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Issue: #10
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September / 2010
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The Balancing Act: The Importance of Re-Balancing Your Portfolio
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By Jim
Shagawat, Baron
Financial Group
When the
recession hit, the average American was unprepared for a financial crisis of
such a large magnitude. The average investor was blind-sided as they watched
years of their life-savings disappear before their eyes. Although some losses were inevitable, others
could be prevented through the re-balancing process.
Re-balancing
offers tangible advantages in reducing the long-term volatility of a portfolio.
Many investors, particularly those who chose brokerage firms, were unable to
make the necessary changes to their portfolios that would have ultimately
minimized losses. These firms may have
the competitive advantage given by economies of scale, but their size also
slows them down. Ultimately, these
brokerage firms were unable to accommodate the personalized needs of each
client's portfolio.
Weighed down by their size, they were unable to re-balance
their client's portfolios with the efficiency of a smaller group. Fiduciary groups, legally obligated to serve
their clients first, can give more attention to an individual's portfolio.
Investment committees at such groups often will review each client's portfolio
at the minimum of once a quarter. The portfolios at such firms must not only
meet stringent investing criteria, but also satisfy each client's personalized
plan.
The process
of re-balancing a portfolio forces you to sell high and buy low. Simply put, it returns your portfolio to the
proper mix of stocks, bonds and cash when they no longer conform to your plans.
In many ways, re-balancing can be compared to America's obesity crisis. In the short run,
buying fast food for lunch every other day may seem cheap, convenient, and
satisfying. Fifteen years later, when you are being hospitalized for a heart
attack, a sandwich consisting of fried chicken, bacon, and cheese may no longer
seem so appealing. The key is to recognize risk factors and "diversify" your
financial diet before it's too late.
The results
from different sets of market conditions demonstrate that re-balancing makes
sense whether the economy is in the throes of a terrible recession or in the
midst of a great manic bubble.
Read More at Rounds Online
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How does one insure a priceless object?
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It's easy
to insure something when you know what its worth. I can insure my
personal auto and an insurance company can compute with relative accuracy what
they need to charge in premiums to make it worth their while.
I'll bet I
could insure a race horse or a champion bull. Someone out there could
figure out the commercial value of the animal and compute a premium. But
the insurance wouldn't be for the health of the animal but rather for the value
of the animal as a commodity.
If your
family pet gets sick and you take it to the vet, you will probably not be asked
for your insurance card. And as painful as the decision may be, if the
cost of saving the life of old Fido is beyond your means, the doctor has a
painless shot that will take both you and the pooch out of your misery.
And that's why we aren't debating healthcare reform for house pets or
live stock. In one case you have to determine how much your love and
devotion is worth. And in the other you make a commercial decision on the
value of the beast. Not so with human healthcare.
The problem
with providing care for Aunt Mildred is that you cannot place a finite value on
her life. It matters not if she is a saint or a pain in the neck. It matters not what contribution she will make if she is saved. The
problem with healthcare for people is you can't place a value on what you are
trying to insure.
There is a
lot of talk about rationing healthcare. Who decides who will get treated
and who will be left at the side of the road with a blanket, a canteen of water
and a pistol with a single bullet? If you can make it to the
emergency room, the full resources of medical science will be thrown into the
battle to save your sorry life. And if science fails your estate can
always sue.
So a big
part of the healthcare reform debate has always danced around a central issue
that no politician in their right mind will address. How much is Aunt
Mildred worth? Who decides when her medical bank account is empty? And who pulls the plug?
These are
questions that the recent health care legislation left unanswered. And until we
are willing to face up to the questions, health care costs will continue to
rise and health care rationing will continue to be decided in the back rooms of
insurance companies, hospitals and government agencies.
"Facts do
not cease to exist because they are ignored". - Aldous Huxley
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Gifting to charities: What a wonderful reward in more ways than one.
