Main Street America said it will retain its affiliation with Trusted Choice, the branding program of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. In 2017, the American Family group’s written premium was $8.8 billion. The company sells American Family-brand products, including auto, homeowners, life, business and farm/ranch insurance, primarily through exclusive agents in 19 states. American Family affiliates, The General, Homesite and AssureStart, also provide options nationally for consumers who want to buy insurance over the internet or by phone. Main Street America wrote more than $1 billion in premium last year. The company sells commercial and personal insurance as well as surety bonds, all through independent agents. Main Street America has an “A” (Excellent) rating with a stable outlook for financial strength from A.M. Best, the same as American Family. American Family became a mutual holding company in 2017, making mergers like this possible. The American Family Insurance group ended 2017 with approximately 11,300 full-time equivalent employees and Main Street America has approximately 900. At this time, no major employee or operational changes are expected as a result of the merger, according to the announcement. Geographic and Product Diversification Commercial products for small business owners, artisan contractors, vehicles, workers’ compensation and agribusiness account for approximately 70 percent of Main Street America’s direct written premium, with 90 percent of their total premium coming from outside the 19 states where American Family sells through exclusive agents. The companies said the merger includes plans to supplement American Family commercial products with Main Street America products, and for Main Street America to enhance its personal lines products with American Family enterprise products marketed to Main Street America customers under the Main Street America brand. “Our commitment to our exclusive agency force has never been stronger,” said Salzwedel. “This merger will give our agents more products to offer policyholders while providing the American Family Insurance group another avenue through which to sell products – independent agents.” “The partnership with American Family creates tremendous potential for Main Street America and our valued independent agent-customers,” added Van Berkel. “The ability to leverage American Family’s powerful technology platforms will enable us to deploy products more rapidly and make it easier for agents and insureds to transact business with us.” The merger will diversify American Family’s product mix, increasing commercial lines from 8 percent to 14 percent of the combined entity’s direct written premium. It will also spread the geographic risk for both companies over a larger area. “When you have a merger of this magnitude, you fear the process will be arduous. But, it’s been great working with Tom (Van Berkel) over the past six months. He’s been a visionary, identifying early on how a merger could enhance both companies,” said Salzwedel. “The benefits to policyholders and our companies became clear. With a heavy concentration on the East Coast, Main Street America will help extend the reach of the American Family group. American Family, in turn, will help bring new products and technology to Main Street America and its policyholders. “We will continue to strategically expand our enterprise,” added Salzwedel. “When we see growth opportunities that provide more options and value for policyholders, we will pursue them.” Rating agency A.M. Best said the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a+” of the operating subsidiaries of Main Street America Group remain unchanged. On March, 22 before the merger announcement, A.M. Best affirmed the “A” (Excellent) Financial Str

This year, high-income retirees can expect to shell out even more money to cover their Medicare premiums.

That's because as of 2018, there is a shift in the income brackets that are used to determine how much older Americans will pay for their Medicare Part B and Part D coverage, according to a recent analysis by HealthView Services, a provider of health-care cost projection software.

Medicare Part B covers preventive services and doctor visits, and Part D covers prescription drugs.

These surcharges could take a bigger bite out of present and future retirees' income than they may have expected.

More from Fixed Income Strategies:                            

A 55-year-old couple, where each spouse earns $70,000, could anticipate seeing their lifetime Medicare surcharges rise by almost $122,000 due to changes to how the health-care program charges its beneficiaries, HealthView Services found.

You are eligible for Medicare at 65, so this hypothetical couple has 10 years until they qualify.

The highest earners may end up paying 200 percent more for Parts B and D compared to someone in the first bracket.

"The fear is that things will continue along these lines where future retirees will be responsible for more and more of their medical costs and will be receiving less in terms of compensation," said Ron Mastrogiovanni, CEO of HealthView Services.

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American Family, Main Street America Reveal Plan to Merge

Wisconsin-based American Family Insurance group and Florida-based The Main Street America Group will pursue a merger, the companies announced today.

The combined equity of the merged entities is expected to be more than $9 billion. Upon completion of the merger, Main Street America will operate as a stand-alone brand with its own name and marketing within American Family Insurance group, similar to The General and Homesite, which American Family acquired in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

American Family Insurance and Main Street America said the merger does not involve capital outlay by either.

The companies said the merger, approved by their boards of directors, will “improve diversity of risk, promote growth through geographic expansion and provide agents and policyholders broader product offerings.”

Both insurers have national distribution capabilities, but each has its own regional emphasis.

The merger, expected to close by year-end, will require approval by mutual policyholder-members of both companies and state insurance regulators.

“This merger will give policyholders – particularly small business owners – more insurance products to choose from and more ways to buy them,” said Jack Salzwedel, chairman and CEO of the American Family Insurance group. “Given our focus on policyholders and agents, that’s a win.”

“Both companies are able to immediately take advantage of our unique marketplace positions, as well as the ability to bring new value to each of our agency distribution systems,” said Tom Van Berkel, Main Street America’s chairman, president and CEO. “Our ability to sell new products through our independent agent-customers will help us and our agents profitably grow, while simultaneously bringing American Family enterprise products to a different policyholder base.

