Tarpey Group Provides Scholarships To Local Educators
The Tarpey Group, LLC (www.tarpeygroup.com), a full service, independent insurance and financial services firm in Fairfield, recently awarded scholarships to seven Principals throughout the state enabling them to attend the 18th New Jersey Principals’ and Supervisors’ Association (www.njpsa.org) and the Foundation for Educational Administration (www.featraining.org) conference in Princeton.
The conference provided an unprecedented opportunity for those in attendance to tackle the difficult professional challenges facing educators today. The conference focused on “skills for the future,” helping attendees to effectively define, move toward, and manage the future amid the uncertainty that comes with change.
Specifically, topics included analyzing basic educational models to develop personal mastery of, and improve the personal knowledge base; developing and applying individual and organizational learning strategies to manage creativity and innovation; acquiring state-of-the-art communication skills; helping colleagues to be more skillful and productive; tapping into personal creative processes through mental mapping and behavior modeling; focusing on skills related to different thinking and personality styles in terms of inter-functional interactions; learning how to manage more efficiently; and developing and learning how to clearly define personal leadership style.
“We were delighted to be able to take part in this important, widely regarded conference,” one of the scholarship recipients said. “There were opportunities to enhance our professional skills, study future trends, rediscover the joy of learning, and network with some of the nicest people around. None of this would have been possible were it not for the generosity of The Tarpey Group (www.tarpeygroup.com).”
Brian Tarpey, president of The Tarpey Group, said, “Providing opportunities as these scholarships did, is one of the many ways we seek to give back to our communities. We believe there is no finer investment nor is there any investment with a higher rate of return than there is in education, so we are very pleased to have been able to do this.”
Tarpey Group Secures Grant for Children’s Therapy Center
Brian G. Tarpey, from Fairfield, NJ, secured a $5,000.00 grant from the MDRT Foundation on behalf of Children’s Therapy Center.
Tarpey, of the Tarpey Group LLC and a 6-year MDRT member, is an active supporter of Children’s Therapy Center and nominated and endorsed the grant application. Children’s Therapy Center is a nonprofit organization that provides creative education and advanced therapeutic services for children with developmental disabilities. The MDRT Foundation grant will support a program that provides physical therapy equipment for over 30 special needs children ages 7 – 12 for the Children’s Therapy Center’s Upper School.
This year, the MDRT Foundation will award more than $1 million in grants to more than 100 charities. Representing the MDRT Foundation, Tarpey presented this grant to Children’s Therapy Center on Friday, July 23.
The MDRT Foundation was created in 1959 to provide MDRT members with a means to give back to their communities. Since its inception, the Foundation has donated more than $23 million in 67 countries around the world and all 50 U.S. states. The majority of these funds were raised by MDRT members from MDRT members.
The MDRT Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Million Dollar Round Table, The Premier Association of Financial Professionals®. MDRT is an international, independent association of more than 39,000, or less than 1 percent, of the world’s best life insurance and financial services professionals from 476 companies and 76 nations and territories. MDRT members demonstrate exceptional product knowledge, strict ethical conduct and outstanding client service. MDRT membership is recognized internationally as the standard of sales excellence in the life insurance and financial services business.
Insurance Mandate: Tax or Penalty?
Under President Obama’s healthcare reform bill, starting in 2014 most Americans must maintain “minimum essential coverage” or they will have to pay a penalty. Many people feel that the ultimatum proposed by this bill, buy insurance or pay the price, is equivalent to a tax. The issue has been discussed in court and has been defended by the Obama administration along with the Justice Department. Although President Obama has consistently argued that the bill is not a tax, the Justice Department stated that it is a tax and that discrepancy between the two labels is completely erroneous. The constitutionality of a tax law depends on “its practical operation,” not the precise form of words used to describe it, the department says. Moreover, the department says the penalty is a tax because it will raise substantial revenue: $4 billion a year by 2017. As more people begin to feel that Congress is ordering them to purchase a specific good or service, the more people are beginning to disapprove of the healthcare reform bill.
