Back in the 1980's growing up in Chicago I remember a late night radio show called the Big Bill Collins Show.
The show played Blues and had many late night commercials. While I doubt by the commercials that I was the target market for his advertisers I remember one ad in particular for "The Brother John Money Orb".
The tagline for the Brother John Money Orb was "Money attract money".
While I can find links to excerpts from the show and the history of Big Bill and the show I haven't been able to find anything about the Money Orb.
The premise was if you bought this plastic orb with a shredded large denomination of money you would have the start of a large amount of money that attracts more money. Real money supposedly.
The premise that money attracts money is actually pretty accurate. Just not fake money or an orb with shredded money. Only people with very little money believe that fake money will bring them wealth. If it worked that way every person with a Monopoly Game would be rich.
But, money in a 401k or in a Real Estate Investment among other things will actually "attract" more money.
People I know with large net worths or successful businesses are almost always being called with deals or offers to make them more money. If someone is asking you for 20, 30 or even 10,000 dollars, the odds are good that the only person whose going to make money is the person asking.
There is a reason that there are more folks in their 50's with money than people in their 20's. It takes most people a long time to accumulate assets. It takes being able to see that instead of spending $50 on beer a week that if you don't you will accumulate enough to put a down payment on a house. That if you put $20 a week into a 401k that it might be worth a couple hundred thousand dollars in 20 years.
Do you really need that new car, iPhone or 500 channels of satellite TV?
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Saturday, February 28, 2015
UBER Wants passengers as well.
If you are not familiar with UBER you should be. Uber matches drivers with passengers is almost every major metropolitan city in the U.S. and around the world.
If you have ever wanted a cab but been unable to get one because it's rush hour or you weren't near the city center now you can. No phone numbers to remember. You don't even need to know your address.
Uber uses your smartphone as a way to get a ride and at prices of up to 50% less than most taxi's.
To get you to try Uber they are offering up to $20 off on your first ride.
All it takes to try it is follow this link. https://www.lyft.com/drivers/BILL429421
That will take you to everything you need to learn about using Uber.
Don't need a ride now. That's OK Just have the App ready to go on your phone for when you do.
No need to wait out in the rain. The App tells you how many minutes the car is from you and it also tells you when it arrives.
Don't know where your going. Don't worry. The driver inputs your destination and the app tells her how to get there.
Need a car that holds 7 people. No problem. The smallest car hold up to 4 passengers.
Don't risk that DUI. Just going down the street. UberX has such low minimum pricing you'd be crazy risking your license. Even a 20 mile ride can be as low as $20 in many cities.
Want to find out how much before you commit. The app does that too.
If you have ever wanted a cab but been unable to get one because it's rush hour or you weren't near the city center now you can. No phone numbers to remember. You don't even need to know your address.
To get you to try Uber they are offering up to $20 off on your first ride.
All it takes to try it is follow this link. https://www.lyft.com/drivers/BILL429421
That will take you to everything you need to learn about using Uber.
Don't need a ride now. That's OK Just have the App ready to go on your phone for when you do.
No need to wait out in the rain. The App tells you how many minutes the car is from you and it also tells you when it arrives.
Don't know where your going. Don't worry. The driver inputs your destination and the app tells her how to get there.
Need a car that holds 7 people. No problem. The smallest car hold up to 4 passengers.
Don't risk that DUI. Just going down the street. UberX has such low minimum pricing you'd be crazy risking your license. Even a 20 mile ride can be as low as $20 in many cities.
Want to find out how much before you commit. The app does that too.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Uber wants You. Really Bad actually.
Uber is trying to crush the competition. So much so that if you have never applied to Uber before they are willing to pay you $100. They are also willing to pay me $100 for sending you their way.
The catch is that you use my referral code. That's right, if you apply on your own, no $100 bonus, for you or me. If you apply on your own they won't give you more because you saved them money. They figure that you didn't know about the bonus. I didn't. So I didn't get the $100 and neither did anybody else.
So here's the link you need for both of us to get that money.
https://partners.uber.com/drive/?invite_code+z4jri
They want drivers that have worked for the competition so bad that they are willing to pay $500
Drive for Uber and start making cash ASAP
$500 FOR REFERRING
The catch is that you use my referral code. That's right, if you apply on your own, no $100 bonus, for you or me. If you apply on your own they won't give you more because you saved them money. They figure that you didn't know about the bonus. I didn't. So I didn't get the $100 and neither did anybody else.
So here's the link you need for both of us to get that money.
https://partners.uber.com/drive/?invite_code+z4jri
They want drivers that have worked for the competition so bad that they are willing to pay $500
Drive for Uber and start making cash ASAP
$500 FOR REFERRING
A RIDESHARE DRIVER
SHARE THIS LINK WITH RIDESHARE DRIVERS
1
Find friends who were already driving for other ridesharing services before 1/8/15
2
Share your special referral link with as many people as you want
3
Get $500 after they take their first trip!
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
My New 2015 Mazda 6
I love my new Mazda6. This car rocks. I was all set to buy a Nissan Leaf when I drove it for a night and got range anxiety. I still want to own an electric car and think that once they either get the range up, the price down and or the charging infrastructure built out Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) will be the only cars built in the future.
Anyway, what is it I love about my Mazda6.
For the cars in its's class you get far more car for the buck. The competition according to the competition are the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Ford Focus and Nissan Altima among the Big 4.
Apparently even Car and Driver recognized the Mazda 6 as the best in class. Link to their review here.
When I walked into the Mazda Dealer, I was looking for a quote on my Mazda Miata to use as a bargaining chip with the Nissan Dealer. Since I doubted that they would give me the best quote knowing that I was going to use it elsewhere as leverage I asked to look at one of their cars. Well, actually I asked Gary Potter at More Mazda in Tempe, AZ, the salesman and dealer where I bought my Miata, 3 years before to look at the Mazda 3, a car about the same size as the Leaf.He told me that with the current promotion that the Mazda 6 was the same price as a 3. He was right. Not the stripped 6 or 3 but I didn't want the stripped car.
He also told me that for the money the top of the line was over priced for what you got. He was right. For Fog Lights, Real Leather and Adaptive Cruise Control it would be over $3000 dollars more. I do wish I had the ADC but the fake leather this car is really nice. There are a few other things but not important at all.
Out the door without my trade the car was $25k.
This car get an average 30MPG. That's real world. The way I drive it. Even pure city driving I get 24 MPG. On the highway I've seen 40 plus MPG.
While the engine is small, only a 2.5L and slow if you compare it to an the BMW 3.5 Turbo engine, twice it as fast, it does a respectable 0-60 in 8.8 seconds. For half the price.
That's plenty of power for your average person and still fun to drive if your not Danicka Patrick.
