Potential Old Age Security Pension Increase
By · CommentsLast week, Stephen Harper mentioned his thoughts on increasing the age of benefits for Old age pension from 65 to 67. There has been plenty of dialogue on this topic in the House of Commons.
To all the baby boomers out there, this effects you. Anyone who will be turning 65 within the next 10 years, this effects you. The people who this will hurt most are upcoming senior women who already live with more financial hardships.
It is time as Canadians, we stand up against this idea and tell our Members of Parliament that this is unacceptable practice for the future prosperity of our country.
This is just the thin edge of the wedge, as it will effect the Guaranteed income supplement as well as provincial health care.
The Canadian thing is to sit back, complain and carry on and let things just happen. We can’t keep doing this, as Canadians we must protect the people who will be hit hardest by this increase. Other options need to be reviewed, such as changing the clawback on the Old AGE security pension.
Yes there is a problem and it has been known for over 20 years that the boomers will all hit 65 and it will be a drain on the finances. Yet when the figures are produced we are talking about less than a ONE PERCENT INCREASE.
Surely there other areas that could be cut such as prisons. Reduce the prisons unless the Federal Government intends to turn them into poorhouses to house the seniors who will have no homes or food.
Stephen Harper and the Federal Government should back down on this stand.
Monica Olenroot
Business and insurance advisor
Mandatory WSIB Premiums
By · CommentsDid you know? That as of 2012 WSIB are imposing mandatory cover for all the construction and renovations industry.
In 2012, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) will require independent operators, directors and executive officers in the construction industry to pay premiums on their earnings. Business owners in this sector will have to pay on average $11,000/year more in payroll taxes. With the WSIB sitting on a $14 billion debt, is this a money grab?
Many say mandatory coverage will not increase safety. Instead, it will grow the underground economy, eliminate jobs and force some out of business.
CARAHS along with many other organizations like the CFIB are committed to seeing mandatory WSIB coverage in construction delayed. So we need your help. If you haven’t already done so, please support the lobbying going on and you can do this through the CFIB link below.
You can also help fight this issue by letting others know about this and direct them to join the fight at the CFIB link.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Monica Olenroot (CARAHS Co-Founder)
Selecting the Right Life Insurance
By · CommentsRecently, I spoke with a client whose father applied for life insurance direct through an insurance company’s website. Unfortunately, he was not given the right advice for the insurance he was looking for and ended up being declined. Had he gone to an advisor/broker to discuss his insurance needs, he would have received the right advice, the correct product for him and now would not have to go searching for another insurance company to use.
Most insurance companies today have their own website and are selling life insurance direct to the consumer. This insurance can be more expensive than by going through an advisor that represents the same insurance companies. You would think that going direct would actually be cheaper, but that isn’t the case with life insurance. The same as banks use a blended rate of non smoker and smoker premiums for their mortgage insurance. A non smoker will pay higher premiums through bank mortgage insurance than through a life insurance company. Typically once you hit your 40’s then life insurance through an insurance company with an advisor regardless of smoking status is less expensive than bank mortgage insurance.
Do your research; speak with an advisor/broker who can provide you with a better selection of products, companies and advice when looking for the right life insurance.
Monica Olenroot
1-888-430-5369 or email monica@guaranteeissue.ca
Insurance advisor/broker making insurance simple to understand
DCH Guarantee Issue Insurance has over 30 years experience in the life insurance industry.
Call Centres – The law in Canada
By · CommentsCall Centres – The law in Canada
A lot of us do not realize this option is open to us.
Any time you call an 800 number(for a credit card, banking, charter communications, health and other insurance, computer help desk, etc. and you find that you’re talking to a foreign customer service representative (with an accent, difficult to understand/ perhaps in India, Philippines, etc), Please consider doing the following:
After you connect and you realize that the Customer Service Representative is not working in Canada (you can always ask, if you are not sure about the accent), please, very politely this is not about trashing other cultures Say, “I’d like to speak to a Customer Service Representative in Canada .”
