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How Trump Plans to Crack Down on Drug Companies

Written by adminMay 9, 2018

One of President Trump’s big promises on the campaign trail was to reform the prescription drug industry. For most Americans, the cost of lifesaving prescription drugs is way too high.

We already know that these companies value profit over lives. All we have to do is look at the recent case of EpiPen, who raised the price of their pen to unfathomable levels.

The cost of epinephrine per box: $1
What EpiPen rose the price to: $699

Why did they do this? The answer is simple: profit. Despite the protests and the anger this caused, the manufacturers defended their position. They proved they didn’t care about the numerous people who depend on this product to save their lives.

This is just one example. It was such a huge issue that Trump vowed to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Why Americans wish he had tackled this problem sooner in his administration, it was finally announced that he will release his strategy this week.

Alex Azar, Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, said that the president’s approach will be to take a ‘tough stance’ on drug makers. This declaration alone led to the stock of these major companies to fall.

According to Aetna, one of the country’s largest insurance providers, the cost of prescription drugs rose in price nearly 25% over the last four years, with the prices already been too high to begin with. This is why Trump made the cost of drugs an important issue during his campaign.

Here are some of the issues expected to be brought up in the coming days:

Price Rebates

When you look at the dealings between drug makers and insurance companies, you’ll start to see how they prop each other up. Drug companies will give large discounts to insurance companies, but many wonder if those same discounts are passed down to the consumer.

In most cases, they’re not. Trump’s plan hopes to change that by ensuring more of the discounts is given to the people, especially those on Medicare.

Promoting Increased Competition

President Trump continues to strongly believe that increased competition between drug companies will force them to lower the cost of drugs to stay competitive.

Once a new drug is released by a major manufacturer, generic drugs aren’t far behind, so the Trump team hopes to allow for faster review of generic drugs to get them into the market quicker.

For example, if a competitor to EpiPen kept the price at $1, then consumers have options and EpiPen is less likely to obscenely raise their prices.

They also plan to identify more drugs as over-the-counter medicines to make them easier to obtain without having to get a doctor’s prescription, saving consumers times and money.

These are just a few of the ways Trump plans to tackle the drug industry. We look forward to seeing what the rest of his ideas are in making prescription drugs cost effective for everyday Americans.

Written by adminMay 9, 2018

Student Loan Consolidation

WASHINGTON, DC — Love him or hate him, President Trump just did something that former college graduates/alumni of all political backgrounds will thank him for. His proposal last Monday provided funding to forgive $7.7 Billion of Student Loan Debt to those who are struggling to pay off their debts.

Call To See If I Qualify

The Trump Administration recently made the statement:

“Our student loan system is clearly broken. Loan companies are using unethical tactics to get students to take out more and more loans. After they graduate, most aren’t able to find a job. Now these loan companies call and harass them everyday for payments they can’t afford. We’re changing that.”

The government would like as many people as possible to lower their student loan payments. There are many programs that can either forgive your student loan or dramatically lower your student loan payment down to $0.

Call 855-221-9282 to see if you qualify.

What You Can Do About It?

The time to act is now. This program may end any time without notice. If you or a loved one is struggling with crippling student loan debt it’s not your fault and you’re not alone.

Over 40 Million Americans are currently struggling with their student loans. You can get help simply call the number below to speak with a student loan forgiveness counselor. Every day you wait your student loan is getting bigger.

New Student Relief Helpline provides a
Free 2-min Eligibility Check

Click Here Now to Call
855-221-9282

Written by adminMay 7, 2018

Saving

As we continue to recover from the last recession, there’s a lot of optimism for the future. We see unemployment numbers going down and the economy buzzing.

While optimism is strong, there’s a storm brewing. Something massive is forming out in the Atlantic, and this time, it just might be the storm of the century. No one knows when it will strike, but when it does, it will push millions of Americans over the cliff.

That storm is the next recession.

A lot of it has to do with the record high amount of personal debt we have. Almost every category you can count in the trillions of dollars.

-$1.02 trillion in credit card debt.
-$1.4 trillion in student loans.
-$1.22 trillion in auto loans.

