Life Is The Test… Why Not Win It?

Americans Love A Winner And Will Not Tolerate A Loser.

— George S. Patton

What is so different about you? What enables middle class folks to rise and win, time after time? Facing and beating challenges? At 7 years old, I began helping another kid on his paper route. Lucky for me, there was a block of triple decker houses and Paulie did not like climbing stairs. A few years later, my next younger brother and I had our own route. Hot in the summer. Cold in the winter. Raining or snowing from time to time. On foot.

We did not always whistle while we worked. But the Carrier boys delivered the Evening Bulletin 6 nights a week. And early Sunday mornings, before church, the Journal-Bulletin. You have done the same.

Throughout your life, you took the overtime. The second job. Doing what it took. My weekends at Notre Dame were spent delivering pizza. As a law student, I worked full time on the graveyard shift as a security guard. Just like you. What else could we have done? We had a job. We saw the need. We got it done. We learned it from our folks. After beating the bad guys in WWII, our parents went to work. Dad taught school all day, came home, changed clothes, and put in 8 more hours at the Narragansett brewery. For 16 years. Mom was an RN. After raising 8 kids, she pinned her nurse’s cap back on and resumed nursing.

Details vary, but your family lived the same values. How do I know? Thirty years of talking to and planning for your folks. And you.

These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country…yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

— Thomas S. Paine

And now COVID. The Elder Plague. Death rates: way down. Therapies: better and improving. So much winning. But we are not done yet. COVID is real. COVID can strike close to home.

By a series of commonplace coincidences, a team member tested positive for COVID. Several of us are now waiting on our own test results. We should be fine. Since the beginning, the Carrier Law team has taken every recommended precaution. And come up with a few of our own. Hand sanitizer, videoconferencing, outdoor workshops, social distancing, masks, working from home, plexiglass barriers, ultraviolet lights, temperature checks, screening protocols, Clorox-ing conference rooms, prudent behavior. Not perfect.

Last Friday, I spent a few hours (in the rain) climbing through trees on one of those courses. Team building with several paralegals. Outdoors, yes. Distanced, yes. Wearing masks, yes. Until that triumphant team photo at the finish. Mask off. Picture! Mask on. Well. So now we wait for the test results.

One more thing to be taken in stride. Aren’t we all waiting on “test results”? What will your “Alzheimer’s test” reveal? Of course, there is no such “test.” We find out only as time goes by. With COVID, we face reality, we do not wish it away. Most of us will eventually face dementia. Personally. Not just our spouse or a loved one. Lots of statistics. One bottom-line fact.

The trouble in American life today, in business as well as in sports, is that too many
people are afraid of competition. The result is that in some circles people have come to sneer at success if it costs hard work and training and sacrifice.

— Knute Rockne

We, the middle class, do not deny reality. We accept it, make our peace, and do the best we can. With optimism and good cheer. Lots of critics have lots to say about us baby-boomers.

But all agree that when we see what we want, we go get it. Make it happen. Rejecting the counsels of gloom and doom. With open eyes and stout hearts.

When you are facing long-term care, dementia, end of life issues, there are a million questions and few reliable answers.

Many people, including otherwise competent financial planners, well-known attorneys, and respected members of the community, seem to believe that you should go broke when facing these issues. Maybe they are unaware of the options. Perhaps they are in denial. Is there a moral imperative that you should go broke? Some “experts” seem to think there is.

Americans play to win all the time. The very thought of losing is hateful to americans.

— George S. Patton

Like you, I completely reject the idea that losing is okay. Like you, I believe in winning. We all have challenges and sometimes we do lose. But we never “get used to it.” Why should we? Losing is a bitter pill. I may have to take my medicine, but I do not have to like it.

If you want to go broke, as some folks think you should, you do not need me. The state is very good at making a bonfire of your lifesavings. The state helps only when you comply with their rules. And for most folks, compliance means poverty, insecurity, loss. Unacceptable.