If your looking for a Midsize Family Sedan then drive this car before you buy another brand. If you live near Phoenix, AZ see Garry Potter at More Mazda and tell him I told you how great it is. Gary beat the Truecar deal by a lot.
You won't regret your Mazda 6 Purchase like my best friend who leased a Honda Accord 3 weeks before I bought it. Actually he's glad he leased his Accord. If he had it to do over again he would have bought the Mazda. Mine has far more options for the same price and it's more fun to drive. In three years he will have another chance.
Just so you don't think I have something against Honda's. Gary lost a deal to Honda from me last summer. We tried the Honda CX-9 and bought the Honda Pilot instead. While the CX-9 is a great car as well, the Honda worked better for us. But I have to say the MPG on the Honda is terrible. The way we drive it the thing only gets about 18 MPG.
I like the Mazda 6 more than I like the BMW 325i. Really, you can buy two Mazda's for the price of one BMW and if you drive the BMW like most people use their cars you will like the Mazda better as well. If you can't pay cash for the BMW you can't really afford it. And just wait till it's out of warranty. BMW maintenance is outrageous.
New update on Feb 26-2015
Edmunds.com has just named the Mazda 6 Best Midsize Car with the lowest 5 year ownership cost.
New update on Mar 17-2015
I decided I really wanted Adaptive Cruise Control and Back Up Sensors.
The car has Blind Spot Sensors and these are great. Just the other day I was changing lanes to my right on a 3 lane roadway. I looked right and it was clear. I put on my right turn signal and started to change lanes when halfway over the warning sounded. I stopped my movement to the right and looked to see the person that was in the far right lane about to run into me. I immediately went back into my lane while she stopped her movement to the center and then retreated to her lane and then sped up and then changed lanes. Since I was already doing the speed limit she must have been in a big hurry.
From the looks of he car (The whole left side was dented and the side mirror was hanging down) I would guess that the last time this happened to her she wasn't as lucky or the other car didn't have the technology I had.
So, I made an appointment to have the A.D.C. and Back Up Sensors installed. It is in the shop having them installed now and Gary made sure I had a loaner car. A Mazda CX-5. It's taking 2 days since they had to paint the sensors to match my car.
While the back up camera is very good it's not enough. You can't always be looking at the screen while backing up. Every once in a while you have to look out in front of the car to make sure you don't hit something or someone when you swing the front around backing up.
At my sons school they want you to back into the parking spots. It's amazing how people just walk around a moving car thinking you will see them and stop.
One other great feature the car came with, cross traffic alert. I am always parking at strip malls where for some reason the people driving by never have the courtesy to let a person backing out of a space go first. They just zoom by like you can see them coming. The sensors have tipped me off to approaching idiots many times.
So why is the adaptive cruise so great? I find myself driving in traffic all the time where there is too much traffic to keep a set speed without correcting often. ADC corrects speed as needed to keep a set distance from the car ahead of you.
Cost to install the two items. $648 Not much more than my collision deductible.
Keep Moving Forward.
What do I mean by keep moving forward.
Every once in a while opportunity knocks but most of the time you have to go looking for it.
PawnStars wouldn't be Pawn Stars if Rick hadn't kept trying to convince someone it would be a hit for years. He would just be a bald guy buying and selling gold. And Chumlee? There's a guy who was in the right place at the right time. I'm sure you can think of a few people who's success depends on yours.
How many burrito shops are there in your town. How did Chipotle hit the jackpot? It wasn't by stopping at one store.
If your happy being where you are then more power to you. If your not then keep moving.
At my last job I was surrounded by lots of folks just like myself. All doing the same job but all looking to move up. One day I got a job offer at a better company. Many of the folks around me asked how I got so lucky. I asked them if they were trying to get hired by the company I got hired by. They weren't.
Talk to people. Meet more people. Do more things. Even things that are totally unrelated to what you think you want.
If all you do is watch TV or surf the internet the odds are pretty good your only opportunities are spending your money. When was the last time you saw a commercial that wasn't trying to sell you something. When was the last time you saw an internet add that wasn't trying to sell you something.
All those late night TV adds promising to make you rich. How many of you bought what they were selling and are now better off because of it. I took the bait more than once. So far not one of them has made me a dime.
I now understand that in order to get something you actually have to do some work or invest real money. Not a hundred bucks or two.
About 10 years ago I met a guy who was selling dog food at a home show. It turns out he wasn't really selling dog food but looking for someone to sell his food in my town. Out of the 100 plus people who showed interest I was the only one willing to invest the 10K and do the work to build the business. Today he has 40 plus people around the Country that sell his food directly to customers deliver to their homes and businesses and I have bought two properties because of it. One that houses the business and another that a customer sold to me and now rents. That and the business, while not making me rich has supported itself for many years.
And the two properties, they have appreciated more than many people make in a few years.
There is one other common denominator in this scenario. Saving money instead of spending it so when opportunity knocks you can take advantage.
If you spend all your hard earned cash on things you think you need (want) instead of on things that you really need you will never have the money to take advantage of the few opportunities that will come along in your life.
If you are 18 or if your kid is 18 and you buy them a new car they won't learn how to work for it. If they work and buy big wheels or monster shocks and a big stereo they might never have the opportunity to invest that money in a business instead of a job. I always tell my son that he needs to learn how to produce instead of learning what the TV tells him. Being a consumer and getting something on sale that you don't needs not a good idea.
The other day he asked me if he could save his money and buy Real Estate with it. He's only 11 and he only had $50 but he's starting to get the idea. Maybe it's because he has so many Lego's now that he doesn't even open the box if he gets them for a gift.
Anyway, here is a link to a guy who explains it far better than I do.
http://livingstingy.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-royal-scam-revisited.html
Every once in a while opportunity knocks but most of the time you have to go looking for it.
PawnStars wouldn't be Pawn Stars if Rick hadn't kept trying to convince someone it would be a hit for years. He would just be a bald guy buying and selling gold. And Chumlee? There's a guy who was in the right place at the right time. I'm sure you can think of a few people who's success depends on yours.
How many burrito shops are there in your town. How did Chipotle hit the jackpot? It wasn't by stopping at one store.
If your happy being where you are then more power to you. If your not then keep moving.
At my last job I was surrounded by lots of folks just like myself. All doing the same job but all looking to move up. One day I got a job offer at a better company. Many of the folks around me asked how I got so lucky. I asked them if they were trying to get hired by the company I got hired by. They weren't.
Talk to people. Meet more people. Do more things. Even things that are totally unrelated to what you think you want.
If all you do is watch TV or surf the internet the odds are pretty good your only opportunities are spending your money. When was the last time you saw a commercial that wasn't trying to sell you something. When was the last time you saw an internet add that wasn't trying to sell you something.