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Cost Effects of Child Coverage Requirement
According to a report from The Hill, some families may face higher insurance premiums because of a requirement in the new healthcare law that plans must cover sick children. What was once regarded as a popular aspect of the new healthcare law is now being viewed negatively by those with healthy children. Those who will be affected the most are middle class families with healthy children because they don't have access to state public programs. As a result of this law, some health plans across the country will stop issuing new child-only coverage. This could force parents to buy costly family coverage where in the past they could have saved money by buying separate policies for themselves and their children. Another concern parents are facing is that employers tend to drop family coverage in tough economic times. If parents cannot buy separate insurance for their children, what options are left?
Managed Care Plans—What Are They and What Are My Options?
What are managed care plans? And what's the differenc between HMO, PPO & POS?
Well, managed care organizations generally negotiate agreements with providers to offer packaged health care benefits to covered individuals. The purpose of managed care plans is to reduce the cost of health benefits and improve the quality of care.
Popular managed care plans come in three kinds:
- HMO (Health Maintenance Organization): Generally, you select a primary care physician (PCP) who coordinated your care and refers you to specialists when needed. If you get care from someone not in the network, expect to pay more of the cost and potentially the full cost yourself unless you need care that no physician in the network can provide.
- PPO (Preferred Provider Organization): As with an HMO, you can choose from doctors within your network, but you don’t have to designate one doctor as your primary care physician. PPOs also offer out-of-network coverage, though you pay a higher portion of the cost.
- POS (Point-of-Service): Almost a combination of an HMO and a PPO – check the two previous plans – with a POS you can choose to get care from both network and out-of-network physicians. In many POS plans, if you get a referral from your PCP, you don’t pay as much as you do if you bypass your PCP.
Visit the American Heart Association's Website for a helpful guide to managed care plans. Or contact Tarpey Group for more information!
The Comfort of Protection
High school sweethearts, Allen and Lynda Striepe were true soul mates. They married, became schoolteachers and were very active in their local Methodist church, with Allen serving as a lay minister and Lynda playing the organ
Through the church, Allen and Lynda got to know Richard Garrett, a minister of music. When Richard later became a licensed insurance agent, his agency was awarded the contract to offer Monumental Life's long-term care product to educators in Allen and Lynda's school district in Autauga County, Alabama. When he contacted his friends, then in their mid-50s, they initially felt they were too young to consider long-term care insurance. But their minds changed when Richard explained that 40 percent of all long-term care claims benefit people under 65.
Several months after acquiring their policy, Allen started to forget things. By the beginning of the next school year, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and couldn't return to work. In fact, he needed a home health aide to assist him so that Lynda could continue to teach. Allen's long-term care insurance paid for the home care and later, when his condition worsened, covered his stays in an assisted living facility and a nursing home. Pneumonia took Allen's life less than two years after Alzheimer's was diagnosed. Lynda says that the disease is like dying two deaths, "First you lose the person you know and love, then you lose them physically."
Lynda retired at age 60, as planned, and is living the way she always has, "Nothing fancy, but comfortable." Playing the organ in church, teaching music to children with disabilities and visiting with her family keep her busy. Nothing can make up for Lynda's personal loss, but long-term care insurance helped ensure that the cost of Allen's care wouldn't derail Lynda's retirement plans.
Make sure you protect yourself and your loved ones. No matter how you choose to live out your retirement, long term care insurance can help you maintain your independence while taking the burden of care costs off your family. It's never too early to consider long term care insurance. Check out our website and receive a free Long Term Care Quote!
Looking at Long Term Care
As Americans age—the oldest baby boomers are now well into their sixties—and as medical advancements spawn longer lives, the need for long-term care is skyrocketing. Half of all Americans will need some form of long-term care.
Long-term care insurance covers costs for nursing homes, assisted-living centers, and in-home care-takers, who help with everyday tasks such as bathing and dressing. Though costs vary widely from state to state, the average price tag for a private room in a nursing home can be upwards of $70,000 per year. Generally, these services are not covered by Medicare or retiree health insurance. You can check with your current plan, your human resources department, your state’s health department, or visit the Tarpey Group to find out about Medicaid options for long term care.
