National Life of Vermont

Ascensus

LUTC

Souper Shops - Online shopping!

FINANCIAL SERVICES ONLINE (FSO) operates two Internet sites for the exclusive benefit of financial service professionals:

The VIRTUAL MARKETING DEPARTMENT (VSA) is an "extranet" that containing over 2 gigabytes of interactive sales and service material that is owned by LUTC and operated by FSO. Company sponsorship and/or membership is required for usage. To determine if the VSA would help your practice, visit the Demo Main Menu at http://www.lutc.com to see the hundreds of sales ideas, concepts and resources available.

The FINANCIAL SERVICES CENTER (http://fsc.fsonline.com) is a free site that houses archives of Financial E-News and the Financial Services Journal Online, the Financial Net Director and more. Check out the Journal for articles and sales ideas from leading industry professionals and use the Net Director to quickly find all the good financial services sites on the Net.

• LUTCFs: All LUTCFs get the first month free and then pay $15.95 per month. Please subscribe by fax and include a copy of your business card to verify your designation.
• ASCENSUS: A national insurance brokerage firm that provides a free subscription to high-producing agents or provides a 20% discount [$15.95] for all licensed producers. Call Jerry Neff at 800-453-5693 for details regarding a company-paid subscription or to see if you are currently licensed with them (in that case, simply put ASC in the company code of the subscription application to receive the 20% discount).
• Kansas City Life: Provides the first four months free and then a rate of $15.95 thereafter for licensed agents. Contact Bill Burnett, VP at 800-572-2467 for details.
• Protective: Provides first month free and payroll deducts at $15 per month thereafter. Contact Lisa Ruggieri at 800-866-3555 if you are a licensed producer for Protective. Also, see http://www.3mark.com for discounts from Protective MGA, "3Mark." o American National: Pays for all exclusive agents.

There are others "in the mill."

Visit http://www.lutc.com/fso1/membinfo.html for subscriber information and subscription forms.

1999 TAX UPDATE - While there are no major tax changes taking effect in 1999 (at least not yet!), there are a broad range of tax matters that may impact you and your clients. Here are the highlights:

INCOME TAXES - The self-employed health insurance deduction increases to 60% in 1999 (up from 45% in '98), the child tax credit rises to $500 for children under 17 (up from $400 in '98) and deductible interest on student loans increases to $1,500 from $1,000 in 1998. More people will be able to deduct the costs of a home office in 1999 (a home office can be used for managerial purposes only in 1999 and qualify for the home office deduction; still must be used exclusively and regularly for business, but the requirement of meeting with clients need not be satisfied). There are slight changes in income tax brackets, standard deductions and the personal exemption deduction, which we've posted at http://www.fsonline.com/enews_archive/enews011599/1999tax.html.

SOCIAL SECURITY - The social security tax remains at 12.4% (6.20% each on employers and employees), but the taxable wage base has increased to $72,600. The Medicare tax remains at 2.9% (1.45% each on employers and employees) on total wages. Social security recipients under age 65 may earn up to $9,600 in 1999 without losing benefits; from ages 65 through 69, they may earn up to $15,500; there is no reduction beginning at age 70.

ESTATE AND GIFT TAXES - The estate and gift tax unified credit equivalent increases to $650,000 in 1999. Also, the $10,000 annual gift tax exclusion and the $1,000,000 generation-skipping tax exemption were scheduled to be indexed to inflation beginning in 1999 (in $1,000 increments for the former and $10,000 increments for the latter). With inflation at such a low rate, however, the annual gift tax exclusion will remain at $10,000 in 1999 and the GST exemption will increase just $10,000 to $1,010,000.

1999 STANDARD MILEAGE ALLOWANCE - For the first time ever, the standard mileage allowance for business driving has dropped...to 31 cents per mile from 32-1/2 cents in 1998. The change, originally scheduled for January 1, has been delayed until April to give companies time to make necessary software and procedural changes.

MEDICARE INFORMATION - There are a lot of things our government doesn't do right, but providing information on the Net isn't one of them. The IRS site is very useful. Another site you may want to check out is http://www.medicare.gov. It is well done and has answers to all your or your clients' Medicare questions.

ELDER BOOM - Remember when the "peanut gallery" reached middle age? Now we "boomers" are creating the "elder boom." The first "boomers" will reach age 65 in 2011; by 2020 nearly 20% of the U.S. population will be age 65+. With medical advances, even longer life expectancies are predicted. If you were once part of the "peanut gallery," this may make you feel old, but look at the silver lining...great opportunities exist in retirement planning and long-term care sales.

ESTATE TAX ATTACK? - A report by the Congressional Joint Economic Committee describes the estate tax as having "no redeeming qualities." It further states that the tax does not reduce inequities and that the $23 billion it raises in annual revenue is "illusory" since estate tax avoidance techniques can create huge income tax losses. Not sure what all this means, but it might not be good news for estate planning specialists and charitable institutions.

FEDMAN - Alan Greenspan leaping tall buildings in a single bound? Not quite, but the six comic books published free by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (http://www.ny.frb.org) are apparently quite effective in teaching the serious business of economics. The comics, which include "The Story of Money" and "The Story of Banks," are even being used in college economics courses.