All those late night TV adds promising to make you rich. How many of you bought what they were selling and are now better off because of it. I took the bait more than once. So far not one of them has made me a dime.
I now understand that in order to get something you actually have to do some work or invest real money. Not a hundred bucks or two.
About 10 years ago I met a guy who was selling dog food at a home show. It turns out he wasn't really selling dog food but looking for someone to sell his food in my town. Out of the 100 plus people who showed interest I was the only one willing to invest the 10K and do the work to build the business. Today he has 40 plus people around the Country that sell his food directly to customers deliver to their homes and businesses and I have bought two properties because of it. One that houses the business and another that a customer sold to me and now rents. That and the business, while not making me rich has supported itself for many years.
And the two properties, they have appreciated more than many people make in a few years.
There is one other common denominator in this scenario. Saving money instead of spending it so when opportunity knocks you can take advantage.
If you spend all your hard earned cash on things you think you need (want) instead of on things that you really need you will never have the money to take advantage of the few opportunities that will come along in your life.
If you are 18 or if your kid is 18 and you buy them a new car they won't learn how to work for it. If they work and buy big wheels or monster shocks and a big stereo they might never have the opportunity to invest that money in a business instead of a job. I always tell my son that he needs to learn how to produce instead of learning what the TV tells him. Being a consumer and getting something on sale that you don't needs not a good idea.
The other day he asked me if he could save his money and buy Real Estate with it. He's only 11 and he only had $50 but he's starting to get the idea. Maybe it's because he has so many Lego's now that he doesn't even open the box if he gets them for a gift.
Anyway, here is a link to a guy who explains it far better than I do.
http://livingstingy.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-royal-scam-revisited.html
Why would I work for $7 an hour. Or, why you should love or hate Uber.
 |
| Uber Partner Signup |
Well, why would I work for $7 an hour? I could also ask, why should I make the owners of Uber so wealthy for so little in return?
If after you read this post you want to be an Uber driver go to my Facebook Page or Click Here to go directly to Uber and sign Up.
When you join I will send you an invitation to drive for Uber.
After you get approved and start driving plus a couple other qualification that you should easily be able to make you get $100 and I get $100. If you join without the invitation they won't give you the extra $100 so you not only don't get the $100 but they save $200 and don't pass any of that on to you.
For those of you that don't know what Uber is. It is a car service that is way cheaper than cabs. Uber operates in most large U.S. Metro areas. For a clean car with a nice driver the cost per mile is on average almost 30-50% less than a cab.
Most of the drivers are not what you would consider a professional driver. Most do not do it full time or as their main source of income. Many are Teachers, Housewives and College Students. Professional Drivers and Cab Companies should be very worried. More on that in another post.
The bar to entry for an Uber Partner as they call them is pretty low. You need a 2005 or newer car that seats 5, meaning the driver, front seat passenger and 3 seat belts in the back. There are some
Now am I really only making $6 an hour. Well yes and no. Unlike most Uber drivers I am including maintenance and depreciation.
Many of the driver I've talked to, since they are only working part time only look at how much they earn an hour. Uber guarantees that you will make $16-$26 an hour. Many driver are making far more than that once they learn how to maximize their time and paid miles.
But, and it's a big but. So far doing this for 3 days my average earnings are $7.62 per hour. Why?
Well, Uber gets 20% of your take. You pay for your own gas and maintenance. But what most people don't account for is that every mile you put on you car reduces the value of your car. I figure that cost is 25cents per mile. And that is every mile I drive whether I'm making money or not.
You drive to the store for milk. You can add 25 cents for every mile you drive there and back. Going out for dinner. The drive can cost as much as the tip depending on where you eat. While Uber is paying me 90 cents or more per mile I am not getting paid for every mile I drive. So far I have only been paid for 44% of the miles I have driven. I'm sure given more experience I can raise that to at least 50% or more.
But just like when you drive to work, odds are really good your not getting paid for the drive time or the miles. The IRS won't even let you deduct that as an expense against your income.
Which by the way is a great segway into why I am driving for $7 per hour.
My car is now a business expense. I have turned it from a liability or cost into an asset or a way to generate income. Much of the cost of my car is now deductible. I'm not giving tax advice here. For that you need to see a tax professional.
So now that $25k car that I drive to my (day) job produces the money to pay for itself. Yes I have to drive it but instead of costing about $500 a month it now makes that $500 and is now tax deductible.
My cell phone. Same thing. Now it's a deductible business expense. Many of those things you use every day now become deductible business expenses. That's why even you should consider working for $7 an hour.
Now you might earn $50 an hour and think your time is worth more than that. Well if you can work as many hours as you want for that then maybe you are right. Maybe not though.
As an example I get paid $227 per hour. That's right. It's not a typo and I didn't add an extra number on there. Just so you know I didn't enter that wrong once again it's $227 per hour.
There is only one problem with that number. I am limited in the number of hours I can earn that much money per hour. I do a job that limits me to the number of hours I can work each month. And since I work for a company very little of my income is tax deductible. Probably just like like you. Now days most employers limit your hours to part time. That way they don't have to pay benefits or provide insurance. Yet they demand you be available when they want you. They might even tell you that we might need you Thursday but we are not sure yet. So how do you work another job that has the same demands.
Well, this is where Uber is great. Last Saturday I had the day off from my (day) job and my wife and son were out of town. I could have stayed home, watched some TV, surfed the internet and done nothing but waste time. Instead I opened the Uber App on my iPhone and started taking people for rides.
For the first 20 minutes I never even left my house. For the next 8 hours a took assorted people from place to place. You can turn the App on or off anytime at will. You are your own boss, you decide when you want to work or if you want to work.
I you are a teacher then just drive weekends or during the summer. If like me you are on call 4 days a week, either work on your days of or while you are on call. Just the other day I had to take my sister to the airport at 10AM. When I dropped her off I opened my Uber App and told them I was ready to work. For the next 5 hours I picked up $65 and quite when I had to pick up my son from school.
I also got a call from work that they needed me to come to work that night at 7PM. So now while I write this I am sitting in a hotel room getting paid close to 3k for 3 days of work. I could just be watching TV and surfing the internet but instead I am writing this. If just one person reads this and decides to be an Uber driver and allows me to invite them I will get $100. Or, maybe I just wrote it for myself.
But there is one thing I know for sure. If you want to get ahead in this world you have to keep moving. And the best way to keep moving is to do it with other people. My day job keeps people moving, my side job keeps people moving and if you join me we can move forward together.
Don't just lean forward as they say on MSNBC or yearn for the past as they do on FOX News.
