software was the engine of growth in the world economy in the last decade, and countries lagging in this field faced the sagging economies of the nineties.
Japan, the world leader in the “brick and mortar” industries, surprisingly lagged far behind in the “New World” economy after the Internet revolution. Now Japan is calling the nineties a “lost decade” for its economy, which lost its sheen following 3 recessions in the last decade. Interest rates nose-dived to historic lows, to thwart the falling economy – in vain. For insurers, whose lifeline is the interest spread in their investment, this wreaked havoc. Quite a few large insurance companies went bankrupt in the face of “negative spread” and rising volume of non-performing assets. While Japanese insurers largely have escaped the scandals afflicting their brethren in the banking and securities industries, they are currently enduring unprecedented financial difficulties, including catastrophic bankruptcies.
Institutional Weaknesses
The Japanese market is a gigantic one, yet it is comprised of only a few companies. Unlike its USA counterpart, in which around two thousand companies are fiercely competing in the life segment, Japan’s market is comprised of only twenty-nine companies classified as domestic and a handful of foreign entities. The same situation prevailed in the non-life sector with twenty-six domestic companies and thirty-one foreign firms offering their products. So, consumers have far fewer choices than their American counterparts in choosing their carrier. There is less variety also on the product side. Both the life and non-life insurers in Japan are characterized by “plain vanilla” offerings. This is more apparent in automobile insurance, where, until recently premiums were not permitted to reflect differential risk, such as, by gender, driving record etc. Drivers were classified in three age groups only for purposes of premium determination, whereas US rates long have reflected all these factors and others as well.
The demand varies for different types of products, too. Japanese insurance products are more savings-oriented. Similarly, although many Japanese life insurance companies offer a few limited kinds of variable life policies (in which benefits reflect the value of the underlying financial assets held by the insurance company, thereby exposing the insured to market risk), there are few takers for such policies. At ¥100=$1.00, Japanese variable life policies in force as of March 31, 1996 had a value of only $7.5 billion, representing a scant 0.08 percent of all life insurance. By contrast, American variable life policies in force as of 1995 were worth $2.7 trillion, roughly 5 percent of the total, with many options, such as variable universal life, available.
Japanese insurance companies in both parts of the industry have competed less than their American counterparts. In an environment where a few firms offer a limited number of products to a market in which new entry is closely regulated, implicit price coordination to restrain competition would be expected. However, factors peculiar to Japan further reduce rivalry.
A lack of both price competition and product differentiation implies that an insurance company can grab a firm’s business and then keep it almost indefinitely. American analysts sometimes have noted that keiretsu (corporate group) ties are just such an excuse. A member of the Mitsubishi Group of companies, for example, ordinarily might shop around for the best deal on the hundreds or thousands of goods and services it buys. But in the case of non-life insurance, such comparative pricing would be futile, since all companies would offer much the same product at the same price. As a result, a Mitsubishi Group company, more often than not, gives business to Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu for decades.
On paper, life insurance premiums have been more flexible. However, the government’s role looms large in this part of the industry as well – and in a way that affects the pricing of insurance products. The nation’s postal system operates, in addition to its enormous savings system, the postal life insurance system popularly known as Kampo. Transactions for Kampo are conducted at the windows of thousands of post offices. As of March 1995, Kampo had 84.1 million policies outstanding, or roughly one per household, and nearly 10 percent of the life insurance market, as measured by policies in force.
Funds invested in Kampo mostly go into a huge fund called the Trust Fund, which, in turn, invests in several government financial institutions as well as numerous semipublic units that engage in a variety of activities associated with government, such as ports and highways. Although the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) has direct responsibility for Kampo, the Ministry of Finance runs the Trust Fund. Hence, theoretically MOF can exert influence over the returns Kampo is able to earn and, by extension, the premiums it is likely to charge.
Kampo has a number of characteristics that influence its interaction with the private sector. As a government-run institution, it inarguably is less efficient, raising its costs, rendering it noncompetitive, and implying a declining market share over time. However, since Kampo cannot fail, it has a high risk-tolerance that ultimately could be borne by taxpayers. This implies an expanding market share to the extent that this postal life insurance system is able to underprice its products. While the growth scenario presumably is what MPT prefers, MOF seemingly is just as interested in protecting the insurance companies under its wing from “excessive” competition.
The net effect of these conflicting incentives is that Kampo appears to restrain the premiums charged by insurers. If their prices go up excessively, then Kampo will capture additional share. In response, insurers may roll back premiums. Conversely, if returns on investments or greater efficiency reduce private-sector premiums relative to the underlying insurance, Kampo will lose market share unless it adjusts.
Japan’s life insurance sector also lags behind its American counterpart in formulating inter-company cooperative approaches against the threats of anti-selection and fraudulent activities by individuals. Although the number of companies is far lower in Japan, distrust and disunity among them resulted in isolated approaches in dealing with these threats. In USA, the existence of sector sponsored entities like Medical Information Bureau (MIB) acts as a first line of defense against frauds and in turn saves the industry around $1 Billion a year in terms protective value and sentinel effect. Off late, major Japanese carriers are initiating approaches similar to formation of common data warehousing and data sharing.
Analysts often complain against insurance companies for their reluctance to adhere to prudent international norms regarding disclosure of their financial data to the investment community and their policyholders. This is particularly true because of the mutual characteristic of the companies as compared with their “public” counterpart in US. For example, Nissan Mutual Life Insurance Co., failed in 1997, generally reported net assets and profits in recent years, even though the company’s president conceded after its failure that the firm had been insolvent for years.
Foreign Participation in Life Insurance
Since February 1973, when the American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) first went to Japan to participate in the market, fifteen foreign life insurance companies (with more than 50% foreign capital) are currently in business. However, companies like American Family Life (AFLAC) were initially permitted to operate only in the third sector, namely the Medical Supplement Area, like critical illness plans and cancer plans, which were not attractive to Japanese insurance companies. The mainstream life insurance business was kept out of reach of foreign carriers. However, the big turmoil in the industry in the late nineties left many of the domestic companies in deep financial trouble. In their scurry for protection, Japan allowed foreign companies to acquire the ailing ones and keep them afloat.
Foreign operators continue to enter the Japanese market. As one of the world’s top two life insurance markets, Japan is considered to be as strategically important as North America and the European Union. Consolidation in the Japanese life market, facilitated by the collapse of domestic insurers and by ongoing deregulation, is providing global insurers with prime opportunities to expand their business in Japan. The total market share of foreign players is gradually increasing, with global insurers accounting for over 5% in terms of premium incomes at the end of fiscal 1999 and over 6% of individual business in force. These figures are roughly two times higher than those five years earlier.