Main Street America said it will retain its affiliation with Trusted Choice, the branding program of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.

In 2017, the American Family group’s written premium was $8.8 billion. The company sells American Family-brand products, including auto, homeowners, life, business and farm/ranch insurance, primarily through exclusive agents in 19 states. American Family affiliates, The General, Homesite and AssureStart, also provide options nationally for consumers who want to buy insurance over the internet or by phone.

Main Street America wrote more than $1 billion in premium last year. The company sells commercial and personal insurance as well as surety bonds, all through independent agents. Main Street America has an “A” (Excellent) rating with a stable outlook for financial strength from A.M. Best, the same as American Family.

American Family became a mutual holding company in 2017, making mergers like this possible.

The American Family Insurance group ended 2017 with approximately 11,300 full-time equivalent employees and Main Street America has approximately 900. At this time, no major employee or operational changes are expected as a result of the merger, according to the announcement.

Geographic and Product Diversification

Commercial products for small business owners, artisan contractors, vehicles, workers’ compensation and agribusiness account for approximately 70 percent of Main Street America’s direct written premium, with 90 percent of their total premium coming from outside the 19 states where American Family sells through exclusive agents.

The companies said the merger includes plans to supplement American Family commercial products with Main Street America products, and for Main Street America to enhance its personal lines products with American Family enterprise products marketed to Main Street America customers under the Main Street America brand.

“Our commitment to our exclusive agency force has never been stronger,” said Salzwedel. “This merger will give our agents more products to offer policyholders while providing the American Family Insurance group another avenue through which to sell products – independent agents.”

“The partnership with American Family creates tremendous potential for Main Street America and our valued independent agent-customers,” added Van Berkel. “The ability to leverage American Family’s powerful technology platforms will enable us to deploy products more rapidly and make it easier for agents and insureds to transact business with us.”

The merger will diversify American Family’s product mix, increasing commercial lines from 8 percent to 14 percent of the combined entity’s direct written premium. It will also spread the geographic risk for both companies over a larger area.

“When you have a merger of this magnitude, you fear the process will be arduous. But, it’s been great working with Tom (Van Berkel) over the past six months. He’s been a visionary, identifying early on how a merger could enhance both companies,” said Salzwedel. “The benefits to policyholders and our companies became clear. With a heavy concentration on the East Coast, Main Street America will help extend the reach of the American Family group. American Family, in turn, will help bring new products and technology to Main Street America and its policyholders.

“We will continue to strategically expand our enterprise,” added Salzwedel. “When we see growth opportunities that provide more options and value for policyholders, we will pursue them.”

Rating agency A.M. Best said the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a+” of the operating subsidiaries of Main Street America Group remain unchanged.

On March, 22 before the merger announcement, A.M. Best affirmed the “A” (Excellent) Financial Str

Which News Releases Should I Trade?

Before we even look at strategies for trading news events, we have to look at which news events are even worth trading.

Remember that we are trading the news because of its ability to increase volatility in the short term, so naturally, we would like to only trade news that has the best forex market moving potential.

While the markets react to most economic news from various countries, the biggest movers and most watched news come from the U.S.

The reason is that the U.S. has the largest economy in the world and the U.S. Dollar is the world’s reserve currency.

This means that the U.S. Dollar is a participant in about 90% of all forex transactions, which makes U.S. news and data important to watch.

With that said, let’s take a look at some of the most volatile news for the U.S.

In addition to inflation reports and central bank talks, you should also pay attention to geopolitical news such as war, natural disasters, political unrest, and elections.

Although these may not have as big an impact as the other news, it’s still worth paying attention to them.

When our economic guru Forex Gump is in a good mood, he usually releases an article on upcoming news reports that you can play and with trade strategies to boot! Check out some of his articles of this sort:

• Trade the News This Week
• 4 News Reports You Can Trade this Week
• Trade the U.S. Retail Sales Report with Me
• Make Pips with this Week’s Big Reports

Also, keep an eye on moves in the stock market.

There are times where sentiment in the equity markets will be the precursor to major moves in the forex market.

Now that we know which news events make the most moves, our next step is to determine which currency pairs are worth trading.

Because news can bring increased volatility in the forex market (and more trading opportunities), it is important that we trade currencies that are liquid.

Liquid currency pairs give us a reassurance that our orders will be executed smoothly and without any “hiccups”.

Gold Steady Ahead of Host of US Numbers

Gold is showing little movement on Tuesday, as the spot price stands at $1177.61 per ounce. On the release front, there are a host of US events ahead of the Christmas holiday. There are four key events on the calendar – Core Durable Goods Orders, Final GDP, UoM Consumer Sentiment and New Homes. With the markets having plenty of data to assess, we could see some movement from gold during the North American session.

It was a disappointing start to the week for US releases, as Existing Home Sales fell to 4.93 million in November, its lowest level in six months. The markets had expected a reading of 5.21 million. The weak reading followed the October release of 5.26 million, which was its best showing in over a year. Later on Tuesday, we’ll get a look at New Home Sales. Little change is expected in the upcoming release, with an estimate of 461 thousand.

