"What is an annuity?

To put it simply, an annuity is a contract between an individual (called the annuity owner) and an insurance company for a guaranteed interest-bearing policy with guaranteed annuity income options. (Please visit the Learning Center for more information.)

What is a tax-deferred annuity?

It is a tax-advantaged product issued by an insurance company where long term financial needs can be solved better than with most other financial alternatives.

What is the major advantage of annuities?"
(e. g. naa )
All annuity earnings are able to accumulate interest completely tax deferred. This means an individual can avoid taxation of growth until the money is needed and therefore earn triple interest - interest on the principal, interest on the interest and interest on the money that normally would be paid in taxes. (Please visit the Learning Center for more information.)

"Who wants to own an annuity?

People who want a safe way to reduce taxes; people who want to decide when to pay taxes.

Is an annuity safe?

Yes - with annuities, your principal is 100% safe and you are guaranteed to earn at least a minimum interest rate. This guaranteed safety is possible because each insurance company issuing annuities is supervised and regulated by each state’s insurance department; plus, they are backed by a Legal Reserve System and a Guaranty Fund. (Please visit the Learning Center for more information.)"
(e. g. naa )
Is the annuity for all?

No. Income earmarked for short-term needs should not go into the annuity. , at least six months of income should be saved for emergencies outside of the annuity. Also, those who need current income should consider an immediate annuity, not a deferred annuity. On the other hand, those looking for one of the more efficient ways “to accumulate” dollars on a tax-advantaged basis will find the deferred annuity enormously beneficial.

"Who should consider purchasing an annuity?

Anyone who wants a safe way to accumulate funds through triple compounding without paying current taxes in earnings should definitely consider purchasing an annuity

Since a withdrawal of principal is tax-free and IRS penalty free, can principal be withdrawn first and then interest?

No, the IRS considers that interest earnings are withdrawn first. Naturally, any portion of a withdrawal exceeding interest earned would be a tax-free return on principal.

What kinds of dollars can be used to buy annuities?"
(e. g. naa )
Dollars from maturing CDs, money market funds, checking and savings accounts, mutual fund accounts, stocks and bond funds, IRA roll overs, etc. can all be used to purchase an annuity.

"What if the annuity is paying an interest rate less than other financial alternatives?

You should first compare the value of the “no market risk” feature of the annuity to other alternatives you are considering. You then must remember that the interest on many alternatives is currently taxable every year. Also, Section 1035 of the Internal Revenue Code allows annuity owners to move their dollars from one annuity to another annuity income tax-free.

Will an annuity be tied up in probate proceedings?"
(e. g. naa )
No - as long as the owner designates a “named” beneficiary other than his or her estate, the beneficiary will receive the annuity dollars without the delay, expense and hassles of probate proceedings.

Will the beneficiary be taxed on the interest that has accrued inside the annuity?

"Yes, beneficiaries will be taxed on the tax-deferred interest when they receive those dollars. However, if a beneficiary is the spouse of the owner and the owner dies, he/she may elect to continue the annuity and postpone taxes. Once again, the client decides when to pay income taxes. If the beneficiary is not the spouse and the owner dies, then dollars must be totally withdrawn within five years or they may be received over the beneficiaries life expectancy. However, this latter option must be elected during the first 12 months following the owner’s death.

Is an annuity identical to an IRA?

No. Although an annuity is often used as the funding vehicle for an IRA, many annuities are purchased with after-tax dollars that are not deductible. Also, with annuities, there are not government-imposed limits on how much an individual can contribute to an annuity."(e. g. naa )

Statistics

"$7 trillion of personal wealth is held collectively by people over the age of 50. (www.foxbusiness.com)

Every 8 seconds, a baby boomer turns 50. (www.cnbc.com)

There are about 78 million baby boomers living in the US as of 2009 (US Census and USAtoday.com)"
(e. g. naa )
As 78 million baby boomers, the greatest generation in American history-enter retirement, the need for practical strategies to generate sustainable retirement income is greater than ever. (www.limra.com)

A great number of the 78 million baby boomers will rely on their assets in fixed and variable annuities to help maintain their lifestyle in retirement. (www.limra.com)

"Tip: Pick up General Price Lists (GPL's) every six months from area funeral homes and cemeteries and carry them in your presentation book. Then provide the financial solution of an affordable “Burial Insurance” plan, ask if you can be their “burial man/woman,” write it up and gracefully leave to serve another family. (Insider Secrets of a Financial Expense Specialist by Alan Benedict)

I recommend a maximum of $40-$50 monthly per person, and having the protection approved. Many people in this demographic share the attitude that “some burial insurance is better than none.” (Insider Secrets of a Financial Expense Specialist by Alan Benedict)

Most of the seniors we target don't even have $50,000 in lifetime savings; otherwise they wouldn't be open to your recommendation of a $10,000 burial insurance program. (Insider Secrets of a Financial Expense Specialist by Alan Benedict)