[W]ith firmness in the right as god gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in…

— Abraham Lincoln

LifePlanning™ is middle class Michigan’s tool kit for winning. Comply with their rules? Yes, absolutely. If you want to win, you must know how to play the game. Thirty years of study, experience, testing and delivering results have produced the LifePlan™ system. Techniques and tools that preserve, protect, and defend your right to decide how you will live.

You earned that right through decades of work and conscientious stewardship. Isn’t it ridiculous to suggest that impoverishing yourself, your spouse, your family is somehow noble? Isn’t it foolish to reject your own life experience for the defeatist counsels of the “wise”?

LifePlanning™ means your choices matter, whatever the test results. Are you like thousands of Michigan families who played by the rules and earned homes, cottages, farms, lifesavings? Would you like the rules to work for you, for a change? Are you waiting for the test results?

Are you waiting until it is too late? Would you like to know now?

GET ANSWERS NOW… CALL THE LIFEPLAN™ HOTLINE
1-800-317-2812

LifePlan™ Workshops are Available Now: Live, Streaming and Recorded
What could it hurt?

This Is Jeopardy!® Let’s Meet Today’s Contestant… It’s You

A Pandemic Of Potpourri
Did Somebody Get Into The “Potent Potables”?

Ten Inspirational Quotes
Profound Or Just Confusing?
You Be The Judge.

1. It’s not the days in your life, but the life in your days that counts. — Brian Williams
2. The best way to predict the future, is to create it. — President Abraham Lincoln
3. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. — General George S. Patton
4. A career is wonderful, but you can’t curl up with it on a cold night. — Marilyn Monroe
5. I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. — Michael Jordan
6. You only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough. — Mae West
7. To avoid criticism: Say Nothing. Do Nothing. Be Nothing. — Aristotle
8. When the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it may be that they take better care of it there. — Cecil Selig
9. Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too, can become great. — Mark Twain
10. We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. — Ronald Reagan

BONUS QUOTE: “What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.” — Luke 10:26-28

MEDICARE MISHEGAS
“OY VEY! DE GOY IST USING A YIDDISH WORD… SOME CHUTZPAH, DA KLUTZ!”
“QUIT WITH DE KVETCHING, BUBBE… MENSCH OR MESHUGGENEH, WHO CAN SAY?
HE’S TRYING AND THAT AIN’T BUPKIS” BASICS

1. Medicare is a Mulligatawny Stew of Health Insurance Options, including Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage, and Part D Prescription Drug Plans.
2. 2.1 million Michiganders, Michiganians, or Great Lakes Staters are enrolled in Medicare.
3. Everything Changes Every Year! Open Enrollment is NOW! GOOD STUFF is available.

MEDICARE ADVANTAGE SUPPLEMENT INSURANCE (PART C AND SOMETIMES PART D)

1. Average Monthly Medicare Advantage Insurance Premiums DROPPED from $35 to $29 per month for 2022.
2. 25 new Medicare Advantage Plans are available in 2022. Total: 191 DIFFERENT Plans.
3. Some Medicare Advantage Plans have ZERO, that is $0 per month premiums.
4. 18 Advantage Plans offer rewards and incentives for healthy behaviors.
5. Advantage Plans, including Advantage Plans with ZERO premiums, are available to ALL (that’s 100%) of Michigan Medicare folks.

MEDICARE STAND ALONE PRESCRIPTION DRUG PLAN (PART D)

1. 23 Stand Alone Prescription Drug Plans (Part D) are available in 2022.
2. Many Advantage Plans include Part D coverage.
3. 99% of Medicare recipients can lower their 2021 premiums.
4. Part D Plans start at $7.50 per month.

OPEN ENROLLMENT… OPEN ENROLLMENT… OPEN ENROLLMENT

You get the chance every year to change your MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT INSURANCE. The time is NOW! From October 15 through December 7. Do NOT miss this opportunity to evaluate your Medicare insurance. Maybe you already have the best plan of all time. Maybe there’s a new one that would fit you better. You do not get to complain if you do not get involved. So get involved in your own health care insurance. You have choices.