What’s worse is a lot of us have debt in more than one of these categories, so we’re paying high interest all the way around.

What’s Going on With Our Budgets?

It’s not just debt we have to worry about. Consider the amount of money we have saved. It was recently said that most Americans don’t even have access to $400 if they really needed it in the event of an emergency. So, what happens when, not if, the economy fails?

The University of Chicago released a new study that revealed 44% of Americans avoided going to the doctor when they were sick/injured last year. That’s almost half the country! The reason? The high cost of health care!

If we can’t afford to take care of ourselves now when the economy is on a massive growth-spurt, what happens when the next recession hits? No one will be ready for the storm, which may cause a health crisis in the near future.

That brings me to my next point. When the economy is showing signs of upward trends and people are optimistic, that makes them feel safe. Of course, we all want that brand new shiny car sitting in the driveway of our beautiful home, but these are luxuries we can barely afford when things are going well.

We have to put ourselves in a heavy amount of debt and pay interest that’s tough to afford. As the economy continues to churn in an upward fashion, so do the interest rates. During the last recession, they might’ve dropped to 3%, but it wouldn’t be out of the question to see the rates rise to as much as 7%.

Over the next few years, that increase will make their almost unaffordable car loan definitely unaffordable, killing whatever savings they might have.

Doom and Gloom

The point of this blog isn’t to be a doom-and-gloom preacher who screams from the street corner that the end is coming. No, I want to encourage everyone who reads this to take the opportunity to get their debt under control before taking on new debt.

Yes, the signs point towards high optimism, but we just don’t know when the next storm will hit. If you’re going to survive the next recession, you will do it because you were prudent, have all your ducks in a row, and valued saving your money over buying the latest shiny toy.

Written by adminMay 3, 2018

Saving

We understand the temptation. From the moment you send in your taxes, your mind goes straight into thinking about how you want to spend that money.

Did you want to put that down payment on a new car? Are you thinking it’s time to upgrade your wardrobe? Are you going to sock it away for that family vacation?

Hey, you won’t receive any judgment from us! We completely get it. Yet, we’re here to advise you that maybe there is a better option for that money than buying more stuff, which is to put it towards your debt.

It’s certainly not the sexiest of options, or the most fun, but it can certainly save you a lot of heartache in the long run.

Here are three excellent reasons why you should put your tax refund towards your debt:

1) It Will Show You’re Serious About Your Debt

If you have debt, then you know that the quicker you pay it off, the less you’ll pay on it over time. The longer you have the debt, the more interest you’ll have to pay on it. The difference between paying it off early or not can be thousands of dollars in additional interest added. That means you’ll have more money in the long run.

If you have a lot of debt, it doesn’t make sense blowing your refund on a large vacation or adding to your debt by getting a new vehicle. Not to mention, paying a large chunk of it down can only help your credit score. Putting your refund towards your debt shows you’re becoming financially responsible.

2) Savings Might Get Spent

Putting money into your savings or rainy-day fund is always a good idea. You never want to go without an emergency fund stashed away. If you have no emergency savings, then it’s a decent option, but what you put into savings might be difficult NOT to spend. People have a difficult time saving money because the temptation is there to use it on frivolous things.

If you put it towards your debt, then it’s spent and a large chunk of your debt is gone, which is ultimately the best option. It might sting a little bit right now, but later on, you’ll save more money in the long run getting your debt paid off sooner.

3) There Are Better Ways to Save for a Vacation

One of the top ways people spend their refund is on a vacation. There’s no doubt that you deserve one after working hard all year, but there are just better ways to pay for it. A vacation is fleeting and won’t be something tangible to invest your money in. You might get a sick tan, but you’ll still have the same amount of debt as you did when you went in.

The best option is to pay off a chunk of debt and find another option for a vacation. Maybe take a shorter weekend trip somewhere until you have your debt paid off. Your vacation doesn’t have to be super expensive. Maybe pick up a small side job for a few months and sock away the money for a nice trip or save as much money as you can throughout the year

Either way, going on vacation while you have a ton of debt isn’t the most responsible decision someone can make. Adding to your already significant debt isn’t good either. The best thing you can do is buckle down until your debts are paid off. You’ll have a lot of time in the near future to enjoy debt-free living!