Previous Fed policy statements have usually stated that the Fed would maintain low rates for a “considerable time”, but the December statement changed terminology, saying the Fed would be “patient” before raising rates. In a follow-press conference, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen was less ambiguous, saying that the Fed was unlikely to raise rates for the “next couple of meetings”. The markets took this to mean that a rate hike is in the works, but not before April. Gold prices remained steady after the Fed statement, but as an interest rate hike by mid-2015 seems likely, there is room for the dollar to make gains against gold.

The deal hunter’s guide to getting the lowest mortgage rate

Whether it’s a palatial residence, a trendy condo or a tiny bungalow, a home is the most expensive thing most Canadians will buy in their lifetime.

For a nation known for its love of discounts and reward programs, you’d think we’d be all over getting the best possible deal on our mortgages. But over and over, research suggests the opposite is true. Most recently, a global poll by banking giant HSBC found that Canadians were the least likely among current and prospective homeowners in 10 countries to have done some research looking for the best mortgage rate. A mere half of respondents in Canada said they had shopped around, well below the global average of 61 per cent. By comparison, among the French, who topped the ranking, the share of bargain hunters stands at nearly 80 per cent.

Needless to say, comparison shopping can save you a pretty penny when it involves something worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But with interest rates now creeping up, it’s arguably even more important not to sleep-walk into your mortgage agreement.

So how does deal-hunting work when it comes to mortgages?

There are three main ways to go about it, and all of them have their pros and cons, according to experts.

BUSINESS REPORT – The Bank of Canada’s interest rate hike has made it all the more difficult for home buyers

Anticipating Wednesday’s rate hike by the Bank of Canada, all of Canada’s Big Six banks had already raised their listed five-year mortgage rates by 15 basis points to 5.14 per cent, and that is going to make it all the more difficult for home buyers to qualify for mortgages, particularly with the new stricter guidelines.

The Central Bank confirmed on Wednesday that the cost of money is going up, citing stronger employment and GDP growth in 2017, as well as increased activity in residential investment and consumption by consumers.

However, with the new higher interest rates and stricter mortgage guidelines, residential home sales may tend to slow going forward.

The Bank does not see rates rising again anytime soon, that is unless there are more positive surprises, which is not likely. This could steady out the mortgage markets as home buyers get used to the new higher rates and stringent rules.

Longer-term rates have been in a bit

Longer-term rates have been in a bit of a holding pattern after deciding not to smash through the highest levels in more than 4 years at the end of April.  Since then, the trend has beenanything but conclusive with yields drifting mostly sideways and occasionally slightly stronger.  This could end up being the first positive hint before a broader recovery, or it could merely be a consolidation before bonds rejoin the previous selling trend.  

The amount of indecision seen in bond trading since hitting those late April highs suggests both potential outcomes are still in play.  We're certainly aware of the mainstream narrative pointing toward higher and higher rates due to the ongoing 'pricing-in' of increased bond issuance, decreased Fed accommodation, and risks surrounding increased inflation/growth.  What we can't be sure of is the extent to which that narrative is already played-out in terms of driving day-to-day trade.

That's where the second option comes in.  Think of it as an underdog (for now).  The thesis is that the "higher rates" narrative has largely been priced-in and that bonds can now turn their attention to worrying about flat wage growth, trade war potential, and a maturing economic cycle.  Some would say it's not too soon to throw mid-term elections into that mix as it could have implications for fiscal policy

T-Mobile Announces 50 Percent Off Wireless Plans For Military Families

If you belong to a military family and are looking for a new wireless carrier, T-Mobile has a sweet plan for you.

The new T-Mobile ONE Military plan is, as the company says, a way to give back to military servicemen and women and thank them for their sacrifices. It includes 50 percent off family lines, unlimited text, data roaming, low flat-rate calling in 140­+ countries, free Netflix, Scam ID, Scam Block, and more.

The first line will cost $55, with line two costing $25 and lines three through six costing $10. That means you can get four lines (with all the extras) for only $100. According to T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon only offer military discounts of $15 or 15 percent -- a stark contrast in savings.

On top of the service discounts, T-Mobile has also partnered with Samsung to offer 50 percent off some of their smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy S9, S9+ and S8 Active. The deal is for military customers only and ends May 31.

'Avengers: Infinity War' Cast Goes On A Hollywood Star Bus Tour Led By James Corden

If you've been to Los Angeles, you probably have fond memories of visiting the Hollywood area and taking a Star Tour, riding in a bus past celebrity homes and hangouts and hoping to spot someone famous.
But when it comes to James Corden's special tours, the stars are the ones riding the bus. For a recent episode of "The Late Late Show with James Corden," Corden decided to flip the script on Hollywood bus tours by creating James Corden’s Star Star Tours, “the star tour that takes the stars on tour.”

"Avengers: Infinity War" is in theaters now, and I can't wait to see it. Have you been out to see the Marvel film yet?

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