text:
Heating Repair Services Montgomery Residents Can't Do Without
If you live in Montgomery, AL (or the surrounding areas), you know that your heater isn't necessarily used very often. However, when it gets cold in Montgomery, it's that damp cold that you can feel in your bones. Coming into a comfortably heated house is exactly what you're craving after braving the cold all day. Unfortunately, sometimes we come home expecting cozy comfort, only to discover that our heater, heat pump, or furnace is broken.
This can be especially confusing for people in Montgomery; they often say, "Why is my heater broken when I hardly ever even use it??" Well, that's just it. Because our heaters are used relatively infrequently, they can sometimes have issues, seemingly right when we need them most.
With Hans Heating and Air's routine maintenance plan, premium quality products, and specialized equipment installation, the chances of your heater needing an emergency repair drastically decrease. That said, your heater is a machine, and, unfortunately, machines break…especially since they aren't used very often in Montgomery. It's almost like they forget how to operate!
Don't get left out in the cold. As a Hans Heating and Air customer, YOU DON'T HAVE TO.
What Do I Do When I Need Home Heating Repair?
With the cooler months on their doorstep, Montgomery residents start to wonder: "What is the best heating repair near me?" Winter can go from chilly to freezing for our parts in next to no time and homeowners want to make sure that their heating system is functional and reliable.
A sudden mishap with your heater would not only be unpleasant, but would require additional expenses at the worst possible moment. In order to avoid this, you need to have reputable local HVAC contractors on your speed dial. Hans Heating and Air is your go-to local heating repair service you can count on for all your heating needs, whether you need dependable repair, service, or installation.
How Do You Know You Need to Call a Heating Repair Company?
Calling a reliable Montgomery heating repair service at the first sign of trouble is usually the best route to take. But there's also a possibility that you won't even notice that your utility bill has skyrocketed or that the system is becoming less efficient than it once used to be.
Just to be safe, the best time to call heating repair services is as soon as you get the new heating system. Prevention is the only way to be absolutely certain that you're always one step ahead and that you don't need to spend a fortune repairing your system in time for winter. However, there are some simple sings to watch out for that can indicate your heater is broken:
No Heat Coming Through Vents
Even though this might be obvious, but not feeling heat through your vents does not necessarily mean that the heater is malfunctioning. There might have been a power surge that tripped the circuit breaker. This should be the first place you look.
Make sure the heater is receiving power and check if the thermostat is correctly set. Once you've eliminated these common issues if the problem persists your best course of action would be to search for "heating repair near me".
Unexpected Increase in Power Bills
This is typically the issue most Montgomery homeowners will notice first. But you might not know what the problem is right away. If the heater is broken, it will use up more power to achieve the temperature you've set your thermostat to. This will show up in your utility bill, and is usually a clear sign that something in your heater is not performing to its peak potential. When these signs appear, you'll want your broken heater fixed right away.
Heater is Making Loud Noises
Heaters today are designed to remove any distracting noise while running. If you have a modern heater, any unusual or loud noise could be an indication that there's something wrong with it. If you notice a clanging noise coming from the heater, the fan belt could be broken. If the heater is producing a rumbling noise, it could be that the unit is overheating. Different noises could indicate different issues, and the best way to find out what the issue might be is to call an HVAC technician dealing with heater repair Montgomery residents trust.


text:
Here's a little update from the Tough Cookie Marketing team.
◼ We're working remotely from Monday, March 23.
We have upgraded our already highly connected internal systems to ensure we can deliver an exceptional level of service, for whatever you may need.
Video and phone meetings are available at any time, simply send us an email requesting a meeting and the best time.
◼ Emergency support is still available.
If you require ANY instant support for your business, including assistance to work remotely, set up new systems or simply how to communicate your key messages in this sensitive environment – please contact us immediately.
◼ Our services haven't changed
At this time, all of our usual marketing, website, advertising, graphic design and strategy services will continue. In addition, if you require additional support regarding the planning and management of this difficult situation, please ask.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
100% alternative
Wealth Management
Our main purpose
Discover new growth opportunities to those who have trusted us by offering experiences and service.
Why to invest?
To obtain returns decorrelated to traditional financial markets, by implementing algorithmic trading, coordinated by our quantitative trading team.
Individualized Portfolios
Your personal objectives and circumstances are analysed to determine your investment profile and risk aversion.
Fund Selection
We invest in different asset classes by selecting optimal investment funds in the international market with a rigorous criterion (profitability, cost & safety).
Independent custodians
Your account is protected with maximum guarantees. Altarius Capital opens segregated and customized accounts for our clients in different selected financial entities, therefore, our clients always maintain control of their account.
Asset Allocation
The profitability / risk binomial is optimized with your risk profile portfolio and investment needs.
Your portfolio is monitored and adjusted by our professional team to avoid any difference from the original investment profile, whenever the market or client's situations demand it.
Diversification and safety
Your investment deserves our utmost care. We are totally independent by choosing the best assets for client's portfolios. This selection is made exclusively with efficiency criteria.
Wealth Management
A new way to plan, structure and implement an investment strategy, to answer to the current financial needs of our clients.
Wealth Management
From the first moment we understand your needs and look for new ways to monitor and manage your wealth to achieve your goals.
Wealth Management
A process in which we will accompany you throughout your life, to define a savings and investment strategy to achieve your financial goals.
Portfolios with their own characteristics
Explore the different possibilities offered by our plans and access the open management architecture: dynamic, sensible and transparent.
We base our method on mathematical and statistical models, specialized in quantitative and algorithmic methodologies.
Risk Management
Preservation of capital is critical for us and therefore we continuously monitor market volatility and portfolio behaviour.
You can check the status of your investments whenever you want with complete and total transparency.
The construction of our portfolios follows a rigorous framework and protocol which is based in quantitative methods which are constantly backtested.
Intelligent Portfolios
Portfolio management is based in quantitative models that are constantly recalibrated evaluated against your goals, maintaining always the ideal risk profile for your investment.
100% Automatized
100% Automatized our investment process is totally automatic and is constantly monitored by our team of technical professionals.
Investment Profiles
We specifically design our portfolios to fit different investment profiles that comply with our client's needs.
Management Model
Our model is based in dynamic surveillance applied to investment systems that trade in different horizon such as intraday and/or medium term.
Risk framework
We have designed our own risk rating methodology which allows us to evaluate in a daily basis the performance of your portfolio based on the pre-established parameters.
Due Diligence
Every fund in our strategies has been subject to an exhaustive qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to be classified as eligible for our portfolios.
Select your investment plan
Discover new growth opportunities for the heritage of those who have trusted us by offering experiences and service.
Conservative Plan
Lower Risk
Higher Risk
Moderate Plan
Lower Risk
Higher Risk
Risky Plan
Lower Risk
Higher Risk
Lower Risk
Higher Risk
Intelligent Portfolios performance
NOTE: Historical returns do not guarantee future returns which may be negative. Returns from portfolio models are exclusively theoretical and represent an investment in a static portfolio which is identical to the model portfolio. Returns are net, which means that management, performance and custody fees have been deducted.
Every moment in our life is unique and so are our saving and investment plans. ThinkAlternative.
Get in Touch
Leave your contact details and we will call you back whenever suits you.


text:
Mon, 28 January 2019
Never Let Your Emotions Overpower Your Intelligence.
We've all had situations where our emotions have gotten the best of us. Often its because by the time we realized what was going on, it was usually too late. This week we will look at a few techniques that will help us to first identify these emotions, and then take control of them.
Direct download: power012819-final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:19pm EDT


text:
4.7. Managing Floating IP Addresses¶
A virtual machine connected to a virtual private network can be accessed from public networks, such as the Internet, by means of a floating IP address. Such an address is picked from a public network and mapped to VM's private IP address. The floating and private IP addresses are used at the same time on the VM's network interface. The private IP address is used to communicate with other VMs on the private network. The floating IP address is used to access the VM from public networks. The VM guest operating system is unaware of the assigned floating IP address.
Note the following prerequisites:
- A VM must have a fixed private IP address.
- A virtual router must connect the public network from which a floating IP will be picked with VM's private network.
You can create a floating IP address and assign it to a VM as follows:
On the Floating IPs screen, click Add floating IP.
In the Add floating IP address, select a public network from which a floating IP will be picked and a VM network interface with a fixed private IP address.
Click Add.
A floating IP address can be re-assigned to another virtual machine. Do the following:
- Click the ellipsis icon next to the floating IP address and then click Unassign.
- Once the VM name disappears in the Assigned to column, click the ellipsis icon again and choose Assign.
- In the Assign floating IP address window, select a VM network interface with a fixed private IP address.
- Click Assign.
To remove a floating IP address, unassign it from a VM as described above, then click the ellipsis icon again and choose Delete.