In 2000, the AXA Group strengthened its base of operations in Japan through the acquisition of Nippon Dantai Life Insurance Co. Ltd, a second-tier domestic insurer with a weak financial profile. To this end, AXA formed the first holding company in the Japanese life sector. Aetna Life Insurance Co. followed suit, acquiring Heiwa Life Insurance Co., while Winterthur Group bought Nicos Life Insurance and Prudential UK bought Orico Life Insurance. Also newly active in the Japanese market are Hartford Life Insurance Co., a U.S.-based insurer well known for its variable insurance business, and France’s Cardiff Vie Assurance.
In addition, Manulife Century, subsidiary of Manufacturers Life Insurance Company inherited the operations and assets of Daihyaku Mutual Life Insurance Co., which had failed in May 1999. In April 2001, AIG Life Insurance Co. assumed the operations of Chiyoda Life, and Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. took over Kyoei Life. Both the Japanese companies filed for court protection last October.
The foreign entrants bring with them reputations as part of international insurance groups, supported by favorable global track records and strong financial capacity. They are also free of the negative spreads that have plagued Japanese insurers for a decade. Foreign players are better positioned to optimize business opportunities despite turmoil in the market. Although several large Japanese insurers still dominate the market in terms of share, the dynamics are changing as existing business blocks shift from the domestic insurers, including failed companies, to the newcomers in line with policyholders’ flight to quality. The list of companies, with foreign participation, is the following:
INA Himawari Life 
Prudential Life 
Manulife Century Life
Skandia Life 
GE Edison Life 
Aoba Life
Aetna Heiwa Life 
Nichidan Life 
Zurich Life
ALICO Japan 
American Family Life 
AXA Nichidan Life
Prudential Life 
ING Life 
CARDIFF Assurance Vie
NICOS Life
Foreign insurers are expected to be able to prevail over their domestic rivals to some extent in terms of innovative products and distribution, where they can draw on broader experience in global insurance markets. One immediate challenge for the foreign insurers will be how to establish a large enough franchise in Japan so that they can leverage these competitive advantages.
What ails the life insurance industry?
Apart from its own operational inefficiency, Japan’s life insurance sector is also a victim of government policies intended in part to rescue banks from financial distress. By keeping short-term interest rates low, the Bank of Japan encouraged in the mid-1990s a relatively wide spread between short-term rates and long-term rates. That benefited banks, which tend to pay short-term rates on their deposits and charge long-term rates on their loans.
The same policy, however, was detrimental to life insurance companies. Their customers had locked in relatively high rates on typically long-term investment-type insurance policies. The drop in interest rates generally meant that returns on insurers’ assets fell. By late 1997 insurance company officials were reporting that guaranteed rates of return averaged 4 percent, while returns on a favored asset, long-term Japanese government bonds, hovered below 2 percent.
Insurance companies cannot make up for a negative spread even with increased volume. In FY 1996 they tried to get out of their dilemma by cutting yields on pension-type investments, only to witness a massive outflow of money under their management to competitors.
To add insult to injury, life insurance companies are shouldering part of the cost of cleaning up banks’ non-performing asset mess. Beginning in 1990, the Finance Ministry permitted the issuance of subordinated debt made to order for banks. They can count any funds raised through such instruments as part of their capital, thereby making it easier than otherwise to meet capital/asset ratio requirements in place. This treatment arguably makes sense, inasmuch as holders of such debt, like equity holders, stand almost last in line in the event of bankruptcy.
Subordinated debt carries high rates of interest precisely because the risk of default is higher. In the early 1990s insurers, figuring bank defaults were next to impossible and tempted by the high returns available, lent large amounts to banks and other financial institutions on a subordinated basis. Smaller companies, perhaps out of eagerness to catch up with their larger counterparts, were especially big participants. Tokyo Mutual Life Insurance Co., which ranks 16th in Japan’s life insurance industry on the basis of assets, had roughly 8 percent of its assets as subordinated debt as of March 31, 1997, while industry leader Nippon Life had only 3 percent.
The rest, of course, is history. Banks and securities companies, to which insurers also had lent, began to fail in the mid-1990s. The collapse of Sanyo Securities Co., Ltd. last fall was precipitated in part by the refusal of life insurance companies to roll over the brokerage firm’s subordinated loans. Life insurers complained that they sometimes were not paid off even when the conditions of a bank failure implied that they should have been. For example, Meiji Life Insurance Co. reportedly had ¥35 billion ($291.7 million) outstanding in subordinated debt to Hokkaido Takushoku Bank, Ltd. when the bank collapsed in November. Even though the Hokkaido bank did have some good loans that were transferred to North Pacific Bank, Ltd., Meiji Life was not compensated from these assets. It apparently will have to write off the entire loan balance.
Subordinated debt is only part of the bad-debt story. Insurance companies had a role in nearly every large-scale, half-baked lending scheme that collapsed along with the bubble economy in the early 1990s. For example, they were lenders to jusen (housing finance companies) and had to share in the costly cleanup of that mess. Moreover, like banks, insurers counted on unrealized profits from their equity holdings to bail them out if they got into trouble. Smaller insurers of the bubble period bought such stock at relatively high prices, with the result that, at 1997′s year-end depressed stock prices, all but two middle-tier (size rank 9 to 16) life insurance companies had unrealized net losses.
What Lies Ahead
Analysts have identified the following short-term challenges to the sector:
New market entrants; 
Pressure on earnings; 
Poor asset quality; and, 
Capitalization.
The recent high-profile failures of several life insurance companies have turned up the pressure on life companies to address these challenges urgently and in recognizable ways.
The investment market has been even worse than expected. Interest rates have not risen from historically low levels. The Nikkei index has sagged since January 2001, and plummeted to 9 year low following recent terrorist attack on American soil. Unrealized gains used to provide some cushion for most insurers, but, depending on the insurers’ reliance on unrealized gains, the volatility of retained earnings is now affecting capitalization levels and thus financial flexibility.