Keep moving ahead.
No that you have read this post it's read this post it's time to sign up as an Uber Partner. Go to my Facebook Page or Click Here to go directly to Uber and sign Up.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Carmax or Craigslist, where should I sell my car?
For those of you who are following my posts on car buying here is one on selling a car outright without purchasing another one from a car dealer.
If you don't like dealing with all the people who will call you and don't like negotiating or hassle Carmax, hands down. They pay off your loan if you have one that is less than your car is worth and cut you a check for the difference. If you don't owe anything they just cut you a check for the price they offer. Easy peeza.
Now we have Craigslist. or Cars.com or any other website. Actually Cars.com is actually better for cars with less than 100k miles or less than 5 years old, but Craigslist gets more local views.
On both sites you will not only get seriously people but you will also get independent car wholesalers and even worse curbside car dealers who will want you to leave the title open so they can sell it to the next guy pretending to be something they are not.
When you sell a car to anybody get a copy of their drivers license and fill the title out with their name on it. Do not leave it blank. Once again in case you weren't listening, DO NOT LEAVE IT BLANK.
If the car you are selling is for less than $2000 get cash. If you are selling an expensive car go to their bank and have their bank cut you a check. It's even better if their bank is your bank. Do the deal at a bank. Normal people aren't afraid of banks.
The person buying the car should have a drivers license that matches an insurance card that matches another piece of ID.
My Astro Van was a cash Craigslist Deal. The guy wanted me to leave the title open. I told him no way. He said he wanted to put it in his mothers name. He did not want it in his name. In the end we put it in his fathers name who came with him. I gave him a bill of sale. You can get one off the internet. Make sure it says AS IS, No Warranty Express or Implied. I told him the defects known to me. I also put them in my add along with AS IS. He got the car and the title and I got cash. $1200 more than Carmax.
In the past I also sold a $5000 car to a private party. It was to a mother and daughter. I had clear title which is always best. That way you can just go to their bank and the teller hands you money and you give them the title and get it notorized on the spot.
The laws in your state maybe different from mine. The laws in my state might be different from what I have posted here as well. I am not giving legal advice. Before you do anything get legal advice. My advice is really just my opinion. I have found that honesty is really the best policy.
Buying or selling a used car is always a gamble. Know that going in. Minimize your risks. Buying or Selling.
Most of the time buying or selling a used car is best done between private parties. Just do your research and take your time. Maybe watch an episode or two of Judge Judy.
If you don't like dealing with all the people who will call you and don't like negotiating or hassle Carmax, hands down. They pay off your loan if you have one that is less than your car is worth and cut you a check for the difference. If you don't owe anything they just cut you a check for the price they offer. Easy peeza.
Now we have Craigslist. or Cars.com or any other website. Actually Cars.com is actually better for cars with less than 100k miles or less than 5 years old, but Craigslist gets more local views.
On both sites you will not only get seriously people but you will also get independent car wholesalers and even worse curbside car dealers who will want you to leave the title open so they can sell it to the next guy pretending to be something they are not.
When you sell a car to anybody get a copy of their drivers license and fill the title out with their name on it. Do not leave it blank. Once again in case you weren't listening, DO NOT LEAVE IT BLANK.
If the car you are selling is for less than $2000 get cash. If you are selling an expensive car go to their bank and have their bank cut you a check. It's even better if their bank is your bank. Do the deal at a bank. Normal people aren't afraid of banks.
The person buying the car should have a drivers license that matches an insurance card that matches another piece of ID.
My Astro Van was a cash Craigslist Deal. The guy wanted me to leave the title open. I told him no way. He said he wanted to put it in his mothers name. He did not want it in his name. In the end we put it in his fathers name who came with him. I gave him a bill of sale. You can get one off the internet. Make sure it says AS IS, No Warranty Express or Implied. I told him the defects known to me. I also put them in my add along with AS IS. He got the car and the title and I got cash. $1200 more than Carmax.
In the past I also sold a $5000 car to a private party. It was to a mother and daughter. I had clear title which is always best. That way you can just go to their bank and the teller hands you money and you give them the title and get it notorized on the spot.
The laws in your state maybe different from mine. The laws in my state might be different from what I have posted here as well. I am not giving legal advice. Before you do anything get legal advice. My advice is really just my opinion. I have found that honesty is really the best policy.
Buying or selling a used car is always a gamble. Know that going in. Minimize your risks. Buying or Selling.
Most of the time buying or selling a used car is best done between private parties. Just do your research and take your time. Maybe watch an episode or two of Judge Judy.
How to buy a new car when you have a trade in.
So you want to buy a new car but you have to trade in your old one to help pay for it.
There are a few concerns with trade ins.
Do you still owe money on it? If you do, do you owe more than the car is worth?
Has it ever been in an accident or does it have a negative mark against the title if someone runs a Carfax.
For now lets just find out what your car is worth on the wholesale market.
Take your car to Carmax. They will ask you a few questions about your car. The big ones. Has it ever been in a major accident? Have you ever used it for or has it ever been used as a Taxi or Livery Car? Have you made any major modifications to the car? Do you know of any major problems with it? Do you have two Remotes and Keys? Remotes now days are expensive.
So lets say you can answer no to all the questions except the key question. Odds are pretty good that Carmax will be the highest bidder for your car.
In the last 2 months I have had Carmax give me a quote on 3 cars. They were the highest initial quote on all three of them out of many dealers. Hands down, had I chosen to just outright sell the cars and not wanted to deal with Craigslist or the hassle of titles and cash or checks then it would have been the way to go. Carmax will cut you a check on the spot. If you really want to sell it make sure you bring a ride home. You might also want to see if Carmax has a car you are interested in. While not the cheapest deal around they are not unfair by any means.
In the last month I told one of my friends to go to Carmax for a quote on his car that he no longer needed and he did sell it to them. It was worth $5500 dollars on it's best day selling it to a private party but it had a known defect that would cost $1000 to fix. Carmax paid him $4000 for the car. So do you think he got a pretty good deal? I do. No need to fix it or try to explain to a buyer that for $1000 he could save $500-$1000 fixing it instead of buying it from a dealer. Take the money and go home happy. That's just what he did.
Another one of the cars, my 2002 Chevy Astro Van with 274,000 miles on it, they offered me $500 dollars on it. Actually that was about $250 dollars more than I thought they would offer. But not enough for me to sell it to them. The KBB.Com site valued it in perfect shape at $5200. Now it was not in perfect shape at all. But, it did have a brand new set of tires, ball joints, shocks and power steering pump and complete brake job including drums, rotors, calipers, pads and wheel cylinders, just to name a few things I had done in the last 6 months. I did them myself so the cost wasn't astrovanomical but it wasn't cheap either. I almost forgot. I had to buy a new battery two days before I sold it.
