Every investor would like to increase their income without compromising their stability. Maybe that’s why Equity Indexed Annuities (EIAs) have become so popular, because of their promise of providing a stable income stream. But there are a number of ways that you can easily outperform what an EIA can deliver. In this article, I’ll show you how to meet your need for stability and income in your portfolio.

One of the main sales-points of EIAs is their promise of a stable income stream. Many nervous investors are comforted by the thought of a guaranteed minimum return on their investment of 3%, especially in today’s low interest rate environment. They’re willing to accept this small return, because they think they are able to participate in the growth of the stock market without all the risk.

But what these investors have done is confuse objectives with risks. Because of their fear of losing money in the stock market, they settle for a paltry return. They’re trying to meet 2 objectives: growth and stability, with the same investment. How much better it would be for them if they used separate investments for their different objectives.

Growth and stability investments each have their own set of risks and rewards. By combining the use of both, the risks balance each other and you get the rewards of both. Unfortunately in an EIA, its growth potential is severely limited by caps and high fees. Next week I’ll discuss how to boost your returns in your growth investments. Right now, let’s take a look at how easy it is for you to outperform the guaranteed rates of EIAs.

There are many better alternatives for the stable portion of your money. These include government guaranteed Certificates of Deposit (CDs), U.S. Treasury Inflation Indexed Securities (TIPS), government and corporate bonds, guaranteed investment contracts (GICs), and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

These alternatives can provide the stability you are looking for without forcing you to commit to them for 10 years. More importantly, if anything happens and you decide you want YOUR money back, you have much greater flexibility in these alternatives than you would in an EIA. On a CD for instance, the penalty for taking your money out early is typically a maximum of 6 months worth of interest. That’s considerably less than the 3+ years worth of interest penalty on some EIAs.

The rates of return on these stable alternatives are also better then the 3% offered by an EIA. Three year CDs are being advertised in my local paper pay just over 3%. TIPs are paying close to that and can increase what they pay as inflation returns. Government and Corporate bonds historically have averaged 5-6%. Even though they pay less than that today, interest rates are expected to rise over the next few years. Why would you want to tie your money up long-term at 3% in an EIA when interest rates are at 40 year lows?

REITs can provide a stable income and are a good alternative. For instance, many of my clients have invested a portion of their money in a REIT that is yielding 8.3% and pays the interest monthly. Another is yielding 7%. There are closed end mutual funds that invest in REITs that regular pay between 5% and 8%.

Guaranteed Investment Contracts are like Certificates of Deposit but are offered by insurance companies. They are not FDIC insured but are backed by the ability of the insurance company to repay the money when due-just like all the money you would invest in an EIA. GICs from well-established insurance companies currently pay 3%.

You aren’t required to only choose one of these stable alternatives, either. Depending on the size of the stable portion of your investment, it could be divided between several of the alternatives to increase your safety and flexibility.

The key to having a stable income stream from your investments is to retain flexibility and control, while also keeping a healthy diversification between categories, maturities and issuers. As you can see, it isn’t that difficult to outperform an Equity Indexed Annuity. And you won’t have to lock up your money in the process.

If you have a specific question or would like more information go to http://www.guardingyourwealth.com. You can also reach me by email at jeff@guardingyourwealth.com. I will be happy to help you in any way I can.

Mr. Voudrie is a Certified Financial Planner and the President of Legacy Planning Group, Inc., a Private Wealth Management firm in Johnson City, TN.

Nationally-syndicated financial columnist and Certified Financial Planner® Jeffrey Voudrie provides personal, in-depth money management services and advice to select private clients throughout the USA. He’ll answer your financial question - FREE at http://www.guardingyourwealth.com

Not sure what’s happening with me on this one, but it seems like the more I listen to it, the better Morning Dance gets. Morning Dance simply put is one of Spyro Gyra’s best CDs to date.