Written by adminApril 30, 2018

Saving

After President Donald Trump announced he would place tariffs on steel and aluminum to spur on growth in the American markets, several countries freaked out and promised to retaliate with tariffs of their own.

Wall Street reacted accordingly as stocks dropped over 700 points in a single day to the news that the U.S. may soon be embroiled in a trade war.

The main concern has to do with the world’s two largest economies battling it out for supremacy, which would almost certainly leave other countries destabilized and fighting for air.

While the idea of a trade war is unsettling, there’s a chance that Trump isn’t too serious about keeping tariffs up for long. Instead, he might be pushing for better negotiations on a trade deal he’s touted since the campaign trail.

It’s a tactic that has proven to work so far.

All one has to do is look at the North Korea situation. Trump’s aggressive tone had many fearing that WW3 was about to break out any moment, but instead, it brought both sides to the negotiating table. For the first time in over 60 years, the Korean War has officially ended.

In an effort to avoid a trade war with China, a war the U.S. can’t afford to have as its economy recovers from a decade-long recession, Trump has sent a team of experts to Beijing with the goal of leaving with a compromise deal that helps both sides.

Trump tweeted last week that he believes a deal will get done, but some aren’t as optimistic. His team needs to be united on the tenants of the deal to make negotiations simpler, but those he did send don’t seem to be likeminded about what needs to get done. It consists of both free trade advocates as well as trade hawks…two sides who rarely agree on anything.

Chris Krueger, the managing director of the Cowen Washington Research Group, isn’t optimistic about the deal.

“This sets up a bizarre situation where the US team may spend most of the talks negotiating among themselves. It’s hard to picture more unique Trump officials.”

Trump himself believes sending a team with diverse ideas is a great thing, but one is left to wonder, with a recovering economy, if now is not the time to leave it to chance. This is the best chance we have at preventing a trade war, so sending a team that isn’t in agreement won’t be likely to solve the problem.

At the end of the day, a trade war can send the American economy back into a recession and destroy the massive positive movement we’ve seen under the Trump administration so far.

Hopefully the president’s aggressive tactics don’t lead us down that road.

Written by adminApril 27, 2018

Saving

Amazon surprised investors on Thursday by announcing that they’ve more than doubled their first quarter profits compared to what they pulled in the first quarter of 2017.

The experts expected Amazon to lose a bit of their momentum going into this year, which is why the announcement came as a shock.

In the first three months of 2018, the mega online retailer raked in $1.6 billion. This profit is on top of several expensive investments made into original programming for their streaming service and the building of more fulfillment centers across the country.

This isn’t the first major milestone Amazon has hit this year. It has also touted a record number of paying subscribers, the amount of cloud computing sales, and advertising sales, all of which helped spur on the $1.6 billion first-quarter profit.

Because of these breakthroughs, Amazon’s stock has been soaring, putting that iconic Amazon smile on the faces of every investor.

Price of Prime to Rise 20%

Despite the absurd profits made in the last quarter, Amazon also announced via letter that they will be raising the price of Prime, their extremely popular subscription service, from $99 to $119 per year, a 20% increase.

Their justification for the increase again has to do with the increased cost of making more original content and continuously adding more “digital benefits”.

With over 100 million Prime subscribers, Amazon felt the price needed to go up, and will continue to go up as they offer more benefits to their customers. Amazon remains on the front lines of innovation, offering shipping perks, and believes it can compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu with their streaming services.

Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky said in a conference call on Thursday, “We continue to increase the value of Prime by adding digital benefits.”

With this news, the price of Amazon’s stocks jumped 7%. While investors are happy, one can’t help but wonder what the subscribers think of the price change. The company has record-high profits, but feels the need to increase the price of Prime by 20%?

There will be a breaking point for subscribers. If they keep raising the cost, it can become too costly and not worth the price to the average consumer.

Time will tell if this price increase will impact the number of subscribers Prime receives (or loses) in the future.