What it also needed though was a power steering gear, two pitman arms, two tie rods and a rear axle seal. So I was done. Or I should say my wife was done driving or even riding in it. This was a car I was looking to sell outright and not replace.
So why did I take it to Carmax at all instead of selling it outright. I wanted a free Carfax. They run one on every car they quote to buy or sell and they will give you a copy, for free.
More on how I sold this car on Craigslist in another post.
So now you are armed with your Carmax offer. It's good for 7 days.
So if you have read my other post on how to negotiate the best price for the car you want it's now time to let them know you need to trade in your current car to make the deal.
Odds are really good they will offer you at least 10% less than Carmax. In my case on the car my mother was trading in Carmax had offered $3000. The dealer offered $2000. Big difference. I told them I wanted $4000. They asked me where I got that number. I had access to what that car was selling for at one of the largest dealer auctions. Now I took the highest price and had no idea the condition but it was a valid number on a like car.
They came back with $3000 and I came back with $3500. In the end we settled on $3300 for the car. In many states including mine that number also reduces the amount of sales tax you pay, so it was worth an extra 8% tax savings by trading it instead of selling it outright to Carmax.
On another car, my Miata, Carmax offered $13,000. Two other dealers offered $11,000 - $11,500. At the end of the day one dealer offered $13,200 and the one I sold it to, only because I bought their car, $13,000. In this case the car being sold for the same price Carmax offered I got the sales tax savings of another 8% by selling it to the dealer I bought the car from.
If you owe more on the car than it's worth you are either going to have to come out of pocket for the difference or get the dealer to add the excess amount to your new loan. Not a good position to be in. You should be buying less car or taking out shorter loans.
There are a few concerns with trade ins.
Do you still owe money on it? If you do, do you owe more than the car is worth?
Has it ever been in an accident or does it have a negative mark against the title if someone runs a Carfax.
For now lets just find out what your car is worth on the wholesale market.
Take your car to Carmax. They will ask you a few questions about your car. The big ones. Has it ever been in a major accident? Have you ever used it for or has it ever been used as a Taxi or Livery Car? Have you made any major modifications to the car? Do you know of any major problems with it? Do you have two Remotes and Keys? Remotes now days are expensive.
So lets say you can answer no to all the questions except the key question. Odds are pretty good that Carmax will be the highest bidder for your car.
In the last 2 months I have had Carmax give me a quote on 3 cars. They were the highest initial quote on all three of them out of many dealers. Hands down, had I chosen to just outright sell the cars and not wanted to deal with Craigslist or the hassle of titles and cash or checks then it would have been the way to go. Carmax will cut you a check on the spot. If you really want to sell it make sure you bring a ride home. You might also want to see if Carmax has a car you are interested in. While not the cheapest deal around they are not unfair by any means.
In the last month I told one of my friends to go to Carmax for a quote on his car that he no longer needed and he did sell it to them. It was worth $5500 dollars on it's best day selling it to a private party but it had a known defect that would cost $1000 to fix. Carmax paid him $4000 for the car. So do you think he got a pretty good deal? I do. No need to fix it or try to explain to a buyer that for $1000 he could save $500-$1000 fixing it instead of buying it from a dealer. Take the money and go home happy. That's just what he did.
Another one of the cars, my 2002 Chevy Astro Van with 274,000 miles on it, they offered me $500 dollars on it. Actually that was about $250 dollars more than I thought they would offer. But not enough for me to sell it to them. The KBB.Com site valued it in perfect shape at $5200. Now it was not in perfect shape at all. But, it did have a brand new set of tires, ball joints, shocks and power steering pump and complete brake job including drums, rotors, calipers, pads and wheel cylinders, just to name a few things I had done in the last 6 months. I did them myself so the cost wasn't astrovanomical but it wasn't cheap either. I almost forgot. I had to buy a new battery two days before I sold it.
What it also needed though was a power steering gear, two pitman arms, two tie rods and a rear axle seal. So I was done. Or I should say my wife was done driving or even riding in it. This was a car I was looking to sell outright and not replace.
So why did I take it to Carmax at all instead of selling it outright. I wanted a free Carfax. They run one on every car they quote to buy or sell and they will give you a copy, for free.
More on how I sold this car on Craigslist in another post.
So now you are armed with your Carmax offer. It's good for 7 days.
So if you have read my other post on how to negotiate the best price for the car you want it's now time to let them know you need to trade in your current car to make the deal.
Odds are really good they will offer you at least 10% less than Carmax. In my case on the car my mother was trading in Carmax had offered $3000. The dealer offered $2000. Big difference. I told them I wanted $4000. They asked me where I got that number. I had access to what that car was selling for at one of the largest dealer auctions. Now I took the highest price and had no idea the condition but it was a valid number on a like car.
They came back with $3000 and I came back with $3500. In the end we settled on $3300 for the car. In many states including mine that number also reduces the amount of sales tax you pay, so it was worth an extra 8% tax savings by trading it instead of selling it outright to Carmax.
On another car, my Miata, Carmax offered $13,000. Two other dealers offered $11,000 - $11,500. At the end of the day one dealer offered $13,200 and the one I sold it to, only because I bought their car, $13,000. In this case the car being sold for the same price Carmax offered I got the sales tax savings of another 8% by selling it to the dealer I bought the car from.
If you owe more on the car than it's worth you are either going to have to come out of pocket for the difference or get the dealer to add the excess amount to your new loan. Not a good position to be in. You should be buying less car or taking out shorter loans.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Buying a New Car when you don't have a trade in.
I have bought 2 new cars in the last 6 months. One for my family and one for my mother.
Never buy the first car you see. Dealers will do everything they can to not let you out the door once you walk in. Well, not all dealers but the one who sell the most cars won't. 97% of the people who leave without buying buy their car somewhere else.
Do a lot of research on what cars will do the job you want it for. Not everybody needs a big SUV or Pickup Truck every day let alone more than a day or two a month. Maybe you want one and can afford one. When gas prices go back up you might regret it. For you Hummer owners out there, now is a good time to sell it. Before gas prices go back up.
We bought a Honda Pilot. But first we looked at a Mazda CX9 and Toyota Highlander. We drove them all. Put them side by side as well. The dealers were all within a block of each other.
We also looked at a few others but they didn't fit the mission. Be able to carry 3 people, two dogs and enough clothes and gear to live somewhere almost 2000 miles away for the summer. The CX5, CR-V and Rav4 didn't cut it.
While the CX9 has more listed cargo space than the Pilot it's not really usable unless you are filling the vehicle with sand or water. All those sexy looks of the CX9 make the space less usable.
