Saturday, December 24, 2011

Enhancing Whole Life with an OPP

OPP Increases Your Death Benefit And Builds Cash Value

                                                               Need additional paid-up life insurance coverage? Want to increase your policy's cash value? With the Option to Purchase Paid-Up Additions (OPP) rider, you can pay additional money into your policy (within certain limits) to purchase fully paid-up life insurance in addition to the coverage that already exists under the base policy without proof of good health.
The additional OPP payments paid into your policy not only increase your policy's total death benefit by providing additional paid-up life insurance coverage, but also increase your policy's cash value. The paid-up additions purchased under the OPP rider are also eligible for dividends, in addition to the dividends paid on your base policy (if dividends are declared by the Company).1 The cash value of these paid-up additions accumulates tax-deferred. (Dividends, of course, are not guaranteed.)
The OPP rider is automatically included with all regularly underwritten New York Life whole life products and it's to your benefit to use it.


Reasons to consider using the OPP Rider

                                      The OPP rider: offers a convenient way to increase your policy's available death benefit without having to provide additional proof of good health, as long as your payments are within the limits we set. This becomes a valuable option if for some reason you are not able to purchase new life insurance in the future.increases your policy's cash value, which accumulates tax-deferred.allows you to assess your changing life insurance needs by giving you the flexibility to conveniently purchase paid-up additional coverage that increases your death benefit and is eligible for dividends.1creates additional loan value, which can be accessed to help provide a supplement to a child's education fund, your retirement, or other important needs.can be used in conjunction with competitively priced term riders2 to maximize life insurance coverage.

1 Dividends are not guaranteed. They are based on the policy's applicable dividend scale, which is neither guaranteed nor an estimate of future performance.


2 Speak to your New York Life Agent for further information on the Dividend Option Term (DOT) rider and other term riders.


Things You Should Know About the OPP Rider Minimums & Maximums


                                 To activate your OPP rider, an initial OPP payment must be made by the policy's second anniversary. The minimum OPP premium is $100 for lump-sum payments and $10 for Check-O-Matic payments. The total of all payments in any given policy year cannot be more than 100% of the annual base plan premium.3 Under current rules, the maximum OPP payment allowed during the first year is ten times the annual standard base premium (ASBP), and two times the ASBP during the second and subsequent years.
3 Excludes premiums for any riders as well as the policy fee, and is based on a standard class of risk.


Payments to Your OPP Rider


                          Once the initial payment is made into your OPP rider, you must make at least one $100 payment every two years to keep the rider active. You may skip OPP payments. However, be aware that the OPP rider will automatically terminate if no initial payments are made by the second policy anniversary, or if no additional payments are made for three consecutive anniversaries after an initial payment. It's important to keep track of the policy anniversary and remember the last time a payment was made under this rider.
We have two simple ways of helping you make these payments. Billing may be established for the OPP rider in which you can be directly billed in the same manner as you are for your base plan policy premiums. You can also establish an easy and convenient way to make these OPP payments through the Check-O-Matic arrangement, in which money is automatically drawn from your checking account. This helps to maximize the potential of the rider by establishing a continuous flow of cash into your policy. If you elect to be billed, the minimum payment for each bill is $10.


How Much Insurance Can Be Purchased?


                              The amount of paid-up additional insurance you can purchase with each payment is based on the cost of purchasing $1,000 of paid-up insurance for your attained age. An expense charge will be deducted from all payments before the paid-up insurance is purchased. Reinstating a Lapsed OPP Rider: If your OPP rider lapses, it may be eligible for reinstatement with proof of your good health. If the OPP rider is reinstated, new paid-up insurance can be purchased as of the anniversary on or after the date of reinstatement.


OPP in Conjunction with the DOT Rider


                      To help maximize the policy's death benefit and increase the policy's cash value, the OPP rider can be used in conjunction with the Dividend Option Term (DOT) rider. The DOT rider uses term insurance to maximize the death benefit amount with a lower term premium. The lower overall premium provides additional dollars that can be paid into your OPP rider.
Each year, the Dividend Option Term insurance decreases as it is replaced by the "increase in paid-up additional  insurance" that is purchased by dividends4 and by payments into the OPP rider. Contact a local New York Life agent today to learn how this competitive blend can work to your advantage.
4 Dividends are based on the policy's applicable dividend scale, which is neither guaranteed nor an estimate of future performance.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Hiring Qualified Structured Settlement Consultant

                                     Having a certified structured settlement consultant to get a structured settlement is probably the best and the safest option. The certified structured settlement consultants are the best guide in helping you get the best deal. These professionals know the best option for you after taking into account all your financial needs and the situation at hand and will also work around your budget.
It is however important before consulting a professional to decide if you wish for structured plans over a period of time or a lump-sum settlement.
Generally in compensation cases especially with ones that have to do with an accident, people prefer a structured settlement plan. In this case they will receive their compensation in installments, probably on a monthly basis than receiving a lump sum amount all at once. A certified structure settlement consultant might vote for this since a structured settlement offers many benefits, one of them being that structured payouts are generally tax free. Another advantage is that since the money is received in installments, it doesn't disappear all at once. This is really beneficial if the client happens to be a minor. This is because minors are usually more spendthrift if they have a lot of money all of a sudden and a structured settlement helps to curb this unnecessary spending.
The certified structured settlement consultant will first need to decide the immediate funds requirement and the long term needs of his client. The client should do a thorough research on professionals before appointing one so that they get the best deal. Be warned that many consultants have tied up with insurance companies and may work out a shoddy deal for you as per a prior arrangement with these companies, so choose your consultant with care.
Ensure you have a good working relationship with the consultant you hire. One should talk to a few companies, look into their policies, and get a trustworthy consultant. Suffice it to say that the right certified structured settlement consultant will ensure you the best deal.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Bugs, Problems and Known Issues

                                                 With the release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Activison hopes to avoid the pitfalls of its predecessor Call of Duty Black Ops and aggravating the fan base by delivering a buggy game. For those of you who remember last year's launch of Black Ops will probably recall how aggravating the first few weeks were after its release. It Ops was full of bugs and glitches and while Treyarch was hard at work trying to resolve them, it still took weeks to months for the major issues to get resolved.