The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say, “Thank you, but I’d like to speak to a Customer Service Representative in Canada ..”
YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED TO A REP IN CANADA ..
That’s the rule and the LAW.
It takes less than one minute to have your call re-directed to Canada .
Tonight when I got redirected to a Canadian Rep, I asked again to make sure – and yes, she was from Calgary ..
Imagine what would happen if every Canadian Citizen insisted on talking to only Canadian phone reps, from this day on.
Imagine how that would ultimately impact the number of Canadian jobs that would need to be created ASAP. Let’s slow down and possibly reverse some of our unemployment problems.
If I tell 10 people to consider this and you tell 10 people to consider doing this – see what I mean…it becomes an exercise in viral marketing 101.
Remember – the goal here is to restore jobs back here at home – not to be abrupt or rude to a foreign phone rep.
You will get correct answers, good advice, and solutions – in real English.
If you agree, please tell 10 people you know, and ask them to tell 10 people they know….etc…etc
Nobel Peace prize awarded to Three Women
By · CommentsThis year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded jointly to three women – Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15211861
Made In Canada
By · CommentsSubject: Made in Canada – Please read this one!
A physics teacher in high school, once told the students: that while one grasshopper on the railroad tracks wouldn’t slow a train very much, a billion of them would. With that thought in mind, read the following, obviously written by a good Canadian:
Shopping in Lowe’s the other day for some reason and just for the fun of it I was looking at the hose attachments. They were all made in China . The next day I was in Home Hardware and just for the fun of it I checked the hose attachments there. They were made in Canada!Start looking… In our current economic situation, every little thing we buy or do affects someone else – even their job.
A quote from a consumer:…my grandson likes Hershey’s candy. I noticed, though, that it is marked made in Mexico now. I do not buy it any more. My favourite toothpaste, Colgate, is madein Mexico now. I have switched to Crest. You have to read the labels on everything.Canada at a company in Ontario. Their Equate products are also made in Canada, and are very good.
This past weekend I was at Wal-Mart. I needed 60W light bulbs. I was in the light bulb aisle, and right next to the GE brand I normally buy was an off-brand labelled, “Everyday Value”. I picked up both types of bulbs and compared the stats – they were the same except for the price. The GE bulbs were more money than the Everyday Value brand but the thing that surprised me the most was the fact that GE was made in MEXICO and the Everyday Value brand was made in – get ready for this -
Just to add my own experience on buying Made In Canada, I was looking for canned mushrooms that were made in Canada and could never find any, so I would buy fresh. But a miracle happened, when in our Foodland store I found Ravine mushrooms – made in Canada with a little red maple leaf on can. A little more money but when I opened the can I looked at mushrooms that look like real mushrooms, not a mushroom that looks like it was cleaned in bleach.
So throw out the myth that you can not find products you use every day that are made right here. My challenge to you is to start reading the labels when you shop for everyday things and see what you can find that is made in Canada. The job you save may be your own or your neighbour’s!(Your children & grandchildren, also)
If President Obama insists on a ‘Made in America’ policy, which is commendable of him, to support American workers, we should do likewise.If you accept this challenge, pass it on to others in your address book so we can all start buying Canadian, one light bulb at a time! Stop buying from overseas companies! (We should have awakened two decades ago.) Let’s get with the program. Help our fellow Canadians keep their jobs and create more jobs here in Canada .
BUY CANADIAN! Read the labels. Support Canadian jobs.
Ontario’s Health Care System
By · CommentsOur Health Care System
People are always talking about our Health Care system. Yet we are fortunate to have a health care system to complain about.
Take a look at how many people are overweight in Canada. We talk about obesity in the United States, yet we are not far behind. Or what about all the smokers who are putting a drain on our health care system.
Isn’t it time we stopped blaming our health care system and started taking ownership of the problems we create.
If people put in more time to help themselves get healthy, with better eating habits, more fitness and taking less over the counter medications to ease all pains, we might be better off.