We also picked those 3 vehicles because they have really good reliability records. We also asked friends and Facebook Friends what they thought of them. Many of them had the Pilot and loved it. They would all buy another one.
Another cost is cost of ownership. The Honda gets and average 18MPG the way we use it most of the time. If we only needed the extra seats and cargo room 2 weeks a year we would have bought the
CR-V. The CR-V gets almost 30MPG. The reason we didn't get it is to rent a Minivan or Pilot size car in the summer is about $1000 per week. We need this car for about 6 weeks. Do the math.
On this car we didn't have a trade. That removes one way a dealer makes more money on you than you think. I will cover how to best deal with a trade in on how and why we bought the car we did for my mother.
Then I looked at TrueCar.com and other sites to see what the invoice price was and what others were paying. Since it was a 2015, the first 2015 the dealer had sold I had to go off the 2014 prices for reference.
They were giving a $1000 dollar incentive for buying a 2014, but $1000 to buy last years model is not enough. Mazda was giving $2,500 dollars of to buy last years model. That's almost enough to buy an older model but we chose the car for the job, not the price. there is nothing you will regret more than buying a car that doesn't do the job no matter how much cheaper it is.
The 2015 ended up costing only $500 dollars more than the 2014 with the $1000 end of year discount would have been.
O.K., so now you have the best deal on the car. Not so fast. You have to make it past the Finance guy. This is where dealers make all the money. They have lots of things to sell you. All of them are based on fear.
Extended Warranties, Paint Protection, Key and Tire Insurance. Don't but it. Any of it. If you really need an extended warranty look online before you buy. You can buy them form any dealer and many sell it for hundreds less than the one that has you locked in their office.
The paint protection costs more than getting your car waxed twice a year. Keys are covered under your motor club at least part of the cost. AAA is a good deal. Don't lose your keys.
Financing. You should know before you walk into the dealership what you can get financed for outside the dealer. When you have those numbers the dealer will either match or beat it.
If your buying a car that needs an extended warranty buy a different brand or buy a cheaper car. If you can't afford a repair out of warranty you probably can't afford the car your buying.
Out of all the cars I've owned they have all outlasted the warranty period. That's probably because I actually change the oil and fluids with Amsoil.
At the first oil change I put in Amsoil engine oil and extended life filter. Then I change it once a year or every 15,000 miles. While it's more expensive initially it's cheaper than changing oil every 6 months or buying an extended warranty.
My Astro Van has 274,000 miles on it. The first owner changed the transmission at 89,000 miles. That's about 14,000 miles past any extended warranty. I put Amsoil in the trans when I bought it at 139,000 miles and changed it again at 240,000 miles. I have gotten more miles, almost double, out of the rebuilt transmission than the original owner got out of the factory new transmission. It also has the original engine and rear differential. Buy Amsoil, not extended warranties. Use that money to do the regular scheduled maintenance.
Ask most owners of the reliable brands and most if not 98% have never used that extended warranty for more than they paid for it. My mother just traded in her 2000 Toyota 4Runner. In the whole time she had it she never had anything replaced that the extended warranty would have covered.
So do the research, pay for the Consumer Reports website, use TrueCar.com, Cars.com and or Edmunds.com among other websites. Drive many cars that fit the job and then and only then should you set foot in the dealer to buy a car. If you don't know how to negotiate then you should hire someone like me to do it for you or follow the online advice of how to buy using nothing but email.
One other thing about sites like TruCar. Most dealers probably don't have the exact car you want. They will give you a price for that car but the dealers will send you quotes on cars they have on their lot.
Some will look really cheap or be within $100-$200 of all the other dealer. But read the small print and they have something called Dealer Installed Options. These are where they make more cash again. Some have $300 in options and some have $2000 in options. Most of these you don't need and many can even be removed from the car before you buy it. And then some let you keep them but take them off the price. Why? They are almost pure profit.
Once you have your new car make sure you follow all the maintenance recommendations. Here is a free website that lets you keep track and even sends you reminders. My Garage.
Enjoy your new car.
Never buy the first car you see. Dealers will do everything they can to not let you out the door once you walk in. Well, not all dealers but the one who sell the most cars won't. 97% of the people who leave without buying buy their car somewhere else.
Do a lot of research on what cars will do the job you want it for. Not everybody needs a big SUV or Pickup Truck every day let alone more than a day or two a month. Maybe you want one and can afford one. When gas prices go back up you might regret it. For you Hummer owners out there, now is a good time to sell it. Before gas prices go back up.
We bought a Honda Pilot. But first we looked at a Mazda CX9 and Toyota Highlander. We drove them all. Put them side by side as well. The dealers were all within a block of each other.
We also looked at a few others but they didn't fit the mission. Be able to carry 3 people, two dogs and enough clothes and gear to live somewhere almost 2000 miles away for the summer. The CX5, CR-V and Rav4 didn't cut it.
While the CX9 has more listed cargo space than the Pilot it's not really usable unless you are filling the vehicle with sand or water. All those sexy looks of the CX9 make the space less usable.
We also picked those 3 vehicles because they have really good reliability records. We also asked friends and Facebook Friends what they thought of them. Many of them had the Pilot and loved it. They would all buy another one.
Another cost is cost of ownership. The Honda gets and average 18MPG the way we use it most of the time. If we only needed the extra seats and cargo room 2 weeks a year we would have bought the
CR-V. The CR-V gets almost 30MPG. The reason we didn't get it is to rent a Minivan or Pilot size car in the summer is about $1000 per week. We need this car for about 6 weeks. Do the math.
On this car we didn't have a trade. That removes one way a dealer makes more money on you than you think. I will cover how to best deal with a trade in on how and why we bought the car we did for my mother.
Then I looked at TrueCar.com and other sites to see what the invoice price was and what others were paying. Since it was a 2015, the first 2015 the dealer had sold I had to go off the 2014 prices for reference.
They were giving a $1000 dollar incentive for buying a 2014, but $1000 to buy last years model is not enough. Mazda was giving $2,500 dollars of to buy last years model. That's almost enough to buy an older model but we chose the car for the job, not the price. there is nothing you will regret more than buying a car that doesn't do the job no matter how much cheaper it is.
The 2015 ended up costing only $500 dollars more than the 2014 with the $1000 end of year discount would have been.
O.K., so now you have the best deal on the car. Not so fast. You have to make it past the Finance guy. This is where dealers make all the money. They have lots of things to sell you. All of them are based on fear.
Extended Warranties, Paint Protection, Key and Tire Insurance. Don't but it. Any of it. If you really need an extended warranty look online before you buy. You can buy them form any dealer and many sell it for hundreds less than the one that has you locked in their office.