Written by adminApril 24, 2018

Saving

Buying a car is a huge step for most people. Whether it’s your first adult car or you regularly seek out new leases every few years, it can be a frustrating (and quite expensive) experience. It’s especially troublesome if you go in not knowing how to find the best deal for you.

If you’re in the market for a new car or truck, this blog with share with you some money-saving tips that will keep you from making a huge mistake, while hopefully saving you a bundle.

1) Wait Until the End of the Month/Year

I know, I know. The thrill of buying a new vehicle is incredible! We want nothing more than to walk into a dealership today and walk out driving something with that new car smell. But if you wait until the end of the month, you can potentially get a bigger bang for your buck.

Most car companies pay their employees through commissions. The successful sellers often get perks and bonuses for selling the most cars. As the month goes on, a salesperson will get increasingly hungry to keep up with their quota, so they offer huge discounts, perks, and incentives to get you to walk away happy.

If you can be patient, end of the year deals can be really awesome as well.

Do your due diligence and visit several dealerships at the end of the month and compared which ones seem the most desperate to make a sale. You can also look for quarterly bonuses and special holiday events. The savings can total in the thousands.

2) Do Your Research Online

If you wait until you’re at the dealership to look around and do research, you run the risk of being strong armed or being swarmed with salespeople pushing you into a vehicle that’s not the best fit for you. Sometimes dealers have a vehicle they want to get rid of. They’ll try their hardest to convince you to buy something other than what you want.

Before you go to the dealer, you can do all the same research online. Look at the various models, sizes, colors, and prices you want to pay. There are a ton of resources online to help you, like Kelley Blue Book, Auto Trader, Carfax, and so much more.

A lot of dealerships even have a way for you to check out prices on their website and get a quote all without walking in the door. So, when you are ready to buy, you’re well-armed with tons of great research, ultimately saving you time and money later.

3) Shop Around for Trade-Ins

There’s no rule (written or unwritten) that says you absolutely have to trade in or sell your old vehicle at the same place you buy your new one. It may be more convenient to do it at the same dealership, but it can cost you money.

The trick is to take your car around to different places and write down the quotes you get. Once you’re at the dealership of your choice ready to buy, you have a nice tool in your pocket to start the negotiations.

The best way to go about it is to negotiate the price for the new car first, then mention you have a trade in and see what kind of deal you get. If it’s not as good as the deal another dealership offered, you have a great negotiation weapon. They’ll be eager to get your sale after already agreeing on a quote, so they might be more inclined to increase their offer.

4) The Best (and Worst) Time of Year to Buy

Spring is the worst time to buy a car. A lot of people get excited after getting tax returns and are ready to buy. Dealerships are prepared for that and prices will be inflated. They can afford to charge more as their buildings are often full during this time of year.

The best time to buy is in the fall. This is usually when the new model years come in, so they have a lot of the ‘older’ models taking up room on the lot. They’re more likely to give you a great deal to free a spot for the newer car, which can save you thousands for virtually the same vehicle.

5) Don’t Be Afraid to Negotiate Down Fees

You can bet your bottom dollar, when you receive your itemized bill, there will be a lot of additions to it you didn’t think you’d have to pay. Fees for this, taxes for that. Some dealers will charge you simply for doing paperwork. Yes, that’s a real fee that can hit as high as $800! Some states do cap the fee to keep it as low as possible.

In this case, if you get hit with a huge fee, try to negotiate them. Be willing to walk away, because it might take you threatening to leave if they don’t remove it. Some of the fees can get so ridiculous it’s not even worth entertaining doing business with them.

In the end, the best thing to do if you’re in the market for a new car is to wait. Experts say to start research at least 6 months ahead of time so you can be aware of all the great deals, sales, holidays, and times of the year when they’re a lot less expensive.

Written by adminApril 20, 2018

Student Loan Consolidation

Ever since President Trump was elected and sworn in, he’s made it his mission to hack and slash federal spending. We’ve seen attempts to make critical cuts to important programs, like public television and Meals on Wheels.

