Insurance

All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure – so said Enoch Powell. Is it the same for fund managers? Hedge fund manager Paul Marshall of Marshall Wace thinks so – and says so in his new book, 10.5 Lessons from Experience – but I’m not sure he’s right. If it’s a failure to more or less benchmark an index for 30 years and retire to the Home Counties with a lucrative defined-benefit pension long before you are 60, then, perhaps they have all failed. But most of us would be more likely to consider the nice pension and the pre-senility retirement to be a pretty good result. I suspect Marshall means not that all ordinary fund management lives end badly, but that all brilliant fund management ones do. It makes sense. As he says, if a manager does...

F.A.Q. on Stimulus, Unemployment and Tax Rebates Image Credit... Robert Neubecker Ron Lieber and The Senate passed its version of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on Saturday. The pandemic relief bill now goes back to the House of Representatives, which must approve the Senate’s changes before it can go to President Biden’s desk. We will continue to update this article as the bill moves forward. Stimulus Checks How big are the stimulus payments in the bill, and who is eligible? The stimulus payments would be $1,400 for most recipients. Those who are eligible would also receive an identical payment for each of their children. To qualify for the full $1,400, a single person would need an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or below. For heads of household, adjusted gross income would nee...

Could paying cash save you money on medical care? We shop online for everything from clothes to cars and can compare pricing before committing, so a Naples surgeon wants to make that same approach available to medical care. Dr. Michael Havig, an orthopedic surgeon at Naples Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, said he came up with the idea after hearing his staff turn away patients who did not have insurance or who were out of network. “And I’d say we can see them, we can charge them a cash price,” Havig said. But he said his medical billing staff at doctor’s offices and hospitals sometimes don’t know what to charge as a cash price. The insurance companies set the pricepoint that doctors and hospitals are allowed to be reimbursed for services. According to Havig, medical providers are so i...

Latest vaccine schedules and resources Below are the latest schedules and information for public COVID-19 vaccinations in Southwest Florida. WINK News will update this list as new information is available. FREE DOWNLOAD: Get the WINK News app for alerts on the latest vaccine news To see the FDOH’s report on who has been vaccinated in the state, click here (PDF download). The report is updated daily. Florida Department of Health has a vaccine locator to confirm vaccine locations and contact information in the state. Please pay attention to the criteria listed for each site, as vaccinations may only be offered for certain people and may require appointments. ELIGIBILITY Governor DeSantis has expanded the groups eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida. Beginning March 3, e...

FILE - In this May 17, 2020 file photo Chandler Fashion Center Mall welcomes back patrons with many social distancing guidelines, in Chandler, Ariz. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has lifted capacity restrictions at gyms, restaurants, and other businesses. Ducey cited lower COVID-19 cases and increased vaccination as he eases up on the pandemic restrictions that have upended life for nearly a year. Ducey announced the changes Friday, March 5, 2021, citing declining COVID-19 cases and the rollout of the vaccine. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File) FILE - In this May 17, 2020 file photo Chandler Fashion Center Mall welcomes back patrons with many social distancing guidelines, in Chandler, Ariz. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has lifted capacity restrictions at gyms, restaurants, and other businesses. Ducey...

Could paying cash save you money on medical care? We shop online for everything from clothes to cars and can compare pricing before committing, so a Naples surgeon wants to make that same approach available to medical care. Dr. Michael Havig, an orthopedic surgeon at Naples Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, said he came up with the idea after hearing his staff turn away patients who did not have insurance or who were out of network. “And I’d say we can see them, we can charge them a cash price,” Havig said. But he said his medical billing staff at doctor’s offices and hospitals sometimes don’t know what to charge as a cash price. The insurance companies set the pricepoint that doctors and hospitals are allowed to be reimbursed for services. According to Havig, medical providers are so i...

Debbie Monahan, a school nurse, pulls down Charles Robbins' sleeve after giving him his second shot of the coronavirus vaccine at Surry County High School in Dendron, Va., on Saturday Feb. 27, 2021. Getting the coronavirus vaccine has been a challenge for rural counties in the U.S. that lack medical facilities such as a pharmacy or a well-equipped doctor's office. (AP Photo/Ben Finley) Debbie Monahan, a school nurse, pulls down Charles Robbins' sleeve after giving him his second shot of the coronavirus vaccine at Surry County High School in Dendron, Va., on Saturday Feb. 27, 2021. Getting the coronavirus vaccine has been a challenge for rural counties in the U.S. that lack medical facilities such as a pharmacy or a well-equipped doctor's office. (AP Photo/Ben Finley) SURRY, Va. (AP) — Wh...

The High Income Child Benefit Charge is calculated on a sliding scale and equates to 1% of the child benefit for every £100 you earn over £50,000. If you earn £55,000 you have to repay half the child benefit you have received for that tax year. If you earn £60,000 or more, you need to pay HMRC the full amount. “Every year the high-income charge catches out thousands of families who are either unaware of it or who find themselves unwittingly earning more than they thought,” notes Miles Brignall in The Guardian. As the deadline for tax returns approaches, families should check whether they owe HMRC child benefit. In 2013 the High Income Child Benefit Charge was introduced. If you receive child benefit and you, or your partner, earns more than £50,000 a year, you have to repay some or all of...

Debbie Monahan, a school nurse, pulls down Charles Robbins' sleeve after giving him his second shot of the coronavirus vaccine at Surry County High School in Dendron, Va., on Saturday Feb. 27, 2021. Getting the coronavirus vaccine has been a challenge for rural counties in the U.S. that lack medical facilities such as a pharmacy or a well-equipped doctor's office. (AP Photo/Ben Finley) Debbie Monahan, a school nurse, pulls down Charles Robbins' sleeve after giving him his second shot of the coronavirus vaccine at Surry County High School in Dendron, Va., on Saturday Feb. 27, 2021. Getting the coronavirus vaccine has been a challenge for rural counties in the U.S. that lack medical facilities such as a pharmacy or a well-equipped doctor's office. (AP Photo/Ben Finley) SURRY, Va. (AP) — Wh...

Open banking is a great British success story. Launched in 2018, this initiative, backed by the government, regulators and industry, lets third-party providers access your financial information at the touch of a button, but only after you’ve given explicit consent (renewed every 90 days). The idea is to connect various service providers to your bank account and thus benefit from a wide range of products and services that are tailored to your needs because they are based on analysing your data. Around 300 financial technology firms (“fintechs”) and innovative-finance providers have joined the open-banking network and more than 2.5 million British consumers and businesses now use open banking-enabled products to manage their finances, access credit and make payments. One practical measure of...