I want to say thank for being a part of our ministry!  The last 3 years has been really exciting at Jayperoni.com!  We now reach thousands of people each and every week.  Thank God for His blessings!

I also wanted to let you know about three expiring offers!

Three special offers expire in 48 hours…

The advantages of HSAs

Health Savings Accounts offer you tax breaks and more.

Why do people open up Health Savings Accounts in tandem with high-deductible insurance plans? Well, here are some of the compelling reasons why younger, healthier employees decide to have HSAs.

#1: Tax-deductible contributions. These accounts are funded with pre-tax income. Your annual contribution limit to an HSA depends on your age and the type of insurance plan you have in conjunction with the account. For 2010, the limit is set at $3,050 (individual plan) and $6,150 (family plan). If you are older than 55, those limits are nudged $1,000 higher.

#2: Tax-free growth. The money in an HSA grows untaxed – and some HSAs even have investment options, including mutual funds. Some HSA owners choose to invest the assets in money market funds, but they are commonly held as cash.

#3: Tax-free withdrawals (as long as withdrawals pay for heath care costs). To make withdrawals even easier, many HSAs offer you checkbooks and debit cards to make it easier to pay healthcare expenses and reimburse yourself. There is no need to provide reimbursement claims to the IRS; all you need to do is keep your receipts in case of an audit.

Add it up: an HSA lets you avoid taxes as you pay for health care. Additionally, these accounts have other merits.

You own your HSA. If you leave the company you work for, your HSA goes with you – your dollars aren’t lost.

No use-it-or-lose-it rule. This is an improvement from a Flexible Spending Account (FSA). If you don’t use the money in an FSA at the end of a year, you lose it. With an HSA, there is no such penalty. For the record, you can’t have both an HSA and an FSA.

Hidden social advantages? Since HSAs impel people to spend their own dollars on health care, the theory goes that they spur their owners toward staying healthy and getting the best medical care for their money.

How about the downside? Well, HSA funds don’t pay for all forms of health care. For example, you can’t pay for over-the-counter drugs with HSA assets.³ In the worst-case scenario, you get sick while you’re enrolled in a high-deductible health plan and lack enough money to pay medical expenses.

If you use funds from your HSA for non-medical expenses, the federal government will hit you with a withdrawal penalty – 10% in 2010, going north to 20% in 2011. And in case you might be wondering, some HSAs do assess monthly fees and transactional charges to account owners.

Even with those caveats, younger and healthier workers see many tax perks and pluses in the HSA.

Who is eligible to open up an HSA? You are eligible if you enroll in a health plan with a sufficiently high deductible. For 2010, the eligibility limits are a $1,200 annual deductible for an individual or a $2,400 annual deductible for a family. You aren’t eligible if you are enrolled in Medicare or if someone else claims you as a dependent on their federal return.

You don’t need an employer-sponsored health plan to have an HSA. You can open one with a personal health plan, too. In June 2010, the American Medical Association’s American Medical News reported that HSA enrollment had reached the 10 million mark, growing by 2 million alone during 2009.

As health insurance costs are repeatedly increasing for businesses, and as health plans with higher deductibles generally cost less for a company compared to traditional coverage, you will likely see the population of HSA owners growing in the 2010s.

This morning, one of the top headlines on Yahoo News was “The Number One Obstacle to Retirement”.  It was from a US News article that talked about five ways to get back on track for retirement.  It mentioned:

1. Stop borrowing.

2. Save first.

3. Scale down your budget.

4. Plan for the unexpected.

5. Plan for the expected.

Though I agree with the steps listed in the article, I seriously question the implications. If we truly love what we do every day isn’t the number one obstacle to retirement the fact that we’re even planning for retirement?   Stay with me here for a second, I mean if we are truly in the place where God wants us, living passionately and with purpose, why would we want to retire?