Table 1 
Major Risks Facing Japanese Life Insurance Companies
Business risks 
Financial risks
Weak Japanese economy 
Strong earnings pressures
Lack of policyholder confidence, flight to quality 
Low interest rates, exposure to domestic, overseas investment market fluctuations
Deregulation, mounting competition 
Poor asset quality
Inadequate policyholders’ safety net 
Weakened capitalization
Accelerating consolidation within life sector, with other financial sectors 
Limited financial flexibility
Most analysts probably would agree that Japan’s life insurers face problems of both solvency and liquidity. Heavy contractual obligations to policyholders, shrinking returns on assets, and little or no cushion from unrealized gains on stock portfolios combine to make the continued viability of some companies far from certain. Many others, while obviously solvent, face the risk that they will have to pay off uneasy policyholders earlier than they had planned. Either solvency or liquidity concerns raise the question as to how insurers will manage their assets. Another factor that has to be considered is Japan’s aging population. As Mr. Yasuo Satoh, Program Manager of insurance industry, finance sector, IBM Japan, points out, “The industry needs to change the business model. They have to concentrate on life benefits rather than death benefits and they have to emphasize on Medical Supplement and long term care sectors as the overall population is aging.”
Japanese life insurers are actively pursuing greater segmentation, while seeking to establish unique strategies both in traditional life and non-life businesses. In late 2000, the sector witnessed the emergence of several business partnerships and cross-border alliances involving large domestic life insurers. Anticipating increased market consolidation, heated competition, and full liberalization of third-sector businesses, the companies are reviewing their involvement through subsidiaries in the non-life side of the business, which was first allowed in 1996.
Over the long term, Japanese insurers are likely to forge business alliances based on demutualization. Widespread consolidation in Japan’s financial markets over the near term will bring about an overhaul of the life insurance sector as well. Although domestic life insurers announced various business strategies in the latter half of 2000 to respond to this sea change, the actual benefit of various planned alliances for each insurer remains uncertain. Further market consolidation should add value for policyholders, at least, making available a wider range of products and services. To succeed, life insurers will have to be more sensitive to diverse customers needs, while at the same time establishing new business models to secure their earning base. Long term prospects seem to be good considering the high saving rate of Japanese population. But in the short term, Japan is poised to see a few more insurers succumb before the sector tightens its bottom line with sweeping reforms and prudent investment and disclosure norms.
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/japans-insurance-industry/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>What Type Of Life Insurance Is Best?</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/what-type-of-life-insurance-is-best/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/what-type-of-life-insurance-is-best/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 01 Apr 2023 20:28:13 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[business]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[economical]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[money]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=26</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Life Insurance (though it shouldn’t be) is to this day a very controversial issue. There seems to be a lot of different types of life insurance out there, but there are really only two kinds. They are Term Insurance and … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/what-type-of-life-insurance-is-best/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Life Insurance (though it shouldn’t be) is to this day a very controversial issue. There seems to be a lot of different types of life insurance out there, but there are really only two kinds. They are Term Insurance and Whole Life (Cash Value) Insurance. Term Insurance is pure insurance. It protects you over a certain period of time. Whole Life Insurance is insurance plus a side account known as cash value. Generally speaking, consumer reports recommend term insurance as the most economical choice and they have for some time. But still, whole life insurance is the most prevalent in today’s society. Which one should we buy?
Let’s talk about the purpose of life insurance. Once we get the proper purpose of insurance down to a science, then everything else will fall into place. The purpose of life insurance is the same purpose as any other type of insurance. It is to “insure against loss of”. Car insurance is to insure your car or someone else’s car in case of an accident. So in other words, since you probably couldn’t pay for the damage yourself, insurance is in place. Home owners insurance is to insure against loss of your home or items in it. So since you probably couldn’t pay for a new house, you buy an insurance policy to cover it.
Life insurance is the same way. It is to insure against loss of your life. If you had a family, it would be impossible to support them after you died, so you buy life insurance so that if something were to happen to you, your family could replace your income. Life insurance is not to make you or your descendants rich or give them a reason to kill you. Life insurance is not to help you retire (or else it would be called retirement insurance)! Life insurance is to replace your income if you die. But the wicked ones have made us believe otherwise, so that they can overcharge us and sell all kinds of other things to us to get paid.
How Does Life Insurance Work?
Rather than make this complicated, I will give a very simple explanation on how and what goes down in an insurance policy. As a matter of fact, it will be over simplified because we would otherwise be here all day. This is an example. Let’s say that you are 31 years old. A typical term insurance policy for 20 years for $200,000 would be about $20/month. Now… if you wanted to buy a whole life insurance policy for $200,000 you might pay $100/month for it. So instead of charging you $20 (which is the true cost) you will be overcharged by $80, which will then be put into a savings account.
Now, this $80 will continue to accumulate in a separate account for you. Typically speaking, if you want to get some of YOUR money out of the account, you can then BORROW IT from the account and pay it back with interest. Now… let’s say you were to take $80 dollars a month and give it to your bank. If you went to withdraw the money from your bank account and they told you that you had to BORROW your own money from them and pay it back with interest, you would probably go clean upside somebody’s head. But somehow, when it comes to insurance, this is okay
This stems from the fact that most people don’t realize that they are borrowing their own money. The “agent” (of the insurance Matrix) rarely will explain it that way. You see, one of the ways that companies get rich, is by getting people to pay them, and then turn around and borrow their own money back and pay more interest! Home equity loans are another example of this, but that is a whole different sermon.
Deal or No Deal
Let us stick with the previous illustration. Let us say the one thousand 31 year olds ( all in good health) bought the aforementioned term policy (20 years, $200,000 dollars at $20/month). If these people were paying $20/month, that is $240 per year. If you take that and multiply it over the 20 year term then you will have $4800. So each individual will pay $4800 over the life of the term. Since one thousand individuals bought the policy, they will end up paying 4.8 million in premiums to the company. The insurance company has already calculated that around 20 people with good health (between the ages of 31 and 51) will die. So if 20 people pass away, then the company will have to pay out 20 x $200,000 or $4,000,000. So, if the company pays out $4,000,000 and takes in $4,800,000 it will then make a $800,000 profit.
This is of course OVER simplifying because a lot of people will cancel the policy (which will also bring down the number of death claims paid), and some of those premiums can be used to accumulate interest, but you can get a general idea of how things work.
On the other hand, let’s look at whole life insurance. Let us say the one thousand 31 year olds (all in good health) bought the aforementioned whole life policy ($200,000 dollars at $100/month). These people are paying $100/month. That is $1200 per year. If the average person’s lifespan (in good health people) goes to 75, then on average, the people will pay 44 years worth of premiums. If you take that and multiply it by $1200 you will get $52,800. So each individual will pay $52,800 over the life of the policy. Since one thousand individuals bought the policy, they will end up paying 52.8 million in premiums to the company. If you buy a whole life policy, the insurance company has already calculated the probability that you will die. What is that probability? 100%, because it is a whole life (till death do us part) insurance policy! This means that if everyone kept their policies, the insurance company would have to pay out 1000 x $200,000 = $2,000,000,000) That’s right, two billion dollars!