text:
Spend the remainder morning by way of the beach experiencing the rays or try yourself on some water pursuits like surfing. You must fill yourself with energy, חדרים לפי שעה and a sunbath is the ideal option.
Alternatively, visit Petitenget Temple and eat the Bali spirit. Your Seminyak itinerary must include some spiritual locations, חדרים לפי שעה so you actually need to see this place. It can be small but filled with spiritualism.
Stop into the popular The Corner House for lunch. When you prefer delicious food combined with trendy decors, then you definitely hit the right place. Moreover, for those who visit Seminyak with friends, this is definitely an excellent place where you can spend an entire morning eating.
If you need to find a very good walk to energise after lunch, go to Revolver Espresso. A delicious lunch deserves a good coffee afterwards. Revolver Espresso is a bit hidden and a good option to uncover freshly roasted flavourful coffee.
Revolver Espresso Seminyak
Obtain a relaxing massage or spa treatment. In Seminyak, you will discover plenty of relaxation. Should you got accommodation at the best Seminyak villas, then you definately should purchase some hours with the spa there and חדרים לפי שעה relax a bit and get away from the many stress.
Spend sunset by the beach sipping a cocktail for the laid-back La Plancha Beach Bar or visit Ku De Ta if you prefer a modern-day evening. Once the night falls, חדרים לפי שעה the area gets a uniquely different face. People start heading a variety of clubs and savor an exciting night dancing and messing around with friends.


text:
'It's the most wonderful time of the year', and whether your perfectly prepared or having a last-minute crisis, nothing can stop time as Christmas is just two weeks away. If you're selling your home, you may think that this period is a waste of time, I mean who is house hunting at Christmas period? You may be surprised to hear that estate agents up and down the country are encouraging vendors to have their home listed for the festive season, but why?
Did you know that last year over 1 million of us indulged in a spot of home searching on Rightmove, what's more, viewing of property on Rightmove peaked on boxing day. Rightmove director and housing market analyst Miles Shipside states: " It's highly unlikely you'll want prospective buyers to come round to have a look while you're tucking into turkey or leftovers between Christmas and New Year, but being earlier to market means you won't get left out of this surge in buyer interest if being an early-moving bird is your New Year resolution."
So why is property search up around this time of year? Many people are seeing the New Year as a new start and the thought of being in a new home before Easter is equally appealing. Sadly the stresses and strains of the season can also impact in the increase in property searches and some relationships break down but equally new ones begin. There is nothing more exciting than searching for a new home, but if you're selling remember to have your home ready for these Christmas peaks.
The second largest property portal, Zoopla, is launching their biggest advertising campaign ever on Boxing Day to take advantage of these peaks. It is predicted that that 91% of us will see a Zoopla TV ad over its campaign period. Gareth Helm, Chief Marketing Officer for Zoopla Property Group said that their ad will hit our screens "with a big-bang during what is traditionally one of the busiest periods for TV viewing and the property market." With Rightmove and Zoopla both boasting the benefits of having our home available to view online, we should not ignore them.
With the giving and receiving of gifts, our homes are filled with extra goodies that we need to find a place for. It is easy for your home to become cluttered when the decorations are coming down and Christmas is packed away for another year. Clutter can be extremely distracting for potential buyers as they want to see themselves living in your home, but instead, they will be focusing on the clutter they see. Clutter can also make your rooms feel smaller, and when selling your need to make all efforts to make your room feel bigger. As the seasonal celebrations come to an end, take some time to see your property through the eyes of a buyer as you never know how soon a viewing could be requested and you want to be prepared.
If you are looking to sell your home, there is still time to list before we all take a step back to enjoy the festivities. Contact a member of our sales team today who would be more than happy to help you.
But if you are one of the million starting to look for your new home next year, here are a couple of properties to get your search going.
Love a project
This is the ideal property present for anyone looking for a project. With full planning permission, Knowle Barn could be transformed into a stunning 3 bedroom home perfect of character lovers. It beautifully located on rural land and blessed with views both to the front and rear.
Perfectly Presented
We know buyers will quickly fall in love with this gorgeous 3 bedroom home in Darwen perfect for a family or professionals. With a wonderfully sized kitchen to entertain your guests, whilst the garden, which includes a superb decked area, is where you will spend your time in the summer.
Under £70,000
When you step inside the front door of this 2 bedroom terrace you will immediately see the superb quality to which is home has been renovated. Take a look at this kitchen, we are sure you wouldn't have a problem creating a wealth of delicious treats here.


text:
Bank Name
The city of Sikar is located in between Agra and Bikaner in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It functions as the administrative headquarter of the Sikar District. It is known to be a historical city which contains many ancient architectural grandeur. The city is renowned for its art and culture. It had been the biggest Thikana or estate of the Jaipur state and was earlier was known by the name of Nehrawati. The historical city is surrounded by fortified walls that contain seven ?Pols? or gates. The primitive name of this city was ?Beer BhanKa Bass." The city experiences a semi-arid climate and hosts around 2.4 lakh residents. The city of Sikar is divided into 45 wards in order to ensure effective governance. The city is strongly connected to the rest of the country via roads and railway. Agriculture and animal husbandry are the main occupations in Sikar but the city has scope for industrial development in the future.
1. Build your Credit Score
2. Reduce your Current Borrowing / EMI Costs
The HDFC Bank Limited was started in Mumbai. As of 31st March 2018, the bank has more than 88,000 permanent employees in India, and abroad, it has offices in Bahrain, Hong Kong, and Dubai. By assets, the HDFC Bank is Indias largest private sector lender. It is the largest bank in India and ranked 69th in 2016 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands. In 1994, the HDFC Bank was established with its registered office in Mumbai, India. The then Union Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh inaugurated its first corporate office and a full-service branch at Sandoz House, Worli. The bank had 4,715 branches and 12,260 ATMs across India, as of June 30, 2017. In FY 2017, the bank also installed 4.30 lakhs POS terminals and issued 235.7 lakhs debit cards and 85.4 Lacs credit cards. The HDFC Bank offers many products and services including wholesale banking, treasury, auto loans, two wheeler loans, personal loans, retail banking, loans against property and credit cards. Along with this various digital products are also introduced by HDFC such as Payzapp and Chillr. The HDFC Bank merged with Times Bank in February 2000. In the new-generation private sector banks category, it was the first merger of two private banks. HDFC Bank acquired Centurion Bank in 2008 approved by the HDFC Bank Board for 95.1 billion INR as one of the most significant mergers in the financial sector in India.
1. Build your Credit Score
2. Reduce your Current Borrowing / EMI Costs


text:
Would you like to be notified when valuable new content is released by Authentic Intimacy? Are you interested in another way to learn and grow your knowledge about sexuality and intimacy? Then it's time for you to subscribe to our Friday 5!
Every other week we deliver fresh, new content right to your inbox through our Friday 5. In each edition, you'll find the following five things:


text:
Written by David Roberts
As you might have heard, the planet is warming up, and in response, people are trying to switch to cleaner energy, to heat it up less, or at least more slowly. So how's that going?
A report released Monday goes into that question in considerable detail. The Renewables Global Status Report (GSR), released annually by the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21, a think tank), digs into the growth rates of various energy sources, the flows of clean energy investment, and the world's progress on its sustainability goals.
It is a treasure trove of information. It is also … really long. 250 pages long. So many words!
In an effort to save you, the modern information consumer, precious time, I have gone through the report and extracted the 12 charts and graphs that best tell the story of clean energy as of 2018.
Click here to read more.