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By Stacy Francis, Francis Financial,
Inc. While
donating money to worthy causes is something we think is great; gifting to
charities can be greater still when you donate appreciated stock instead of
cash. The tax advantages can be worth it. That's because as long as you have
held the shares for twelve months, you can take a deduction worth their current
market value. Let's explain how this works. Writing a Check to Your Favorite
Charity Consider
this, you bought 1,000 shares of stock ten years ago with a cost basis of just
about nil. If you sell the stock for $200,000 and give the proceeds to charity
after paying the capital-gains taxes (15%), the charity gets only about $170,000,
and you get a $170,000 tax deduction. Not bad, but we can do even better. Gifting the Stock Outright to Your
Favorite Charity If you give
the stock to the charity, which is tax-exempt, it can sell the shares and keep
the whole $200,000. And you get a $200,000 deduction. This is what we call a
win-win situation.Typically,
selling an appreciated stock triggers a tax on the realized gain, the
difference between what you paid to purchase the stock and its current value.
When you make a gift of appreciated stock directly to your favorite charity and
the charity sells the stock, the taxable event and the fees are avoided because
the charity is tax-exempt. Plus, you can take a sizeable charitable deduction
on your taxes. Read more at Rounds Online
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A Strike using Marquess of Queensbery Rules
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It was oh
so very civilized. 12,000 Minneapolis area nurses went on strike for one
day on Thursday demanding a new contract. But as labor disputes go, this was
more theater than confrontation. Nurses left their posts as scheduled by the
union. The 14 hospitals affected have been planning for the one day "event" for
weeks. Replacement nurses were in place having gone through a one day
orientation. Compensation for the temps was generous...between $1,600 and $2,224
for the one day of work.
The union
takes the noble position that it's all about patient safety. They want to
control nurse staffing levels through their contract and take management out of
the hands of...well, management. They are also demanding a 3 to 4% salary
increases per year over the next three years. A full time union nurse currently
makes $79,000 a year plus benefits (more than $10,000 over the national
average). I'm sure there are a lot of primary care physicians who are giving
serious thought to joining the nurse's union and changing jobs.
The
hospitals claim that government cuts in funding, insurance write-offs and bad
debts are putting most not-for-profit hospitals on a road to bankruptcy. They
are offering no pay increase the first year and assert that there are no
patient safety issues here. It is merely a tough negotiation between management
and union...:"nothing personal."
Read More at Rounds Online
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All the news that's fit to print
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GREECE - Researchers at the Technological Educational
Institute of lonian Islands in Greece (certainly at the top of my list of
international hot beds of biomedical research) have cooked up some plant oils
that seem to be highly effective in combating MIRSA, a particularly nasty
multi-drug-resistant staph bug that plagues hospitals around the world. The
group tested essential oils from thyme, basil, peppermint and cinnamon. Can't
you achieve the same results by dining out at Olive Garden and eating a bowl of
Cinnamon Toast Crunch in the morning?
BOSTON - Encouraging news for people with
type 1 diabetes. A recent article in the journal Science Translational Medicine
described research efforts to develop an artificial pancreas. The computerized
device monitors and regulates glucose in the blood. This is not Buck Rogers
stuff here. The researchers include biomedical engineers from Boston University and scientists from Mass General.
Much of the technology already exists including glucose monitors and infusion
pumps. The trick is developing a computer algorithm that can adjust to
individual metabolism rates and a host of other challenges. The current rig is
two big to haul around and regulatory hurdles put a working device five to
seven years out.
NEW YORK- (Reuters
Health) - Thousands of young children are accidentally poisoned by tobacco
products each year in the U.S., and new dissolvable tobacco
products that resemble candy might pose an additional risk, according to
researchers. DO YA THINK?!
CONNECTICUT - The Connecticut State Medical
Society released survey results that would seem to indicate that providing
health insurance to hundreds of thousands of state residents who currently have
none while the number of primary care physicians practicing medicine in the
state continues to dwindle might be a problem! "Connecticut already has a scarcity of access,"
says an upcoming article in the journal Connecticut Medicine. The article
continues that a flood of new patients "may be difficult to manage for
primary-care physicians in urban areas, and could overwhelm physicians in rural
communities." But society leaders and members suggest a promising course of
action..."the state should consider incentives to lure primary care doctors"
probably from neighboring states, "to practice here." Offer loan forgiveness
for medical students who pursue primary care and consider changes to ease the
liability and administrative burdens doctors face. Now there is a novel
approach. Stay tuned for Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York plans.