Ladies and gentleman, how can a company afford to pay out two billion dollars knowing that it will only take in 52.8 million? Now just like in the previous example, this is an oversimplification as policies will lapse. As a matter of fact, MOST whole life policies do lapse because people can’t afford them, I hope you see my point. Let’s take the individual. A 31 year old male bought a policy in which he is suppose to pay in $52,800 and get $200,000 back? There no such thing as a free lunch. The company somehow has to weasel $147,200 out of him, JUST TO BREAK EVEN on this policy! Not to mention, pay the agents (who get paid much higher commissions on whole life policies), underwriters, insurance fees, advertising fees, 30 story buildings… etc, etc.
This doesn’t even take into account these variable life and universal life policies that claim to be so good for your retirement. So you are going to pay $52,800 into a policy and this policy will make you rich, AND pay you the $200,000 death benefit, AND pay the agents, staff and fees? This has to be a rip off.
Well, how could they rip you off? Maybe for the first five years of the policy, no cash value will accumulate (you may want to check your policy). Maybe it’s misrepresenting the value of the return (this is easy if the customer is not knowledgeable on exactly how investments work). Also, if you read my article on the Rule of 72 you can clearly see that giving your money to someone else to invest can lose you millions! You see, you may pay in $52,800 but that doesn’t take into account how much money you LOSE by not investing it yourself! This is regardless of how well your agent may tell you the company will invest your money! Plain and simple, they have to get over on you somehow or they would go out of business!
How long do you need life insurance?
Let me explain what is called The Theory of Decreasing Responsibility, and maybe we can answer this question. Let’s say that you and your spouse just got married and have a child. Like most people, when they are young they are also crazy, so they go out and buy a new car and a new house. Now, here you are with a young child and debt up to the neck! In this particular case, if one of you were to pass away, the loss of income would be devastating to the other spouse and the child. This is the case for life insurance. BUT, this is what happens. You and your spouse begin to pay off that debt. Your child gets older and less dependent on you. You start to build up your assets. Keep in mind that I am talking about REAL assets, not fake or phantom assets like equity in a home (which is just a fixed interest rate credit card)
In the end, the situation is like this. The child is out of the house and no longer dependent on you. You don’t have any debt. You have enough money to live off of, and pay for your funeral (which now costs thousands of dollars because the DEATH INDUSTRY has found new ways to make money by having people spend more honor and money on a person after they die then they did while that person was alive). So… at this point, what do you need insurance for? Exactly… absolutely nothing! So why would you buy Whole Life (a.k.a. DEATH) Insurance? The idea of a 179 year old person with grown children who don’t depend on him/her still paying insurance premiums is asinine to say the least.
As a matter of fact, the need for life insurance could be greatly decreased and quickly eliminated, if one would learn not to accumulate liabilities, and quickly accumulate wealth first. But I realize that this is almost impossible for most people in this materialistic, Middle Classed matrixed society. But anyway, let’s take it a step further.
Confused Insurance Policies
This next statement is very obvious, but very profound. Living and dying are exact opposites of each other. Why do I say this? The purpose of investing is to accumulate enough money in case you live to retire. The purpose of buying insurance is to protect your family and loved ones if you die before you can retire. These are two diametrically opposed actions! So, if an “agent” waltzes into your home selling you a whole life insurance policy and telling you that it can insure your life AND it can help you retire, your Red Pill Question should be this:
“If this plan will help me retire securely, why will I always need insurance? And on the other hand, if I will be broke enough later on in life that I will still need insurance, then how is this a good retirement plan?”
Now if you ask an insurance agent those questions, she/he may become confused. This of course comes from selling confused policies that do two opposites at once.
Norman Dacey said it best in the book “What’s Wrong With Your Life Insurance”
“No one could ever quarrel with the idea of providing protection for one’s family while at the same time accumulating a fund for some such purpose as education or retirement. But if you try to do both of these jobs through the medium of one insurance policy, it is inevitable that both jobs will be done badly.”
So you see, even though there are a lot of new variations of whole life, like variable life and universal life, with various bells and whistles (claiming to be better than the original, typical whole life policies), the Red Pill Question must always be asked! If you are going to buy insurance, then buy insurance! If you are going to invest, then invest. It’s that simple. Don’t let an insurance agent trick you into buying a whole life policy based on the assumption that you are too incompetent and undisciplined to invest your own money.
If you are afraid to invest your money because you don’t know how, then educate yourself! It may take some time, but it is better than giving your money to somebody else so they can invest it for you (and get rich with it). How can a company be profitable when it takes the money from it’s customers, invests it, and turns around and gives it’s customers all of the profits?
And don’t fall for the old “What if the term runs out and you can’t get re-insured trick”. Listen, there are a lot of term policies out there that are guaranteed renewable until an old age (75-100). Yes, the price is a lot higher, but you must realize that if you buy a whole life policy, you will have been duped out of even more money by the time you get to that point (if that even happens). This is also yet another reason to be smart with your money. Don’t buy confused policies.
How much should you buy?
I normally recommend 8-10 times your yearly income as a good face amount for your insurance. Why so high? Here is the reason. Let’s say that you make $50,000 per year. If you were to pass away, your family could take $500,000 (10 times $50,000) and put it into a fund that pays 10 percent (which will give them $40,000 per year) and not touch the principle. So what you have done is replaced your income.
This is another reason why Whole Life insurance is bad. It is impossible to afford the amount of insurance you need trying to buy super high priced policies. Term insurance is much cheaper. To add to this, don’t let high face values scare you. If you have a lot of liabilities and you are worried about your family, it is much better to be underinsured than to have no insurance at all. Buy what you can manage. Don’t get sold what you can’t manage.
Looking to invest in an IRA? What is the Best IRA to invest in?
Consider the following information about individual retirement accounts. Learn what the best IRA [http://freeyourmindonline.net/what-is-the-best-ira.html] is for you.
