There is an old saying, “Those who do not study the past are condemned to repeat it” and another that goes along with it which says, “History may not repeat itself but it does rhyme.”
Recently I came across some articles that we published quite a few years ago but I thought they were worth mentioning again in an effort to learn from the past. So here they are:
The simplest way to include the closing costs in your refinancing calculations is to simply calculate the overall savings you expect to make when refinancing and deduct the estimated closing costs sum from the savings. If you don’t break even, you’ll be losing money on the refinancing, so maybe sticking to the old terms for a while longer is more advantageous.
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Closing Costs and Refinancing Read More »
Is Energy Deregulation Just a Fad? In the late 1990’s, individual states began trying to introduce more competition into the energy marketplace. As we know, competition tends to drive down prices and improves choice and service. Without competition businesses get lazy and they add layers of bureaucracy and then simply tack the additional costs on to
Energy Trends- Deregulation (or Not) Read More »
The world is becoming increasingly well connected, believe it or not, there are remote islands in South East Asia that use small gasoline generators to supply their electricity but still have excellent cell phone and Wi-Fi coverage. After all, it is relatively easy to put up a tower but running power lines is much more difficult. And these days it
Communication Trends Read More »
Imagine getting out of your 20 hp. car and cranking it to start it, getting whacked by the handle and breaking your wrist, while your neighbor trots by shouting “get a horse” and your other neighbor happily puffs by in his Stanley Steamer. This was life in 1900… people died of the flu and intestinal infections and
Trends: Population, Health and Technology Read More »
Not all insurance companies are equal. Let’s take a closer look at each of the most popular life insurance rating companies and how they actually rank the insurance companies in finer detail.
Buyer Beware: Life Insurance Company Ratings Explained Read More »
The most notorious recent case was in Zimbabwe and ran from 1998 – 2008. But North Korea experienced less severe hyperinflation in 2010 -2011. Other recent examples include Belarus 1994-2002, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1993, and Angola 1991-1999. You can see a list of 26 examples of Hyperinflation beginning with Egypt in 276 AD which had 1 million percent inflation over 58 years and ending with Zimbabwe. And lest we Americans get too smug we need to realize that we are the only ones on the list twice. Once in 1779 and again in 1861-1865. The result of the Revolutionary and Civil wars.
Surviving a Hyperinflation Read More »
Estate planning is always evolving before our eyes. Tax laws change from year to year and laws passed in 2012 have carried an abundance of consequences. Obviously the more money you have the more significance estate planning tends to carry. How should we go about estate planning in this restructured environment?
Trends: Estate Planning Changing Read More »
One of the hottest new trends today is developing pricing effectiveness solutions. Good pricing effectiveness comes from determining a person’s willingness to pay. Companies specialize in “revenue management” by tracking a customer’s willingness-to-pay and helping a company to optimize its revenue stream based on that willingness. For instance, in the case of that airline passenger, one person absolutely needed to get somewhere at the last minute and therefore he was willing to pay almost anything for a seat on that plane. And the other person was looking for a bargain and only flew because the flight was cheap. Just like the vender in the stall in the 3rd world, if you could determine the person’s desire level, theoretically you could charge the first person a much higher rate while simultaneously charging the second person much less. Unfortunately for companies (but fortunately for consumers) companies are not mind-readers so they can’t squeeze the absolute last dollar out of you… Or can they?
Trends: Revenue Management Read More »
Boats carry life vests and life preservers and have lifeboats. Construction workers wear hard hats, skateboarders wear knee and elbow pads, professional football players and motocross racers wear helmets, and welders wear goggles. Why? Because they understand the value of protection. In the same way, businesses need to understand the value of protection and that is why insurance is crucial, especially in business.
Insurance Tips for Small Businesses Read More »