Unfortunately, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with Morning Dance. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

Morning Dance has a pleasantly varied, mix of 9 tracks that are very well put together songs.

The nice thing about a CD like this is with this level of talent even if Smooth Jazz isn’t your favorite style you still can’t help but appreciate the greatness of the artist.

Listen to this CD and I believe you’ll find there’s not much to dis-like about it. The songs are inspired and the production is simply outstanding. If you’re even mildly into Smooth Jazz music you’ll enjoy this CD.

While the entire CD is outstanding some of my favorites are track 1, Morning Dance, track 7, It Doesn’t Matter, and track 9, End Of Romanticism.

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 4, Song For Lorraine. Outstanding!

Morning Dance Release Notes:

Spyro Gyra originally released Morning Dance on Jun 07, 1994 on the Amherst Records label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Morning Dance

2. Jubilee

3. Rasul

4. Song For Lorraine

5. Starburst

6. Heliopolis

7. It Doesn’t Matter

8. Little Linda

9. End Of Romanticism

This is a live recording.

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Learning a language in a class, or with a private tutor can be very rewarding, but it can also prove very costly, especially if you go the route of the private tutor. Such a means of instruction is often out of the reach of most people’s pockets, so in this article I am going to be looking at some of the most effective ways to learn the German language for free.

Is it really possible to learn the German language for free? Well, if we are going to be realistic, everything has a price. If you are on the Internet reading this, then presumably you are looking for ways to learn the German language online. So your ‘costs’ as such, are going to be in time, rather than in actual cash. If you are willing to invest some time and effort, you can certainly go a long way to learning German without spending any extra money on resources. Read on and I’ll show you exactly how to do this.

If you are just starting to learn German, then you are going to need a basic German course with some sort of audio component as a bare minimum. Now you can cobble together a German language course ad hoc, by extensive searches on the Internet, and by bookmarking pages that provide topic based language units, preferably with sound files.

Now I won’t mislead you here, there are two downsides to this approach. First of all, if you are choosing material from a variety of different sites, you are not going to get the continuity you would from a pre-created course, so you are going to have to invest a lot of time in arranging the course, and even then, you’ll be lucky if you can create anything as effective as a commercial self-study course.

What is more, there are far fewer materials available on the Internet for learning German for free, than there are for other language such as Spanish, so what you have to work with will be somewhat limited.

There is a simple solution, however. In the age of the Internet, we tend to focus all our attention on the online world, and hope that it will fulfil all our desires and requirements, but in the process, we might be neglecting some golden opportunities in the offline world, especially in an endeavor such as learning a new language. Many libraries hire out language courses with tapes or CDs so your first port of call should be there. If you can secure yourself a basic German course, such as a Teach Yourself course, you have the basics you need to learn from, and you can supplement your offline course with the materials you find on the Internet, for variety.

Not all your study of the German language needs to be done at home with tapes or your own Internet course, because after all, languages are for communication. You need to find a native German speaker to interact with, and if you want to do it for free, one of the best ways to do this is to find an online language exchange partner. You can find several websites that specialise in bringing language exchange partners together. Just do a search on your favorite search engine for ‘foreign language exchange’ and browse the sites that come up, selecting the one that suits your requirements the best.

Now language exchange means that you will have to provide some form of tuition, which is usually just conversation in English to your partner, who will also provide an equal amount of instruction or conversation in German to you. You don’t ever have to have taught a language before to do this; it is really just conversation. Your only investment will be time, and remember that half of that time will be spent using English, not German. But if you’re happy with that, language exchange can turn out to be a very rewarding experience. Don’t forget to try seeking out a language exchange partner in your own town offline too.

In conclusion, with a little creativity and time, you can learn the German language for free, but it does depend on how much time you are willing to commit to the task, how successful you’ll be.

Make sure you start learning German the right way with my exclusive 7 Step plan for learning German. Click Here to learn the German language for free right now.