text:
- Find a Trail
- My TrailLink
- Explore Trails
- About Us
- Get Involved
- Donate
- Login
- Register
Find the top rated atv trails in Hibbing, whether you're looking for an easy short atv trail or a long atv trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a atv trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
|Trail Image
|Trail Name
The Alborn-Pengilly Trail runs for 42 miles along a former railroad corridor between Pengilly and Alborn. The easy terrain is a mix of woodland, lakes and wetlands, open space, and the occasional...
|42 mi
|Ballast, Gravel
The trail from Giants Ridge to just south of Embarrass is in great condition, is fun and challenging with the curves and elevation gain, and has spectacular scenery especially in late September.
The trail from Giants Ridge to Aurora and around St. James lake is similarly fun and beautiful.
We travel from central Illinois (over 650 miles) every fall in order to ride these sections of the trail and it is well worth the drive. We highly recommend it.
Have to agree with the positive reviews. The varying grades, scenery, history and over-all length make this trail a real winner. The remarks regarding a lack of water spouts and other amenities are generally accurate, and some of the dinky towns may not have much in the way of said amenities, however by and large it's one helluva trail. One of my favorites in the entire state, truthfully. Those mine pits make for excellent swim/dive sites, incidentally. Besides, I've learned never to look a gift horse in the mouth—you cheat yourself out of a lot if you do!
This trail has varied terrain and lots of side trails as well. If you encounter illegal ATVs on the trail you are to call 911. That is what the park security has directed us to do. We had to report several ATVs to the police in Nashwauk. The police already seemed to know who it was, they did not require to see the photos of the law breakers.
My son and I rode this trail in early August, from Grand Rapids up to Giant's Ridge. We did a self-supported bikepacking trip, camping overnight for two nights along the trail. This gave us plenty of time to see the sights.
It is a glorious trail to ride! It's well used by the locals, generally very well marked and maintained, and really a delight to ride. Other than three or four 8% grade hills, it is not a strenuous ride. The hills are generally quite short so that other than those few bigger hills previously mentioned, a beginner rider could easily do this trail. There is a section of the trail just before Biwabik that is on the road/hiway, and so this section may not be suitable for a beginner.
A word of caution for those camping and/or riding the entire trail: There is no water source at any point once you leave Grand Rapids - no pumps or spigots. Plan to carry plenty of water or be prepared to find a spot in one of the many towns the trail goes through to beg for water (the bars were quite accommodating)! Also, the only actual campsite area was just off the trail in Buhl. Otherwise, camping is limited for bike-packers. I highly recommend this trail for the ride experience and for the history lesson on Minnesota's iron range. There are many support mechanisms in place as well, for those that need it, including shuttle service. Well worth the WheelPass!
No doubt the Mesabi Trail offers a unique experience that's hard to beat. Like the best of the rail trails, but with hills and curves added. I rode 106 miles in two days of round-trip riding from Chisholm to Grand Rapids and had a very good time doing so. Very nice scenery, not too many road crossings, an excellent surface.
The trail stops at the edge of most cities and takes to the road until the other end of town. Most of these segments were pretty well signed, but coming into Nashwauk from the east I encountered conflicting signs posted next to the road and painted on it, followed the wrong one, and went out of my way almost a mile before backtracking.
One poorly signed road section is not a surprise. The biggest surprise (apart from the fact that I didn't at all mind the hills) was the lack of any true trailheads along the way.
The ideal trailhead has a dedicated parking lot for trail users, picnic tables, water, toilet facilities, and the gold standard: shade and showers. Many trailheads lack one or more amenities, but typically a trail has one or two trailheads with most of them.
Many towns along the trail had little to no off-road adjacent parking, there were few bathrooms, and not one trailside place with water to fill my bottles.
Another quirk which is not so unusual was the mileposts. They were spotty for the first 10 miles, then much more prevalent. There were 3 places between 0 and 48 where I found unaccounted gaps of up to 1/2 mile between two mileposts, so by the time you reach 48 you've gone 49. And I went several miles further by riding the "official" (i.e., noted on the map) side trails at Pengilly and Chisholm. Add that to my off-trail adventure, and that's how it took 106 miles to do 48 miles out and back.
We rode from Grand Rapids to Virginia. the trail currently ends in Virginia due to road construction. The trail was in great shape. Any bad spots were spray painted white so you could see them.Yes, there are some hills. Nothing anyone who rides much would worry about.All in all this is an amazing trail. Go now.One downside... restrooms and water almost non-existent.
My husband and I did 53 miles of this trail on the Mesabi Bike Tour in July 2015. It was a well supported and organized ride. We really enjoyed the cooler up north temps and beautiful scenery. The hills are long and challenging but lots of nice downhills too. I had enough after 53 miles. Would love to go again next year!
My wife and I stay at the Hidden Haven Resort in Cohasset, about 10 to 15 miles NW of Grand Rapids. Bob and Katie are the owners, and great people, and the fishing is very good! I usually come in from fishing around 1:30-2:00 grab a snack,and my road bike and head to Grand Rapids to ride the Mesabi. Great trail and scenery! I have road all of it now except the area south out of Ely that's not all completed yet. We go the last week of Sep. for peak color. Awesome ride!
The Mesabi is a very unique trail for MN. Most midwest rail trails are flat & somewhat boring. The Mesabi has numerous hills (many pretty steep) and curves. The scenery is spectacular even though much of it is obscured by small trees & shrubs close to the trail. Amenities are few & far between but most of the small towns have restaurants, bars, stores for the basics.
My main complaint is that the trail disappears as you pass through the numerous small towns; you have to be hyper aware. It is replaced by sidewalks, narrow roadways, road shoulders which are often poorly marked & in poor condition, hence dangerous. It's hard to enjoy a continuous, flowing ride. The worst town on this count was Virginia (fairly big town) as the trail jogged on & off roads & sidewalks, through parks, across busy streets, etc. I took an alternate route upon returning on another rough road & got a flat a mile from the end. There was also a bridge construction detour between Hibbing & Chisholm which is supposed to be done by this Oct. If you're tired of boring farm-country trails, give this one a try.
My husband and I biked 3 sections of this trail during and just after Labor Day weekend. It's a beautiful trail, wide and smooth and remarkably scenic. Not a lot of facilities at the trail heads, but all the little towns have pit stops of one sort or another. It is noticeably hillier than the other rail trails we've ridden in Minnesota. Bring lots of water and be prepared for some long climbs with occasional steep grades. We found the signage at the trail itself to be very good, although it is still a little confusing trying to find some of the trail heads. Trail usage was surprisingly light considering how beautiful the weather was. Maybe this trail just hasn't been discovered yet.
Virginia -> Mountain Iron (4.5 miles)
We rode this trail segment just before sunset and thoroughly enjoyed it. Getting out of Virginia was a little messy, but after about a mile of crossing and re-crossing the same busy street we found ourselves on a beautiful wooded trail that occasionally opened out to breathtaking fields of wildflowers. Just before you get to Mountain Iron there is a long dip down, then a longer hill up past the Wacootah Ore Pit, which is full of deep blue-green water. Mountain Iron itself is worth a quick tour. It's the site of the first mine on the Mesabi Range, and fiercely proud of the fact. This would be a great ride on a hot day, since the trail has lots of shade. On the other hand, coming into Mountain Iron just at sunset was a beautiful sight, with the sunset glinting off the historic town hall, the town founder, and the little steam shovel in the park.
Chisholm -> Hibbing (10 miles)
If you can only ride one segment of the trail, this is the one to pick, especially if you're interested in the local history and culture. The town of Chisholm is big enough to have a hotel and some places to eat but small enough to be charming. And the Hull Rust Mine at the Hibbing end of the trail is absolutely jaw-dropping. You can skip Iron World, but you don't want to skip the World's Largest Open Pit Iron Mine. The trail in between is scenic, including a perfect photo op of the beautiful gorge between Chisholm and Hibbing. The trail is far enough from the highway to be very quiet, and the ore dumps are overgrown with wild flowers from May through September. There is one big hill; the rest is gently rolling. There is, however, no shade. We rode on a perfect autumn day with temps in the 60's so this wasn't a problem. If you're riding in the summertime, I'd recommend this segment as an early morning or evening ride.
Here's how to find the downtown Chisholm trail head. The main street of Chisholm is called Lake Street, and is easy to find - just keep driving towards the water tower until you come to the street with all the storefronts. Go downhill on Lake Street until you come to the town lake. Right where the Bridge of Flags starts is the trail head kiosk. If you start at this trail head and ride to the Hull-Rust mine the trip is 10 miles each way, not 7. If you're staying at the Chisholm Inn, ride east and north on the frontage road and pick up the trail at the south end of the lake, right where it crosses the busy north-south street.
Chisholm -> Buhl (4-5 miles)
Perfectly nice ride, but not as pleasant as the other two segments we rode. The trail was wide and smooth, but ran close enough to the road so that the traffic noise was noticeable. Several long, steep hills, including one back-breaker close to the Chisholm end. And there's no shade at all. The one redeeming feature of this stretch of trail is the view of Chisholm from the top of the big hill.
I think there's an error on the last review of this trail. This trail is paved, it is smooth. The surface isn't broken up at all. There is no need for a mountain bike on this trail. I think he's talking about the wrong trail. I last rode this trail in July 07 and there are constant improvements. There was two very short unpaved sections due to road construction but that was it. I wonder what section he rode?
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!


text:
The are many reasons why people want to compete in any given sport: It could be for the experience; to learn more about their strengths and weaknesses; to face fresh challenges; or to learn to deal with the psychological aspects of competition.
The above are just some of the positive reasons for competing, and thus the decision to compete should be regarded as the same as with any other aspect of learning.
Discover what the key factors for learning are and then stick to them.
Consistency is often talked about as one of the keys to learning. And nothing could be truer for competition.
I often see people compete based on convenience, making excuses that a competition is too far, that the date clashes with another of their priorities, and that the cost is too much. As a result they rarely compete, and inconsistency creeps in.
Plan ahead! Make a schedule and a plan B in case someone important decides to get married or have a baby on that day. There may be two competitions close to each other. Pencil them both in. Save money at the beginning of the competition season, and yes! Definitely think of competing as a seasonal task.
Task is a good word. Similar to the word Job, it is exactly how you should be approaching the competition circuit. You don't one day wake up and decide working is not for you (although I'm sure some people do). No, you treat competition as a job that you enjoy and need to accomplish to the best of your ability.
Once the job is done, once the season is over, then we reflect on the results of your labor.
A thick skin to me is another important factor. At the early stages of any given subject that I was learning, whether it was languages or dance, acquaintances have often said things which could have made me give up.
If you are too weak to believe in yourself; you are more worried about what other people think and say; and you don't know why you are learning something, then you are not going to make the most of the journey.
Which comes to the goal! What is your goal. Why compete at all if it's so much hassle and inconvenience? That's true. If this is how you see competition then it's best not too compete at all.
If however you have a bigger vision and clearly understand the positives behind competing then it's definitely for you.
Finally a note on "winning".
I couldn't care less if a competitor entered and lost in the first round of several comps if he had fought the best he could. The keys would be to not give up, reflect on what could be done better and continue through the season knowing that they would come out stronger.
I would however care more if a competitor kept winning gold at low level competitions, and was cherry picking easy wins solely to satisfy their ego.
So to summarise:
1/ Be Consistent! Plan a season of competitions with a plan B back up
2/ Have a thick skin! Competing is for you, not for what other people think
3/ Have a Goal! Know what it is you are getting out of competing and embrace it.
4/ Keep your ego in check if learning is a goal!
One of my top competitors recently said that it was great that in his bracket they would have a round robin system which would mean that he would get an extra fight, and he was pleased he would medal whether he won or lost, not for the medal, but for the fact that it meant as a medalist he could fight again in the absolute.
Basically the more fights you get the more experience you attain.
I have always regarded competitors who have have had four fights but not medalled with equal or higher esteem to those who won two fights and got gold.