MASSACHUSETTS - Harvard researchers have
uncovered a vast conspiracy at the nations leading health insurance companies.
They have irrefutable proof that insurers are putting profits above public
health by investing in...Gasp...FAST FOOD CHAINS. Oh My God! A study in the American Journal of
Public Health reports the insurance industry has parked nearly $2 billion in
companies that sell food often linked to obesity and cardiovascular disease.
HAVE YOU NO SHAME? Harvard Medical School's Dr. Wesley Boyd, an author of the
study, believes "the insurance industry, so far as it seeks to make a profit,
it does so in an immoral way." Is he implying that there might be a moral way
for insurance companies to make a profit? Now that would truly be news of the
first magnitude.
WASHINGTON - USA Today is running an article
that probes a true legal conundrum (I've always wanted to use that word in a
sentence). It seems that medical marijuana is casting a cloud (no pun intended)
of confusion over Corporate America. Pot is now legal in 14 states as a
prescription painkiller and additional states are considering legalizing the
killer weed. Problem is that zero-tolerance drug policies mandated by many
government contracts are in direct conflict with a patient's right to get
stoned. So, here's the plan. Your company hits you with a random drug test. You
test positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol (the best part of the toke) and they
terminate your butt. With luck you are in a state where medical marijuana is
legal. Go get a prescription for some imagined pain in the neck or other part
of your anatomy and take your boss to court. Heck, get an ACLU attorney and
drag them to the Supreme Court!
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CHOATE CONSULTING
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COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICE AGENCY
www.completemedicalhome.org
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The Community Health Service Agency
began its legacy in 1976 with a small group of individuals who bought
into the idea of a direct link between poverty and disease. These
individuals pooled their resources, wrote a grant and thus began the
Community Health Service Agency with the opening of the Greenville
Community Health Center . Since then, Fannin, Collin, Delta and Kaufman
as well as Hunt counties have benefited from these clinics that still
exist to serve those who are uninsured or underinsured.
CHSA now operates five medical
clinics and one dental clinic. We provide primary health care services
including OB/GYN, pediatrics, geriatrics and nursing home care. We
accept payment from Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP and private insurance.
Individuals who are uninsured or underinsured obtain payment based on
their family size and income. Community Health Service Agency is currently recruiting in the
following specialties:
Family Practice & Pediatrics
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PROSEARCH ASSOCIATES
www.prosearchassociates.com
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ProSearch Associates provides executive search
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With over 20 years experience, we have proven our search process and the
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following specialties:
Hematology / Oncology, Internal Medicine & Ortho Surgery
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HARLEQUIN ASSOCIATES
www.harlequinna.com
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Harlequin
Recruiting provides personalized, comprehensive recruitment services
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Harlequin Associates is currently recruiting in the
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Neurosurgery
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LAM ASSOCIATES
www.mdopenings.com
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Harlequin
Recruiting provides personalized, comprehensive recruitment services
for physicians and facilities nationwide. Harlequin Recruiting is a
focused team of experienced search consultants; we pride ourselves on
fully satisfying the needs of our clients and candidates and exceeding
their expectations at each and every step of the recruiting process.
We
work with our physician candidates on an entirely confidential basis
and strive to identify their optimal opportunity. We work on the behalf
of our candidates throughout the entire recruiting process; we begin by
identifying the candidate's ideal opportunity and follow the process
through arranging the site visit and negotiating the final offer.
We
work with our clients on identifying precisely what type of candidate
they require for their open position. We present only qualified
candidates to our clients, candidates that have personally expressed
interest in the facility through our firm.
Our
team of recruitment experts provides comprehensive services and proven
experience to surpass the needs and expectations of our candidates and
clients every step of the recruiting process. Harlequin Recruiting uses
extensive insight into the wide spectrum of opportunities that exist
throughout the medical marketplace across a full range of
specializations.
Lam Associates is currently recruiting in the
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Internal Medicine, Nursing & Psychiatry
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LANIER MEDICAL PLACEMENT
www.LanierMedical.com
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Lanier Medical Placement is a full service Physician & Allied
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Lanier Medical Placement is currently recruiting in the
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