Month: December 2013

Posted on

Should you Purchase Health Insurance or Pay the Penalty?

This article first appeared in TheBlaze.com on September 17, 2013

drug vialsObamacare is right around the corner, with most of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) policy changes taking place in early 2014. But one recent change to the ACA could drastically affect many individuals who thought their employer would provide the requisite coverage.

A major component of the ACA is the requirement of organizations with 50 or more employees to provide health insurance benefits to their full-time staff. However, this component was postponed until January 1, 2015. That means that the employees of companies who fall into this category may not immediately receive health benefits through their employer or coverage that is sufficient to meet the criteria, and will be required to either purchase individual health insurance by March 31, 2014 or pay a fine that will be collected when filing 2014 income taxes.

This delay will end up directing more people into the new federal and state insurance exchanges, or “Health Insurance Marketplaces.” Plans are available in four tiers of premiums and deductibles designated as “Bronze”, “Silver”, “Gold”, and “Platinum”. Purchasers can compare plans and pick insurance policies that best fit their needs.

The question many people are asking themselves is, “Should I buy health insurance or pay the fee?”

Read more . . .

Posted on

For Inventors: Commercial Possibilities

This article first appeared on IPWatchdog.com October 25, 2013

inventorYour quest is finally complete. After hundreds of hours of effort, thousands of dollars, and innumerable worries of failure, you’ve finally succeeded. Your idea has become a reality, with riches and fame just around the corner. With the hard work done – envisioning, developing, and protecting your invention – you approach potential investors and buyers for capital to manufacture and sell your product. In the process, you discover one or more of the following:

  • the majority of people don’t understand the value of your invention or have no interest in it
  • some claim it is their idea
  • others try to steal it
  • those who see its potential want to pay a pittance for the product and leave you standing on the sidelines

Such is life for an inventor. From the years 2002 to 2012, more than 4.6 million patent applications were made and 2.2 million patents issued according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Yet, only a small proportion of the products covered by the issued patents become commercial successes.

Read more . . .

Posted on

For Inventors: Sources of Capital

This article initially appeared on the IPWatchdog.com website November 2, 2013

inventorSome inventors turn to 3rd-parties for help, seeking to avoid the ego-mashing, time, and effort that seem to accompany every capital-seeking attempt. More often than not, however, they find the relationship expensive and unsuccessful. Successful efforts invariably require the inventor’s involvement as well as access to individuals who can “pull the trigger” on investment – who you know can be just as important as the product’s viability. Professional advisors may ease the process and improve your chance of success if they possess the following:

  • personal contacts among the sources whom you seek to solicit
  • an understanding of the intricacies of negotiation
  • prior successful experience raising capital or licensing inventions
  • your best interests

Whether paid by fee up-front or contingent, or as a percentage of your final arrangement, any advisor should represent you, not the potential investor.

As the girl in the fairy tale ruefully remarked, “You have to kiss a lot of toads to find a prince!” Raising capital is not much different and is often a difficult, tedious, and frustrating process.

Common sources of capital worth pursuing include the following:

Read more . . .

Posted on

Understanding Compound Interest Using Nature’s Examples

compounding miceHumanity’s first experience with compounding – the accumulation of vast numbers through the systematic addition of small sums over a period of time – came from nature, not mathematics.

Thousands of years ago in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, ancient humans abandoned their nomadic ways, formed the world’s first communities, and began to till the ground, raising wheat, barley, and other grains. Growing seasons concluded with reaping and storing grain, which was used during months when agriculture was not possible and other food sources were scarce.

But because the large amounts of grain were stored in roofed buildings (silos), they provided an irresistible food source to Mus musculus – the common house mouse – which would feast protected from their natural enemies by the shelter of the silos. As a result, mice became extremely prolific, eventually leading to the spread of mice around the world as they followed migrating agriculturalists. In fact, a single pair of mice can produce 70 offspring during their two-year life, with an average litter of seven pups, five times a year.

The addition of 70 mice over a two-year span would be bothersome, but not catastrophic. A single mouse eats about one gram of food per day; 70 mice would eat about 70 grams, or less than a single bushel of wheat each year. However, when considering the effect of “compounding”, the mice pose a serious threat.

Read more . . .