The Government evaluates all the various plans and assigns STAR ratings to each. One Star or Five Stars? That is your choice. The ratings are available right now on MEDICARE.GOV.

GET INFORMATION NOW!

“Don’t be a shmendrik… Listen to the spiel… Mazel Tov!”

You can watch a super video class on your 2022 Medicare choices. It is so easy!
1. Prepare a nice hot cup of tea. And a muffin or scone.
2. Go To davidcarrierlaw.com
3. Click on “Free Workshops”
4. Click on “Visiting Expert Series”
5. When You Get to the Visiting Expert Series page, scroll down to “In Case You Missed It.”
6. Click on “Medicare AEP (Annual Election Period)”.
7. Relax! Sip the tea. Nosh the scone. Absorb the information!
8. Decide… Do you want to make changes?

THE REST OF THE STORY…

Your Medicare, along with Medicare Supplement Insurance and Medicare Advantage Plans are essential pieces in assembling the puzzle of your health plan. Hospitalization. Disease. Injury. Bad Stuff that Happens. Medicare is there when you need acute care. Or a new knee.

But Medicare is only part of the story. What about long-term care? What about at-home care or assisted living? What about nursing home care? What about the $185.50 co-pay for Days 21-100 of rehabilitation services? What about NO COVERAGE AT ALL for Days 100+? Medicare is not the answer for these questions.

Medicaid is the rest of the story… Find out at a LifePlan™ Workshop. Or come to the Navigating Medicaid Webinar sponsored by MLive!

PANDEMIC PANDEMONIUM: FREE COVID CASH
TRILLION HERE, TRILLION THERE, PRETTY SOON YOU’RE TALKING REAL MONEY
EMPLOYEE RETENTION TAX CREDIT – THROW MONEY OUT THE WINDOW!

FULL DISCLOSURE: For the last 31 years, from the very start, the Firm paid taxes. And paid. And paid. Freedom is not free. Blessings of Liberty have a price. But now we have the World Turned Upside Down. Government wants to give the Firm money. To keep folks employed. To keep the lights on. And the Firm has said yes. Including this galloping geyser of cash called the Employee Retention Tax Credit. The Firm is happy to duke it out with other law firms on any fair ground. But when the government starts spewing cash, the game is rigged. And it’s either play by their rules or lose. The Firm does not like to lose. So, the Firm took the PPP. And the ERTC. And we don’t like it. But your highly trained, motivated, and grateful team is still here to serve you and your family.

The 2020 CARES Act gave us this payroll tax credit. The Employee Retention Tax Credit. It has been extended through December 2021. The ERTC is worth up to $10,000 per employee for 2020. For 2021, it’s up to $28,000 per employee (70% of each employee’s earnings, per quarter, up to $7000). This is not chump change.

You get the money if:
a. Your business was partially (or fully) shut down by COVID, or
b. Your revenue was down by 20% in any 2021 quarter this year (50% in any 2020 quarter) as against the same quarter in 2019.
c. By the way, what if your income was down in the first quarter, but not the second? Under the alternate quarter rule, you can use the first quarter to qualify for the ERTC in the second quarter.
1. Here’s where it gets crazy. You can still claim the credit in the first quarter! Your business only qualifies for one quarter, but you can claim for 2 quarters? Yes. Nuts, right?
d. ERTC is supposed to offset employer payroll taxes. And it does. But what if you do not have enough employer payroll taxes to use up the credit? The IRS sends you a check. Not kidding.
e. Jed Clampett was surprised to find oil in his backyard. You may be just as shocked to discover this little fountain of fun. Too bad, you missed out in 2020, right? Nope, just go back, amend your returns, and get a nice fat government check.

EXIT QUESTION: Would You Give $3.5 Trillion Dollars to the Goof-balls Who Dreamed This Up? Do You Think They Would Spend the Money Wisely? Would You Want Them Running a Hotdog Stand? Collecting Your Garbage? (Apologies to waste haulers everywhere!)

