by Gina Lynell Smith
Keep Track of The Challenge
Alameda, CA - In a Mohawk? Or with words in hair-cut letters spelling out “Bosses Suck!” How shall she do it?
Her boss who is probably a decent guy in an insurance company in Alameda, Calif. in all other respects, however, in this challenge is–just a boss. He has been yelling, screaming, and foaming at the mouth because their branch compared to four other branches, located closest to the Bay Area, is fifth or last in comparison of these five branch sales for the month. He has now decidedly chosen to initiate this challenge of “Shave the Boss’s Head,” which Gina says makes her thoughts twinkle.
Gina works at this branch in Alameda, and she has been challenged to bring in enough sales for any one month that would be the most the Alameda branch has ever made in any one month. Her boss, who technically is not her boss, as she is an independent contractor, has agreed to let her shave his head in any kind’ a ‘whacko way’ she wants if she meets the challenge. She has figured out that it would take approximately 215 people to open an account for at least $30 per month. Each one of these people would also get a vote on just how to shave his head.
If you want to help, vote, track the challenge via her twitter address, and learn to which company she is contracted, Call 510-521-1521, ext 135 to set an appointment with her. You must be, at least, age 18, be fairly healthy, live in California, and want to see her shave the boss’s head.
She said she can offer you what the Wall Street Journal called “A risk-free approach to rebuilding your nest egg.” An annuity, must be opened with at least $100 and add to it monthly with a payroll deduction before taxes—which would save you money on your out-of-pocket income tax costs, or you could roll-over your 401k, IRA, Pension or Bank Certificate of Deposit.
You can also open any one of several life insurance policies her branch offers for as little as $30 per month depending on your age. She suggests opening one for yourself, your spouse or significant other, each of your children, and for each of your parents who are circling around the age of 65—above or below you can open a Medicare Supplement or Long-Term care policy.
Gina is licensed to sell Medicare supplements and soon both regular Long-Term Care Insurance as well as California Partnership Long-Term Care Insurance, which will help transfer the risk of paying an average of $6,000 – $7,000 monthly to the insurance company instead of from your own family’s budget. Gina said she learned in her California Partnership Senior Insurance Training Course that a semi-private room in a nursing home will cost an average of $220 per day, which is approximately $73,000 annually.
Who is expected to pay for those costs if not the insurance company? It is Gina’s guess that more than likely, it will be a financial burden of the adult children who may be trying to save for their own children’s college expenses or trying to protect their families’ legacy. Gina insured her own mother with a Medicare Supplement policy. She said it will help to pay for the deductibles, co-pays and recovery care that Medicare does not cover including some preventative care that she and her sisters might have had to pay for their mother. It will help alleviate some of the long-term care burden, but eventually she and her sisters will have to gather together to invest in another policy to both cover other costs and protect their families assets.
Yes, shaving the boss’s head is a great revenge, but the greatest revenge in life, Gina says, is to prepare for the future. We shouldn’t have to work well into our 60’s and 70’s (as Gina’s mother did.) if we have already been productive citizens for more than 25-years.
Gina believes that if you put 20% of your income per month for 25 years, (no matter how little/or lot you make) you should be able to live off of the annual interest alone (if inflation stays the same). Your children could use the principle, after you ‘kick that great bucket in the sky’, to keep your family’s legacy going or your chosen charity could also benefit.
According to Gina you will also reduce your income taxes as certain annuities defer taxes, and you could use some of the interest from the annuities to effectively reduce the cost of life insurance that could build cash value or like long-term care premiums from certain policies that are tax deductible. Gina believes that if you put away 20% of your monthly income every year in a tax-qualified annuity with a fixed rate for 25 years and cover both yourself and your parents for medical expenses and long-term care your families will be better off and you won’t have to suffer working for ‘a boss’ until you keel over. What’s the good in that?
GINA’S BIO:
Gina is a fairly new independent contractor with this insurance company in Alameda, Calif. She has been a hard worker all of her life. She worked 12-hours per day Monday through Friday in her own home daycare in Sunnyvale for five years in the 1990’s. Sometimes she worked a second job to make sure her daughter had nice clothes, ballet lessons, gymnastic lessons, synchronized swimming lessons, and horseback riding lessons.
She closed her daycare and moved to the city of Los Banos, Calif. where, she said, you could get more home for your money at that time, and she worked for less pay as a newspaper reporter. The low-pay finally was not enough for family expenses. She decided to finish her college degree requirements while working at several Employment Agencies close to Stanford University and De Anza College where she finished the last requirements to be transferred to Santa Clara University to get her Bachelors of Science in Commerce-Economics.
Going to school and working was difficult. Gina had to leave her daughter with friends whose children attended the same school as her daughter in Los Banos. It made for a difficult family life, so she let her daughter’s father and his new wife take custody of their daughter from the age her daughter was 14 through 18, and Gina continued to work 12-hours per day as a security dispatch officer while finishing school.
It was a difficult decision hoping her daughter would have a better life for those four years, and everyday since that decision, Gina has been second guessing herself. Her daughter is now an adult and working on her own.
Work has been off and on for Gina after College. She did receive her degree and a debt of several thousands of dollars in student loans. She is working to pay the loans back and still trying to better her financial situation. She recently received her real estate broker’s license, and license to sell annuities-life insurance-Medicare Supplements and soon, long term care insurance including California Partnership. She has recently written a revised version of her self-published book, and hopes to start her own business that combines real estate, insurance, and interior design.
