Chrome, An Essential Business Mineral

I LOVE GOOGLE CHROME!!!!

Did I come on a little strong…………………….?

I can’t talk enough about the productivity elements that Chrome offers to business people.  I've battled between Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome for a while, but now I’m a heavy metal head!

Why you ask?  Let me tell you:

1.  Synchronization – I drive a lot for my work and I have an Android phone so it is great to have all of my contacts and prospective addresses synced to my phone and other devices.  Even if I’m just thinking about going to a place, if I searched it on my notebook it quickly pops up on my phone (huge time saver).

2.  Speed – I know Chrome does use a lot of resources on your computer, but when it’s going it’s very fast (I’m all about time saving).

3.  Extensions -  This is the number 1 reason why I love Chrome.  I've found some great extensions that make my work a lot more productive and insightful.  Here’s a section on those  (the bullet title links go to the Chrome Web Store):

1.  Stayfocused – do you ever find yourself just sitting in your email inbox or drifting around LinkedIn or Twitter because of one notification?  Stayfocused allows you to set a timer for websites you use and then when the time expires you cannot login to these sites until the next day.  I’ll tell you what, when you know you can’t get into your email until the next day you look at it with more focus, speed, and efficiency!

2.  PowerInbox – this one just allows you to see any social media emails more completely.  Follow people from your email and unsubscribe from a list right from the inbox without even opening the email!

3.  mxHero Toolbox - Best extension ever!  I send a lot of emails and the fact that this one sends the tracking response right to your email you can see if you have a response on your phone.  Even schedule emails for later and set the email to remind you if you don’t receive a reply by a certain time.  Huge email supercharger!!

There’s a few more, but I think these 3 will get you well on your way to web wizardry!

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I Got 99 Problems And ……….

……. Healthcare is number 1 !!



The new year is here and for a lot of people improving their health is a resolution.  Now it’s a mandated law for all of us! 

With that being said, this creates a new budget for a lot of people.  This can either be something that has never been in a person’s budget, an increase in an existing budget, or a decrease.  Either way, a lot of health insurance deductibles are rising. 

This is similar to what happens in the automotive insurance world because people choose a low monthly payment with a high deductible.  I believe this is because most car damage wouldn't be a necessity to fix.  Quite frankly, it’s a little less important to fix your windshield than to fix your heart.  Therefore a lot of people will be financially exposed by going from an average deductible of $2,000 to $4,000.  This doubles the amount that you are responsible for towards your health carrier.  Health expenses planning should be as high on your list as getting your beach body because they both need to be handled by March!

The great thing about this new law is that it greatly improves citizens access to means of preventative care and reduces small emergency costs.  You have to realize though that these health insurance companies will get their money one way or another.  Either you will pay more monthly and less at the hospital or pay rock bottom monthly and take out a loan when you’re in the ER…….

Plan for the worst and hope for the best is what my wife has always said and now we all really should.  Don’t let a decision to get a cheap insurance bill now affect  your family later when you actually have to use that plan.  Cover your risk (the deductible) so bankruptcy doesn't cover you.

Have a plan not a plea.

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This is really a problem….

In 2013 the United States personal savings rate was 4.20%.  That means that a little over 4% of a household’s income is saved over a period of time. 

4%

The median household income is about $51,017 ₁  with an average household size of 4.16 people ₂………………

That means that about $2,000 is saved a year (yeah right) and that is to be used for retirement, emergencies, hospital bills, and child expenses…………

With the new policies for the Healthcare Exchanges rolling out, it will not be odd to see a deductible of $4,000 for the Silver plans (the “benchmark” plan offering the federal savings subsidy).  In general, before Obamacare arose, the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average deductible was $2,086₃ for a single person.  That number is already outside of the bounds of the average American’s savings.  Now double that………….

Imagine one doctor visit eating up years of savings for you and you have health insurance………..

The funny thing is that the deductibles for most Silver plans is $4,000, but the maximum annual out of pocket is $6,350.  So the Affordable Care Act does greatly help with preventive care, which all human beings need to improve their quality of life, but for the emergencies it only pays out about $2,000 which is what “we” save on average! 

The creation of national healthcare is a novel idea, but we all now need to intelligently plan our income and expenses so that we protect our futures. 

It’s great to have fire and pet insurance, but now you should look into income insurance, because if something disables you will you have the ability to pay your bills?

Have a plan not a plea.

_{1. Median Income Falls For 5th Year, Inequality At Record High http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/median-income-falls-inequality_n_3941514.html2. The demographic evolution of U.S. households  http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2013/02/18/the-demographic-evolution-of-u-s-households/3 . High-deductible health plans are a growing trend for employers  http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/09/28/5200346/high-deductible-health-plans-are.html}

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