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The Brazilian wax is one look that most women are delighted with although before hand many women are a little nervous of having one!

The advantages of a Brazilian wax far out weigh the disadvantages so should you have a Brazilian Wax? Let’s find out.

History

Hair removal is in fashion today, but was popular, thousand so years ago in India, Persia and Greece for example.

Hair removal was seen as clean and hygienic.

Furthermore, both men and women found it more sensuous (just as they do today) and women believed their sexual satisfaction was greater and men found oral sex easier.

What exactly is a Brazilian wax?

The expression Brazilian Wax refers to the total removal of all pubic hair.

If you are not sure of having a Brazilian wax, try a simple bikini wax first.

This takes most the pubic hair away, except for the most private area which the Brazilian wax takes care of!

If the bikini worked for you, and you think you would prefer a completely bare look, then the Brazilian wax is next.

The treatment

It’s not difficult to find a professional today, as most beauty salons are now offering it as one of their treatments and costs are highly affordable.

Try to get some references on the salon in advance you are dealing with and speak to a waxer to put your mind at ease:

For the US, you can expect to pay anything around $50 to $100 for a waxing treatment.

How long they have been in business, ask for testimonials etc

The Brazilian Waxing Technique

It’s a good idea to show up for your appointment showered and cleaned.

You will be shown to a therapy room or private area with partitioned off with a curtain.

There will be a table for you to lie on, and the operator can ask you to lie on your back, and pull you knees up to breasts.

If your pubic hair is long, the operator will trim it down with scissors and you will then be ready for your Brazilian waxing to commence.

The waxer will apply a special wax to you pubic area.

When it cools and dries, a cloth is placed upon the wax.

The waxer will pull the wax off, and the hair will be removed with it.

This will be a bit painful, it will however be tolerable for most people and with future waxings the pain will decline.

An experienced waxer will work quickly and the whole session should be completed in around 15 to 30 minutes.

Then, soothing and healing lotions are applied to the skin to prevent irritation and rashes from causing discomfort or any pubic hair to become ingrown.

Depending on your hair growth pattern, the Brazilian wax should last for around 1 month, then you will need another session.

The more times you have the Brazilian wax, the less hair tends to grow back.

Is it worth it?

In the vast majority of cases the Brazilian wax makes the patient feel, clean, liberated and sexy.
Sure, there is a bit of pain, but this is not normally as bad as, many people think it will be and the advantages for most make the treatment worthwhile.

Not only will you love your new look you will probably find your partner do!

MORE FREE INFO PDF’S AND VIDEOS

On all aspects of beauty and more on beauty visit our website for a huge resource of articles, features and downloads and at http://www.net-planet.org/index.html

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Super talented Smooth Jazz artist Craig Chaquico has released his latest CD on the Higher Octave recording label, entitled Acoustic Planet.

I wish it weren’t the case but, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with Acoustic Planet. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

Acoustic Planet has a pleasantly varied, mix of 9 tracks that are very well written songs by this clearly superb artist.

Craig Chaquico is one of those musicians that has the ability to just bowl you over with his talent. The kind of artist it’s really a treat to be able to listen to.

Listen to Acoustic Planet and I believe you’ll find there’s not much to dis-like about it. The songs are inspired and the production is simply outstanding. If you’re even mildly into Smooth Jazz music you’ll enjoy this CD.

While the entire CD is really very good some of my favorites are track 3, Find Your Way Back and track 7, Just One World.

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 2, Winterflame. Great track!

Acoustic Planet Release Notes:

Craig Chaquico originally released Acoustic Planet on Sep 20, 1994 on the Higher Octave label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Native Tongue (New At Two)

2. Winterflame

3. Find Your Way Back

4. Gathering Of The Tribes

5. The Greywolf Hunts Again

6. Anejo De Cabo

7. Just One World

8. Center Of Courage (E-Lizabeth’s Song)

9. Acoustic Planet

Personnel: Craig Chaquico (guitar, percussion, programming); Ozzie Ahlers (guitar, keyboards, bass, percussion); Jim Reitzel (bass); Wade Olson (drums); Alain Eskinasi (percussion). Recorded at Lunatunes, Mill Valley, California. Includes liner notes by Craig Chaquico. Digitally remastered by William Aura, Craig Chaquico, Ozzie Ahlers (Auravision Studios).