Sadly, the proposed cuts don’t end there, and it’s bad news for millions of students trapped under a mountain of debt. The programs he really wants to cut into are the student aid programs passed through during the Obama administration.

Last year, Trump set out to cut as much as $4 billion from those programs, but in a compromise move by the president, those cuts have been put on hold. For now.

The 2019 budget has the same proposals they wanted pass in 2018.

The 2019 proposal includes:
-Cutting loan forgiveness programs for public servants.
-Move the current five income-driven repayment programs into one where the monthly payments are higher, but takes much less time to pay back.
-Graduate students would take longer to repay their loans under this plan.
-Stops paying the interest on loans taken out by low-income students.
-No more debt forgiveness for social workers and teachers after 10 years of repayment.

“At a time when millions of students are struggling under the crushing burden of student debt, it speaks volumes that President Trump and Secretary DeVos are proposing $200 billion in cuts to financial aid,” said Democratic Senator Patty Murray this week. “This is a complete 180 from the agreement Republicans and Democrats made last week.”

2018 Budget Keeps Funding in Place

As President Trump begrudgingly signed the spending bill into law to keep the government from shutting down, it protected a lot of the existing programs he wants to cut. Rather than cutting the work-study program, the White House proposed using $300 million of the extra bill money to go towards it.

They’ve also decided not to cut programs like Gear UP that is designed to help poor students starting in middle school get prepared for college. Instead, it combines Gear UP with TRIO into a $500 million grant given to the states to dole out to kids in need.

Also, Pell Grants are safe for the time being. Part of the 2018 proposals looked to take $1.6 billion from the program, but the current budget leaves it alone. Instead, the budget aims to prevent more money from being pumped into Pell Grants by keeping the numbers right where they are. That means no adjustment will take place to account for later inflation of tuition.

That’s not a good deal, according to Jessica Thompson. She’s the Policy and Research Director at the Institute for College Access and Success. She says the Pell Grant right now barely does a good enough job at keeping needy students afloat.

“They aren’t making any of the critical investments in Pell grants, which is a huge missed opportunity. The current max grant is covering the lowest share of college costs in over four decades,” she said.

While President Trump wants to make cuts to Pell Grants, he also desires to expand the program to cover different trades and short-term certificates/degrees. He hopes this will spur on employment growth in skilled labor markets, such as manufacturers and construction workers.

The overall goal of Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is to bring back the Higher Education Act, which includes a lot of these cuts to student aid. At least for the next year, students have an opportunity to take advantage of the current laws to get assistance in paying their debts down.

To learn more about reducing your debt and how we can help, please call (844) 899 7540 today. We’d love to hear from you before the laws change for good.

Written by adminApril 19, 2018

Saving

Spring often feels like the beginning of a whole new year. After a cold, long winter of being stuck inside with nothing to do, we begin to emerge like bears waking from a several-month hibernation.

Spring is also the start of the active season. From now until Christmas, busyness will consume you. Life will be full of activities, repairs, vacations, weekend trips, decorating, and so much more.

Are you prepared?

Most people go into the summer season unready for the expenses sure to come. It’s not just the summer busy season that can be expensive. A lot of hidden costs can be lurking that will cost you more in the long run because you weren’t ready for them.

Let’s take a look at several ways you can Spring Clean your budget today to keep it looking healthy for the rest of the year.

1) Check Annual Expenses and Create a Plan

Memory can be a fickle thing. You might have some vague idea in the back of your mind of stuff you want to do or fixes you need to make, but by not planning for it and putting it down on paper, it can turn into an unexpected problem later.

Sit down and carefully write a list. If you want to repaint the deck, add it to the list. Planning a vacation to Fiji? Great! Add it to the list.

Walk around the house and do a little inspection. Better yet, hire someone to come out and see how your home/property is holding up. If there’s a problem that needs addressing, like the roof needs to be replaced, add it to the list.

Once you can see all the different things you need to do, spend time thoroughly researching every point. Take a lot of notes if necessary. For example, that trip to Fiji. What are the costs? Hidden costs? Will you have to put down a deposit ahead of time? What time should you buy the tickets for the best deal?

