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Access to the environmental insurance marketplace. Simply put, this is one of the main reasons why agents from around the country work with environmental wholesale brokers to find environmental coverage for their clients.

Having options is a great way to demonstrate your expertise and commitment to your clients. Clearly, this is a good approach with new business opportunities, but marketing a renewal and encouraging your client to switch carriers on an existing account needs to be carefully considered. In today’s market, many accounts are marketed to try to achieve a better price. While that is certainly a worthwhile goal, changing carriers on a renewal account may cause real problems. Here are a few issues to consider:

· The agent needs to be fully aware of the specific coverage differences between the expiring policy and the new policy. Although both forms may be appropriate for the insured’s needs, there may be discrepancies between them that could potentially create gaps in coverage.

· There will always be differences in the carrier offering the coverage. Where one may have a solid A.M. Best rating and a history of handling claims effectively, another may have a lower rating and not have a successful track record. Service and stability add a great deal of value.

· If the agent is aware that there are enhancements on the expiring policy that may not seem too significant; yet they are not offered on the newer form-and a claim is filed-the agency may be held liable and have an E&O issue.

· Aggressively marketing a risk every year gives the insured a reputation in the marketplace. Many accounts do not get reviewed by companies because they see them every year and never write them. Unfortunately, there may be a time where the insured really needs to switch carriers and the carrier declines to quote.

Here are some steps that wholesale brokers will want to take if you are considering marketing an account at renewal:

1 – Review the account 90 days before expiration.

2 – Discuss the coverage options that may exist in the market to assess if there is a better product being offered.

3 – Assuming the insured is happy with the coverage and carrier on the risk, it is important to determine the target price or rate goals for the renewal.

4 – Confirm with the insured that if that premium or rate goal can be achieved with the incumbent carrier, they will renew.

5 – If the carrier cannot accommodate the requests, there is still time to go to other carriers and try to achieve the insured’s coverage and cost goals elsewhere.

This allows you to give the insured what they are looking for without running the risk of reducing their coverage or any of the other pitfalls of moving coverage to a different carrier. Even if alternative proposals from other carriers are requested, agents are still encouraged to send renewal information to the incumbent carrier. The insured should not move the program elsewhere without comparing any new proposals to the expiring policy.

Are high yield CDs still a good investment in 2010? That’s a good question. But, the answer isn’t an easy yes or no. Investing in high yield CDs depends upon your individual situation. First of all, let’s define what a high yield certificate of deposit is. In simple terms, it’s a CD that will give you a good return. But in 2010, how high of a yield are we talking about? Let’s take a closer look.

One of the best websites for comparing CD rates is Bankrate.com. To get a high yield certificate of deposit, you are going to have to invest your money for a longer period of time. Investing in a one-year CD is going to give you a measly CD rate of less than 2% APY (Annual Percentage Yield). So, the first thing you need to decide is whether you can afford to invest your money for a longer period of time. If you think that you will need your money within the next five years, a high yield CD is not for you. Assuming you can invest your money for five years, currently you can get a CD rate of between 3.15% and 3.55% (APY) with as little as $1,000. Now here is where the guessing comes in. In the next five years, will CD rates rise or fall or stay the same? CD rates can’t go very much lower. If the Federal Reserve keeps its fund rate low, then certificate of deposit rates won’t rise. But, if the economy improves, the Federal Reserve will raise the fund rate and CD rates will slowly climb. There is no way, short of a crystal ball, to know when or how fast the rates will rise.

If you have enough money to invest in CDs, your best bet is to invest by laddering. For instance, invest $1,000 in a one-year CD, $1,000 in a two-year CD and so on until you get to a five-year CD. When the one year CD matures, you would invest in another five-year CD. As each CD matures, you would do this same thing. This spreads the CD rates out over a number of years and is a safer way to invest.

Another way to invest in a certificate of deposit, is look for a bank that is offering the opportunity to raise your rate. Currently, Ally Bank is offering a two-year CD at an interest rate of 2.10% APY and will allow you to raise your rate once during the two years. So if interest rates rise, you won’t lose out.High yield investment program is similar to online betting where the risk is on higher side.