Whether an agent is in a rundown urban neighborhood, a depressed rural area or a tract home suburb built in the 1950's the final expense agent looks at the bigger picture and knows those seniors who buy “Burial Insurance” love someone. (Insider Secrets of a Financial Expense Specialist by Alan Benedict)"
(e. g. naa )

Driver Ball Position

"I often see a number of amateurs prepare for their driver golf swing by walking up, after they have teed the ball up, they just take a step back and they address it. They grip the golf club and they address it, and they sort of just plot their feet down wherever they land, but let me tell you the proper way." (e. g. http://www.golfswingguru.com/category/golf-tips/ )

This way you’ll be able to get the ball in the desired position more often than not. After you have the golf ball and you’ve gripped it and you have addressed it, then you’ll just look down, take a peek down, and if this golf ball is running towards the left heel, then this is correct.
"If you look down and you see the golf ball is a little too far forward off your left, that’s too far forward and you’ll probably see that the shoulders are aimed too far to the left.

On the other hand, if you look back down and you think the ball is too far back in your stance when you put this shaft along you, you’ll be aiming way off to the right.

So, after you’ve addressed the golf ball, all you have to do to get ready for your driver golf swing is bring the shaft up and lay it along your shoulder line, and it should be going in the direction you want to go with it." (e. g. http://www.golfswingguru.com/category/golf-tips/ )

If you get it too far back in your posture at address, you’ll wind up aiming your shoulders too far off to the right.

And if you get it off the left heel, this should be okay for most people.

Stance and Ball Flight

I’m going to explain to you about how to draw the golf ball, hook the golf ball, or fade or slice the golf ball on purpose.

"That way, the next time you go play, if you have a dogleg right or a dogleg left, or the wind’s blowing from the left or wind’s blowing from the right, you’ll be able to curve the golf ball that will be beneficial towards you.

Let’s say I’m going to play a hole that has a big dogleg to the left, and I think that I can get it out and around the corner. I’m going to give you a couple of ideas on how to draw the golf ball.

After you go through your routine, make sure that you aim the golf ball further right than normal, than you're used to.

The second thing is I’m going to give you some golf grip instruction. You should turn your grip a little bit to the right. This will encourage the face to curve over.

And lastly, make sure that you're aiming with your shoulders, knees and hips to the right. And if you’d like to and you feel comfortable, you can put the right foot back a little bit."
(e. g. http://www.golfswingguru.com/category/golf-tips/ )

This will help the golf club to swing a little bit more underneath you from the inside.

Now let me give you a little bit of wisdom on how to make the golf ball fade.

"After you’ve gone through your routine and you’ve aimed down the left side of the fairway, another golf trip instruction is to make sure that before you draw the golf club back that you turn your grip to the left a little bit. And this will delay the face from closing opposite of the draw, and the face will return more open than it will square or closed. And then swing away and that will help the golf ball fade.

Now let’s spend a minute correcting a hook. If you’ve been struggling, really hooking a lot of your tee shots, all you have to do is check your grip. The golf grip instruction is to make sure that it’s over to the left a little bit and that will encourage the face to stay open." (e. g. http://www.golfswingguru.com/category/golf-tips/ )

If you’ve been slicing the ball, make sure you turn your grip a little bit further to the right, and that will help the golf club close and bring the ball back to center instead of slicing so much.

Disability Income

One major risk that one has to face in their lifetime is the possibility that they will become totally disabled and be unable to maintain a job for a period of time.  “Statistics show that there is a 50% chance of a 25-year old being disabled for more than 90 days prior to age 65.  It is far less likely that the same 25-year-old will suffer a premature death prior to age 65.”(e. g. Tennessee Health)

For most people who are unable to go to work, employment income would end after a brief period of time.  Because of this, most people would be forced to empty savings accounts to pay normal living expenses such as food, rent and utilities.  One should ask oneself, how long he or she could survive without any income.

Disability income insurance is created to replace lost income in the event of this contingency, and is an important part of a comprehensive insurance program.  It may be purchased individually or through ones job, or company,  on a group basis.

“Presumptive Disability is a provision that is found in most disability income policies which specifies the conditions that will automatically qualify the insured for full disability benefits.”(e. g. Tennessee Health)  Some disability policies provide a compensation when people simply meet certain qualifications, even if they can still do some job duties.  “The presumptive disability benefit provides a benefit for dismemberment (the loss of use of any two limbs), total and permanent blindness, or loss of speech or hearing.  Some policies require actual severance of limbs rather than loss of use.

Recurrent Disability is generally expressed in a policy provision that specifies the period of time (usually within 3-6 months), during which the recurrence of an injury or illness will be considered as a continuation of a prior period of disability.”(e. g. Tennessee Health)  The significance of this feature is that recurrence of a disabling condition will not be regarded as a new period of disability so that the insured is not subjected to another elimination period.