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/what-type-of-life-insurance-is-best/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Insurance For Beginners</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/insurance-for-beginners/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/insurance-for-beginners/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jan 2023 20:28:46 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=31</guid>
<description><![CDATA[INTRODUCTION Welcome to the global business guide. In this context, we will be taking about the insurance industry, the general definition of insurance, adequate and precise explanation of the definition, brief talk about the history, the insurer, the insured, classes … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/insurance-for-beginners/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the global business guide. In this context, we will be taking about the insurance industry, the general definition of insurance, adequate and precise explanation of the definition, brief talk about the history, the insurer, the insured, classes of insurance, the role of the underwriter in the industry and how you as an individual can benefit maximally when you get yourself, your car, your house, even that your business insure. We do hope you will enjoy reading this article and the essence of your quest for the topic above will be met.
Insurance is a financial institution classified as a non bank financial institution. They are important financial inter-mi diaries. It is believed to have originated from the ancient practices of inhabitants of the valleys of rivers Tigris and Euphrates in the present day Iraqi in about 4.000BC. History has it that in 1800BC, the Babylonians code of Hammurabi contained provisions which had elements of insurance in the laws that govern their commerce. But today what we have in the industry, both locally and internationally had moved from just an agreement between two persons into a very big industry across the globe.
Going by definition, we learn that insurance means a situation whereby someone protects his or herself against risk and reduce effects of uncertainties as well as distribute loss. Other explanation to this owe it to the situation whereby a certain amount of money when collected from someone by an insurance company agrees to pay a compensation or render services to that person if and whenever that person suffers the kind of loss specified in the insurance agreement; and from the explanation, this is where an insurance company comes into play since they are the people that will go into agreement with the person taking any insurance policy against any of his belongings. This industry has widely been believed as a means whereby people reduce the risk of unforeseen circumstances. As financial intermediaries, they act as middlemen between the surplus units and deficit units of the economy thereby sustaining the general growth of the economy.
One may ask, how do insurance companies generate the money used in compensating their policy holder when affected by any mishap? The answer to this question, will lead us into talking about the various means via which the insurance companies make their money and how their policy holders are compensated. The truth is that, the money they collect from their policy holder (i.e one that has an agreement with the insurance company) is invested in the form of premiums (an extra sum of money paid in addition to the normal cost of something. by BBC. Eng. dict) and that money is invested in Bonds, in stocks, mortgages (i.e house) and government securities (in our subsequent article, we will explain more of this: Bonds, stocks, mortgages and govt. securities). They generate income for themselves and those who are in their service. They invest their policy holder’s money in better business that has short term maximum returns on investment and from there meet their numerous needs when needed in claims and losses. These funds themselves are invested, that not only do they earn interest to be added to the funds, but they also benefit the government, public authorities, and industries whose securities the investment are spread, because of the investment policy of the insurer (we will explain later), their reserve funds are not left idle butt are used productively.
Another way via which the insurance companies compensate those who are in their service is that the contribution of many is used to compensate the few among them who were affected by the misfortune insured against. So the loss of few people is share by many.
We hope that to this extend, you must have understood the above explanation about insurance company. Now the next thing we will be considering is the functions of the insurance companies.
Amongst other functions, the main function of the insurance company is risk bearing, the financial losses of individuals are judiciously distributed among many people, for example, in the case of fire, the policy holder in fire insurance pays a premium into a common pool, out of which those who suffer loss are compensated.
FUNCTIONS INCLUDE
1. The insurance industry encourages thrift (i.e money conservation) especially via it’s life policies which provide funds for family, welfare and old age provisions. It provides employment opportunity for those that have the interest of working with the industry.
The insurance companies works hand in hand with commerce. It owes it’s existence to commerce (i.e business in general both industrial etc) and commerce in return owes it’s strong stability to insurance, this is because it helped in various ways to enhance the general trend in business.
Before we proceed further to other functions, let’s explain this two terms: the insurer; the insured as it will aid us in our understanding.
The insured: This is the party affecting the insurance in other words, the individual or individuals which is taking the insurance policy. This can be done either directly or indirectly or via an agent or broker.
The insurer: This is the party providing the protection to cover by the policy. The insurer covers every other terms which includes the underwriter who is a senior official of an insurance company whose business lies in undertaking new business for the company.
The insurance company has a contract which promises to pay compensation at a future date for a consideration known as premium (i.e. the money paid by the insured to the insurer for the insurance cover provided in the policy). Like the way we have it in other contracts, i.e having it that contracts is based on the principles of offer and acceptance, consideration and capacity to contract. These contract, especially in insurance involves two parties i.e. the insurer and the insured.
FUNCTIONS 2
Insurer, by reason of their principal function accumulate large funds which they hold as custodians and out of which claims and losses are met. Like in some countries, their insurers operate in many parts of the world and earn vast sums in overseas market in terms of underwriting profit and investment income. This tells us that insurance forms a considerable part of that country’s invisible exports.
As we continue in our functions, let’s see the role of the insured and the insurer.
ROLES OF THE INSURED:
In insurance, when the proposer becomes insured the party effecting an insurance is known as the proposer throughout the negotiations, and until the contract is in full force. The insurer plays a vital role in making this aforementioned contract to come into force, knowing that in insurance contract, just like we said before is base on the principle of offer and acceptance, consideration and capacity to contract, the contracts are always evidenced in writing which is made up of various forms to be filled and signed. If the insured does not accept the insurance offer and giving meticulous consideration to that, there can hardly be capacity to contract i.e the insurance contract can never be. So, from this, we now learn that this two parties (i.e the insurer and the insured) must be involved before an insurance contract can becomes a policy.
ROLES OF THE INSURER
Here we are considering the roles of the insurer as a subsidiary functions of insurance; this is because in general sense (they have a very wide range of function), the insurer is the one providing the necessary insurance services, benefits to the insured, should any mishap, depending on the insurance policy undertaken. The insurer helps also in loss-prevention in the following ways:
We know that the extend to which loss prevention is seen, is mostly on property. An individual or a population can suffer great loss materially, if it were not for the intervention of loss prevention scheme by insurance companies to their policy holders.
The insurer also assists in boasting business venture: Many large -scale enterprise today can make their business in good faith, having transferred all their risk to the insurance company, in other words. The insurance companies help to maintain and to stabilize the atmosphere of the present day large-scale business and organizations.
Many questions had risen by on onlookers, as on how the policy holder can be compesated, should there be any mishap on the policy covered. It is better for us to note that the insurance company, when a loss is incurred to the policy holder can make for his or her loss, but that can only compensate him and make him return to his normal financial position before the occurrence of the incidence and not to profit him from the misfortune. This is generally because, no amount of financial compensation can pay adequately for the life and health of persons, so life and personal accidents are regarded as benefit policies. So let there be no misconception on this fact when mishap occurs, where the public is looking for the victim to be given everything lost, and having a meager compensation given to him or her. So let’s not distrust insurance companies in this area, knowing that it’s only the restoration to the exact position before the loss that is provided.