It has always been my opinion all the chemicals and preservatives used in our foods is not good for us, no matter how the marketing departments sugar coat everything for us and indoctrinate us into believing that we won’t be happy without it. All the chemical medications for colds, headaches, aches and pains that we take without even thinking about it is causing damage to our bodies.
It is time as one woman put it we have a self care revolution and change our eating habits, our fitness habits, our drinking and smoking habits and our medication habits.
If each family took ownership to help their family members become healthier, imagine the long term savings to our health care system.
Something to think about while you eat that burger or smoke that cigarette or sit and watch endless hours of TV.
I welcome all comments on how we can help each other improve or if you disagree with my comments.
Monica Olenroot
Priceless Twenty Minute Assessment
By · CommentsYesterday I met a person that told me he had a terminal brain tumour and most likely would not reach his 40th birthday. He was very upbeat as he watched his three young children playing on the front lawn. The experience reminded me that life is short and that we have to enjoy every minute of it. We have to embrace life because we don’t really know what is waiting around the corner.
This past year I have met men and women who have undergone very serious illnesses and have been lucky enough to come out the other end and survive. I have seen how their attitude towards life has changed. I also saw the love and support family and friends gave them and knew that without that support they would have struggled more.
I am grateful for each day and what life has to offer. Some days are fantastic and others I need to find out the challenge that I am to handle and how to handle it.
Every day I thank God for my family, my friends, my work and the people I come into contact with.
I used to wonder if advising people with their insurance needs was worthwhile. I have found the answer is yes, because we help make sure there will be no financial difficulties for their families when the serious health challenge comes along. So now I make it a point to help everyone I talk to and not let them procrastinate about putting their financial house in order. Life is too fleeting to leave it all to chance. The best legacy a parent can give a family is to know their family will be taken care of when they are unable to do it.
Don’t procrastinate, it only takes twenty minutes of your time to get an assessment of your insurance needs. Don’t let your family pay in the future for something you should have taken care of in the present and get your priceless twenty minute assessment done.
Submitted by
Monica Olenroot
Insurance Advisor for Guarantee Issue Insurance
Tips to create Balance in your life
By · CommentsIn today’s busy world as entrepreneurs, we are constantly connected to everything through our phones, social media and internet. How do we create a balance between, work, connecting with family and friends and daily life? Even children are kept busy all the time, between school, sports activities, friends and family events, when is their downtime? Are children learning to all become type A personalities or are we as parents and the media driving them to this?
What about our own lives, do you find more often that it is getting more difficult to have a balance between work, home life and relaxation?
As entrepreneurs running a business, my husband and I have found we need to learn how to tune things out and turn things off. It is a challenge to do this especially when we are so connected and it is just too easy to just read that one extra email or respond to a request on facebook or linkedin.
Hear are some tips that we use and we are passing on to others.
I do understand that it will take some practice to use these tips, but it will help create more balance in your life and a little bit less stress.
Put your family members and close friends on seperate ring tones on your phone and only answer those calls on weekends. Afterall that is what voicemail was for was to take calls. 95% of all other calls on the weekend are not emergencies and can wait until office hours.
If you work from home establish office hours and stick to it. It is more important to learn to work smarter than harder. If the administrration is building up and this makes this tip harder to do hire a part-time assistant or find a co-op student who would be willing to help or get a family member to help. This also provides them with some knowledge on what you are doing. Put your blackberry or Iphones on phone calls only, this way you won’t be constantly buzzed everytime an email or text comes in.
Lastly learn to take time on the weekends to charge your batteries and spend quality time with family. You will feel better and your family will enjoy it.
Life is a journey and you can have balance, less stress which also improves overall health. Do something good for your health today, take a break.
Submitted by Monica Olenroot
www.guaranteeissueinsurance.ca/blog
We make insurance easier to understand and Over the past 30 years, we have helped 100′s of our policyholders get their claims
paid without any problems.