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The medicines that are commonly used in alleviating the pain and other gout symptoms include:

–Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH)

–Allopurinol

–Colchicines

–Corticosteroids

–Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS)

–Probenicid

–Sulfinpyrazone

The first medication that is commonly prescribed in the acute cases of gout is the NSAIDS. The most effective one is Indomethacin. These drugs are initially prescribed in the highest dosage, and as symptoms subside the dosage is gradually reduced. The medicine needs to be continued until the pain and the inflammation vanish and remain so for over 48 hours. NSAIDS may have toxic effects if used for long, but when administered short term, they are well tolerated.

Allopurinol (marketed under the brand name Zyloprim) is a prescription medicine that functions in allaying by preventing the synthesis of uric acid in the body. It is very beneficial for chronic gout or gouty arthritis. The use is more preventive in nature, and it is not administered if the gout attack sets in. side effects include skin eruptions, inflammation of the blood vessel, and liver toxicity. Alterations in the enzyme profile of the liver, as for instance, transient increase in the level of alkaline phospahatase, have been reported. In other patients, incidences of hepatomegaly, necrosis of liver, hepatitis and jaundice have been known to occur.

Colchicine is a prescription medicine used to assuage acute gout attacks and to prevent recurrence of attacks as well. However it does not lower the levels of uric acid in the body. It provides relief by reducing inflammation. Serious side effect have been reported that include various stomach troubles like cramps, nausea, diarrhea, bone marrow problems, muscular inflammations, severe anemia, and serious reduction in the count of WBC, increasing the risk of secondary infections. Excessive high doses can prove to be fatal. Patients with reduced kidney function should avoid colchicines.

Patients who are intolerant to NSAIDS or Colchicine can be treated with ACTH or Corticosteroids. Patients suffering from acute gout take daily doses of Prednisone for 1 t 4 days, and then the dosage is lessened over the period of one or two weeks. ACTH is injected intramuscularly.

Probenicid is sold under the brand names Benemid or Probalan. It is prescribed for chronic gout and to prevent attacks. It is a uricosuric agent that accts on the kidney and aids in the elimination of uric acid from the system.

Sulfinpyrazone, sold under the brand name Anturane is another uricosuric agent that works by reducing the amount of uric acid in the blood, thereby preventing gout attacks.

Want to learn more about Gout Medicines? feel free to visit us at: http://www.about-goat.info

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Perspective is a part of geometry teaching how to render a three-dimensional figure on a two-dimensional surface, so that, looking at the representation, we have the same impression that we have with the real figure. Therefore, it is easy to see that perspective is very important in photography. This is particularly true in landscape photography. A photographer should know how perspective works and how to exploit it to render reality as he or she desires.

Simply stated, perspective relies on two fundamental rules:

1) The nearer the object, the bigger it appears.
2) Parallel lines seem to converge toward a point.

Our brain relies on these two tenets to perceive depth and distance. So, getting down to the nitty-gritty, if a photographer wants to create a conspicuous sense of depth, he should make the above-mentioned rules evident. On the contrary, if his aim is to make a picture look flat, he should minimize these two perspective effects.

Let us assume we want to produce a strong sense of depth. We can achieve our goal by inserting in our picture a few converging lines. The more converging, the more intense the sensation of depth. Alternatively, or together with it, we can put an object in the near foreground and a far background behind. The object in the foreground will appear bigger compared to the background and, again, this will improve our impression of depth. The nearer the object in the foreground, the higher the perception of depth. For instance, when shooting a landscape picture, have some flowers in the foreground and the panorama behind. On the other hand, if a photographer would like to make a picture look flat, he should remove any object in the foreground or step back from it so as to render it less conspicuous.