The paint protection costs more than getting your car waxed twice a year. Keys are covered under your motor club at least part of the cost. AAA is a good deal. Don't lose your keys.
Financing. You should know before you walk into the dealership what you can get financed for outside the dealer. When you have those numbers the dealer will either match or beat it.
If your buying a car that needs an extended warranty buy a different brand or buy a cheaper car. If you can't afford a repair out of warranty you probably can't afford the car your buying.
Out of all the cars I've owned they have all outlasted the warranty period. That's probably because I actually change the oil and fluids with Amsoil.
At the first oil change I put in Amsoil engine oil and extended life filter. Then I change it once a year or every 15,000 miles. While it's more expensive initially it's cheaper than changing oil every 6 months or buying an extended warranty.
My Astro Van has 274,000 miles on it. The first owner changed the transmission at 89,000 miles. That's about 14,000 miles past any extended warranty. I put Amsoil in the trans when I bought it at 139,000 miles and changed it again at 240,000 miles. I have gotten more miles, almost double, out of the rebuilt transmission than the original owner got out of the factory new transmission. It also has the original engine and rear differential. Buy Amsoil, not extended warranties. Use that money to do the regular scheduled maintenance.
Ask most owners of the reliable brands and most if not 98% have never used that extended warranty for more than they paid for it. My mother just traded in her 2000 Toyota 4Runner. In the whole time she had it she never had anything replaced that the extended warranty would have covered.
So do the research, pay for the Consumer Reports website, use TrueCar.com, Cars.com and or Edmunds.com among other websites. Drive many cars that fit the job and then and only then should you set foot in the dealer to buy a car. If you don't know how to negotiate then you should hire someone like me to do it for you or follow the online advice of how to buy using nothing but email.
One other thing about sites like TruCar. Most dealers probably don't have the exact car you want. They will give you a price for that car but the dealers will send you quotes on cars they have on their lot.
Some will look really cheap or be within $100-$200 of all the other dealer. But read the small print and they have something called Dealer Installed Options. These are where they make more cash again. Some have $300 in options and some have $2000 in options. Most of these you don't need and many can even be removed from the car before you buy it. And then some let you keep them but take them off the price. Why? They are almost pure profit.
Once you have your new car make sure you follow all the maintenance recommendations. Here is a free website that lets you keep track and even sends you reminders. My Garage.
Enjoy your new car.
Why Doctors and Hospitals are Worse than Car Dealers
Lately I've been doing a lot of research on Doctors and Cars.
In the last year I have bought two cars. One for my mother and one for myself.
I have also had to decide on which health insurance I wanted to buy from my work.
By far the choice of insurance was far harder and has far more unknowns.
I had a choice between three plans. Insurance that is. Well, I really only had a choice between two plans. One of the three had way to much risk and no savings in premiums over one of the other two. It was only in there because the company offered a plan to part time employees. The same cost but way higher deductibles than the cheapest plan for full time employees.
Now why is this worse than buying a car.
First let me tell you a bit about my old plan the company decided they no longer wanted to pay for.
The cost to the employee was only $200 a month with specific copays and very low deductibles and low or no coinsurance.
Prescriptions were also covered for $10 a month. New cost for the same drugs, $30 a month.
$10 copay for primary care doctors.
$25 for a specialist visit.
Urgent Care $50
Hospital ER $100
If you needed surgery you had a 10% copay up to your maximum deductible of $1000 per person.
There were also many things that were free. For example I was having allergy shots 1-2 times a week.
Now heres my issue with the new insurance.
Most of the time when you need a doctor you are sick or injured, you don't have time to shop around. Even if you could shop around doctors don't publish their rates. And if they did they have more prices than a car dealer.
They have a price for people who call in with no insurance. Usually the highest price they charge. Hospitals are almost as bad. They know in an emergency they have to treat you so they handle it a bit differently. They treat you, send you the bill and then give you a discount if you pay in 30 days or less. If not you pay retail on some payment plan.
What might be a $10,000 dollar bill they will tell you it is only $7000 if you pay now. If you have insurance it might only be $5000 ,but, if you have a really aggressive insurance company the bill might get knocked down to $2000.
Then you get bills from the doctors who worked on you separately. Once again the prices could be all over the map. You don't have time to shop or any real power to negotiate. Most doctors or hospitals will just tell you to take a hike if you don't like what they charge.
Now back to my insurance.
If I want to see a specialist I now have to pay the whole bill up to my $800 per person deductible and after that I have to pay 20% of the billed amount up to my $3000 max out of pocket.
Another issue I have is that all my 20% cost sharing is based on rates that the insurance company negotiated. It could be higher than the cheapest price that doctor has said they are willing to take from someone else.
At least when you walk into a car dealer they have their labor rates posted on a wall. You also have time to shop around for the best rate.
Next time you go to the doctor ask them for their price list.
Last week I went into my allergy doc to get my weekly shot. When I was done I asked them how much I owed them if anything. Remember, up until now the shots have been covered 100%. I knew this because it was on my insurance companies website.
My new coverage. Nothing, nada, could't find anything about allergy shots. Are they covered 100%, do I have a 20% copay? Do I pay 100% till I meet my deductible? If I pay do I pay more or less than my last insurance company paid? They paid $5 a shot. Or since I have a new company I don't know.
The receptionist didn't know either. She said she just sent it to the billing people. It's been almost two weeks and I still don't know. The billing department must be way behind. Either that or the insurance company is way behind.
Until I know I'm not going back.
I'm also avoiding specialists. Which wouldn't be so bad if I could get an appointment with my Primary Care Doctor in less than 2 weeks. Urgent Care is now more expensive to visit as well. Which is pretty screwed up since there are several Urgent Cares in the are that let you "join" for a fee and get discount prices. Cheaper prices than I get with insurance. My insurance company is just a middle man siphoning off 20% or more of what I pay. One other side to the equation, what's their incentive to get me the best price when they get a cost plus deal.
I don't blame any of this on the Affordable Care Act. The system has been broken for a very long time. And my plan used to be cheap and cover more because of a collective bargaining agreement. That's right, I belong to a union. The company has been dying to get out from under that health insurance plan for 5 years and finally decided to pay us more so they could. Yet this year they are on track to make multi billions in profit. The CEO will make about 80 million or more this year. I don't think he has to worry about medical bills coating him a new car or his 401k.
So you can hate car dealers all you want but at least there are multiple sources of what a car costs them and now even more sources that will negotiate the price of the care for you.
Costco and Sam's Club, TruCar.Com, Consumers Reports. If you pay too much for a car it's your fault.
Where are these services for Medical Expenses. Why can't I go to the doctor and show my Costco card and get the lowest price possible and then use my insurance to pay their share.
