Interest crediting methods

Indexed annuity or insurance (IUL) has many variations of crediting methods, it can be difficult to figure out which is best to choose when purchasing an indexed product. There are several crediting rates and crediting methods that work together to generate the interest income yield for any given contract.

However, no matter which crediting method you choose, it protects your account during market downside. If the final result is negative, no indexed interest would be credited and your contract value would remain unchanged (minus fees and cost).

Annual Point-to-Point
This is the simplest of the crediting methods. It may be a good choice if you want to maximize the effects of mid-year market volatility.

• On your contract anniversary, the beginning index value is compared to the ending index value.
• The percentage of change in the index is calculated.
• If the ending index value is higher than the beginning index value, a participation rate, a cap, or a spread is applied to determine the amount of indexed interest you will receive. 

Monthly sum (Monthly point-to-point)
Monthly sum is the most volatility-sensitive crediting method. It can provide interest in steady "up" markets, but it can be adversely affected by large monthly decreases.

• Calculate twelve monthly percentage changes in selected stock market index.
• Apply the product’s cap rate to each of the twelve monthly percentage changes.
• Add the twelve monthly capped percentage changes together to determine the annual interest amount to be credited. If the final sum is positive, you'll receive that amount as indexed interest.

Monthly average
Monthly average can help reduce volatility by averaging monthly highs and lows over the course of the year. It may be a good choice in turbulent markets.

• The index values at the end of each month are tracked for one year.
• At the end of the year, those index values are added together and then divided by 12 to determine the monthly average.
• The starting index value is subtracted from the monthly average, and the result is divided by the starting index value.
• If the final result is positive, a participation rate, a cap, or a spread is applied to determine the amount of indexed interest you will receive.

Trigger
Trigger is conservative crediting method, better than fixed rate.

Trigger has a fixed rate and when certain criteria met, it will trigger to use the fixed rate to calculate the interest. For example, if annual point-to-point index value is positive (no matter 0.5% increase or 15% increase), it will trigger to use the fixed rate (say 6%) to calculate annual interest amount to be credited.

Indexed products have certain components (crediting rates) that help determine how much indexed interest you can receive in a given year.

• Cap: If the return of the index you select exceeds the cap, the cap is used to calculate your interest.
• Participation Rate:  a participation rate determines what percentage of the index increase will be used to calculate your indexed interest.
• Spread: The spread or margin rate are synonymous terms that refer to the first portion of gain that would not be credited to your account. The indexed interest rate credited is determined by subtracting a spread from an index's gain during a specified period.
  

读书笔记 - Think and Grow Rich

This book has over 15 million copies sold, written by Napoleon Hill, which is a landmark bestseller. This book deserves second read, and it outlines the thirteen steps to riches.

1. Desire: The starting point of all achievement
2. Faith: Visualizing and believing in the attainment of desire
3. Autosuggestion: The medium for influencing the subconscious mind
4. Specialized Knowledge: Personal experiences or observations
5. Imagination: The workshop of the mind
6. Organized Planning: The crystallization of desire into action
7. Decision: The mastery of procrastination
8. Persistence: The sustained effort necessary into induce faith
9. Power of the master mind: The driving force
10. The mystery of sex transmutation
11. The subconscious mind: The connecting link
12. The brain: A broadcasting and receiving station for thought
13. The sixth sense: The door to the temple of wisdom

The major attributes of leadership

1. Unwavering courage
2. Self-control
3. A keen sense of justice
4. Definiteness of decision
5. Definiteness of plans
6. The habit of doing more than paid for
7. A pleasing personality
8. Sympathy and understatnding
9. Mastery of detail
10. Willingness to assume full responsbility
11. Cooperation

The major causes of failure in leadership

1. Inability to organize details
2. Unwillingness to render humble service
3. Expectation of pay for what they know instead of what they do with what they know
4. Fear of competition from followers
5. Lack of imagination
6. Selfishness
7. Intemperance
8. Disloyalty
9. Emphasis of the authority of leadership
10. Emphasis of title

 QQS formula

1. Quality of service means the performance of every detail, in connection with your position, in the most efficient manner possible, with the object of greater efficiency always in mind
2. Quantity of service means the HABIT of giving all the service of which you are capable, at all times, with the purpose of increasing the amount of service as you develop greater skill. 
3. Spirit of service means the HABIT of agreeable, harmonious conduct that will induce cooperation from associates and fellow employees.

Capital consists not of money alone, but more particularly of highly organized, intelligent groups of people who plan ways and means of using money efficiently for the good of the public, and profitably for themselves.

Capitalistic society guarantees every person the opportunity to provide useful service and to collect riches in proportion to the value of the service.

Procrastination, the opposite of decision, is a common enemy that practically everybody must conquer.

In the story of the Declaration of Independence it will not be difficult to detect at least six of these principles: Desire, Decision, Faith, Persistence, The Master Mind, and Organized Planning.

The major weakness of all educational systems is that they neither teach nor encourage the habit of definite decision.

Those who have cultivated the habit of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they finally arrive up near the top of the ladder.

Persistence is a state of mind, so it can be cultivated. Like all states of mind, persistence is based upon definite causes including:

1. Definiteness of purpose
2. Desire
3. Self-reliance
4. Definiteness of plans
5. Accurate knowledge
6. Cooperation
7. Willpower
8. Habit

Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond only to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence.

The Master Mind may be defined as: coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.

That power, when successfully used in the pursuit of money, must be mixed with faith. It must be mixed with desire. It must be mixed with persistence. It must be applied through a plan, and that plan must be set into action.

The most powerful of all human emotions is that of sex. Highly sexed people always have a plentiful supply of magnetism. This energy may be communicated to others through the following media:

1. The handshake
2. The tone of voice
3. Posture and carriage of the body 
4. The vibrations of thought
5. Body adornment

The emotions of love, sex and romance are sides of the eternal triangle of achievement-building genius. Nature creates geniuses through no other force.

The seven major positive emotions: Desire, Faith, Love, Sex, Enthusiasm, Romance, Hope
The seven major negative emotions: Fear, Jealousy, Hatred, Revenge, Greed, Superstition, Anger

Six ghosts of fear

1. The fear of poverty
2. The fear of criticism
   
3. The fear of ill health
4. The fear of loss of love
5. The fear of old age
6. The fear of death

Without doubt, the most common weakness of all human beings is the habit of leaving their minds open to the negative influence of other people.

You have absolute control over but on thing, and that is your thoughts.

Small towns across the US

Redfin selected 10 small towns

Portland, Maine
Sedona, Arizona
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
Estes Park, Colorado
Hilo, Hawaii
St. Augustine, Florida
Port Townsend, Washington
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Montpelier, Vermont
Saugatuck, Michigan

https://www.redfin.com/blog/10-beautiful-small-towns-in-america/