SURE IS GREAT TO FIND OUT HOW THINGS REALLY WORK…
UNCOVER THE ELEPHANT!

Elephants to the left of us, elephants to the right… Sneaky devils! Cleverly camouflaged by the global investment industry, the legal profession, government, and others.

Can you handle the truth? I knew you could! Come find out what is really going on…

Most people know that long-term care is the stinkiest elephant in the herd. But you can get the straight story. Accurate information. Clear thinking. What you truly need to know.

Of course, you are busy. So much going on. We make it easy. Get the information, insight, inspiration you need. To live your life. Make smart decisions. Cut through the fog. It is your turn. For you. For your loved ones.

NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now.
800-317-2812

Shipwreck Hero or Victim? Which Are You?

WOULD YOU SURVIVE DISASTER? WILL YOUR FAMILY FINANCES SURVIVE LONG-TERM CARE?

Faced with Catastrophe, What Will You Do?

It was a dark and stormy night. Steaming through the crashing waves are two ships. A swinging Greek cruise ship, the MTS Oceanos, was partying in the Indian Ocean, off the Wild Bay of South Africa. The other was a workaday Eastern European ferry, the MS Estonia. Making its daily rounds in the Baltic Sea, heading for Stockholm. Both crammed with passengers. Each with a hidden secret. Within 24 hours both ships will be on the ocean floor. Sunk.

On both ships, hatches gave way. Bitter cold salt water rushed in. One ship’s captain and crew stayed with their vessel. On the other, the professional sailors immediately abandoned ship. And the passengers.

By dawn tomorrow, 852 people aboard one of these ships will be dead. Only the Titanic caused more death. Drowned. Buried at sea. No rescue. Recovery operations. Few survivors.

But every passenger on the other ship will soon be reunited with family and friends. Happy. Healthy.

Perhaps with an increased sense of gratitude for each new day. Each with a fascinating story to be told and retold. And a lifetime for the retelling.

Professional disaster specialists and rescuers were amazed at both outcomes. Very unusual for a disaster to claim so many victims. Or for every possible victim to escape.

What made the difference? How can you benefit from this hard-won knowledge?

Ferry Passengers: Remained Calm, Seated, Drowned

Aboard MS Estonia, the captain and crew remained in command. Professional sailors advised the passengers. Hold your positions! Too dangerous

in the water. Safer on the boat. So, when the ship capsized, the obedient 852 were trapped beyond rescue. Drowned.

Not everybody listened to the professionals. About 240 people disregarded this advice and jumped for it. That’s why there were 137 survivors to tell the tale.

Cowardly Captain & Crew: Chicken Out Professional Party People: Show Must Go On!

At the first sign of trouble, captain and crew of the MTS Oceanos took to the lifeboats. Failing to inform the passengers or the musicians, magicians, mimes, and other entertainers. Racing to the ship’s bridge, they found the wheelhouse empty. Not a sailor in sight.

The cruise director quickly organized the rescue. Although her previous experience was limited to organizing shows, buffet lines, and shore excursions, she took charge. Eagerly supported by her traveling troupe. And the multitude of merrymakers.

When morning came, all had survived.

Conventional Wisdom or Get it Done?

Unbelievable that the conventional wisdom could be so wrong? Everybody said “Sit tight! Do nothing!” Those folks died.

Crazy to follow the tour lady. “What does she know?’ “That guy’s the guitar player and the magician sawed that gal in half!” “Follow them?” Yes! And that’s why everyone survived.

Everybody says, “Don’t worry. Somehow long-term care will take care of itself.” That is how families go broke every single day.

TAKE CHARGE!

Will you sit tight? Or take action? It is a simple choice. It is your choice.

NO POVERTY. NO CHARITY. NO WASTE.
It is not chance. It is choice. Your choice.
Get Information Now.
(800) 317-2812