At Last - The Truth About Vitamins.
Vitamins - The Truth’ gives you over 80 pages of Valuable Information on the Foods that supply the Vitamin. At Last - The Truth About Vitamins. -
Luv N Care, LTD, Monroe, LA, is initiating a nationwide recall of all Nuby Gel Filled Teethers. These products have been found to contain Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus circulans in the gel.
Warning: Banks Automatically Renew CDs Upon Maturity, 7-Day Grace Periods
It’s hard to believe that back in August 2008, I was able to get a 5% APY 12-month CD from Washington Mutual (now Chase). Since it’s almost time, I called today to see if I could designate how I wanted the funds to be disbursed upon maturity. However, I was told that I actually had to wait until the actual maturity date, and then call them within a 7 day grace period. If missed that short window, then it would automatically renew into another CD of the same term, and I’d be subject to early withdrawal penalties. (Up to 6-months of interest, which can mean you get back less than your initial principal.) After a bit of research, it seems that many of the big banks do this. For example, with Bank of America, for CD account terms that are 7-27 days, there is a 1 calendar day grace period. For CD account terms that are 28 or more days, there is a 7 calendar day grace period. Yes, one calendar day, not business day, so if it’s a Sunday or holiday you still have to contact them? I’ve also read that some banks require you to physically enter a branch or send a snail-mail letter. On the other hand, other places that I’ve dealt with, like Pentagon Federal Credit Union, allow you to choose how the CD should be treated right when you open it. I can have the CD renew, have the funds transferred to a PenFed checking account, or have it sent to me by check. I can even choose to either reinvest the dividends or have them sent to me monthly. I guess this is another example of credit unions often being more consumer-friendly. Meanwhile, I guess I’ll just have to set up some Google Calendar alerts to text me repeatedly when this thing matures. The current traditional CD is paying only 0.25% APY, and the online CD is 1.25%. If you’re looking for a short-term CD, Everbank is offering 3.01% APY for the first 3 months for new accounts. It’s a money market account, so there are no early withdrawal penalties to worry about.
View an online demonstration on how to use the Prescription Drug Plan Finder
Pre-recorded Webinar on the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder
Tracking Investment Portfolio Using Google Docs
I spent a little time tinkering with Google Docs Spreadsheets today, trying to use it to track the asset allocation of my investment portfolio. GoogleFinance() Function This function allows you to import data from Google Finance like current stock prices, p/e ratios, or performance. Here is the Google Docs Help page. For example, if you want to pull up the price of a share of Google stock, you’d enter this into a cell. =GoogleFinance(”GOOG”; “price”) Importing Personal Data I could not find an easy way to import my actual holdings into Google Docs, but I’m not sure if you want that capability due to privacy concerns. Google Docs does allow you to import from RSS or XML feeds. I ended up just manually entering the ticker symbols and number of shares I held for each mutual fund. This means I will have to update my 401(k) funds after each paycheck, and my other holdings when I make a transaction or when a dividend is paid. Shared Example Below is a shortened version of my online file, as a quick example. You can view the full version more easily here. To edit, go to File and click on “Create a copy…”. You can then poke around and change the ticker symbols to your own. In the full version, I have columns that compare my current asset allocation percentages to my target percentages. This can help people who wish to rebalance when their allocations are off by a certain amount. I can see that I am currently overweight in Emerging Markets due to their recent run-up, and underweight in TIPS. Everything else seems close enough. The pie charting function seems a little buggy, I couldn’t get it to show the proper labels.
MyMedicare.gov
MyMedicare.gov provides direct Internet access to your Medicare benefits, eligibility, enrollment (including prescription drug plans) and preventive health information - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Visit the site, sign up, and Medicare will mail you a password to allow you access to your personal Medicare information. MyMedicare.gov also allows you to view your adjudicated claims information, access online forms and publications, and receive important messages from Medicare.
Outliers: Hard Work, Luck, and Success
Why do some people exceed far more than others? This is the question asked by the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. The short book argues that most people erroneously believe that very successful people are primarily products of a high intelligence and lots of talent. But there are many other variables out there, ranging from their date of birth, to their family’s cultural background, to sheer luck. But the most important relationship was between hard work and luck. In the Chapter called “The 10,000 Hour Rule”, Gladwell states that it takes 10,000 hours to master a subject - be it hockey, music, or computer programming. There are no shortcuts to this. However, Bill Gates got 10,000 hours of computer time while attending an elite private school before he even reached college in 1973, at a time when many top universities didn’t even have computer labs. Before they became famous, The Beatles ended up playing at a club in Germany for over 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. This meant they accumulated more live stage time (1,200 performances) in a couple years than most bands had in a lifetime. In other words, they both had a nice does of luck to be able to get their 10,000 hours in when very few others had the same opportunity. At the same time, they also had the ambition and drive to actually complete those 10,000 hours. Sometimes I think that “talent” is no more than loving something so much that you don’t mind spending endless hours doing it. So to be extraordinarily successful, you need both luck and hard work. People can interpret these stories differently. One person might say “Yup, those guys were successful because they were more lucky than I was.” and then feel better about their lives. The thing to remember is that between hard work and luck, you can control only one. If you don’t put in the hours, there is essentially zero chance of success. If you do, then when opportunity hits, you can flourish. Gladwell connects the Chinese proverb stating “No one who can rise before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich” to a special public school network within low-income areas that creates kids who can compete with those from private schools in wealthy suburbs. Although I was initially afraid that this book would try to put too much emphasis on the role of luck, in the end it actually reinforced my own basic beliefs about hard work. You can’t control the cards you are dealt. All you can do is play them as best you can.