Be careful when getting closer to an object in the foreground, however, as it may get out of focus. Always keep an eye on the depth of focus of your camera and lens system when taking a picture. Both the foreground and the background should be in focus, unless a blur effect is intentional. So choose the aperture of your camera accordingly.

If you happen often to take landscape pictures and then, when looking at them, realize that they do not convey the same feelings as reality, sometimes it may be because of lack of depth. Try applying the rules in this article to give your two-dimensional images a better illusion of depth.

More articles about photography at ilghila.com.

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Origin/India is part of Origin B.V., a top tier IT consulting and services company with its headquarters in The Netherlands and operations in 31 countries. Origin/India primarily focuses on providing the full range of software engineering and ERP related services to clients in India and across the globe.

This paper describes Origin/India’s organizational evolution and growth; and how the SEI Capability Maturity Model (CMM) was used and leveraged to achieve business goals and scale even greater heights by continually improving on the achievements.

The Quality Journey
From the very beginning, people at Origin/India realized the true value and potential of quality. They knew that the price advantage enjoyed by Indian companies in the global IT arena would be shortlived and eventually it would be the quality that counts. Besides, they had ambitious growth plans, which called for proper planning and control. So with a strong commitment towards quality and process improvement, Origin/India started its quality journey in 1993, soon after its inception.
The first step was to create a documented Quality Management System. A task force was appointed to document the prevalent practices and procedures and streamline them. The Origin/India Quality System formed the basic foundation for their future plans.
Origin/India achieved its first quality milestone, when it received the ISO 9001 certificate in July 1994. While they rejoiced at this achievement, they knew that this was only the beginning and there was still a lot of scope for improvement.

Business Goals and the CMM
Based on Origin/India’s vision and mission, a number of business goals were identified, which formed the basis for a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The Balanced Scorecard concept was used to facilitate in monitoring the business performance and support the decision making process. The Balanced Scorecard ensured that we covered all the four perspectives, viz. Clients, Employees, Processes and Financial Performance.
A number of KPIs were identified for each of the four perspectives and targets were set for each KPI, based on previous performance and the business goals. Figure 1 depicts the Balanced Scorecard with some of the KPIs.

While attempting to achieve the business goals, the need for a strong quantitative foundation for virtually all aspects was realized. Although several basic measurements were in place, a robust metrics program was imperative to enable measurement and control, to facilitate achieving the goals.

After evaluating various quality models, it was decided to adapt the CMM because:

The CMM has a strong focus on software quality and process improvement, which was in line with their organizational commitment
It provides a robust foundation for quantitative management
It is a staged improvement model, which would allow them to progress at their own pace
It has a strong focus on efficiency and organizational effectiveness (the concept of institutionalization)
The CMM’s IDEAL approach tied in well with the Balanced Scorecard approach used

Having decided to adapt the CMM, Origin/India carried out an informal CMM assessment in January 1996 to determine their position and were assessed to be close to Level 3. However, from the business perspective, they were still struggling to achieve the targets set for the various KPIs.

Organizational Change
While traversing the quality journey, Origin/India was also growing very rapidly and undergoing substantial change in terms of the service portfolio and nature of business. The organization was restructured along several Service Practices, each of which focused on a specific business area or ERP package. Several new activities, including implementation and customization of ERP packages and software maintenance activities were added to the service portfolio. Consequently, the Quality System went through several evolutions, until a stage was reached when a complete revamp of the Quality System became necessary.

This meant a major improvement initiative, which would have organization wide ramifications. A number of task forces of seasoned practitioners were deployed to redesign the Quality System and set up an organization wide metrics program. After several months of hard work and concerted effort, they had a new Quality System in place.