text:
Wrap up: develop your own social innovation model
What is the stage of social innovation in your organization? Do you want to sketch an idea for a new social innovation?
In this week, we have taken a closer look at the concept of social innovation. Starting from a general differentiation of types of innovation, we defined the concept of innovation and learned about the global state of social innovation. We highlighted the benefit of cooperation and collaboration for a successful realization of social innovation and discussed the model of social innovation with different phases. Finally, we discussed aspects of managing innovation processes.
All this knowledge will help you to develop and refine your own social initiative. Applying the social innovation model, in which phase do you position your organization, your initiative or your latest project? Describe the situation and also fill in experiences and learnings of the previous phases that you have already passed. If you are starting from scratch, include your plans for the next three phases and set up a time frame.
If you want, you can share your results in the 'discussion' section below. Remember: you can also 'like' and reply to other learners' comments.
© University of Basel


text:
Main Content
Session Information
07 SES 09 C JS, Social Justice and Innovative Educational Leadership Part 1
Joint Paper Session NW 07 and NW 26 to be continued in 07 SES 11 D JS
Schools and universities have recently been challenged by the population changes that have occurred as a result of a rise of nationalism, strife, displacement, and changing governmental policies both in Europe and throughout the rest of the world. In Europe, however, unlike in North America, where border controls are strictly enforced, the Schengen treaties have exacerbated the challenges by permitting largely unrestricted and unregulated movement among EU countries. The global refugee crisis which continues unabated has sparked debates about immigration in general. In social institutions, including educational organizations, the debates have centered both around the resources needed for inclusion of new populations and about how best to integrate and educate students whose home language, backgrounds or culture may be different from those of the traditional dominant populations. In some cases, jurisdictions have created separate schools, classes, and programs for immigrants and refugees, while in other cases, the goal has been integration of diverse populations. Given the pervasive and persistent nature of these issues, although each context is discrete, it is useful for educators to learn from one another instead of "reinventing the wheel."
Hence, the purpose of this paper is to describe the ways in which three educational leaders in the United States have adapted to the changing populations of their schools. The objectives are a) to describe the challenges faced by school leaders in addressing the needs of changing populations, b) to understand the ways in which these educators conceptualize "education for all," and c) to identify the practices that lead to the integration and inclusion of new populations.
Theoretical Framework These questions will be examined through the lens of transformative leadership—a leadership theory that focuses explicitly on inclusion, equity, excellence, and social justice and which is therefore appropriate for this transformative multi-case study of three schools. (Mertens, 2010). Transformative leadership "begins with questions of justice and democracy; it critiques inequitable practices and offers the promise not only of greater individual achievement but of a better life lived in common with others" (Shields, 2011). It is a theory that comprises two basic and parallel theoretical propositions and eight supporting tenets. The first proposition pertains to individual, private good (Labaree, 1997) and posits that when the learning environment is inclusive, respectful, and equitable, it is easier for students to focus on the academics and the distal outcomes of academic achievement will improve. The second, public good proposition is that when educational institutions address public good issues (democracy, civic life, citizenship) then democratic society will be strengthened through the participation of knowledgeable and caring citizens. Hence, transformative leadership is normative, aimed at both individual and collective improvement of all students and citizens, including those who are the most recent arrivals—regardless of language, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation , gender identity, and so on.
Another distinguishing feature of transformative leadership is that it explicitly addresses the importance of mindsets and knowledge frameworks and the need to change those that perpetuate inequity and to reconstruct them in more equitable ways. Thus, it builds on Johnsons' (2008) assertion that "What separates successful leaders from unsuccessful ones is their mental models or meaning structures, not their knowledge, information, training, or experience per se." Similarly, van Oord (2013) posited that "The way leadership is perceived and shaped——will to a large extent determine the success of the transformation it instigates among its students and members of staff." For that reason, this case study focused both on understanding the beliefs, assumptions, and mindsets of the leaders in question as well as identifying and describing what they actually do.
The methodology for this study comprised a transformative case study (Mertens, 2010), guided by what Mertens calls a "transformative paradigm" based on the "fundamental principles of the transformative axiological assumption," which are "enhancement of social justice, furtherance of human rights, and respect for cultural norms." This research paradigm, scholars argue, reflects the shifts in axiology, ontology, epistemology, and methodology that are represented by transformative leadership. Leaders for this multiple case study, were identified in schools located in a large, diverse southwestern city in the United States in which only 52% of the city's population is Caucasian (non-Hispanic) and in which the Metropolitain area's population approaches 3 million people. The strategic plan of the city's public school board is based on six core values (the third of which is equity) and six core beliefs including the explicit statement that "Our diversity is a community treasure." To identify the three leaders (one elementary, one middle school, and one high school leader), the researcher contacted a colleague at a local university with a reputation for a strong principal preparation program known for preparing leaders "capable of changing the trajectory of schools and school districts facing serious problems" as well as a focus on "turnaround leadership." That university professor sent a message to all graduates and current students in their leadership program inviting them to respond to my request to visit their schools and conduct an interview with them. The first three who responded were selected for this case study. Hence, although the sample was not random, in that all had been prepared in a program specifically focused on transforming diverse schools, they were self-selected for this case study and previously unknown to the researcher. Interestingly, one was Caucasian, one Latino, and one African American, providing a serendipitous diversity of respondents for this small, multiple case study. The case study comprised an hour-long interview with each principal, informal conversations with other staff and students in each school, a school visit in which observations were conducted of classrooms and specific activities in each school (a grade level assembly for example at the middle school), and documents related to the activities and goals of each school were collected. Data were coded and analyzed according to accepted transformative case study protocols (Mertens, 2010; Richards, 2014). A profile was developed for each school, and then a thematic analysis drew on the challenges and practices identified across the schools.
Expected Outcomes
Each principal expressed a need to find ways to offer inclusive, excellent and equitable education to all students and described their own personal intellectual journeys, the challenges they had confronted in their work, and the strategies they had implemented in order to provide the requisite learning environments for all students. The high school principal, for example, noted that because an increasing number of students had experienced trauma, she and several other staff had attended trauma-sensitive training for educators and introduced specific strategies into their school. She also indicated that when the hurricane had devastated Houston, the 9th grade teachers in the school had abandoned the set curriculum and created a unit related to natural disasters in which all subjects (language arts, math, science, social studies, arts etc. were covered). The outcome was that a group of 30 students raised money and travelled to Houston where they helped move and set up a elementary school site to replace a school that had been completely destroyed. The elementary principal had had a series of post-card size messages printed and affixed to every exterior and interior window in the school. These posters read "Black Lives Matter, Migration is Beautiful, Everyone Welcome, and incorporated a rainbow-striped heart with the letters LGBTQ+. These posters formed the basis for extensive conversations with all adults in the building so they would be prepared when questioned by students, parents, or community members. Significance: As the paper more fully describes both changes in attitude and in specific school practices, it will help to inform other educational leaders, both in Europe and elsewhere about ways in which it is possible, despite restricted fiscal resources, and some community backlash, to provide inclusive, equitable, and excellent education for all students.
Johnson, H. H. (2008). Mental models and transformative learning: The key to leadership development? Human Resource Development Quarterly, 19(1), 85-89. Labaree, D. F. (1997), Public goods, private goods: The American struggle over educational goals, American Educational Research Journal, 34(1), p. 39-81. Mertens, D. M. (2010). Transformative mixed methods research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(6), 469-474. Richards, L. (2014), Handling qualitative data: A practical guide (3rd ed.), London, SAGE. Shields, C. M., (2011), Transformative leadership: An introduction, In C. M. Shields (Ed.), Transformative leadership: A reader, New York: Peter Lang. pp.1-17. van Oord, L. (2013). Towards transformative leadership in education. International Journal of Leadership in Education: Theory and Practice, 16(4), 419-434.
Programme by Network 2019
00. Central Events (Keynotes, EERA-Panel, EERJ Round Table, Invited Sessions)
Network 1. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations
Network 2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)
Network 3. Curriculum Innovation
Network 4. Inclusive Education
Network 5. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Network 6. Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures
Network 7. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Network 8. Research on Health Education
Network 9. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement
Network 10. Teacher Education Research
Network 11. Educational Effectiveness and Quality Assurance
Network 12. LISnet - Library and Information Science Network
Network 13. Philosophy of Education
Network 14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Network 15. Research Partnerships in Education
Network 16. ICT in Education and Training
Network 17. Histories of Education
Network 18. Research in Sport Pedagogy
Network 19. Ethnography
Network 20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments
Network 22. Research in Higher Education
Network 23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Network 24. Mathematics Education Research
Network 25. Research on Children's Rights in Education
Network 26. Educational Leadership
Network 27. Didactics – Learning and Teaching
Network 28. Sociologies of Education
Network 29. Reserach on Arts Education
Network 30. Research on Environmental und Sustainability Education
Network 31. Research on Language and Education (LEd)
Network 32. Organizational Education
Network 33. Gender and Education
Additional Events
The programme is updated regularly (each day in the morning)
Marginal Content
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.