The bigger issue is why do some many people want to retire?  It’s simply because the majority of people view work as a means to an end.  They exchange time for money.  They do this for 30 or more years and then wish to have enough money to buy the freedom that money can afford.   This is backwards thinking!

Instead of scrimping and saving for a retirement that may never come, shouldn’t we instead live like today could be our last day?  A song quickly comes to mind as I write this post.  “Live like we’re dying” by Kris Allen, 2009’s American Idol winner.

Kris sums it up:

“Our hearts are hungry for a food that won’t come
And we could make a feast from these crumbs
And we’re all staring down the barrel of a gun
So if your life flashed before you,
What would you wish you would’ve done”

My point is simply this:  let’s start living more for today!  This doesn’t mean we can ignore prudent strategies such as saying for the future, but we should place far less emphasis on saving for a day that may never come and much more emphasis on finding what God put us on earth to accomplish!

What if we only had one month to live?

Another great resource is One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life by Kerry & Chris Shook.   This book helped me tremendously as I contemplated making some huge changes in my life.

It looks at “what if you only had one month to live?”  How would you make each day meaningful? How would you relate to others differently? What would you do to make the rest of your life really matter? One Month to Live will challenge you to embrace the life God has entrusted to you and you alone, and to live it out moment by moment with wholehearted authenticity, honesty, and integrity. The four sections, which can be read over four weeks, help you examine the core areas inside you that long to be exercised and expressed: how you’re made to live passionately, love boldly, learn from your mistakes, and leave a legacy that endures for generations after you’re gone.

Help…I surrender!

When it comes to spending, people often become their own worst enemies by following pooradvice, making bad decisions, and backing themselves into a corner. After all, isn’t that today’s American way of life—live, spend, and die broke? The American Dream has turned into the American Nightmare for many families. You can either learn to master your money or become a slave to it. Which would you rather be: slave or master?

Many people don’t choose to become slaves to money, but it occurs because of their spending habits. Think about your spending habits. Are you using your resources wisely or do you spend money like there is no tomorrow? For many, money burns a hole in their pockets. How often do you go out and spend money on an impulse, leading to buyer’s remorse?

How many things are in your garage or basement that you at one time just had to have and now sit around collecting dust? Instead of buying dust collectors, what if money w as used wisely? I know there will be times when spending gets off track, but with a plan and some focus, you can minimize the damage.

Today, many people live beyond their means. Often people buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t even like. Most people would agree that they have overspent on occasion but do not fall victim to impulsive or compulsive shopping. There are others who cannot say the same thing.

Do you have a plan?

Put pen to paper and write down whatever you, your family, and the Lord decide is appropriate in every budget category (housing, transportation, food, entertainment, medical, clothing, etc.) Why? Because, having no written plan is the same as having no plan.

According to God’s Word, not to plan is slothful. God wants you to be disciplined, organized, and yet not legalistic. One way to become disciplined and organized in your planning, especially in budget planning, is to write down your plans.  Too many play “god” and get in His way!  They fail to identify needs versus wants and fly by the seat of their pants!

Well thought out, prayed over and written down plans help strike a balance between slothfulness and legalism.

Identify your needs, wants and desires.

Let’s add some definitions to start:

Needs: are the basic material necessities of life. Needs are the minimum amounts it takes to provide housing, food, clothing, medical care, etc.

Wants: cover the same budget categories but at a higher quality or quantity level.

Desires: cover the same budgeting areas but at a level where price is no object.

Perhaps God is providing the resources to live at the wants level. If so, and the resources are available to stay at this level, great. Sometimes, after all your obligations have been met, you can use some of your surplus funds to reach for some of your desires. Many times God will give you the desires of your heart. Once you identify your needs, wants, and desires it will be much easier to change your lifestyle if you have a hard time paying your bills. It is hard to cut much from the needs level. It can be easier to move from wants to needs or from desires to wants or needs.