The new Quality System was built on an architecture, which focused on business needs, besides fulfilling the requirements for international quality standards. The architecture also provided adequate flexibility to encompass all the diverse activities and technological environments handled by Origin/India.

The new Quality System has a 3-tier architecture as described in Figure 2. The organizational policies form the basic foundation for the Quality System. The next layer consists of common processes, which are applicable to all Service Practices. Thereafter comes the vertical layer, which is comprised of processes, which are specific to each Service Practice and Support Group. And at the very top is the provision for incorporating client specific procedures and standards.

Then came the mammoth task of re-educating the entire organization and getting the people acquainted with the new Quality System. A massive training initiative was launched and the quality message was spread across the organization.

The transition period lasted several months and was very critical, as Origin/India was growing rapidly and yet business had to continue as usual. Here, the combination of strong management commitment and CMM’s organizational focus with the concept of institutionalization ensured that the emphasis on quality and process improvement was not only maintained, but also strengthened during this period of organizational transformation.

Achieving Business Goals
The new processes of the redesigned Quality System increased the efficiency and motivation levels of the staff, enabling them to perform better and more effectively. This resulted in higher quality of deliverables and services to our clients, which had a direct, positive impact on client satisfaction and repeat business. All the above factors together helped improve the bottom line and realize a substantial profit instead of the losses was incurred during the early years.

Over the years, a definite upward trend in all the KPIs was observed and soon Origin/India was achieving the targets set for various KPIs. As the business environment changed, some of the KPIs were removed and new ones added, to reflect the modified business goals.

Scaling Greater Heights with Continuous Process Improvement
While achieving the targets set for various KPIs gave them tremendous satisfaction and increased employee motivation, they wanted to do still better. So higher targets were set for the various KPIs. However, they had to focus their energies for process improvement in the appropriate areas. they needed to identify the critical or key business processes, which had the greatest impact on our KPIs and thence their business goals. Improving those key processes would enable Origin/India to achieve higher targets and scale greater heights.

A correlation matrix was created to map the business processes against the KPIs and business goals. This matrix helped identify the key business processes and pinpoint areas for improvement. A number of Process Action Teams (PATs) were created with seasoned practitioners from various areas, to concentrate on these key process areas and identify improvement opportunities. Additionally, the recommendations from the CMM assessment were also considered.

Using quantitative process management along with the correlation matrix, the PATs were able to identify improvements in various key processes and implement them, making them more efficient. These improvements greatly impacted the quality of product and service delivery, resulting in highly satisfied clients, improved company performance and enhanced employee satisfaction. Figure 3 shows the measurements of various KPIs and how the performance has improved over the years.

The improvement cycle has been institutionalized and continuous improvement has become a way of life in Origin/India. Thus the CMM and continuous process improvement have not only helped in achieving their business goals, but also setting higher targets and scaling greater heights.

I am working as a functional consultant with a Chennai based company called Ramco Systems. I have in depth knowledge on implementing CMM.

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Let’s face it, blogging is “in”! Many teenagers have resorted to blogging as an outlet for their emotions, a little online nook where they can blurt out whatever just bugs them or whatever makes them feel elated and savvy marketers have discovered that blogging is one of the best Internet marketing methods that won’t cost you a cent.

What exactly is blogging? Blog is the widely used term that refers to web log. Basically, a blog is an online journal. A blog could be set up to no cost at all, and can be used for just for the fun of it or for business reasons.

Blogging for your Internet business is one surefire way to boost the visibility of your products and services. Here are a few ways to boost your internet advertising with the help of a blog:

1. Make your clients or customers abreast on your website’s alterations. Your new products and affiliate websites could also be announced through your blog.

2. Keep track of your business objectives and plans through open writing. Your blog content can be easily stored through archives. What could be better than searchable information that could be easily accessed by anyone browsing the web, right?