text:
System for funding, analyzing and managing life insurance policies funded with annuities
The invention relates to a program that administers a method of funding life insurance policies using annuities that are purchased at least in part using borrowed money, using business and trust structures to reduce and/or eliminate tax. This investing can be done either directly by the policy or through the trust and/or other business entity. As an internal investment of the insurance policy the income generated by the annuity and the inside build-up are non-income taxable to the owner of the policy. The resulting death benefits will also be non-income taxable to the beneficiary.
This application claims priority to provisional applications 60/246,755 filed Nov. 19, 2000 and 60/286,344 filed Apr. 26, 2001, and incorporates the contents of those applications by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for administering life insurance policies using annuities for funding, while realizing substantial tax advantages.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the past, private individuals and businesses currently use annuities as funding sources for insurance policies. However, the income tax ramifications as well as the lack of a system to administer such transactions on a large scale significantly limit the market for such purchases.
Individuals and charities or otherwise tax-exempt organizations have been approached with a number of systems over the years that employ the use of insurance products. There are three primary reasons that most of these systems have been unsuccessful.
First, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service has attacked many systems involving life insurance products. Tax-exempt organizations in particular must be careful not to engage in any activities that may endanger their tax-exempt status. Second, individuals and tax-exempt organizations will not generally use their existing resources to fund directly or to be used as a guarantee for the funding of such arrangements. This is because these arrangements generally do not meet their criteria for investing. Third, simplified tools necessary to administer these very complex strategies are generally not available.
There are two types of annuities relevant to this specification, deferred and immediate. Deferred annuities differ from immediate annuities in the following way. Deferred annuities "defer" payments to the investor and immediate annuities have payments to the investor that start "immediately". Annuities were originally designed as immediate annuities because customers desired income for as long as they lived. However, as customers' interests evolved, holders of annuities desired to start their income stream at some point in the future rather than immediately, perhaps after the death of a spouse. Consequently, they put money in an annuity at present, let an insurance company invest it, and at some point in the future convert the annuity from a deferred compensation plan to an immediate compensation model. That's how the name "deferred annuity" arose because the first payment to the investor is deferred to some point in the future.
Presently, the majority of annuities that are sold are deferred annuities. The primary reason for their current popularity is that the earnings accumulate on a tax deferred basis. Thus, many customers use them strictly as a tax efficient investment vehicle. However, annuity contracts always have the right to convert it in some cases must convert at a certain age to an immediate annuity, primarily for tax reasons. Specifically, customers use annuities to defer their income tax. An immediate annuity yields an immediate income stream. Immediate is defined by the IRS as an annuity where the first payment starts within one year, i.e. within one year of the first annuity investment.
If the first payment is deferred for more than one year, it's not treated as an immediate annuity for tax reasons. It becomes similar to a deferred annuity. Most importantly, the taxation of payments, and the character of the taxation changes, with a corresponding change in the tax consequences.
Furthermore, an immediate annuity income stream can be based on life expectancy. An 81 year old has a shorter life expectancy than an 80 year old, thus enhancing the pay out, which is based on life expectancy as determined from actuarial tables. Suppose a customer gives an insurance company $100 (setting aside interest and profit). Suppose also the person had a life expectancy of ten years. The insurance company then states agrees to give that person $10 a year for the rest of their life.
Such an arrangement is, for tax purposes, characterized as a return of principal and not as taxable earnings. In an actual immediate annuity arrangement with a commercial life insurance company, the insurance company also adds interest and this interest is taxable. Also, once the principal amount has been fully returned, the entire annuity payout is taxable. Since the return of principal is completed at life expectancy, all income from the annuity after life expectancy is fully taxable. This constitutes a major increase in the tax obligation for those individuals that live past their life expectancy.
The reason the insurance company can guarantee a life income is the law of large numbers. Actuaries can tell statistically how many people are going to die before their life expectancy, and annuity companies get to keep the balance of the money. For the people that die after their life expectancy, they use the money that was saved from the early-deceased people to pay them.
Consider a person who has a five-year life expectancy. When they give the insurance company $100, the insurance company will agree to give them $20 a year for life, which looks like a 20% return guaranteed on an investment. Few other kinds of financial instruments can get a guaranteed for life 20% return on an investment, especially from an AAA rated company. Thus, the rate of return drives the concept of annuities. Another benefit is that if the purchaser lives beyond the life expectancy they win, because they get more money than what they paid. Their estate also wins if they take that income stream and peel off part of it and buy a $100 life insurance policy. This is because if they die in the first year their estate will get their $100 back from the life insurance policy.
The life expectancy of a 30 year old is much longer than an 80 year old; therefore their annuity income stream will be much smaller. Thus, the strategy described earlier would not be practical for a 30 year old because the payout of the annuity would be so low. However, an 80-year-old client can borrow money and get a high enough pay out. A qualified 80-year-old can borrow the $100 and get a high enough pay out from the annuity to pay interest on the loan, and pay the premium on a $120 life insurance policy. When he dies the lender would receive the $100 back. The $20 that's left over goes to his family.
Consequently, the lender receives money in two ways. The first is taking interest payments from the income stream paid by the immediate annuity. Second, a major life insurance company guarantees that the remaining principal will be repaid at death. The basic premise of using an annuity income stream to buy life insurance has been in the public domain for many years.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need in the art for a system which combines annuities and life insurance in a way that is advantageous for tax purposes. One aspect of the present invention provides a system for combining life insurance and annuities, including borrowing money from a lender, purchasing an annuity and a life insurance policy using the borrowed money, paying premiums for the life insurance policy using income from the annuities, making periodic payments on the borrowed money using income from the annuities, and managing tax consequences of the income within an investment trust. In another aspect of the invention, the investment trust includes a partnership connected to a tax favored entity. In yet another aspect of the invention, the members of the partnership are paid by dividends.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the annuities are purchased from a purchaser's existing assets, and no loan is necessary. In yet another aspect of the invention, the beneficiaries of the life insurance policy or policies are charitable institutions.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments of the invention given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Borrowing money to buy life insurance has been around for a number of years. For example, American General Insurance offers a capital maximization strategy plan to its users to finance life insurance premiums and annuities. The present invention builds upon this basic concept of taking an immediate annuity contract with a life insurance company that pays a guaranteed income stream for a period of time. It does so by using what are called "life only" annuities (or annuities that have a life expectancy component), which means that for as long as one is alive they get a specified amount of money. The insurance company guarantees that money. 'Life only' annuities differ from 'period certain' annuities. Period certain annuities extend for a specified number of years. The present invention uses only "life only" immediate annuities (or variations that include a life expectancy element). Again, these do not resemble deferred annuities. Immediate annuities are simply a contract for a guaranteed income stream.
Unfortunately, income from an annuity contract that is not the return of basis is fully income taxable. This income tax is a particular problem when the annuitant on an immediate annuity contract lives past their life expectancy. Under those circumstances all of the distributions will be income taxable. The income tax ramifications on the distributions are a major impediment when considering the use of income from an annuity to purchase a life insurance policy.
If a charity or otherwise tax-exempt organization is involved in this type of transaction there is an additional concern. If any money is borrowed to fund any portion of this transaction the charity or otherwise tax-exempt organization could be subject to taxation on the income from the annuity as unrelated business income. This would force the charity to file tax returns on their activities that would not otherwise be required.
Private individuals and businesses currently use annuities as funding sources for insurance policies. However, the income tax ramifications as well as the lack of a system to administer such transactions on a large scale significantly limit the market for such purchases. Charities or otherwise tax-exempt organizations have been approached with a number of systems over the years that employ the use of insurance products.
One target of the present invention is a wealthy person who is considering the purchase of a deferred annuity or has an existing deferred annuity. Because this investment, unlike many other investments, is tax deferred (it is taxable upon distribution) many wealthy clients historically continue to defer any distribution until death. They often choose to spend investment that will be taxed before they spend tax favored investments. When they die their estate or heirs will pay state and federal income tax as well as estate tax. Instead, they could take this deferred annuity, convert it to an immediate annuity and buy life insurance with the resulting income stream. Where this arrangement can be properly structured, the tax-free death benefit would be paid to the heirs from what would have otherwise been substantially taxed.
Suppose the above wealthy individual already owns a deferred annuity generating a significant annual income stream. That individual can convert the annuity from deferred to immediate and use that income stream to buy life insurance. Suppose that individual client dies with a $1 million annuity, they are going to pay state and federal income taxes so that the net yield could go down to $500,000. After paying the estate tax in addition to the income tax, they could wind up with as little as $250,000.
Conversely, a more astute individual would convert that annuity from deferred to an immediate income stream. They'll buy a $1 million life insurance policy, the proceeds of which their children will receive tax-free. Instead of getting $250,000 after tax as described above, if they convert it and buy a life insurance with the income stream (and the arrangement is properly structured), the policy will pay $1 million after tax. Such a maneuver has well known in the industry. In fact, an insurance professional named Barry Kay has written a book on the lending of money using annuities to buy life insurance, entitled "Die Rich and Tax Free" (Forman Publishing, Inc., Santa Monica Calif., ISBN 0-936614-15-3).
However, the above maneuvers, some of which are mentioned in Barry Kay's book, do not account for all of the possible tax consequences, and the target audience for his book is a narrow spectrum of very wealthy persons. The tax consequences are of particular concern when borrowed money is used to facilitate the transaction. When borrowed money is used to buy the immediate annuity, a tax problem exists with the basic transaction. Generally when borrowed money is used to purchase insurance products, the loan interest is not tax deductible. Life insurance premiums are not tax deductible and the annuity income above basis is fully income taxable at ordinary rates. Further, when a charity is involved there is the additional concern that these transactions may be subject to tax under the unrelated business income tax rules that apply to charitable organization that engage in business activities that are not directly related to their charitable activities.
Using borrowed money to purchase an annuity to fund life insurance, however, is not conventional. As an example, a company borrows $100, and then buys a $120 life insurance policy by using part, perhaps $5, of the borrowed money to pay the first year's premium and the first year's interest. Using the remainder of the borrowed money, perhaps $95, they then buy an immediate annuity and the immediate annuity income will pay the ongoing insurance premiums as they come due (most often annually), as well as the ongoing interest and perhaps some principal on the original $100 loan. Suppose the individual has retired $20 of principal of the original $100 loan. At the death of the principal, the insurance policy would pay $120, of which $80 goes to repay the lender for the unretired portion of the loan. The $40 that's left over goes to the principal's family (supposing they are designated as beneficiaries), or a charity. In either case, that $40 would generally be tax free. This transaction would work for older insureds if there were little or no annual income taxes to be paid. However, in the majority of cases there is not sufficient income to pay the annual taxes on the annuity stream and still be able to pay the insurance premium and the interest on the loan. As a result most attempts to combine annuities with life insurance, whether using borrowed money or not, become mathematically impractical.
If the person in
This is because, as stated, once the principal amount has been fully returned, the entire annuity payout is taxable. Since the return of principal is completed at life expectancy, all income from the annuity after life expectancy is fully taxable. This constitutes a major increase in the tax obligation for those individuals that live past their life expectancy.
In this way, all transactions discussed using borrowed money would usually not make economic sense because of their annuity tax implications. The present invention, however, focuses on reducing the tax implication and making it a low tax situation or in some cases a no tax situation.
Part of how these taxes are reduced is through the use of trusts. A trust is a mechanism that allows one to impose some controls over a corpus or resources that a settlor intends to give to an intended beneficiary. The settlor of a trust is the person who intentionally causes the trust to come into existence. The manager of the trust resources, also known as a trustee, has an equitable obligation to keep or use the property for the benefit of a beneficiary.
The trustee (i.e., administering institution such as KDI shown in
A trustee must obey the trust instrument as to the time, amount, form and destination of payments which he is directed or authorized to make from income or principal to the beneficiaries. Thus, the trust instruments of the present invention explicitly state how the annuity stream is to be used to pay the life insurance premiums, and in the embodiments using loans, how those loans are to be repaid, all of which is information which is readily programmed into a computer system as will be discussed in more detail below. Within the present invention trusts act to isolate the client, beneficiaries, and (where applicable) business entities from the actual financial transactions. Because of this isolation, the trust income is not taxed as personal income to the clients and beneficiaries.
Evidence of this reduction in taxes is illustrated by comparing
All four embodiments of the present invention can use borrowed money to purchase annuity contracts and pay the initial cost of life insurance. This debt is usually non-recourse, although a recourse embodiment exists where the principal guarantees at least part of the loan obligation. The cash flow from the annuity contract is employed to pay ongoing life insurance premiums, interest on the borrowed money, taxes resulting from the taxable portion of the annuity, and other transaction fees including expenses of maintaining the trust and paying the trustees. The net pay out to the beneficiary can be greatly improved by adding an immediate annuity payout to any funds contributed by the insured. The type of annuity is usually life-only, although the present invention also contemplates using a "5 year certain" annuity. The policy risk is reduced since a major institution such as a life insurance company usually guarantees the annuity payouts. However, although the above principles apply to all four embodiments of the present invention, some differences exist between them, as will now be explained.First and Second Embodiments
The first and second embodiments have the annuity purchased by the life insurance policy as an internal investment of the policy (first embodiment), or as an investment of the life insurance company (second embodiment). As shown in
If a large enough number of insureds is accumulated, it is possible that a pool of annuities 302 and loans 316 could eliminate the need for a specific annuity being tied to a specific policy shown in FIG. 3. Such a non-tied arrangement is shown in FIG. 4.
In the first and second embodiments, the present invention greatly reduces or eliminates income taxes because the annuity portion 302 is built into the life insurance policy 312 and/or the life insurance company (second embodiment) and is going to be paid as part of the death benefit 320, as shown in FIG. 3. Insurance companies are required to invest the money placed into universal life insurance policies. The earnings on those investments are not taxable, and are called "inside build up" 326. As an internal investment of the insurance policy 312, the income generated by the annuities 302 as inside build-up is non-income taxable to the owner of the policy. The resulting death benefits 320, 323 will also be non-income taxable to the beneficiary(s) 324.
The second embodiment differs from the first in tax consequences. In the second embodiment, no inside build-up occurs, and the tax consequences arc handled by an insurer 402 shown in
Another difference between embodiments one and two is that a pool of annuities 302 and loans 316 eliminates the need for a specific annuity being tied to a specific policy.Third Embodiment
Embodiments three and four include the administration of investing in widely available insurance contracts through a unique trust, business entity and partnership arrangement. This arrangement is employed in order to closely track and direct the income tax liability 502, as shown in FIG. 5. Hereafter,
Examples of tax favored entities can include businesses established within the U.S. Virgin Islands, as approved by the U.S. Congress. There are economic development zones also in the continental U.S. as well, such as around some airports. The U.S. Congress has approved for creation other types of tax favored businesses for various reasons. Thus, shifting tax consequences to a tax favored model is encouraged by the U.S. Congress.
In the structure of
Thus, it is advantageous to attach a separate business 509 to the partnership 504. That sub-business 509 purchases annuities 302, borrows money 316 from the lender 318, pays the interest 510, and also buys life insurance policies 512. When the person dies, that partnership 504 will pay the money to that sub-business 509 and, where appropriate, pay off the note (loan) 316 as well as any negatively accrued interest. The balance is then passed down to the main partnership 504, which will then pay a death benefit to the beneficiaries (partners) 324 of that client, part of which was financed by the proceeds from the sub-company 509. The money left over becomes profit, which is distributed to the more tax-advantageous entity 508. The annual income on the annuity income stream 506 is taxable. So even though there is minimal cash flow going down to the partnership 504, there still is some partnership income (K-1). Under normal circumstances, there may be little or no money to pay the tax resulting from that partnership income. However, because the present invention uses the tax-advantageous entity 508, the tax obligation is greatly reduced. Because of this reduction, the minimal cash flow described above is sufficient to pay the tax obligation.
During the year of death of the principal, the net proceeds (which are non-taxable) are passed down to the partnership 504, which pays the amount out as a death benefit 320 to the partners/beneficiaries. Most of the red tape (from a taxation point of view) that would be associated with this death event is removed because the insurance payment is paid as a non-taxable death benefit to a beneficiary 324.Fourth Embodiment
The fourth embodiment differs from the third in that the annuity is purchased by a subsidiary 604 of the tax favored business entity so that the tax obligation is passed to the tax-favored company 508, and the benefit is paid as taxable income in the form of a dividend 602, as shown in FIG. 6. Hereafter,
Any of either the first, second, third, fourth, or non-lender embodiments described above can be combined with an entity known as a Charitable Endowment Life Insurance Policies (CELIP), although the third embodiment is subject to certain limitations when doing so. As stated earlier, there are three primary concerns for charities in using the financial structure of the present invention. First, tax-exempt organizations must be careful not to engage in any activities that may endanger their tax-exempt status. Second, tax-exempt organizations will not generally use their existing resources to fund directly or to be uses as a guarantee for the finding of insurance products. Many insurance products do not meet their criteria for investing. Third, computerized tools necessary to administer the very complex (both legally and financially) strategies are generally not available.
All of the above problems are solved by the present invention's accommodation of charities using CELIP instruments. CELIPs can enhance payout of life insurance policy, reduce risk of a life insurance policy, benefit charity or other exempt organizations, and avoid adverse income tax consequences associated with other designs. The primary owner and or beneficiaries could be a charitable or otherwise tax exempt organization such as a University. Another market could be a family office.
The CELIP will include within its investment choices the option to borrow money and the right to purchase an immediate annuity. These choices will be viewed directly as policy investments or payments from the annuity to the policy, and will be used (either directly or through a money market account) to pay expenses and mortality costs of the life insurance policy.
As shown in
Because of its complexity, computers are necessary to properly implement the present invention. As stated earlier, the financial industry has stringent requirements for investment diversity, so each individual client may have as many as six annuities. A company that manages several clients must buy annuities throughout various companies within the annuity industry. Although the examples in
The above scenario described all of the necessary conditions for one client. Thus, for one hundred clients it is absolutely unmanageable without a computer system in place. Accordingly, the management company 402/509 that runs the trust 212 has to be on top of the lender 216 and share data with them to ensure payments are going from lender 216 to insurance companies 220, as well as micromanage other key aspects of the payment system. Specifically, such a data sharing or reporting system must coordinate data between clients, a management company 402/509, and lender 318. It is estimated that the computer system of the present invention will track thousands of transactions that will be occurring on a monthly basis. These transactions will include:
- Receiving of monthly income from each annuity.
- On a monthly basis determining the amount to be credited from each annuity to each life insurance policy's money market, general account and/or mortality and expenses.
- On a monthly basis determining the amount to be credited to the lender for each loan. These notes will mostly be floating rate notes.
- On a monthly basis determining the amount positive or negative loan amortization to be added or subtracted from each loan.
- On a monthly basis performing a test to determine if the loan is in default.
- At the death of the insured, determining the amounts to be paid to the lender.
The above transactions are shown as the four boxes on the bottom of
As shown in
Main computer system 802 preferably has a database application layer 820 which could include but is not limited to Microsoft Access communicating closely with proprietary software application 804. These products run on top of a Operating System (OS) 822. It is anticipated that any form of operating system can be used, including a preferably multi-threaded OS. Additionally, because of the time-sensitive nature of the information and alerts contained therein, computer system 802 also preferably has a Universal Power Supply (UPS) 824 backup in case of power failure. This is useful for two reasons. The first is that computer system 802 must remain on-line at all times in order that no payments or alerts are missed, thereby reducing the chance of any "lapse notice" being issued. Also, the integrity of the date/time function within computer system 802 must be assured. If the computer system 802 had an incorrect date/time, many false payments and false alerts could result.
While the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that many modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
1. A method using a computer system of managing combined life insurance and annuities for a group of insured persons, comprising the steps of:
- having arranged financing from a commercial lender;
- having acquired through a first entity at least one annuity for each insured person using a portion of the financing from the commercial lender, wherein the first entity is owned by a second entity that is of a tax favored nature, and wherein each annuity provides an income stream that is allocated to the second entity so that it receives tax favored treatment;
- having acquired at least one life insurance policy for each insured person using a set of third entities, wherein the owner of each third entity has an insurable interest in one of the group of insured persons, and each third entity has acquired at least one life insurance policy on the life of the insured person in which its owner has the insurable interest;
- wherein each third entity is organized in a manner to shield the insured person on which it has acquired life insurance from liability from the commercial lender and from any taxes on the annuity acquired for that insured person;
- and wherein a portion of the financing from the commercial lender has been used to pay the initial premium for each life insurance policy;
- administering income streams relating to the annuities, the financing, and the life insurance policies and maintaining information pertaining to the income streams using the computer system, and
- distributing the income streams from the annuities to pay the annual premiums for the life insurance policies and to pay the interest and principal on the financing from the commercial lender based on the income stream information maintained in the computer system.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a portion of the financing from the commercial lender is paid to the first entity as a service fee.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the third entity comprises a trust.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the third entities is owned by the person on whom the third entity has purchased the life insurance policy.
5. A method of managing combined life insurance and annuities for a group of insured persons through a computer system, comprising the steps of:
- acquiring or having acquired through a first entity at least one annuity for each insured person, wherein the, first entity is owned by a second tax favored entity, and allocating the income stream from each annuity to the second entity so that the income streams receive tax favored treatment;
- acquiring or having acquired a plurality of life insurance policies using a set of third entities, wherein each third entity acquires or has acquired at least one life insurance policy on the life of one of the group of insured persons, and each third entity is organized in a manner to shield the insured person on which it has acquired life insurance from any taxes on the income stream from the annuity acquired for that insured person;
- administering through the computer system the income stream relating to the annuities, the financing and the life insurance policies and maintaining information pertaining to the income streams using the computer system, and
- distributing at least a portion of the income stream from the annuities to pay the annual premiums for the life insurance policies based on the information maintained in the computer system.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein each third entity provides funding to the first entity to acquire the at least one annuity for the person on whom the third entity has acquired the at least one life insurance policy.
|May 12, 1998
|Sexton et al.
|January 26, 1999
|March 16, 1999
|October 12, 1999
|October 16, 2001
|Ryan et al.
|March 21, 2002
|Herman et al.
|August 1995
- College for Financial Planning (2000) "Life Insurance Trusts".
- CA Magazine—Giacomin, G. "Paired for life", Nov. 1999.
- National Underwriter—Udell "Muni-bond alternative combines life insurance and annuities", Jul. 12, 1999.
- Oliver, J. "Using Annuity Contracts for Transferring Wealth". National Underwriter, Sep. 1, 1997, p. 7. The National Underwriter Company.
- Bostroff, S. "When The Modern Insurance Industry's Beginnings Stirred". National Underwriter, Mar. 31, 1997, p. 1. The National Underwriter Company.
- "Receive a $10 Million Return for a $75 Thousand Annual Outlay". www.barrykaye.com [online], Jan. 25, 1999. Retrieved on Mar. 26, 2002. Retrieved from Internet <URL.###http://web.archive.org/web/20020403091751/http://www.barrykaye.com/75k/htm>.
- White, G. "Banks Should Encourage Customers to Use Direct Deposit". The American Banker, Mar. 26, 1981, p. 4. The American Banker, Inc. [retrieved on Mar. 29, 2002]. Retrieved from: Lexis-Nexis[online].
- "Phoenix Introduces Innovative Immediate Variable Annuity". Business Wire, May 14, 2001. Business Wire Inc. [retrieved on Apr. 4, 2002]. Retrieved from: Lexis-Nexis[online].
- "Deutscher Investment-Trust of the Dresdner Bank Group Rely on Softwired for Financial Asset Management Integration Solution". Java Industry Connection [online], May 29, 2001. Retrieved on Mar. 28, 2002. Retrieved from the Internet URL <http://industry.java.sun.com/javanews/stories/story2/0,1072,36827,00.html>.
Type: Grant
Filed: Nov 9, 2001
Date of Patent: Sep 27, 2005
Patent Publication Number: 20020087365
Inventor: Bart Kavanaugh (El Segundo, CA)
Primary Examiner: Jagdish N Patel
Attorney: Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP
Application Number: 09/986,670


