Friday Financial Five—April 26th, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Insurance protection in the case of terrorism
In the aftermath of the recent attack, the question arises for property owners about insurance coverage when there’s a loss from a terrorist act. While standard homeowner policies don’t specifically exclude losses due to terrorism, business owners will need to review their commercial policies to see if coverage is included, per TRIA (Terrorist Risk and Insurance Act). Keep in mind that President Obama referred to the Boston Marathon bombing as an “act of terror”, but it’s the Secretary of the Treasury that makes the final determination for insurance purposes based on various parameters.
The “Too Big to Fail” bill
There is finally some legislation that addresses what is perceived as a major gap in the Dodd-Frank bill. Sponsored by two senators, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican David Vitter, the “Too Big to Fail” bill would impose a fifteen percent capital requirement on the largest banks. The six “megabanks” that surpass the $500 billion threshold detailed in the bill are JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. There is little chance of the bill garnering the necessary support, but it keeps the discussion going about steps necessary to improve the financial playing field.
An annual plea to reclaim money from the state
There continues to be too much of Rhode Islanders’ money sitting at the treasurer’s office. Please go to the following website to check for your name: http://www.treasury.ri.gov/divisions/unclaimedproperty/. The system now lists names, addresses, the source of the money, and whether the amount is above or below one hundred dollars. The process has been a bit of a struggle in the past, but there are reports that it’s getting easier.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTLove, marriage, and Social Security
Married couples have several options when it comes to taking Social Security, but what about long time partners that aren’t married? As a federal program, Social Security doesn’t take domestic partnerships into account. That means if one partner is projected to collect a large monthly Social Security check, and the other hasn’t worked much, it may be time to consider marriage to maximize payments over the course of both lives.
CFPB and increased advisory regulation
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently weighed in on “Senior Financial Professional” designations in a report to Congress. Basically, there are way too many designations for the public to sift through, and, according to the CFPB, “Older consumers are disproportionately more vulnerable to investment deception.” Along similar lines, Maxine Waters recently submitted legislation that would require Investment Advisers to pay higher fees to the SEC to fund increased regulation and oversight of the industry.
Dan Forbes is a regular contributor on financial issues. He is a CFP Board Ambassador. He leads the firm Forbes Financial Planning, Inc in Providence, RI and can be reached at [email protected].
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