Now, as we have gone so far in understanding the functions of the insurance companies, the roles of the insured and the insurer, we will be proceeding forward to look at the various ways via which one can benefit from being insured in all spheres of life. For those who against all odds, accept insurance policy adequately, benefits, awaits them in areas like
1. pecuniary insurance
2. personal insurance
3. property insurance
4. liability insurance
We will take our time to give you enough explanation in all the sub-sections of these areas that will be of help to you.
1. PECUNIARY INSURANCE: This has to do with money or relating to something of such nature. This insurance policy benefits mostly company owners, directors, managers e.t.c This insurance policy provides cover to the employer against the loss of money unintentionally, or in a situation where an employee defrauds his or her employer on certain amount of money placed under his or her custody or in things relating to other occurrence/loss. Other policies under pecuniary insurance are; fidelity guarantee (known also as surety ship), legal expenses, credit insurance and business interruption insurance. All of these have their various function which in one way or the other relates to pecuniary. Like earlier stated, pecuniary insurance provides cover for C.E.O., M.D’S etc in case of loss of money either by intent or accident placed under the care of their employee or any officer of higher responsibility. These type of insurance cover, which their employee has will help to compensate them (i.e the employer’s) and also ease the employee the fear and tension which the mishap might generate for him or her. It is therefore advisable you consider this policy very well as an MD, C.E.O. etc, especially with the assistance of your insurance broker so as to adequately know, and be directed properly on how to go about it.
2. PERSONAL INSURANCE
This involves all classes of life assurance and also accident policies. There are other types of person insurance, and the purpose of each is to meet the different need of individuals in their aim to provide for the future either for themselves or for their dependents. Other sub-divisions of personal insurance are:
i. Life assurance
ii. Personal accident and sickness insurance,
iii. Permanent health insurance,
iv. Social security
These sub-divisions has various similarities which come out at the end to meet the same aim, like in life assurance, personal accident and sickness insurance, this policy ensures that the policy holder when befallen by any misfortune, which resulted into permanent disability or death will still be able to fend for his or herself and also for his or her dependants in the case of death.
3. PROPERTY INSURANCE
Property insurance policy involves insurance cover for property should any risk of damage or loss by fire, accident, burglary or other risks that may occur. Under this, there are other sub-divisions which include:
i. Motor Insurance
ii. Marine Insurance
iii. Fire Insurance
iv. Burglary Insurance
v. Special peril Insurance
vi. All risk Insurance
In all these sub-divisions of property insurance, respective insurance cover is given to them all should there be any damage or loss relating to the type of policy the holder has.
4. LIABILITY INSURANCE
This provides cover for the insured against his legal liability to others. This can arise via negligence of the insured in failing to act in a reasonable manner. Such manners like crossing the road without properly looking on both side of the road which might result in accident. This may also arise via the insured’s unlawful disturbance of another person in the enjoyment of his or property (i.e constituting a nuisance to them) or via the insured’s trespass which is an unlawful act committed with force or violent on another person’s property. Liability insurance is also sub-divided into employer’s liability to his employee and public liability by the insured. The two sub-divisions of liability insurance owe their explanation to their respective liabilities, and since liability generally arises from lawsuits, liability policy covers only claims which the insured becomes legally obligated to.
We should also bear in mind that no insurance policy can prevent theft, fire, or other misfortune or the creation of legal liability, but can provide financial assistance in such situations. It does not also protect for example, the material property which is the subject matter of the insurance, but the financial interest of the insurer. This mean that the insurer can only get a financial compensation when any mishap happens to any thing insured against and not having the property restored back in case of fire or collapse (for building).
CONCLUSION
In all, we do hope that all these explanation will give you a better insight towards getting what you want on the good step to take while taking your insurance policy. But, always make sure that you don’t do anything without first of all consulting your insurance broker ( who will take more time to tell you one-on-one the policy that will be suitable for you) before going to any insurance company knowing already that the cost of insurance is less than what would be the cost of insurance because the cost of insurance to industrialist for e.g is passed on to consumers along with other product cost and the consumers benefits from the existence of insurance via reduced prices. So make sure you get insured today. Till I see you again. Thank you.
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/insurance-for-beginners/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>4 Prominent Benefits of Hiring a Tree Removal Service</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/4-prominent-benefits-of-hiring-a-tree-removal-service/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/4-prominent-benefits-of-hiring-a-tree-removal-service/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jan 2021 11:11:49 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=21</guid>
<description><![CDATA[In summer, people get out to enjoy the beautiful warm weather while having a great time at their desired destinations. Some people complete their yardwork projects to turn their dream into reality. For instance, they can remove the dead tress … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/4-prominent-benefits-of-hiring-a-tree-removal-service/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[In summer, people get out to enjoy the beautiful warm weather while having a great time at their desired destinations. Some people complete their yardwork projects to turn their dream into reality. For instance, they can remove the dead tress from their backyard. Although trees look great, many of them can create problems. If you can’t remove a tree yourself, you can hire a professional tree removal service. Given below are some benefits of these services.
1. Saves tons of Time and Money
The biggest benefit of these services is that they can help you save tons of time and money. Although these services are paid, you can still save money as you won’t need to invest in the required tools and equipment. Additionally, if you do the job yourself, you may end up damaging something valuable in your house.
On the other hand, hiring a professional ensures the job is done properly and there are no chances of damage to anything. Plus, you can have the job done in a timely fashion.
2. No Safety Concerns
If you think that the roots of the trees may be damaging the foundations of your house, it’s better that you hire the services of a removal service for a long-term for regular trimming and pruning. This will ensure your property will be protected against possible damage down the road.
On the other hand, if you trim or prune your trees on your own, you may end up injuring yourself or other people around you. The thing is that professionals use the right tools and follow the right steps in order to get rid of unwanted dead trees. Therefore, the surroundings of your house will not be touched. In other words, there will be no safety concerns if you have an expert do the job for you.
3. They have the required equipment
Another prominent advantage of a professional service is that their employees are well equipped, which means they can use the right tools and other equipment for each job. Aside from this, they have years of experience using the equipment in order to perform the job and save you from injury. On the other hand, you may not have the required tools and equipment to carry out this type of dangerous jobs.
4. Neat and Clean Landscape
Although DIY projects are interesting, you may run into problems, especially if you have no idea how to go about bringing a tree down. Besides, even if you can cut a tree down, you may find it a pretty time consuming task to clean all the mess. On the other hand, professional services are ideal if you want to get the project done in a way that it keeps your backyard just like before, neat and clean.