Bugs are a part of virtually every video game and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 will be no exception to this fact. But what can you do if you happen to encounter a Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Bug or problem that you can't seem to resolve on your own?

The official Call of Duty Forums contains platform specific and technical support forums that contain various discussions surrounding Modern Warfare 3 bugs and issues that people are experiencing. As of this writing there appears to be quite a few issues surrounding the Call of Duty Elite service as it struggles with the high demand. Infinity Ward has not posted information regarding bug fixes/patches, bug reporting or known issues but the game's Creative Strategist Robert Bowling made few tweets in regards to both Modern Warfare 3 online issues and Call of Duty Elite problems:


"All Call of Duty ELITE questions, feedback, or problems should be directed to @CallOfDutyElite team at Beachhead Studios."
That being said I'm not certain how much attention your message may get depending on the specifics of your issue. So here's you're chance to tell us about any bugs or problems you have been experiencing with the game or Elite, hopefully someone else may have encountered the same issue and has a solution.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

HTC Radar 4G



Platform           Windows® Phone OS 7.5

Processor         Qualcomm® MSM8255, 1 GHz

Internal Memory 512MB RAM, 8GB ROM

Display         3.8-inch touchscreen with 480x800 resolution

Network           GSM/EDGE:850/900/1800/ 1900,
                         UMTS 1700/2100/ AWS,
                         UMTS 2100, 1900, 850

Camera          5-megapixel camera with F2.2 lens, LED flash,
                         and BSI sensor (for better low-light captures).
                         Front camera: VGA front camera.
                         HD video recording: 720p HD

Battery         Rechargable Lithium Battery.
                         1,520 mAh
                         GSM: Up to 600 minutes.
                         GSM: Up to 480 minutes.

Dimensions  120 x 61.5 x 10.8mm

Friday, December 2, 2011

ZTE Score


                                         This a very affordable Android phone
Muve Music, stereo Bluetooth,
3.5mm audio jack,
memory card slot, EVDO Rev.
A 3G data, a touch screen,
Wi-Fi, and GPS navigation.
4.4" x 2.5" x 0.5"   (112 x 64 x 12.7 mm)
Talk: 4 hours max.   (240 minutes)
Standby: 250 hours max.   (10.4 days)
1200 mAh   LiIonType: LCD (Color TFT/TFD)
Resolution: 320 x 480 pixels
3.5"   diagonal
Colors: 262,144 (18-bit)Android
version 2.3.4 (Gingerbread)110 MB internal storage, available to user
plus 4 GB card includedAD      
Rating: M4, T3 (mostly tele-coil compatible)
Languages Supported: English, Spanish, Portuguese
Supported Formats: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, Ogg
Browser Software: Android browser (WebKit-based)
volume, camera on right / lock on topCard Type: microSD (TransFlash)
4 GB card included / supports up to 32 GB

Grand Theft Auto V Announced; Debut Trailer

                                      Rockstar Games recently announced the next title in their popular Grand Theft Auto series of games aptly named, Grand Theft Auto V. The announcement didn't provide a lot of information except to state that the game was in "Full Development" and that it was returning to Los Santos, San Andreas. The same ficitional setting of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas which is modeled after Los Angeles, CA.


The debut trailer was release a few days after the Grand Theft Auto V announcement and includes some scenes that give the impression that the game is fairly far along in development. It shows of some of the streets and encounters you're liking to visit in the game as well as a little narrative background that gives you a glipse at the story.

There was no indiciation of a concrete release date but it should be save to assume sometime in 2012. Also no word on if it's going to be exclusive to a single platform for a number of weeks/months after initial release. The PC version has always seemed to lag behind the console versions by six months or so.

The Elder Scrolls Reigns Supreme Over Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

                                        With all of the hoopla and press surrounding the release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 past week, it was easy to overlook the other major release this week. On Friday November 11th, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released and in the first 48 hours of release, the number of Steam users playing the game dwarfed those of Modern Warfare 3 on the PC Platform. As of this writing on Sunday November 13 The Elder Scrolls Skyrim has peaked at more than 287,000 users while Modern Warfare 3 has peaked at nearly 87,000 users.
Now Modern Warfare 3 has outsold every game in history during it's first week in release when all platforms are considered, selling more than $400 Million in the first 24 hours. It will be interesting to see which direction this disparity goes over then next few weeks and months. Previous Call of Duty releases have been plagued by bugs and server capacity issues that it's possible some PC gamers are waiting for the first few patches before purchasing. However it's also likely that Modern Warfare 3 has done little to differentiate itself from previous Call of Duty titles or the scores of other military first person shooters that are released. When give the choice of a story rich, open world role playing experiece or a scripted first person shooter with standard multiplayer component PC gamers are choosing the former.



If you're not playing the game yet, here's one of the latest trailers, it may persuade you. Called Behind The Wall The Making of Skyrim it goes behind the scenes at Bethesda and gives you a glimpse into the making of the game.