text:
(Forest Hill, Md.) - During the Synthetic Turf Council's (STC) 2017 Annual Membership Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee on October 16-18, the association elected its new Board of Directors. Kevin Barker, Controlled Products LLC, will serve a two-year term as Chairman of the STC, the largest organization dedicated to representing the synthetic turf industry.
Board Officers include Vice Chairman Laith Ross, RossTarrant Architects; Treasurer Luke McCoy, Kaestle Boos Associates, Inc.; Secretary David Nardone, Stantec Sport; Director-at-Large Donna Kent, ForeverLawn Inc.; and Immediate Past Chair Amy Brackin, Liberty Tire Recycling LLC. John Baize, Act Global; Brad Borgman, USGreentech LLC; Mike Cobb, InnovaNet; Stefan Diderich, Mattex; Catherine Eiswerth, Binnie & Associates; Chuck McClurg, Shaw Sports Turf; Ryan Paris, AstroTurf, complete the newly elected Board. Outgoing Board members Robert Thomas, ProGrass, and Phil Barlow, Shaw Sports Turf, were warmly recognized and thanked for their valued contributions to the STC and the industry.
"The STC is fortunate to have strong industry leaders as members of our Board," says Dan Bond, CAE, President & Chief Executive Officer of the STC. "I am confident that under Kevin Barker's leadership, the STC will strengthen its position as the global forum to promote, develop, grow and advocate for the synthetic turf industry."
The 2017 STC Annual Membership Meeting attracted 217 attendees, including 195 members from 104 companies, and 22 non-member guests from 16 companies, with representatives from nine different countries (US, Canada, Demark, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and the UK) and featured a strong educational component. Keith Bulluck, a former All-Pro NFL linebacker for the Tennessee Titans, delivered a compelling keynote address. Richard Kent, PhD provided a research update on the biomechanics of head-to-ground concussions, synthetic turf maintenance and its role in injury prevention, and shoe-to-turf interaction. Concurrent breakout sessions focused on industry-related topics, including: Shock Pad Systems, Freight Market Trends, Synthetic Turf Base Systems, Baseball Infield Preparation, Recycle and Reuse Options, Pet Turf Odor Control, and a comprehensive overview of the new STC Landscape Installation Certification Program that is expected to be released in early 2018.
In 2018, the STC will host its Spring Membership Meeting on March 12-14 in Rancho Mirage, California at the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa. For more information, visit www.syntheticturfcouncil.org.
About the Synthetic Turf Council
The Synthetic Turf Council (STC) is the world's largest organization representing the synthetic turf industry, representing over 200 companies with operations in over 10 countries. Founded in 2003, the STC assists buyers and end users with the selection, use and maintenance of synthetic turf systems in sports field, golf, municipal parks, airports, landscape and residential applications. It is a resource for current, credible, and independent research on the safety and environmental impact of synthetic turf, as well as technical guidance on the selection, installation, maintenance, and environmentally responsible disposal of synthetic turf. Membership includes builders, landscape architects, testing labs, maintenance providers, manufacturers, suppliers, installation contractors, infill material suppliers and other specialty service companies. For more information, visit www.syntheticturfcouncil.org.
6/12/2020Synthetic Turf Council (STC) Releases 2020 Synthetic Turf Market Report for North America
11/1/2019Press Release: Synthetic Turf Council Elects New Board of Directors
10/14/2019STC Statement on PFAS Issue
10/18/2021 » 10/20/20212021 STC Annual Membership Meeting
3/8/2022 » 3/9/20222022 STC Spring Meeting
3/8/2022STC Certified Turf Installer-Landscape Course
Membership Survey
New Member Survey
To serve as the global forum to promote, develop, grow and advocate for the synthetic turf industry.
2331 Rock Spring Road Forest Hill, MD 21050
443. 640. 1067