Next month, President Obama will likely sign a bill into law ordering changes in the ways banks, credit card issuers and mortgage lenders interface with consumers. Here are the key features of the financial reform agreement that the Senate and House of Representatives came to on June 24, with a vote pending.

#1: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. This new consumer agency answering to the Federal Reserve would supervise mortgages, credit cards, student loans and the banks, credit unions and private lenders that issue them. Institutions holding less than $10 million in assets wouldn’t be regulated by the BCFP – but they would have to follow its rules. The BCFP would aim to make these products easier to comprehend for consumers and crack down on any possible deceptive practices.

#2: See your credit score for free. If you are turned down for a mortgage or a loan, the new reforms would give you the power to see the credit score supplied to your lender. Right now, you can request three free credit reports each year but you can’t see your actual score.

#3: Tougher rules for mortgage lenders. These rules should have come into play years ago, of course, but better late than never. Mortgage lenders would need to verify the assets and income of borrowers, thwarting any surreptitious comeback for “liar loans”. Loan officers and mortgage brokers would not be able to receive bonuses for guiding you into this or that loan. Borrowers with ARMs and other types of complex home loans could not be hit with prepayment penalties should they want or need to pay off a mortgage before the end of its term.

#4: Retail minimums for the use of credit cards. Score one for retailers, who don’t want to see people make $2 credit card purchases when the swipe fee alone cancels out the revenue. Under the new legislation, stores could set minimums for credit card use. The minimum transaction level could be as high as $10 if a store chooses; the Federal Reserve could raise that $10 limit on the minimum with time. Alternately, stores could offer consumers discounts if they pay for items with cash or debit cards. (They wouldn’t be able to vary the discounts for different debit cards.)
Additionally, the proposed reforms could allow colleges and universities and the U.S. government to set maximums for credit card transactions.

#5: Brokers could be held to a fiduciary standard. Under the new reforms, the Securities and Exchange Commission now has the chance to hold brokers to the same fiduciary standard common to financial advisers – that is, investment brokers would have to put a client’s best interest first and not simply recommend a “suitable” investment to a client. That new standard may or may not come into play, however; the SEC is undertaking a six-month study to see if such a rule would amount to regulatory overlap or not.

#6: The “Volcker Rule” would be put into play. This is the rule that would prevent banks from trading with their own money. It would kick in with small concessions. While the reforms would halt most proprietary trading by banks, some limited investment would be permitted – they could provide up to 3% of a fund’s equity, and invest up to 3% of Tier 1 capital in hedge or private equity funds.

The big banks got another key concession from Congress: they don’t have to get rid of their swaps-trading desks (some legislators had contended that this decision would drive such trading to foreign markets). They can still be involved in foreign-exchange and interest-rate swaps dealing.

#7: An Office of Credit Ratings would appear. It would oversee the actions of Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and other big names, and one of its objectives would be to flag potential conflicts of interest that could influence ratings judgements.

#8: The SEC would no longer regulate equity-indexed annuities. The promotion and sale of these annuity contracts has generated much flak in recent years. Interestingly, they would be overseen by state insurance regulators if the reform bill passes, and treated strictly as insurance products.

Now, what about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Good question. Nothing made it into the final reform bill to address that dilemma. Some analysts expect another bill will emerge in 2011 to propose their restructuring or elimination.

Create a pool of healthcare dollars that will grow in any market

How will you pay for long term care? The sad fact is that most people don’t know the answer to that question. But a solution is available. As baby boomers leave their careers behind, long term care insurance will become very important in their financial strategies. The reasons to get an LTC policy after age 50 are very compelling.

Your premium payments buy you access to a large pool of money which can be used to pay for long term care costs. By paying for LTC out of that pool of money, you can preserve your retirement savings and income.

