Is your Life worth Owning?

Insurance for Your Whole Life

Most American adults with life insurance coverage carry only the group coverage offered by their employers.¹ Although employer-sponsored life insurance tends to be fairly affordable, there’s one drawback that you cannot ignore: Such coverage usually terminates when you leave.

 

If your situation calls for life insurance coverage that extends beyond your working years, it might be time to consider whether permanent life insurance would be appropriate.

Stability for You and Yours

A permanent policy, sometimes called cash-value or whole-life insurance, generally remains in force for the life of the insured as long as the premiums are paid. Once the policy is in force, the premiums typically remain level. This can help ensure continued protection as you age, even if your health should take a turn for the worse.

The death benefit paid to your beneficiaries is usually not subject to income taxes. It can be used to help pay estate taxes, final expenses, medical bills, and other debts without the need for your heirs to sell off valuable holdings in a time of distress.

Financial Safety Net

In the early years of a permanent life insurance policy, the premiums are usually higher than the actual cost of insurance protection. The insurer invests the excess premiums, and the policy can accrue cash value. Policyholders may borrow against the accumulated cash value for any number of uses, such as supplementing retirement income, paying off a mortgage, and sending family members to college.

Access to cash value is through withdrawals or loans. Policy loans will reduce the cash value by the amount of any outstanding loan balance, plus interest.

The cost and availability of life insurance depend on factors such as age, health, and the type and amount of insurance purchased. Before implementing a strategy involving life insurance, it would be prudent to make sure that you are insurable. As with most financial decisions, there are expenses associated with the purchase of life insurance. Policies commonly have mortality and expense charges. In addition, if a policy is surrendered prematurely, there may be surrender charges and income tax implications.

Will the need to provide for your loved ones in the event of your death ever really diminish? If the answer is no, then you may want to consider the lifelong protection of whole-life insurance.

1) LIMRA International, 2008

The information in this article is not intended as tax or legal advice, and it may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalties. You are encouraged to seek tax or legal advice from an independent professional advisor. The content is derived from sources believed to be accurate. Neither the information presented nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. This material was written and prepared by StoneRiver–Emerald. © 2009 StoneRiver, Inc.

 

New Career

If anyone is still out there that might stumble on this blog and read it, I want to let you know that I have started a new career.  I am no longer the owner of a sign company but now I am an Agent with New York Life.  I am proud of my new position and extremely excited at the idea of working with the top Company in this field.  To clarify, YES, I am a Life Insurance (oh noooo, the horrors!!!!) agent, but I want to make sure that people understand it is more than that.  I work in the 3 financial phases of life, protection, accumulation, and distribution.  I do sell life insurance, but it is a tool that helps in all three.  I can help people with protecting their family in the event of the death of the breadwinner, I can help a young family save money to buy a house, and I can help as people reach the retirement age with making sure they will never run out of money. My goal is to help as many people as I can.  The question becomes, can I help you? Please email me @ mdgoldsborough (at) gmail (dot) com.

As this blog continues to evolve, I will be posting still about trading and what I am doing in the markets, but mixed in here will be little financial tidbits that I hope will be of some use to my readers as they plan their financial futures.

As for my trading, it has taken a break due to the rigorous training program NYL has me going through, but it will pick up soon.  I did however take advantage of the Divergence on the E/U and rode it down for a bit…I still have a short in and will add to it as it moves against me.

 

 

 

Divergence?

My Divergence Charts and why I think the SP500 and the Eur/Usd are just about at the top of their respective rallies.  I am putting a lot on the line – my credibility (which isn’t much to begin with) and most importantly, the money I have invested by others in my abilities.  I am heavy short on E/U and not ashamed to say it, I have a mental stop loss and plenty in reserves to cover, but the market has not performed like it usually does…even in whipsaw markets it’s more predictable.  This bull train is moving fast and really has no reason to continue except the path of least resistance…

Money flows are waiting for a pull back, but investors are anxious to get in and are afraid to miss the boat…hence the tiny pull-backs/consolidation and then large moves up.

