Finance - Life Assurance

Life Assurance by Gary Tallon


Planning for your future life can seem like a time consuming
burden when you have a young family. After all, where do you
find the time in your life to think about things like life
assurance while you're struggling to keep work and home life
pressures in check? Our departure from this life though cannot
be predicted. You and your partner may live a good life to a
ripe old age, or you could pass away tomorrow. If the worst were
to happen to you, where would that leave your partner and your
dependants? Would they be financially secure for the rest of
their life after their loss and not have to worry about paying
the mortgage? If not, then a life assurance policy is a must.

Life assurance for life and death

Life assurance, also known as life insurance, is an assurance
policy that pays out a lump sum to a named person(s) in the
event of your death. This type of assurance policy is
inexpensive to maintain, assurance premiums being very low if
you take up the assurance policy early in life. Depending on the
nature of the assurance policy you may pay assurance premiums up
until the end of your life or up until a specified age.

You can also format your assurance policy as a single life
policy or as a joint life policy. For married couples with a
mortgage and/or dependants, a joint life policy is often the
preferred type of assurance to opt for as the assurance policy
has the flexibility to pay out on first death or second death.
An assurance policy that pays out on first death is beneficial
for those carrying a mortgage and where the deceased's life
partner and/or dependants are still alive.

Types of life assurance policies

When considering buying into a life policy you'll find three
basic types of assurance policy available from assurance
companies - term assurance, family income assurance and whole
life assurance. Term assurance - Term assurance is a
straightforward life policy that pays out a tax-free lump sum
upon your death. This is a basic life policy that runs to a
specified term, often coinciding with the life of a mortgage.

Family income assurance - This life policy is a set term
assurance policy that pays out to dependants should you die
during the term of the assurance policy. Pay out is on a regular
basis (like an income) until full term of the assurance is
reached.

Whole life policy assurance - This is an open-ended assurance
policy that pays out a lump sum upon your death, regardless of
when you depart this life.


Article Source: Life Assurance

Health - Ten Steps to a Heart Attack

Ten Steps to a Heart Attack by Christian Goodman


Ten Steps to a Heart Attack

Christian Goodman

Although there are many causes of heart attacks, some are even still largely unknown, there are a handful of lifestyle reasons that can contribute to the attack. I present to you my own Ten steps to a heart attack.

10. Smoke. Clearly, smoking is very harmful not only to your lungs, but your heart as well. Your arteries get clogged, making your blood pressure rise. When you smoke, you double your chances of getting heart attack, compared to those who shun smoking.

9. Drink too much, or not enough. Drinking around twelve ounces of beer, five ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor is actually good for your heart, but drink more than that, or less, is not effective. When you drink too much, alcohol raises your blood pressure making you at risk of heart attack.

8. Vegetate. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, you will not reduce stress, you will not decrease your cholesterol levels, and you cannot heal your body from issues with blood pressure or excess weight. This will all lead to heart attack.

7. Get angry. Simply getting angry can increase your chances of suffering from heart attack. Getting angry can be just as dangerous as health related causes because the rise in blood pressure can lead to a heart attack.

6. Losing control of your cholesterol. When you eat saturated fats, especially trans saturated fats, consume too many calories, and eat foods that lack nutrients, your cholesterol level goes up. This can make you much more vulnerable to a heart attack in time.

5. Get stressed out. Getting stressed out raises your blood pressure, and leads to heart disease and heart attacks.

4. Lose control of your blood pressure. If your blood pressure goes above normal, the heart compensates by working harder to push blood through, which can cause it to enlarge, which in turn can cause heart attacks.

3. Don't take your health serious enough. If you don't take care of your health, you may develop heart attack symptoms. You must give importance to your health everyday to keep your heart healthy.

2. Over exert yourself. Over exertion can cause the stress needed to raise your blood pressure, and by proxy, your risk of having a serious heart attack. If you have other risk factors for heart attacks, you should try not to over tax or over exert your body.

1. Not taking advantage of my unique program. Even though you can beat all of the nine factors mentioned here, you are still at risk of getting a heart attack. But if you use and follow my program, you will definitely win the battle against heart attack.

Christian Goodman is a well known author of health manuals and a researcher on (http://ChristianGoodman.com) natural health options. See what he has discovered on (http://HypertensionNoMore.com) Natural High Blood Pressure and how you can prevent it.


Article Source: Ten Steps to a Heart Attack

Business - Business Blogging

Business Blogging: Why You Should Start a Business Blog to Promote and Market Your Small Business by Scott Ingram

A business blog is a great way to expose yourself and your small business. There are a variety of reasons why they’re such a great marketing vehicle. In this article we’ll discuss the top 5 reasons why blogging for business is so valuable and has so much potential.

1. Search Engines Love Blogs!

I’ve spent a lot of time promoting both my business website and my blogs. From experience I can tell you that promoting a blog is 10 times easier than promoting a traditional website, and the results have been 10 times more impressive. Why? Search engines just love blogs. They’re current, their content changes regularly, and they’re relevant. You have an opportunity to use your most important keywords on a regular basis, and the search engines just can’t get enough.

There are literally dozens of blog directories where you can list your blog in very specific categories. This means that those using the directory and looking in your category are very likely to have an interest in your blog. All of these links back to your blog from the directories also boost your search engine rankings.

2. Demonstrate Your Expertise

Posting regularly to your blog with insightful comments, observations and lessons show that you know what you’re talking about. Doing this regularly over time will prove to your readers that you’re an expert. It’s far better to demonstrate your expertise than to try and tell people that you’re an expert. Your blog will give you this opportunity

3. The Only Investment Needed is Your Time

Blogging is probably the lowest cost form of marketing available. All you need to invest is your time. Of course that’s not an investment to be taken lightly. For your blog to be successful you MUST post regularly. You’ll want to post at least once a week. 2-3 times per week is a more reasonable goal. I personally post 2 or 3 times each week, and this only takes about an hour of time out of my week. This will probably pale in comparison to the time and money you spend on most of your other marketing efforts.

4. Connect with People on a Personal Level

Most of what you find on a traditional website, brochure, article or other marketing collateral is very impersonal. People are looking to make a personal connection with those they do business with. A blog gives you an incredible opportunity to be you. It’s important to share some personal stories, history and opinion on your business blog. It will show your reader that you’re a real approachable person. I’ve even had people I’ve never met start talking to me like they’ve known me for years. Later I found out that before we met they’d read my blog.

5. Develop Marketing Materials

One of the most overlooked benefits of blogging is the backlog of quality content you’ll develop. Successful blogging requires that you post regularly. This means that you’ll be writing several times each week. Do that for a few months and you’ll have material for dozens of articles, maybe even a book! Most of the articles I write started as posts on my blog.

Blogging for business provides a great opportunity to expose yourself and your business in a very positive light. Take some time to find a few business blogs in your industry. You’ll quickly see how much value the blogger and their business get from this medium. Then decide if starting a business blog is right for you.

Scott Ingram is the founder of NetworkInAustin.com, a networking resource for networkers in Austin, Texas who use networking as a business development and marketing strategy. They offer free blogs to their members and even help their members promote their business blogs. Scott also posts regularly to his own blogs: Business Networking in Austin and Austin Networking Events.

Article Source: Business Blogging: Why You Should Start a Business Blog to Promote and Market Your Small Business