I'd say the system is broken and impossible to fix but it's not. It just requires a change in the way we do business.
My Mother who is 84 has probably the best insurance around. She goes to the doctor, any doctor and pays nothing. Zip, nada, zero.
She pays about $200 a month to a AARP medigap policy. That and her Medicare covers everything.
I know Doctors complain about how much medicare pays. They also complain about all the people they need to pay to keep track of their billing and all those different deals they make with insurance companies.
As I said before I belong to a union. We negotiate a contract every 7-10 years. Almost everyday we complain we are getting paid to little. That we deserve more. We can't come to work one day and just raise our prices.
Well Doc. you might think you have your own business, but you don't. You have expenses and overhead and you have to manage your office and employees but you really work for the insurance companies. Just like my boss tells me that there is now money to pay me more, so does yours. The insurance company.
Actually many doctors are realizing this. They are selling their practices to hospitals and large groups and becoming employees of those groups or retiring. The savings is in hiring fewer people to do the billing among other things.
And don't let Hospitals, Insurance companies tell you the lies they have been. They are getting bigger. A lot bigger. Building more buildings buying more practices and paying CEO's high salaries and bonuses while complain how tough life is.
The medical business is far worse than the auto industry.
In the last year I have bought two cars. One for my mother and one for myself.
I have also had to decide on which health insurance I wanted to buy from my work.
By far the choice of insurance was far harder and has far more unknowns.
I had a choice between three plans. Insurance that is. Well, I really only had a choice between two plans. One of the three had way to much risk and no savings in premiums over one of the other two. It was only in there because the company offered a plan to part time employees. The same cost but way higher deductibles than the cheapest plan for full time employees.
Now why is this worse than buying a car.
First let me tell you a bit about my old plan the company decided they no longer wanted to pay for.
The cost to the employee was only $200 a month with specific copays and very low deductibles and low or no coinsurance.
Prescriptions were also covered for $10 a month. New cost for the same drugs, $30 a month.
$10 copay for primary care doctors.
$25 for a specialist visit.
Urgent Care $50
Hospital ER $100
If you needed surgery you had a 10% copay up to your maximum deductible of $1000 per person.
There were also many things that were free. For example I was having allergy shots 1-2 times a week.
Now heres my issue with the new insurance.
Most of the time when you need a doctor you are sick or injured, you don't have time to shop around. Even if you could shop around doctors don't publish their rates. And if they did they have more prices than a car dealer.
They have a price for people who call in with no insurance. Usually the highest price they charge. Hospitals are almost as bad. They know in an emergency they have to treat you so they handle it a bit differently. They treat you, send you the bill and then give you a discount if you pay in 30 days or less. If not you pay retail on some payment plan.
What might be a $10,000 dollar bill they will tell you it is only $7000 if you pay now. If you have insurance it might only be $5000 ,but, if you have a really aggressive insurance company the bill might get knocked down to $2000.
Then you get bills from the doctors who worked on you separately. Once again the prices could be all over the map. You don't have time to shop or any real power to negotiate. Most doctors or hospitals will just tell you to take a hike if you don't like what they charge.
Now back to my insurance.
If I want to see a specialist I now have to pay the whole bill up to my $800 per person deductible and after that I have to pay 20% of the billed amount up to my $3000 max out of pocket.
Another issue I have is that all my 20% cost sharing is based on rates that the insurance company negotiated. It could be higher than the cheapest price that doctor has said they are willing to take from someone else.
At least when you walk into a car dealer they have their labor rates posted on a wall. You also have time to shop around for the best rate.
Next time you go to the doctor ask them for their price list.
Last week I went into my allergy doc to get my weekly shot. When I was done I asked them how much I owed them if anything. Remember, up until now the shots have been covered 100%. I knew this because it was on my insurance companies website.
My new coverage. Nothing, nada, could't find anything about allergy shots. Are they covered 100%, do I have a 20% copay? Do I pay 100% till I meet my deductible? If I pay do I pay more or less than my last insurance company paid? They paid $5 a shot. Or since I have a new company I don't know.
The receptionist didn't know either. She said she just sent it to the billing people. It's been almost two weeks and I still don't know. The billing department must be way behind. Either that or the insurance company is way behind.
Until I know I'm not going back.
I'm also avoiding specialists. Which wouldn't be so bad if I could get an appointment with my Primary Care Doctor in less than 2 weeks. Urgent Care is now more expensive to visit as well. Which is pretty screwed up since there are several Urgent Cares in the are that let you "join" for a fee and get discount prices. Cheaper prices than I get with insurance. My insurance company is just a middle man siphoning off 20% or more of what I pay. One other side to the equation, what's their incentive to get me the best price when they get a cost plus deal.
I don't blame any of this on the Affordable Care Act. The system has been broken for a very long time. And my plan used to be cheap and cover more because of a collective bargaining agreement. That's right, I belong to a union. The company has been dying to get out from under that health insurance plan for 5 years and finally decided to pay us more so they could. Yet this year they are on track to make multi billions in profit. The CEO will make about 80 million or more this year. I don't think he has to worry about medical bills coating him a new car or his 401k.
So you can hate car dealers all you want but at least there are multiple sources of what a car costs them and now even more sources that will negotiate the price of the care for you.
Costco and Sam's Club, TruCar.Com, Consumers Reports. If you pay too much for a car it's your fault.
Where are these services for Medical Expenses. Why can't I go to the doctor and show my Costco card and get the lowest price possible and then use my insurance to pay their share.
I'd say the system is broken and impossible to fix but it's not. It just requires a change in the way we do business.
My Mother who is 84 has probably the best insurance around. She goes to the doctor, any doctor and pays nothing. Zip, nada, zero.
She pays about $200 a month to a AARP medigap policy. That and her Medicare covers everything.
I know Doctors complain about how much medicare pays. They also complain about all the people they need to pay to keep track of their billing and all those different deals they make with insurance companies.
As I said before I belong to a union. We negotiate a contract every 7-10 years. Almost everyday we complain we are getting paid to little. That we deserve more. We can't come to work one day and just raise our prices.
Well Doc. you might think you have your own business, but you don't. You have expenses and overhead and you have to manage your office and employees but you really work for the insurance companies. Just like my boss tells me that there is now money to pay me more, so does yours. The insurance company.
Actually many doctors are realizing this. They are selling their practices to hospitals and large groups and becoming employees of those groups or retiring. The savings is in hiring fewer people to do the billing among other things.
And don't let Hospitals, Insurance companies tell you the lies they have been. They are getting bigger. A lot bigger. Building more buildings buying more practices and paying CEO's high salaries and bonuses while complain how tough life is.
The medical business is far worse than the auto industry.
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