The cost of assisted living or nursing home care alone could motivate you to pay the premiums. Genworth Financial conducts a respected annual Cost of Care Survey to gauge the price of long term care in the U.S. The 2010 report found that:

1) In 2010, the median annual cost of a private room in a nursing home is $75,190 or $206 per day – $14,965 more than it was in 2005.
2) A private one-bedroom unit in an assisted living facility has a median cost of $3,185 a month – which is 12% higher than it was in 2009.
3) The median payment to a non-Medicare certified, state-licensed home health aide is $19 in 2010, up 2.7% from 2009.

Can you imagine spending an extra $30-80K out of your retirement savings in a year? What if you had to do it for more than one year?

AARP notes that approximately 60% of people over age 65 will require some kind of long term care during their lifetimes.

Why procrastinate?

The earlier you opt for LTC coverage, the cheaper the premiums. This is why many people purchase it before they retire. Those in poor health or over the age of 80 are frequently ineligible for coverage.

What it pays for. Some people think LTC coverage just pays for nursing home care. That’s inaccurate. It can pay for a wide variety of nursing, social, and rehabilitative services at home and away from home, for people with a chronic illness or disability or people who just need assistance bathing, eating or dressing.

Choosing a DBA.

That stands for Daily Benefit Amount – the maximum amount that your LTC plan will pay per day for care in a nursing home facility. You can choose a Daily Benefit Amount when you pay for your LTC coverage, and you can also choose the length of time that you may receive the full DBA on a daily basis. The DBA typically ranges from a few dozen dollars to hundreds of dollars. Some of these plans offer you “inflation protection” at enrollment, meaning that every few years, you will have the chance to buy additional coverage and get compounding – so your pool of money can grow.

The Medicare misconception

Too many people think Medicare will pick up the cost of long term care. Medicare is not long term care insurance. Medicare will only pay for the first 100 days of nursing home care, and only if 1) you are getting skilled care and 2) you go into the nursing home right after a hospital stay of at least 3 days. Medicare also covers limited home visits for skilled care, and some hospice services for the terminally ill. That’s all.

Now, Medicaid can actually pay for long term care – if you are destitute. Are you willing to wait until you are broke for a way to fund long term care? Of course not. LTC insurance provides a way to do it.

Why not look into this? You may have heard that LTC insurance is expensive compared with some other forms of policies. But the annual premiums (about as much as you’d spend on a used car from the late 1990s) are nothing compared to real-world LTC costs. Ask your insurance advisor or financial advisor about some of the LTC choices you can explore – while many Americans have life, health and disability insurance, that’s not the same thing as long term care coverage.

Thrive Don’t Just Survive….

10 Principles of Faith-Based Millionaires

2010 is Your Year!    WEBINAR REPLAY

Dear Jay,

Here is the replay link for last Tuesday’s Webinar. Over 200 people from all over the world joined us last night to learn 10 keys principles of faith-based millionaires.  I explained in great detail how 5% of the population was able to thrive through the toughest economic environment in over 50 years. Do yourself a favor and take 60 minutes to listen to this very TIMELY webinar!

LISTEN NOW

Here is what I covered on How to live a recession-proof life

1.       Give at least 10% away

2.       Save at least 20% for long-term

3.       Save  at least 10% for emergencies

4.       Automate savings and bills – become a faith-based investor

5.       Live on 60% or less of income

6.       Have multiple streams of income

7.       Have proper insurance in place

8.       Use debt wisely

9.       Have a coach/ financial accountability partner

10.   Money does not define success or happiness
LISTEN NOW!

Only 20 spots are open for the next Thrive Class – 4 week intensive wealth building course.

Thrive Don’t Just Survive – 4 week wealth building course
Starts July 6th, 2010 (for 4 Tuesday nights with one on one coaching)   enter code “peroni” to save $50

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR LEARN MORE

“Knowledge is the key to financial freedom”

How do you reach your financial goals without sacrificing your principles?