text:
Call Us: +44 (0)24 7657 2800
Email Us: firstname.lastname@example.com
Added SortBy property to the RSS widget allowing date, title and random sort orders
Collection and delivery options can be specified per product, and the system tracks whether the items have been collected or delivered. See MSL Point of Sale Administration Guide for more information.
If you know the ID number, you can now access the report for a specific session / reading / transaction directly from the relevant screen.
Added the following to the Marketplace:
* ability to specify sales deadline
* ability to take items off sale
* ability to re-list unsold items
* ability to re-list sold items (creates a new item)
Also fixed 2 outstanding bugs
Added ShowForgottenPasswordLink="False" option on the MSL:Login control
the POS application no longer prompts for collection / delivery information for Refund transactions
Fixed the problem that prevented population (!) when a customer had bought the same product on more than one occasion
People can't be deleted if there are still related memberships, transactions, voting records etc. If there's a problem deleting the person, you'll now get a friendlier error message, and the reason will be logged, so we can see what's going on.
Fixed problem that prevented status being loaded correctly when opening product details from Search form
When creating a child page, the parent page is pre-filled as expected
Wed 15 May 2019
The May 2019 system update has been released. This includes an update to the door entry webcam software, extended options on the JSON events feed and customisable edit organisation details pages.
Wed 13 Mar 2019
The next system release is due very soon. Get a sneak peak of what's coming up.
Mon 04 Mar 2019
The preferred name feature is being rolled out to all sites this week.
Need help? See our Knowledge Base