Long story short, if you want to improve your property by getting rid of fallen or dead trees, we suggest that you check out the services of an experienced provider. Doing the job yourself can save you money, but may cost you more down the road or may cost you if the job is not done properly.
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/4-prominent-benefits-of-hiring-a-tree-removal-service/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Relationships: Can Childhood Trauma Cause Someone To Keep People At A Distance?</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/relationships-can-childhood-trauma-cause-someone-to-keep-people-at-a-distance/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/relationships-can-childhood-trauma-cause-someone-to-keep-people-at-a-distance/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jan 2021 11:09:42 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=12</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Although someone may want to form deeper connections with others and to even have an intimate relationship, this might not have been possible. When it comes to the former, they may have only been able to get so close to … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/relationships-can-childhood-trauma-cause-someone-to-keep-people-at-a-distance/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Although someone may want to form deeper connections with others and to even have an intimate relationship, this might not have been possible. When it comes to the former, they may have only been able to get so close to people, and, when it comes to the latter, it might not be any better.
If they were to think about what is going on, they could end up feeling helpless and hopeless. What is taking place can then be seen as something that is totally out of their control, which can mean that they will end up feeling down and even depressed.
The Right Things
This is not to say that, up until this point, they will have simply sat around and hoped that their life would change, though. For a number of years, they may have put in a lot of effort to change this area of their life.
However, while they will have done a lot, they won’t have been able to get very far. In fact, what they may see is that all this effort has just caused them to feel even more frustrated and angry.
Another Scenario
Conversely, one may have found that they have been able to get close to others but, when this happens, they don’t feel comfortable. Instead of feeling happy about being closer to another, they feel the need to back away.
This could be something that baffles them and will have most likely prevented them from being able to move forward in this area of their life. They could believe that there is no reason why they should feel this way around others.
The Same Position
If someone is trying to get close to others and they haven’t had the aforementioned experience, it might only be a matter of time until they do. It could just be that they haven’t got to this point yet.
Before long, then, they could find that they also feel uncomfortable experiencing the very thing that they desire. Therefore, as opposed to saying that these are two experiences, it might be more accurate to say that they are simply two different stages that one will go through.
A Cold Existence
When someone doesn’t feel comfortable getting close to others, they are likely to spend a fair amount of time feeling lonely. This can be a time when they will feel disconnected from everyone and everything.
If they don’t feel this way, it could show that they have simply disconnected from their feelings/body. They can feel numb during this time but, before long, they could consume something, for instance, artificially changing their mood and temporarily bringing themselves to life in the process.
Something Isn’t Right
Now, as they are an interdependent human being and need others, it could be said that it is strange that they have the need to keep people at a distance. What should feel comfortable if being close to the right people – people who they feel safe with, have similar values and value, for example.
As a result of this, one could believe that there must be something inherently wrong with them or they wouldn’t have this problem. What could come to mind at this point is that they have a ‘fear of intimacy’ and even a fear of people
Diving Down
If they do come to this conclusion, their conditioned mind could believe that both of these fears are irrational and that they just need to push themselves. These labels may fit but, at the end of the day, they are simply labels – labels that can be a starting point to looking deeper and gaining more self-knowledge or something that can prevent this from taking place.
What needs to be looked into is why one wouldn’t feel comfortable with being close to others; something that is a vital part of their ability to survive and thrive. There is a strong chance that something happened to them at the beginning of their life and their conscious mind has forgotten all about this.
Way Back
During their formative years, they may have been abused and/or neglected on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Said another way, this would have a period of their life when they were routinely violated.
As they were boundary-less and unable to defend themselves, they wouldn’t have been able to do anything about what was going on. The only thing that they could do was to disconnect from themselves and, thereby, to no longer be aware of what was taking place.
The Foundations Were Laid
In addition to this, their mind would have formed a number of associations to keep them alive. One can be that other people are a threat to their survival and another can be that they need to keep them at a distance to survive.
The years would have passed but their whole being will be loaded up with trauma and it won’t want them to get close to anyone. It won’t matter that this stage of their life is over or that not everyone is the same as a big part of them will be stuck in the past and, consequently, will perceive life in the same way.
Awareness
If one can relate to this, and they are ready to change their life, they may need to reach out for external support. This is something that can be provided by the assistance of a therapist or healer.
Author, transformational writer, teacher and consultant, Oliver JR Cooper, hails from England. His insightful commentary and analysis covers all aspects of human transformation, including love, partnership, self-love, and inner awareness. With over two thousand, six hundred in-depth articles highlighting human psychology and behaviour, Oliver offers hope along with his sound advice.
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/relationships-can-childhood-trauma-cause-someone-to-keep-people-at-a-distance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>Cities Of The Plain by Marcel Proust</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/cities-of-the-plain-by-marcel-proust/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/cities-of-the-plain-by-marcel-proust/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 10 Jan 2021 11:08:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=13</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Times change. Of that there is no doubt. Platitudes, however, remain platitudes whenever they are, like a dose of vaccine, rolled out. Their use, perhaps just once, but certainly on the second occasion, ought to inoculate and protect their user … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/cities-of-the-plain-by-marcel-proust/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Times change. Of that there is no doubt. Platitudes, however, remain platitudes whenever they are, like a dose of vaccine, rolled out. Their use, perhaps just once, but certainly on the second occasion, ought to inoculate and protect their user from ever again suffering their nauseating mundanity. But such immunity is rarely achieved, especially amongst those who find simple instructions, such as “stay at home” or “avoid clichés, at all costs” quite impossible to interpret or indeed remember.
I recall the time, not so long distanced, when even the mention of certain sexual habits might only be referred to in passing, accompanied by the bat of an eye, the nervous clearing of the throat or the deliberate and calculated inclusion of classical allusion, lest the speaker appear himself to be tainted by such professedly immoral practices. The inclusion of gender was important, here, for these unspoken, unnamed behaviours, alluded to habits the remained illegal and indictable amongst men, while the female equivalent bore a different name, lusciously classical, and, whilst not officially tolerated, it generally remained beyond the interest of the law.
But it was not only the classical, but also the biblical world that provided the means of referring to these despicable, but apparently common practices. The Cities of the Plain, Sodom and Gomorrah, suffered divine retribution – at least the experience is recorded as divine – because of the prevalence of these crimes against nature within their walls. In more modern times, we have passed beyond the age when the natural can be criminal, and also beyond the clichés of vilifying and ridiculing via censorious judgment or humour. For all its use of the theme, the filmed series never did include the title Carry on Sodomy, despite the near-repeated scripts’ regular use of both censure and ridicule to raise laughs from audiences who elsewhere might judge and scorn.