As we launch into 2010, the IT industry is faced with three major challenges. What makes these so significant is they are not on the radar of most companies. In this report I will address the first challenge that we as an industry have ignored. Although I can not provide answers, my hope for this article is to expose the issues and launch a dialogue within the IT community as we search for answers.

This is not your Father’s IT

The first challenge I call “Your Father’s IT”, or better yet, “Your Grandfather’s IT” We live in an age where technology is advancing at phenomenal rates. However, companies are slow to adopt these new technologies. The biggest reason is quite simply, legacy IT staff does not know what to do with them! They are stuck in old IT paradigms and can not see how their IT world could be improved with new technologies.

Old IT paradigms are the biggest obstacle to capitalizing on new technologies

In order to adopt new technologies IT has to think outside the legacy IT box. They have to be willing to redefine what IT can become. Let us look at IT Consumerization as an example; Consumerization is the ability for business professionals to use their personal smart phones and other smart devices at their workplace. Today, the “Your Fathers IT” reaction is “No Way! This technology is a security risk and cannot be allowed into the workplace”. However, organizations with “New IT” paradigms will look at the new capabilities and determine how (or if) the devices can make their company more competitive. If so, they will find ways to secure the technology and make it work for them. I am not suggesting all new technologies be implemented. I am suggesting the IT industry gravitate to a new paradigm; a mindset that is determined to evaluate how new technologies will, or will not, benefit their business.

Today, “Your Father’s IT” waits until the technology is released and the bugs worked out. Eventually they evaluate the technology then fund and finally implement. I have seen this process take up to twenty four months. That is two years without the business benefits offered by the technology. This mindset can cost a company millions of dollars over that twenty four month period. Imagine your competitors reaping the cost benefits and efficiencies of new technologies while your legacy IT is stuck in a wait and see mode of operation.

Companies who have adopted the “New IT” paradigm will be delivering value propositions to the business before new technologies are formally released. Successful companies will not wait to deploy new technologies until current technology reaches end of life. They will do it when there is a compelling business case to do so.

So how does a company break out of the legacy IT paradigm? How do they change their current mode of operation? Can a company teach their Legacy IT new tricks? Can a companies culture adapt to a “New IT” paradigm without external pressures? What can push a company out of its “Old IT” patterns that are so comfortable today? I am convinced that if companies do not adapt to “New IT” paradigms they will not survive the next decade. However, changing paradigms and corporate cultures can be an impossible task. One does not merely decide one day that their IT will think and behave differently from now on.

This challenge is easily ignored and has been for years. However, ignoring this challenge only puts your business at continued risk of becoming obsolete and uncompetitive. In 2010 we must take steps to limit our exposure to this and the two challenges I will discuss in the next reports. If your company is going to survive the next decade you have to come up with answers to these challenges. As I mentioned earlier, my intent is to open the door to further dialogue. Let us consider the door wide open.

If you want to learn how to fix credit fast, then you will want to read this article. Specifically, we will be discussing the first thing you need to do and what options you have to raise your score. When you are finished reading this article, you should be prepared to begin credit restoration.

Review Your Report

The first thing in any credit repair plan is to carefully review your file. You can get a copy of each of your three credit reports once a year at annualcreditreport.com. If you have already received your free report this year, or you want to get a copy of your credit score, you will need to pay a small fee for your report. There are companies that will give you your score for free up front, but this involves a trial membership in a monitoring service. These services can be a good idea if you are attempting credit repair, but just make sure you understand the associated costs.

Decide Which Strategies Will Work Best for You

Once you have your report, you will want to review your file carefully. It is a good idea to make an extra copy so that you can highlight all of the items that you feel need attention. Make special note of anything that is incorrect or questionable. Once you have reviewed your report it is time to develop a plan!

• Pay Off Revolving Debt

One of the quickest and easiest ways to improve your credit score is to pay off your revolving debt. Your credit utilization makes up 30% of your credit score. By getting each of your account balances at down below 25% of your available credit, you can raise your credit score by up to 50 points.

• Dispute Derogatory Credit and Errors

The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to dispute anything in your credit that you believe is inaccurate. If a creditor fails to verify an account within 30 days, the credit bureaus must remove the account from your credit file.