Below are my charts to semi-backup my idea…

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter…

 

Explanation of my brief hiatus

I took a break from blogging for a few weeks due to a family emergency.  It wasn’t so much an emergency, but more so a tragedy.

My grandfather Cornelius Spencer Goldsborough, Jr at 84 years old passed away on Saturday Morning, August 8th, 2009.

He was a Man of God, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a great-grandfather, a Marine, and a proud American.  He gave as though he had unlimited resources on a fixed income and when he couldn’t give money he gave his time, always with a smile. My Grandfather has a special place in my heart and has had an impact on my life that is unexplainable.  I’ll go on with my life but I fear that I’ll forget the things he taught me or I’ll forget that smile and wave from the end of the driveway after his trademarked, “Bye now”. I don’t want to forget, I will never forget.

His Joy in life was the family he had, both relatives and friends.  Seeing him with my nieces and nephews; that smile on his face, the happiness in his eyes, and the satisfaction, knowing what a wonderful family he started and raised.

Nothing will ever be the same, no family get-together will be complete with out him.  But I am so happy to have a great family to share in the memories with me and my wife Kim.  From all of this I have learned that life is to short to hold grudges, to not enjoy each others company to the fullest. Love much and be loved, embrace those around you because you never know if you’ll have another chance on this earth.  Last but not least, explore your purpose here, investigate God and Jesus Christ, they can fill any void in your life, and fill it with overflowing abundence.

I love you pop-pop and I’ll see you soon. (Grandmom says hi too and she misses and loves you.)

Now…back to your regularly schedule program…”Press your luck!”

 

The Icebreaker…

This is the ice breaker post…it’s been so long since I’ve had a post, I think I may have forgotten how to do it.

I am back and working on a bunch of fun things…see you soon.

 

Taking a Break

Thank you to all who are reading this, I know I haven’t posted in a while. I am taking a few weeks off from blogging due to a family emergency.  I will return at the latest by the end of August.  As for last week, I hit my numbers, but not until Friday when the divergence on the Daily paid off.

Have a few great weeks, I’ll talk to you all soon.

 

In-Sync and Confident, the Bi-Products of Consistency

Two words or phrases that are 1. rarely talked about and 2. hard to feel in this business.  I, fortunately, feel very in-sync and as a result I am gaining confidence with my trading.  What is the cause of this you may ask??

Consistency.

Since my declaration in “A Quick Note…” on July 12th, I have implemented just about every one of those points and stuck to them with a military like discipline.  As I feel myself straying, I will go back and re-read it.  I suggest you make your own plan, or copy mine if you like…stick to it, find out what works and what doesn’t and slowly watch your system change into a profitable tool.

Consistency isn’t just from profit, you have to develop consistency in your losses too.  When your system starts to be consistently in the red, then redevelop your system, don’t jump from idea to idea, but break it down and FIX the problem.  Keep that consistency IN your plan and in FOLLOWING your plan.

For the past two weeks I have been able to meet my weekly goals by Thursday (which is great, I HATE trading on Fridays)  and this week I have meet my goal this morning.  I am going to keep trading this week, but I am cutting my normal trade sizes in half to decrease the probability of giving it all back. Everything from here on forward is extra, so I am not worried about killing it and risking what I have gained.

One thing or phrase that I have developed and helped my trading is this, “Know what the crowd is doing, don’t blindly do what the crowd is doing…” To aid me, I watch CNBC, I said I WATCH – I really don’t listen to much because most of them on there are bumbling idiots (I’d like to see a portfolio that they have managed).  Most of the time I look to take the opposite position of what they recommend, it’s that bad. This has helped me stay In-Sync with the world’s markets and understanding the correlations between them.

In-sync, Confident, and Consistent. Three pieces to this seemingly 10000 piece puzzle.

 

New visitors

On my Dashboard I can see I lot of new visitors from the James16 Private thread.  I’m not sure who posted my blog link, but thank you.  And thanks to all the traders visiting, I hope you find something useful.  Leave a note in the comments section if you feel inclined, or follow me on twitter.