And so we arrive at Sodom and Gomorrah, volume four of A La Recherche De Temps Perdu, A Remembrance Of Things Past, or words to that effect. At its time of writing, an observation that significant numbers of French high society might just be able to trace their descent to these cities of the plain would have shocked. Eyebrows would have been raised, throats cleared, and private laughs would have hidden behind social condemnation, as gentlemen conversed on the way to the brothel, where the workers to be encountered did not really count, because it was clearly poverty that required them to behave thus. But times do change. Now it is not this discussion of homosexuality that might shock, but the destination of the conversants.
So now when we read of homosexual men and women, gays and lesbians, queers and dykes, we cannot suffer either the shock or the surprise of exposure to ideas we now ignore politely in public or condemn only in private. Neither can we, almost certainly, associate with the kind of society in which the revelations were being made. The lives, and more exactly the attitudes, of these people are now utterly foreign to our experience, though they may well still exist. The realization reminds us that we regularly admire images in the form of galleried art, which bear as little relation to our own lives as do the characters Marcel Proust creates, but because paintings have nothing audible to say in their own words, we fail to recognize the cultural gulf of our distance from what they depict.
Times may change, but our propensity to apply false logic persists. Marcel Proust’s observation of doctors is almost contemporary. They err habitually on the side of optimism as to treatment, of pessimism as to outcome. “Wine in moderation, it can do no harm, it is always a tonic… Sexual enjoyment? After all it is a natural function. I allow you to use, but not to abuse it, you understand. Excess in anything is wrong.” At once, what a temptation to the patient, to renounce those two life givers, water and chastity. He also recognized that by a certain age, human beings cease to be individuals and become research projects. He had arrived at that stage of exhaustion in which a sick man’s body became a retort in which we study chemical reactions. In our own time, we codify this as aging.
But then we may, like the English public schoolboy, develop personal and internal resistance to propensities that could previously prosecute via physical activity. Various English Prime Ministers have thus profited from the Eton Wall Game in public whilst in private they probably remained on the other side of the wall. “Suppose we took a turn in the garden, Sir,” I said to Swann, while Comte Arnulphe, in a lisping voice which seem to indicate that mentally at least, his development was incomplete, replied to M. de Charlus with an artlessly obliging precision: “I, oh, golf chiefly, tennis, football, running, polo I’m really keen on.” So Minerva, being subdivided, ceased in certain deities to be goddess of wisdom, and incarnated part of herself in a purely sporting, horse loving deity, Athene Hippia. Thus we may find the limitations we impose on ourselves limiting.
At least the Old Etonian Prime Ministers would have coped admirably with the classical allusion, and probably still would. Times may change, but we only understand how they have changed when we trouble ourselves to experience remembrance of times past and engage with its characters, both larger and ultimately smaller than life.
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/cities-of-the-plain-by-marcel-proust/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
<item>
<title>The CLEAR Approach To Selling A House!</title>
<link>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/the-clear-approach-to-selling-a-house/</link>
<comments>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/the-clear-approach-to-selling-a-house/#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jan 2021 11:08:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fuel-brand.eu.org/?p=11</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Since, for most people, the asset value, of their homes, represents, their single – biggest, financial asset, wouldn’t it make sense, to use the best approach, when they, decide, it’s time, to sell their house? Since, there is no such … <a href="https://fuel-brand.eu.org/the-clear-approach-to-selling-a-house/">Continue reading →</a>]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Since, for most people, the asset value, of their homes, represents, their single – biggest, financial asset, wouldn’t it make sense, to use the best approach, when they, decide, it’s time, to sell their house? Since, there is no such thing, as, one – size – fits – all, when it comes to real estate transactions, the smartest approach, usually, is, taking advantage of the combination of time – tested strategies, as well as customizing the specific approach, to the circumstances, and actual, property/ house! With, that, in mind, most would benefit, when/ if, they took advantage of, using a CLEAR approach, strategy, and action plan! Therefore, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, using the mnemonic approach, what this means and represents, and why, it matters.
1. Competition; clarity; create/ creative; condition; communication: The best results occur, when agent, and client, proceed, on the same – page, and, this comes, from enhanced, communication, from the onset! One must know and consider, the competition, so there is clarity, in terms of the reasoning, in terms of creating, the initial, listing price! Objectively, evaluate, and compare, the strengths, and weaknesses, in terms of the house, and property condition!
2. Listing Price; listening; location: It’s important for a homeowner to realize, listing (or, asking) price, and what it sells for, are, often, different. Agent/ client discussions, must center – around, effective listening, and empathy! In real estate, location, and its variables, are significant!
3. Emphasis; empathy; esthetics: Is there anything, about, the esthetics, and appearance, of a property, which might make this one, stronger, or weaker? It’s wise to place the marketing emphasis, about perceived strengths (accentuate the positive), and, always, remaining, empathetic!
4. Approach; area; assets; advantages: Knowing, and appreciating, both, the advantages, and disadvantages, is a great beginning, to the finest, possible, approach! What are the primary, assets, and what aspects, of the specific area, add, or distract, from the perceived value, and attractiveness of this house?
5. Region; reasons; rationale; realistic; rooms: Considerations, such as the particular region, the number, size, and attractiveness of the rooms, are major factors, in marketing a home! Quality real estate agents, articulate, clearly, their reasons, and rationale, to their clients!
When, the CLEAR approach, to selling houses, is understood, and followed, the results usually benefit, and the overall, transaction, is generally, less stressful! Will you follow these basic steps, to get the best results?
]]></content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>https://fuel-brand.eu.org/the-clear-approach-to-selling-a-house/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>

If you would like to create a banner that links to this page (i.e. this validation result), do the following:

Download the "valid RSS" banner.
Upload the image to your own server. (This step is important. Please do not link directly to the image on this server.)
Add this HTML to your page (change the image src attribute if necessary):

<a href="http://www.feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=https%3A//fuel-brand.eu.org/feed/"><img src="valid-rss-rogers.png" alt="[Valid RSS]" title="Validate my RSS feed" /></a>

If you would like to create a text link instead, here is the URL you can use:

http://www.feedvalidator.org/check.cgi?url=https%3A//fuel-brand.eu.org/feed/

Home · About · News · Docs · Terms