3. Air your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

4. Include links that will fetch back links and subsequently improve your ranking on search engines. This could be better executed through putting well-written articles in your website. Affiliate links could also be included in your blog to earn more extra income.

5. Collect response through the ability of blogs to fetch comments from your blog readers. You can learn and improve your products and services through with the feedback from your readers.

6. Connect easily with other bloggers. When other bloggers notice that you have something good in your blog, they will put you in their favorite lists that will automatically link you to their blogs.

Christy Edwards is a stay-at-home mom, successful internet marketer and owner of a popular online marketing forum called Profit Seekers Network: http://www.profitseekersnetwork.com

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Q. Jeff, I want to ask your opinion regarding Health Savings Accounts. On April 1st, the company I work for is changing our current Blue Cross health insurance to Guardian Insurance set up as a HRA. I am single and currently have a $500 deductible. Under the HRA, the deductible will be $2,000.

Currently, the premium is split 50/50 between employer and employee. I pay $205.00 per month. Under the HRA it will still be split 50/50, but the employer is going to fund each employee’s Personal Medical Fund up to $900. As I understand it, my responsibility will be $1,100 of deductible before any insurance coverage kicks in. We have not been given any rates for the HRA insurance, but I imagine it will be lower than the monthly $205.00.

I am trying to decide if this is a “good” thing to change to or if I should obtain an individual policy of my own. I contacted my insurance agent and was quoted a price of $213.20 per month for similar insurance ($500 deductible).

I assume a portion of the amounts I pay in to the “fund” would be tax deductible, but I am still not sure that a HRA is the right thing for me to do.

A. A lot will depend on your health status and how much you use your insurance. If you’re healthy and don’t take many medications, then the HRA could benefit you because the amount the company contributes to your account is yours and can grow from year to year.

On the other hand, if there’s a good chance of using your coverage, then the HRA might be more expensive because the amount of deductible you’ll have to pay, although it sounds like the company is paying $900 toward your $1,100 deductible. Private insurance most likely will not cover any existing conditions and it’s very likely that you will see those premiums rise at a faster rate then those of the HRA/HAS.

The days of company paid health plans are quickly coming to an end and employees will have to bear much more of the cost. This may help the overall situation in the long run because people may not seek medical care as often if they have to cover a portion of the cost. Companies are being forced to explore these alternatives to remain competitive in today’s global environment.

Q. I was reading your estate planning article about a power of attorney (POA). I thought your spouse automatically had POA. Do I need to state that I want my husband to have POA? Can you name a secondary POA? We travel a lot and if something would happen to us both, I would want one of my children to have POA.

I have just moved to Florida from up north, is my will still legal here?

A. First, just because you are married does not mean that your spouse automatically serves as your POA. There are also two kinds of Powers of Attorney-one for assets and one for healthcare. A spouse CAN make medical decisions for you, but if you have a checking account or own property in your name only, there’s nothing your spouse can do to touch it before or after you become incapacitated. Your spouse (or anyone else you desire) would need to be named as your Power of Attorney. And you can have multiple people mentioned who would serve in succession.

For instance, your husband can be named as your primary attorney-in-fact, your child as secondary, etc. If your husband were unable or unwilling to serve as your attorney-in-fact when you became incapacitated, your child would then be able to.

Your Will should still be legal even though it was written prior to moving to FL. Florida does have certain homestead exemption laws that your previous state may not have had. So even though your existing will is valid, it may be worth having a FL attorney review it and your situation to make sure there aren’t any changes that could benefit you.

Nationally-syndicated financial columnist and Certified Financial Planner® Jeffrey Voudrie provides personal, in-depth money management services and advice to select private clients throughout the USA. He’ll answer your financial question - FREE at http://www.guardingyourwealth.com

In addition to being a nationally syndicated columnist and Certified Financial Planning Practitioner, Mr. Voudrie serves clients nationwide using a proprietary money management system he’s personally developed.