Jay Peroni, CFP® can help you find your way using a GPS System based on biblical principles:

	Grow your wealth: We’ll show you how to find investments that reflect your Christian values, morals and beliefs. You will receive specific investment strategies and advice designed to help you grow the assets God entrusts to you. We’ll teach you how to know what to buy, when to buy, and when to sell. It is about how to find good investments! Imagine making long term 20 year compounded rates of return of 20%, 30% or even 50% per year. We made over 50% in 2009! Some of the greatest investors of all time (Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch to name two) do this by asking two simple questions: Is it a wonderful business? Is it on sale? That’s it. Simple. Easy. We show you exactly what to do!
	Protect your wealth: Our training is designed for an environment such as this! High unemployment, low interest rates, volatile stock market. Our strategies are designed to help you weather the storm, gain peace of mind, and have confidence that you’re heading in the right direction. With specific training and strategies, you’ll know exactly what to do.
	Share your wealth: By having more you can give more and help advance God’s kingdom. Financial freedom allows you to help more of His people. We provide timely financial advice and training to help you better manage your finances.

To Listen to the Call CLICK HERE

Learn Jay Peroni’s GPS System that has helped thousands learn how to successfully build wealth

Jay personally guarantees that if you don’t get your money’s worth from this class, tell him what it WAS worth and he will refund the difference.  Jay is so confident that you will learn the keys to get unstuck and move forward financially that he offers payment plans and an unconditional guarantee.   Don’t let price or doubt hold you back.

SIGN UP TODAY

Here are a few testimonies:

“After the last crash I took a breather and reevaluated my investment philosophy. The idea of investing in companies that directly attacked biblical values gnawed at me. Also, just researching the companies to invest in, and when to do it, was becoming very draining. Well, with Jay’s Investing membership, it is all done for me. What an incredible find!

I now have an experienced and professional investing team that really cares about ME. You will learn to invest money with a clear conscience with their patient, teachable hearts. How do I know that? Not one email I have sent Jay has gone unanswered!” - D. K.

“I just wanted to write to you and say thank you for all that you are doing.  I have been following your picks since last June and am very pleased with the results.  I have made back all my losses from 07-08 and have watched my portfolio move into positive territory substantially.  You are a true answer to prayer.” - R. H.

“About a year and a half ago I prayed that God would bring a Christian into my life to help me with my investing.  To make a long story short I was in a Christian bookstore and bought Dan Miller’s book 48 days to the work you love.  I became a member of 48days.net and joined your group Faith-based Millionaire’s.  The rest is history.  Though I may or may not meet you in this life, I just wanted to say thank you for the great impact you have made in regard to my family’s finances.  And the way I look at investing. Thanks again and God Bless!” - E. S.

“I love the fact that this is a Bible-Based program and that Jay is a reader, teacher and doer of  the Word of God. He is a motivator, encourager and has a personal interest in the success of each person that wants to Thrive and not just Survive. The relationship with Jay has gone beyond great webcast teaching, documents and exercises. I count it a blessing to know Jay! God has orchestrated this opportunity with Jay as one of the means to fulfilling God’s purpose for success in my financial life. My desire is to bless many not only with my gifts and talents but with my finances.” – B. F.

“This program has given me and my husband an opportunity to discuss financial issues in a new way. We have had many useful discussions based on the exercises, clearing up some misunderstanding and confusion we were not aware of. It’s so helpful getting financial advice that doesn’t conflict with our basic principles. We look forward to sharing the blessings that we hope will sprout from the seeds we are planting in this process. Thank you for all the thoughtful planning and time you have put in to this. It’s nice to see someone put their heart into their work.” – L. W.

“Jay has opened our minds to Kingdom finances; tithing, saving, debt, investing, insurance, etc.  We are changing some of the ways we are using God’s money. Especially debt eradication.  This is an excellent program. Jay’s presentation is very clear and precise.”

- R. F.

“Throughout his presentations, I can see that Jay is truly putting God in the center of his financial planning and management. This is what I want for myself also. I feel very comfortable in communicating with Jay and learning from him.” - D. S.