Happy trading to all and I’ll see you around the block!

 

America and why soccer is starting to flourish.

So last Saturday I went to the Gold Cup Quarter Finals at Lincoln Financial Field here in Philadelphia.  It was a double header, but my brother in-laws and I tailgated through the first game (Honduras v. Canada – Honduras won 1-0) and attended the second game which was the United States v. Panama.

If you don’t already know, or even care to know, Philadelphia was just awarded a Major League Soccer franchise and are in the process of building the brand new stadium in Chester, PA.  The name of the team is The  Philadelphia Union and their symbol is the Snake that you see on old revolutionary flags – usually accompanied by the words “Don’t Tread on Me.”  There is a nice story on the Web site about the whole process if you’re interested - Philadelphia Union.

In any case, what I am getting at is the amount of pride soccer fans have, period.  I don’t care what nationality they are or what home team they root for, but not only is their pride unrelenting, so is their enthusiasm. For example – The Sons of Ben, they where a group of soccer fans from the city of Philadelphia when Philadelphia didn’t have a soccer team. They just loved the sport so much they would drive all over the country (musical instruments in tow) and chant and yell and scream for the team they deemed worthy of having them as fans (usually the most “local” teams).

We sat in the Son’s of Ben or Uncle Sam’s Army (whatever you want to call it) section (behind the Goal of the opposing team for the second half) for the game.  I take that back, we didn’t sit…for 120 minutes.  On our feet, chanting – following the chant and song directors that stood above the others, usually with a drum and some sort of brass instrument next to them – watching the 3rd string USA soccer team play and beat Panama in overtime.  WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!  I don’t care if you don’t like soccer, if you think it’s a sissy sport…I dare you to go to one of these games and sit in that section and then tell me that these guys are nuts.  Of course I mean nuts in a good way – I don’t think I will ever go to a game NOT in that section – unless I have any of my nieces or nephews with me (the expletives can fly pretty easily from those around you).

The reason I think soccer in America is flourishing is because there are these pockets of dedicated, enthusiastic, and prideful fans all over the country.  With the help of an American team that’s getting better and the marketing of the MLS – these groups are growing.  I think soon we will see the American public start to turn it’s back from soccer and recognize it as a legitimate professional sport here in the States.  Once this happens, look out – anything America embraces and loves, just from sheer numbers, becomes successful – and once we have the numbers to draw international stars, the MLS will no longer be the  laughing stock of the international soccer world.

Go out and support your local soccer club, no matter how small.

 

Trading update…

For those of you not following me on Twitter (get your head checked…) where I call all of my trades when I take them, I will try to update on my blog when I can.

Currently I have a EUR/USD short in @ 4087 with an order for twice the OE (original entry) @ 4150 and then an order for 4x’s the OE @ 4200.

Eur/USD and S & P 500 are correlated very tightly at the moment, seems one can’t do anything with out the others permission.

S & P – Up for the day and week – well past the 900 level.  With a gap right above 900 (I think it needs to close it AND retest 900 before moving up any further).  Aiding in the retest will be the Profit takers for this week… first time bulls have made a profit in a while, they won’t leave it out there very long.

Eur/USD – Approaching some semi strong short term S&R. On the 4h charts we can see (whole numbers) that we are in a range between 4200 and 3800 since the beginning of June and we are approaching the 4200 mark.  Look out for something to happen at this line (or there abouts).  I have some shorts in before it and on it so I can try to catch a down move.  If it moves against me, I have my mental stop set around 4350 (above the last highest peak after we entered this range).

I have introduced a friend of mine (the genius type – perfect 800 on math in SATs…you know, NOTHING like me) to the FOREX market.  I’ve showed him a few of the things I look out for and have some interesting incite on how he is handling things.  I will write an OP ED this weekend about it…

I may take tomorrow off from trading since I’ve hit my targets for the week already, but I doubt it…

See you around the block!  OH yeah—-> follow me on Twitter!