• Get a Relative to Add You as an Authorized User

Many people think that due to FICO 08 that becoming an authorized user can no longer help your credit score. This is actually not true. While FICO 08 does restrict who can add someone as an authorized user, it does not prevent a parent or spouse from helping your credit by adding you as an authorized user.

Let’s get something straight to start with. There is NO HIDDEN or Shadow Inventory of Distressed Assets.

I know many of you keep hearing that the second wave of foreclosures is coming. You could be thinking that because you are having difficulty in obtaining large bulk reo tapes, that the Banks must be holding or hoarding houses back from the market or that perhaps they are about to flood the market with thousands of properties.

We’ve been hearing that from many people for over a year now. I have never bought into it, because as I have always stated, is that the market can handle more inventory than most would think There is so much pent up demand it’s crazy.

The assumption that I have never challenged, until now, is that these foreclosures EVEN EXIST! Take a look at the latest numbers crunched at Foreclosure Radar.

I don’t know how you can argue with the data, the sales volume has been so great it is outpacing the numbers of foreclosures hitting the market. Getting unlimited business checks will help to organize expenses of a company.We have been saying that for over a year!

It is important to point out that there are massive numbers of defaults and foreclosure sales that are “hung up”. It’s an absolutely huge number of houses, but still, there’s not one person I’ve spoke to that did not believe that there are masses of foreclosures post sale that were sitting inactive that are not even being placed on the market.

The crazy thing is that every investor buyer wants to believe that they can purchase bulk these single family residential (SFR) tapes in CA, NV, AZ at 50-70 cents on the dollar. These investors are so motivated at the prospect that they are willing to treasure hunt for inventory that does NOT exist.

The reality is that our company is calling the banks every single day and I can tell you from our experience that nothing exists in CA, AZ, NV in bulk SFR tapes at discount prices (we have strong relationships with almost all the mid sized institutions).

The banks at best only have 1-5 REO properties at a time and they are unloading those via Realtors and brokers at NO discount. Asset managers are telling us that most of their bank owned properties are actually selling at full market value without any need to discount! The markets are moving in these states!

The inventory in the Southwest has dried up and the demand is obviously heading east across the Midwest. I can tell you that demand FAR exceeds supply so we only expect bulk SFR tapes in the Midwest and east to last another 12-24 months. The inventory that is available will NEVER be cheaper than it is now.

I am sure many of you have seen large, pennies on the dollar California Single Family Residential “tapes” flying around the internet, but I can assure you that it is NOT authentic product.

Many buyers are frustrated that they can’t find anything and it’s simply because it’s GONE. Anyone telling you that they have $200M – $1B in bulk single family homes at thirty (30) cents on the dollar is a joker or a part of a daisy chain of jokers…

So, check out the bulk market for yourself – the implications are huge for savvy investors! The Midwest is a market we are promoting because of the stock availability at low prices. Investors who are waiting to buy may really, really miss the boat. Available inventory has never been sold at such low prices. Waiting may be harmful to your wealth!

With the property market in a bit of a slump due to the current world economic crisis, the ability to find profitable investment properties has become an ever more risky affair. General opinion is that this is a very risky of the market to be in at the moment, but this need not be the case.

As is inevitable in any economic crisis or slump, there are many people who unfortunately are caught unaware or rather unprepared for this type of turn of events. The result being that more often than not if someone has been living above their means, they will be required to downscale their lifestyle to be able to adapt to the situation.

Now, this is where the opportunity comes in, during this time they will be looking to decrease their debt at a rapid rate in order to be able to meet their financial commitments, thus leaving the market wide open for you to make the property investment of a life time.

Of course there is the opinion “If only it was that easy!” which is absolutely correct. Now this is where the trick comes in, actually it is not a trick but a well mastered, tried and tested and accurately calculated skill.

Using the correct tools and systems one is actually able to predict the best offer to make on a property, the cost implications to you and whether it is a viable deal to enter into even before you make an offer to purchase.

As with any other form of business, having the correct tools in hand is a vital part of being able to make calculated and accurate decisions when you decide to look around for investment properties. By following this route one is able to minimize the risk and predict the potential profit before signing any form of deal which may lead to a potential property investment.