Elimination Period is a waiting period that is imposed on the insured from the beginning of disability until benefit payment commence,  It is a deductible measured in days, instead of dollars.  The reason for the elimination period is to eliminate coverage for short-term disabilities in which the insured will be able to return to work in a relatively short period of time.  “The elimination periods found in most policies range from 30 days to 180 days.  Just as a higher deductible amount results in lower premiums for medical expense insurance, a longer elimination period translates into a lower premium for disability income insurance.  An important consideration in selecting the elimination period, is that payments are made in arrears.  Therefore, if the insured selects a 90-day, but payments will not begin until the following disability in selecting the duration of the elimination period.” (e. g. Tennessee Health)

More on Micron Tech.:Our new 128Gb MLC NAND

“Our new 128Gb MLC NAND device provides the highest storage capacity of any single die on the market, enabling more storage for portable devices.
Patent Leadership” (e. g. Micron Tech)

For the past several years, Micron has continuously ranked among the top 10 most-prolific patent registrants in the United States. But it’s the quality of those patents that really counts, and that’s where we truly excel.  "In October 2011, the Patent Board ranked Micron’s patents first in science strength for the second consecutive year. Our patent portfolio also ranked fifth in technology strength among all semiconductor companies. These high ratings for science and technology strength underscore our emphasis on the spirit of innovation that has yielded one of the most valuable patent portfolios in the world. It’s this added value that enabled us to maintain our lead over several much larger companies who actually recorded more patents for the year.” (e. g. Micron Tech)

Awards for our process advancements are the visible result of years of cumulative R&D work by some of the best scientists and engineers in the industry. These kinds of innovations are our core strengths and continue to move our business toward greater efficiency and put us in a more powerful competitive position.

About Micron's Innovations Blog

“For videos and forward-looking design discussion, tune into our Innovations Biog. Our blog  highlights recent technology developments-from the advanced storage solutions, to the cutting edge of server, computing, and mobile memory.” (e. g. Micron Tech)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h2swEqw6pbg

    Real-time new WORLD WIDE WEB (The grid)




The new ground zero in Internet warfare
The power grid is an obvious target for terrorists, but experts disagree about how to fail-safe  it.

.

WWW - When it comes to critical national infrastructure, the highly distributed and ultra-interconnected U.S. power grid is, hands down, the most vulnerable to cyber-attack. On this one point, many cyber-security experts seem to agree.

"Yet just how likely a terrorist target is the grid? And what's the best way to secure and protect the massive inventory of generators, power plants and transmission lines plus the cat's cradle of computer networks that make up the electric power system?

Talk to 10 experts, and you'll likely get 10 different answers.

The problem is that we have a hard time assessing risk," says Jim Lewis, a senior fellow specializing in cyber-security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "We seem to settle on either indifference or a Bruce Willis movie." (e.g. The Grid )
                                               

                                                                  Internet Warfare

    Global attacks: Are we focusing on the wrong things?
    Navigating the fog of cyber war
    Software: The eternal battlefield
    The grid: Likely target?
    Cyberwar's first casualty: Your privacy
    A short history of hacks, worms and cyberterror"

Up until about a many moons ago, things were a lot simpler. The industrial control systems that manage the generation and flow of power were pretty much protected from intrusion by their closed-loop architecture. These control systems existed and operated in isolation from everything else.

But increasingly, these systems have been linked to countless corporate networks for everything from real-time monitoring of electricity generation and transmission to remote meter reading and automated grid operations.

"We had an explosion in business network technology, and as that occurred, individuals in accounting, for example, wanted real-time information at their desktop computers so they could do projection planning," (e. g. Michael Assante ), chief information security officer at North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), an industry organization of U.S. electrical grid operators.

The smart grid relies heavily on public communication networks, including cellular networks and WiMax, to electronic monitor and control the grid for more efficient operation, he explains.
More vulnerability

But more connections mean more points of vulnerability, and that's what worries Sami Saydjari, president of Cyber Defense Agency, a  held security consulting firm headquartered in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

"The power grid is controlled by systems that are antiquated and highly vulnerable because they have very little security. They've been historically protected by disconnection," he says.

But the rush to improve convenience and efficiency by tying together administrative systems and billing systems over the Internet has created gateways to the power grid control systems, Saydjari notes.
The power grid is controlled by systems that are antiquated and highly vulnerable because they have very little security.
Sami Saydjari, president, Cyber Defense Agency

"The concern that many of us have is that an adversary can jump that gap directly or indirectly and exploit vulnerabilities," he says.

In particular, they could use these control systems to destroy physical things, like generators, or overload transformers and destroy them, Saydjari says. If that were to happen, it could take six months to replace transformers or generators, "and we have no [replacement] manufacturing capabilities in the U.S.," he says. "Germany, China and Japan are our sources." (e.g. The Grid )