Twenty Years -

Looking around the US economy right now. Homes have been foreclosed, bankruptcy looms on private debts and the retirement 401ks have taken a serious hit. Life as we knew it has been turned upside down without anything in place to catch us as we fell. So how did we get into this mess? The economists tell us we have been living beyond our means. Credit was cheap and, with banks and credit card companies raising their borrowing limits, there seemed to be nothing we could not afford. There was no need for savings. Everything could be charged. If the limit was reached, the housing equity could be released as cash. Over a period of about twenty years, we switched from a country that saves to a country that spends on credit. In the period just after World War II, we had “prudence”. People mostly paid cash for what they wanted and, if they did not have enough, they saved. It was a revolution when, suddenly, everything could be paid for in affordable monthly instalments. In one sense, this is the easiest way to get into serious debt without noticing. When you only pay a few hundred dollars every month, it hardly registers the total debt is tens of thousands.

Insurance companies were the last of the hold-outs. For years, they insisted everyone should pay them a lump sum once a year. Then, slowly, there was a cave. First it slipped to every six months, then quarterly. Now almost every company across the nation accepts monthly. What’s the problem for the insurance companies? Well, they estimate the likely total cost of the claims they will have to pay over the next twelve months and divide that amount between all the policy holders as the premium. If the company has done its sums properly and everyone pays once a year, the company always has the cash in the bank to pay out on all the claims. If people pay monthly, they can easily change to another insurer. They can miss one month’s payment when the family budget is under pressure. That means the insurer may not have enough money to pay the claims. So, to encourage all you people with some savings (or some slack on your credit cards), they offer discounts if you agree to pay every six or twelve months. It gives them more security and saves you some money. Paying monthly costs you the most.

That said, paying monthly gives you flexibility. You can use the online search engines to find auto insurance quotes at the lowest price. Then for just one month’s premium, you can be driving. In effect, this becomes a monthly policy. You can keep shopping around for new premium offers from different insurers. If you find a better monthly rate, you can transfer at the end of the month. But if you pay once or twice a year, the insurer will hit you with high cancellation charges to lock you in. Whatever you might save disappears. Worse, if you change the make and model of your vehicle during the longer policy term, it can be too expensive to move the policy to a cheaper company. You end up paying the higher premium until the six or twelve months end. So make a wise decision. Auto insurance is never cheap. Avoid making it too expensive.

According to The Beatles, “It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play.” So, in 1988, voters in California passed Proposition 103 which, as history tells us, proved to be one of the best Propositions they have voted for. Why? Because it pushed forward reform of the automobile insurance industry. The result? Evidence shows California has the most competitive market in the US with the slowest increase in premium rates. If you ever wondered what consumer protection should look like, California is the model all the other states should follow. Curiously, Illinois is the most unregulated market and the least competitive. Are Californians pleased with the result? Looking at the pattern of increases in the rest of the US, the estimate is that Californian drivers have saved more than $17 billion in premiums. That’s almost $2,000 per driver. What’s not to like about that? With the last year of recession, the continuing low premiums and strong competition between the insurers guarantees better service standards on claims, just when family budgets benefit from low monthly instalments and fast payments if there is an accident.

But, when the legislature in any other state suggests applying the lessons learned, the insurance industry begins to spend money through the lobbyists and advertisers. Soon, everyone with even half an ear on the issue of insurance knows the Californian approach has broken the insurance industry. Local insurers teeter on the edge of insolvency, barely able to scrape even a few cents of profit from their underwriting. Were it not for the strong profits earned elsewhere, the Californians would be denied insurance altogether. Put the other way round, the rest of the US is subsidising Californian drivers. Except, of course, this is completely untrue. The insurance companies in the Californian market routinely report profits in excess of 10%. This is the lie that proves the automobile insurance industry at large runs on greed. A mere 10% profit margin is chicken feed and close to insolvency.

So what is the Californian approach? It throws out reliance on the zip code and credit scoring. Instead, insurers must focus on the safety record of the individual driver. That ensures the good drivers pay less and the bad drivers pay a bigger percentage of the losses they cause. In most other states, the good drivers subsidise the bad. To complete the package, the auto insurance companies must disclose the basis on which they calculate the premiums. This empowers the Department of Insurance and prevents insurers from trying to cheat on the rate calculations to recover some of their lost profits.

If the Commissioner finds evidence of overcharging, he can order the company to cut its premiums and refund the amount overcharged. This is the ultimate sanction and, so far, the Californian courts have consistently refused the appeals of the insurers affected. What better way is there to get full consumer protection? None! That’s why the auto insurance industry would prefer you not to know about Proposition 103 and the beneficial effect it has had. History and current events are off the curriculum in other states as politicians take the money from the insurers and look the other way. Only in states where electors get to vote on the issue or can pressure their representatives is there any chance of improvement.

Hair loss is embarrassing for most men. While some percentage of males thinks it gives men brutality and show their masculine side, others are simply shamed of it. When you start losing hair you expect to get bald and the idea of it makes people terrified. It is common to lose hair with age but let’s say you are twenty years old and you have just found out your hair is falling down. That can be pretty shocking! But you don’t have to be too scared as there is always a solution. Lots of medical institutions and well as beauty salons nowadays are offering hair replacement methods. But let’s be honest- not every man will treat it as a beauty salon procedure. Most men would normally go to see a specialist in a hospital and take his advice.

Hair loss issue is not a newly appearing one. It has been there for a long time, it is just that in the past years we become more open about it. We are ready to share our thoughts, talk about your problems. We are willing to seek solutions and we want to take advice. When you ask women how they feel about bald men – most of them will say that the lack of hair will never affect a relationship or that looks doesn’t matter too much. Some women will even confess being turned on by the bald headed men. What can you say, tastes differ. Men, on the contrary, especially those who used to be proud of their hair, take this problem a little bit further.

We interviewed a few people on the streets of Chicago and this is what men think about hair loss problem.

Mike:” I have absolutely no opinion about this as my hair is perfectly fine, but I guess if I had to face this matter I would accept it as it is and would not be too concerned about it”.

Tony:” This problem hit me when I was just 28 years old. Now I am 35. I have very little hair left but my wife still loves me the same. I guess hair doesn’t matter so much after all.”

John:” I think I would go for hair replacement. Or I would take a pill. I don’t know what exactly I would do about it but I know I would do something”.

So as we see people have a different attitude towards hair loss. But we are here to discuss options. Let us introduce one of the options to you. It is called Propecia.

Propecia is a drug. It is very popular in the United States of America. 9 of the ten men that tried it had a positive result. Their hair started to grow back. But this is not a result one should expect to appear tomorrow. It can take up to 1 year until anything becomes obvious. This tablet is recognized by FDA and is the number 1 treatment from baldness that is willing to guarantee you an improvement.

You can purchase this medication from the nearest drug-store or you can visit Internet pharmacies and order it online. Either way you have to remember the pill can only be bought with a prescription.