YourCreditCompany.com Official Blog

Maybe you’ve heard the old adage that annuities are the exact opposite of life insurance.  That with life insurance, you pay “a little” each year into a contract, called a premium which purchases risk leverage and pays a lump-sum death benefit to your heirs.   Alternatively, an annuity calls for a set amount “deposit” or lump sum placement which grows over time to pay out an income to the annuitant following a pre-determined period of time; years.Well, pretty much forget about what you think you know about annuities or even any preconceptions, and open your mind wide.  First, and foremost, we think is the legislative gift of tax-deductable growth of deposits.  Think of a mutual fund or ETF or mini stock portfolio, even a real estate or commodities, gold, energy (oil and gas), some form of contractual platform where you deposit money now to hopefully build and multiply as rainy day money; your nest egg enhancer.When structured properly and acquired for all the right reasons, annuities represent one of the very best vehicles/mediums to efficiently accumulate money for a known or probable event sometime down the road, at least 10 years; age 60 or older.  The apparent aftermath of the recession and investment accounts downturn points us increasingly towards the annuity configuration possibilities.Randy Myers recently authored a timely ‘special advertising section” report published in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere.  While clearly representing the interests of the life insurance and fund management industries, he made some really good, salient points which deserve edification and expansion and expansion.  His “Will You Have Enough” by-line sets the table beautifully for the key message of this promotional piece (sponsored via display ads by John Hancock, Prudential, and Fidelity).  That “for many baby boomers who saw their retirement accounts battered by the financial market upheaval of the past two years, the case for buying annuities is becoming stronger”.As Joan Bloom, Executive VP of Fidelity Investments Life Insurance Co. (an annuity underwriter) largely got right with “…an annuity is the only other product (besides a pension) that can provide guaranteed income in retirement”, this unique product can assure regular income, beat inflation, and minimize taxes simultaneously.Assuming that enough is never “enough” taking a hard look at annuities makes a lot of sense.  The investment options are endless, as varied as vanilla mutual funds, and the awesome tax deferred growth feature (an unlimited Roth IRA?) more than offsets somewhat higher fees and early surrender charges outside of the “fee-free corridor”.For our money, the biggest basic question is Fixed or Variable.  If you choose a fixed product, the strength of the underwriting company is absolutely paramount.  As with banks or any investment, what good are higher returns if your company breaks its promise (read the fine print!) or goes broke?  Fixed annuities count entirely upon the investment and expense management savvy and solvency of your company.Variable annuities offer exposure to the stock, bond and other markets which introduces a higher degree of risk, but with a higher return opportunity as well.  With both, you may make additional contributions at any time without upsetting the deferral of income payments.To close, if you have exhausted your tax deductible and qualified tax deferred retirement vehicles, you definitely should consider an annuity(s) to make up the difference between future projected income needs and current availability.Learn more at Your Credit Company

The headline “Even Laundries Tumble in This Economic Cycle” grabs your eye; but the wrong way.  In the CURRENTS section of a recent Wall Street Journal article focusing on “after the boom”; dispatches from the downturn, writer Kevin Helliker unfolds a story of success even in; especially in these extraordinary times.The underlying message of this lengthy article is this: luck plays a role all the time, but quality and service blended with fair pricing and “safe” convenience trumps competitors in any business cycle.  If you’re a BBE, deep down, you know it.Oftentimes, one’s circumstances dictate the utter reality of necessity, the need for taking the bull by the horns all by yourself.  BBEs aren’t so much special as they are a direct by-product of the economies, the world’s insufficiencies.  Some of the most amazing innovation comes directly from immense adversity; starvation, homelessness, bankruptcy, disability, unemployment, under-employment, and overall tragedy.It’s really true that when deeply needy people collide with the needs of a market, great things can happen.  We don’t have to spread words here contributing to the volume of biographies, bios, CVs; rags to riches stories, we know that you essentially concur.  So, after inhaling all the self-help books, collecting every conceivable authority on the hundreds of ways to own your own business; you’ve hit the wall.  Maybe you are one of the lucky ones who don’t have to become an engine of industry; you’re still employed with a modicum of hopeful expectancy.  Still, you hate what you do and you’ve started to hate yourself for not becoming “all you can be; should be”.We don’t think you’ll find the rest of our thinking nicely laid-out in any text book or entrepreneur guide.  Our hands on experience focus on facts and usable, marketable products and services which evolve from you to market; NOT from market to you.  In originator, founder should first research under-served markets, our BBE first scans his/her loves and bank of experience, THEN scours all personal inventory of “PERSON” to determine his/her deliverable skill set.  Do you see the philosophical personal saleable assets, maybe even uniquely so.For those who are flat broke, deeply in debt, even lacking in the most basic modern technologies such as cell phone, computer, internet, etc. there is hope.  Here are some steps; blow by blow for the most desperate BBE candidate; with nobody; not money; not much more than a pencil, paper, library access and a phone number.  Remember, this is OUR BBE belief and ours alone.  This is not the magic pink pill or panacea, nothing more than our perspective of the best ways to skin this all important CAT:

1.        Evaluate your skills, talents, gifts- but most importantly, your experience base; what are you really good at, what can you portray, make plainly evident to “the world” your very own economic value, as uniquely as possible to YOU ALONE.
2.       If possible, query others about YOU and YOUR assets.
3.       Employ the 10, 10, 10 exercise of the projection; 10 minutes, months, years; is “this what you want to be doing?  Is this your highest and best use?  REALLY?  Why not make your beloved avocation your vocation?  Get the point?  When a BBE successfully connects numbers 1, 2, and 3 all hell breaks loose in a good way!  You’ve got something real special when you smash your experience/exceptional/dreams into what you LOVE.
4.      Write it all down.  Create your own informal, yet complete and accurate (conservative!) business plan including mission, market, financial, marketing, sales and distribution statements.  Refine your 2 minute elevator speech; your “pitch”.
5.       Let the games begin by seeking the first 5 lucky listeners.  The BBE know intuitively how and where to start.

Learn more at Your Credit Company

Unless you’ve been rummaging about in a cave for the past few months, you hare well schooled on gold’s steady and awesome forward march.  With recent prices now hovering around $1,150 per  troy ounce, the same for platinum, $365 for palladium and the mid $18s for silver, the most precious metals are on a world class roll; matching or exceeding other once in a life-time investment/financial chances for prosperity.We best start out on the right foot.  Gold is, has been, always will be the premier- the king of value storage world-wide.  What’s even more magnificent about gold as represented by this cycle’s wild bull-run is this.  Where’s the inflation? Isn’t gold the unsurpassed leader; the utmost inflation hedge?  Of course!But we don’t have any inflation you say; in fact we have stagflation- even deflation in several key economies such as housing.  Right you are and this anomaly uncovers an even more astounding truth of supply, demand and FEAR.  This time, the economic depression has scared the wits out of individual investors, fund managers, central banks- entire nations; ours included.When third world power houses such as India continually increase their hard asset (gold bullion) holdings by another $7 billion through their government controlled central bank, the hand-writing is on the wall; it’s undeniable.Here’s the deal.  We’ve got a whole new ball game folks.  Gold along with its subordinate siblings has exploded from its cocoon of a monetary and inflation (only) safe harbor to the shield against global economic leadership collapse and the explicit trepidation of leadership vacuums across the cosmos.What are we suggesting?  Perhaps you heard it HERE first.  Gold, and its brethren to a lesser extent provides the only perceived, world-wide envelope of protection against global trade budget deficits, resource shortages, geopolitical conflicts; even actual currency collapses and military coups.  It’s happened plenty of times in the past!While the deflationary forces in the economy(s) are strong and seemingly getting stronger, gold has reached and exceeded its all-time record high; a 62% increase in price since last November alone.  But here’s the bonus NEWS for YOU.  Silver.  We think silver might be even better than gold-at least for the mid-term run.While gold is still well below its inflation adjusted record high, set in January 1980 of $2,290 per ounce, silver at $18.45 has already surpassed gold’s growth at 71% and needing only 9 months, not 12, to achieve.  Moreover, silver’s inflation adjusted record high is more than $40 per ounce even eliminating the artificial Hunt brothers manipulated markets of 1980; the real price target is $49.50.Silver is obviously far more affordable than gold making it far more available as well to so many more folks.  Additionally, silver ETFs are rapidly driving up demand and foreign buyers are beginning to own the landscape of silver’s popularity.Unlike gold, more than 50% of all silver goes for industrial uses and the long term demand for silver-zinc batteries (replacing lithium batteries in electric cars) enjoy decade’s long prosperity.  Mostly though it’s the pure math; the undeniable ratios of gold to silver.Historically, one needed about 16 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold.  Today it’s a whopping 62 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold! Do you see the same profound problem with this picture as we do, especially considering the superior performance of silver already for this year?  Take a real hard look at SILVER as your new protector.

Learn more at Your Credit Company!

 5DPYGXT64NDX