Check out this New York Times article, recently published about the New Law on Long-Term Care as a result of Obama's health care overhaul in recent months. Read more for details on who is eligible, what is costs and what it provides.
College Planning: Ways to Fund Your Education
If you’re not able to save enough to cover the full cost of your (or your child’s) secondary education, various scholarships, grants, and loan programs are available to cover shortfalls. Here are some resources worth exploring:
- Rediscovering U.S. Savings Bonds: Whether you’re able to save only relatively small amounts, you’re uncertain about your potential student’s future plans, or you love the safety and security found only in U.S. Savings Bonds, you may find that this is an attractive way to save for future college expenses and still take advantage of some tax exemptions on the interest earned on your bonds.
- Saving for college the old-fashioned way: The trade-off for taking advantage of the income tax breaks available through Section 529 plans and Coverdell ESAs is that you’re guaranteeing that you will use that money to pay for qualified educational expenses. If only all of life were so certain and so sure. When you save in traditional investment and savings accounts, you’re not tied to using your savings in any one way. Of course, in exchange for that freedom to spend your savings as you will, you lose any opportunity to defer or exempt tax on your earnings.
- Putting your faith in a trust fund: For most people, the phrase “trust fund” brings to mind visions of great wealth and privilege. And that picture couldn’t be further from the truth. If you save money in any form, then you’re a potential candidate to create and fund a trust.
- Saving in your retirement accounts: Using retirement funds to pay for college probably isn’t the best way to put money away for college. In certain circumstances, such as when parents are older or you face completely unplanned educational expenses, it may make some sense to access funds from a retirement account to pay qualified educational expenses.
- Accessing your home equity: If you (or you and the bank) own your own home, you may be sitting on a larger nest egg than you ever considered. Your equity may be available to fund educational expenses.
- Identifying sources of free money: Not every potential student is an academic genius or a future first-round NFL draft pick, but you don’t necessarily need to conclude that your child won’t qualify for scholarships and grants.
- Borrowing to fill in the gaps: As college costs have soared, many parents and students rely on loans offered by the U.S. government or by private institutions with federal guarantees.
Tarpey Group can provide you with a free college planning quote! Visit our website for more tips and information.
The End of Unjustified Rescissions
Starting in September under the health care law's new regulations, insurance companies will be prohibited from rescinding coverage for state-regulated individual and small group coverage. Rescission generally means that the insurance company is accusing the policyholder of being untruthful. It puts consumers in a very bad situation because other insurance companies generally won’t insure someone who’s had a policy rescinded – leaving them damaged and virtually ‘uninsurable’. Consumer advocates say that insurance companies are driven by profit to revoke coverage based on even inconsequential discrepancies between the application and the medical record. Many insurers even pay employee bonuses for meeting a cancellation quota and for the amount of money saved.
This new health care law will prevent future rescissions from occurring, "except in cases involving fraud or an intentional misrepresentation of material facts," according to the federal government's HealthReform.gov Web site. If an insurer uncovers evidence of fraud, it must provide the affected consumer at least 30 days' advance notice for time to appeal.
3 Keys to Variable Annuities
Variable Annuities have become a part of retirement and investment plans of many Americans. Investors want security regarding their money in the face of increasing amounts of uncertainty about the future. Variable Annuities offer a rare blend of the opportunity for growth combined with a variety of guarantees protecting both the payment to a beneficiary if the account owner dies, and the income derived from the principal amount invested.
Breaking down the three keys to Variable Annuities:
- You (or whoever you designate as a recipient) will receive periodic payments for the rest of your life. This guarantees that you will not outlive your assets after you retire.
- Variable Annuities can also come with a death benefit. If you die before the insurer has started making payments to you, your beneficiary is guaranteed to receive a specified amount.
- Variable Annuities are tax-deferred. This means you pay no taxes on the income and investment gains from your annuity until you withdraw your money.
Reinforce your retirement nest with a customizable stream of income with a reasonable sense of security. Learn more about Variable Annuities and other investment products by visiting our financial services page. Also, receive a free annuities quote by filling out our short form.