text:
Automakers, including the market leaders, aren't having a good time in India. In April too, India's top carmakers have seen degrowth in their sales. April can be blamed for being a typical dull month but when the degrowth is sustaining for good ten months, we know there is a real problem on the demand front.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) and Hyundai Motor India too, had also reported a decline in their domestic sales in April. MSI reported 18.7 percent fall while Hyundai posted a decline of 10.1 percent during this period. That's not all.
Most other competitors too have witnessed a consistent degrowth in their sales numbers too. Tata Motors' passenger vehicle sales in the domestic market declined by 26 percent to 12,694 units last month, compared with 17,235 units during the corresponding period the previous year. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) saw its passenger vehicle sales drop 8.94 percent to 19,966 units in April as against 21,927 units in the year-ago period.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor said its domestic sales last month stood at 10,112 units against 13,037 units during the same period in 2018, a decline of 22.43 percent.


text:
Lokks like what you want is what's known as a Very, or Extremely, or Ultra-, or just plain Broad-Brimmed Ladies Hat; sometimes also called a Picture Hat.
Hopefully you can find a pattern for it under one of those names - if not, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
The closest thing I could find an Instructable for is the "Checkpoint Charlie Hat", which should provide some good general hat-making tips. (But you want a floppier brim that that hat calls for, so I'd suggest using medium-heavy duty interfacing insted of the plastic used for that brim.)
Hope this helps.
How to make a Giant Floppy Hat? Answered
Hey guys! I was wondering if anyone knows how to make giant floppy hat like :
Thank you!!
Lokks like what you want is what's known as a Very, or Extremely, or Ultra-, or just plain Broad-Brimmed Ladies Hat; sometimes also called a Picture Hat.
What if you get hold of a really massive floppy hat, then wash it in very hot water and put it through the dryer, to shrink it down to a giant floppy hat?
My first thought was to get hold of a bunch of those really giant old 8" floppy discs and make the hat out of them. (If you used 10 discs, you could store almost 10 MB of data!)
teehee ... I'm kind of embarrassed to say but... I own no floppy disks. none. at. all. never have. lol... maybe CDs?? ^_^ (of which I own very little as well. I'm a flash drive girl :D )
Nothing embarrasing about that. Here on the other side of the generational/late adopting-Luddite-divide, I own no flash drives, none at all. (But somewhere around here, I may still have a deck of key-punch cards containing a FORTRAN program.) (Oh god I'm old.)
It'd be tricky to make a wearable hat out of CDs. Flash drives would be even worse, but if you could do it, you might have nearly half a terabyte's worth of hat. :)
- 8" floppy for the top of the crown
- 3-1/2 inchers for the sides of the crown
- 5-1/4 floppies for the brim
- CD cut to form a visor-section of brim at front
- magnetic tape hatband
- magnetic iron memory core, or flash drive, or both, as hatband ornaments atop a -
- key-punch card cut into a feathery frill
lol LOL. That would be awesome!! except... a MASSIVE floppy hat cost roughly twice as much as a giant floppy hat. And I'm broke :( lol
oooo... I never knew it had all those names. I just call it a floppy hat ^_^ (as you can see) I'll look for the pattern. Thanks a bunch!! ^_^
I forgot "wide-brimmed" as another name variation.
It's a fashion industry thing - if your competitor has just come out with his Extra-Wide-Brimmed Ladies Hat, then you can respond with your Ultra-Broad-Brimmed Picture Hat. The hats may be identical, but for effective advertising, the names have to be different.
http://wkdesigner.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/summer-wide-brimmed-hat/ I FOUND IT!!!!! *jumps up and down and does the happy dance* YAYYY!!!! Just needed to know what to look for. Thank you guys! And there's the link if anyone else in interested. ^_^
Cool!!! I'm so glad I could help. :)


text:
Phantasm: Four Temperaments
In stock - available for despatch within 1 working day
Despatch Information
This despatch estimate is based on information from both our own stock and the UK supplier's stock.
If ordering multiple items, we will aim to send everything together so the longest despatch estimate will apply to the complete order.
If you would rather receive certain items more quickly, please place them on a separate order.
If any unexpected delays occur, we will keep you informed of progress via email and not allow other items on the order to be held up.
If you would prefer to receive everything together regardless of any delay, please let us know via email.
Pre-orders will be despatched as close as possible to the release date.
Label: Linn
Cat No: BKD487
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Chamber
Release Date: 20th October 2014
WorksGalliard in 6 parts
Mass for four voices
Pavan a 6
Queen's Goodnight (Prelude and Ground)
Fantasia a 4
In nomino III a 5
In nomino II a 5
In nomino I a 5
Sur la rosee (fantasia a 6)
A song called trumpets
De la court
In nomine III a 5
Song of Mr Robert Parsons
Ut re mi fa sol la
A Solfinge Song
In Nomine II
In Nomine I
WorksGalliard in 6 parts
Mass for four voices
Pavan a 6
Queen's Goodnight (Prelude and Ground)
Fantasia a 4
In nomino III a 5
In nomino II a 5
In nomino I a 5
Sur la rosee (fantasia a 6)
A song called trumpets
De la court
In nomine III a 5
Song of Mr Robert Parsons
Ut re mi fa sol la
A Solfinge Song
In Nomine II
In Nomine I
The exceptional viol quartet Phantasm, whose debut won a Gramophone Award, returns with an equally ravishing recording of the repertoire in which they excel, from the golden age of Elizabethan England.
Originally released on Avie, Four Temperaments has been re-issued as part of Linns ECHO series which offers a second chance to enjoy the best recordings from Linn artists.
Four distinct musical personalities - or temperaments - are represented: the dissonant Robert Parsons, the cool Ferrabosco the Elder, the warm and sanguine Thomas Tallis, and the polar opposites of ecstasy and melancholy of William Byrd.
BBC Radio 3s Andrew McGregor praised Phantasm's recording of the Mass in Four Voices played on viols alone: for stylistic insight and subtlety is ironically one of the most satisfying performances of Byrd's Mass'.
Phantasm has re-defined the art of viol playing. Inspired by the great 20th century string quartets, the striking unity and suave sonorities are unmatched by any other viol ensemble playing today.
Phantasm has been widely acclaimed for its previous recordings with Linn - its 2011 recording of William Byrd was named Disc of the Month by BBC Music and its 2009 Linn debut of music by John Ward was described as stunning by Gramophone. The award-winning ensemble has been applauded across the globe for its moving performances and is recognised as the most exciting viol consort active on the world scene today.
...music and performances are consistently superb... - The Times
Phantasm play with the kind of sympathetic interplay that you'd expect from a crack string quartet. - Gramophone (Editor's Choice)
Another highly enjoyable, richly rewarding disc from the viol consort Phantasm. - The Independent
Musical lines are gracefully shaped and articulated. - BBC Music Magazine
Error on this page? Let us know here
Need more information on this product? Click here