When you see it, all laid out for you, you will get a bigger picture of what you can afford and what you should probably save until next year.

2) Don’t Forget to Keep an Eye on Your Debt

If you made the resolution at the beginning of the year to pay off your debts and improve your credit score, then you need to take that into consideration before spending tons of money on vacations or other big purchases.

If you’ve been steadily paying down what you owe, then your credit score is improving. Instead of taking that family trip to Fiji, maybe decide to take it easy this year and put the extra money into your debts. Then, if you’re out of debt next summer, you can afford to do a lot more without jeopardizing your credit score and/or adding to your debt.

Also, maybe it’s time to check out other options you might have at conquering your debt once and for all. We can help! Give us a call today at We’d love to hear from you!

3) Remove the Clutter

It’s a good idea to periodically look over your books. The best idea is to be a stickler for keeping the books clean, but it can be time consuming and a lot of people just wing it.

By looking over your financial statements, bank accounts, and other bills, you can check for added payments, extra fees, or even subscriptions you just don’t need or use anymore.

Maybe you only watch HBO for Game of Thrones. Well, as of this writing, it’s going to be at least another year before the final season hits, so stop paying for it until then.

It’s so easy to get caught up paying for services we barely use, simply because we think we need them. If you want to save good money throughout the year, this is a great way to do it.

Written by adminApril 17, 2018

Taxes

Today is the day. Tax Day. The bane of every American’s existence.

Every year, 80% of the population manages to get their returns in on time to receive their refund. It’s such a complicated and frustrating experience that most Americans wait until the deadline to get it done.

According to Ted Kurlowicz, tax professor at The American College of Financial Services, the best plan of action is to pay your taxes right away. People often miss the deadline because they didn’t have the money to pay by the deadline or they just ran out of time, an error that can get quite expensive.

“You should do the least harm and file as soon as possible and pay the tax as soon as possible,” said Kurlowicz during an interview with Fox Business. “The late-filing penalty could actually be higher than the late-tax-payment penalty so you should file as soon as possible to do the least harm to your personal finances.”

The amount you can pay if you’re late is 5% of what you owe each month, up to about 25% of the total. Moral of the story: if you don’t want to pay more than what you owe, don’t procrastinate!

What about the 20% of people who don’t file on time? Will the IRS come pounding on your door and threaten to haul you off to tax prison?

The simple answer is no. It’s okay to miss the deadline, but there are a few things you must do to stay compliant.

1) File an Extension.

If you need more time to get your taxes in, the government understands. Not everything works perfectly, even if you were 100% prepared to have your taxes prepared by the 17th. Maybe there was a problem with filing and they’re waiting for assistance. Sometimes it takes a little longer to get all your sources of income identified so you can complete your taxes on time.

Either way, the IRS has graciously offered an extension, giving you until October 15th. To take advantage of this, you must submit Form 4868 the moment you realize you might miss the due date.

While you have until October to send in your proofs, that doesn’t mean you have that long to pay what you owe. The due date to pay is still April 17th and they will expect you to pay at least 90% in order qualify for the extension or you will probably get hit with nasty interest and late fee charges.

2) Take the Situation Seriously

If you know you’re going to be late, the best thing you can do is be proactive. You know the tax man is going to come. They will not just forget you owe them money and leave you alone. They WILL come for you, but if you want to lessen the penalties/burden of paying late, then do everything you can to show you’re trying your hardest to remedy the problem.

Again, the IRS understands the things happen. Hardships come and go. As long as your open and honest about what’s going on, pay as much as you can, file an extension as early as possible, you can usually negotiate a settlement.

3) Get Help

Tax time is stressful for everyone, but it’s especially true if you’re unsure about whether you can pay on time. You might even have April 17th with skull and crossbones marked on your calendar drawn with a black Sharpie. If there’s any question or stress over filing (especially if you’re working a new job or started your own business and just aren’t sure), get help!

Yes, it will cost you a little bit, but not paying on time will cost you a lot more in the long run. There are thousands of amazing tax advisors out there, along with new software that makes filing easier than ever.

Happy Deadline!

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