Pretty much every health insurance company insuring individuals requires someone 50 or older to have had a physical with bloodwork done in the last 2 years.  No physical? Case closed.  Period.  No insurance. It’s too much of a risk for the insurance company. Plenty of these so-called healthy folks will drop dead tomorrow! Do you really have to think for more than a minute to come up with the face of a  fifty something friend or c0-worker that “seemed to be in good shape”, that collapsed with a heart attack or stroke?

Geez, if you already have insurance, a preventive physical is FREE as a mandate of health care reform.  And even if you forget the wise old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, if you are in the market for health insurance for yourself…you won’t get coverage without a physical!

So suck it up you wimps that fear all doctors.  What? You’re TOO BUSY! Heart disease and cancer thrives on people who are just “too busy”.  And stop being so self-centered, it’s not all about YOU.  I have a hunch some people you know might also have an interest in you getting a physical.  So what are you waiting for? Make that appointment!

While waiting to have my oil changed I picked up today’s Lancaster newspaper.  My wife Lori is a native of Lancaster County and has obviously influenced me…as I felt myself opening up to…no, not sports…no not the local section…but rather to the… obituaries section!  All Lori cares about (being Lancastrian to the core) is who died, who got divorced and who had a kid. Period.   Debt ceiling? What’s a debt ceiling?

Anyways, it sure seemed like a lot of “young” people in the obits today.  Of the 19 listed, 8 were 63 or less. 63?  My in-laws are that age.  My sisters are already that old.  Wait, aren’t we supposed to retire at 65?  How can we die before we got to live the good life in retirement? Don’t men live to be 78? And women, 80?  Of course those are averages.  I am surprised at how many make up the “less than average” group.  Now this is a small sample on a given day, however…

Last month I looked at 2 consecutive weeks of the Sunday paper, which reprints the obits for the whole week.  1 in 3 did not make it to age 70.  Since that discovery, I mention it to every couple I meet with.  I ask, “At what age do you think you will retire?  How long do you think you’ll live?”  Minus the jokes we all make, the retirement number is mid 60ish, and the life expectancy is 80+ (surprise, nobody thinks they are average!)

Statistically, 1 of the 3 of us at the customer’s dining room table will not make it to 70. Not a happy thought.  This brings me around to life insurance again.  That measly $26/mo. policy I just wrote for a quarter milliondollars for 30 years on a 31 year old guy, might just get paid out.  I hope not! But…

So what age do you think you’ll be when YOU retire?  Here’s hoping you make it!  And here’s hoping you’re insured even beyond that.

On the mortgage side, those of us at Beacon flirted with transitioning to mortgage bankers at the end of 2009.  We didn’t make the jump for many reasons…until the end of March.  We are now Cole Taylor Mortgage, a division of Cole Taylor Bank.  Cole Taylor Bank is based in Chicago, and has been around for 80 years.   The mortgage division is new, though spearheaded by industry legends from the legendary ABN-AMRO mortgage group.

We are the first retail branch in Pennsylvania for Cole Taylor Mortgage!  While there may be a learning curve with systems and processes, the end result is already phenomenal.  Local processing and in-house underwriting means quicker decisions on files and shortens the cycle to get a loan closed.  Local appraisers.  Excellent rates.  It’s made things fun again!

On other topics, I have been on QVC a few times selling the world’s best hose products, those made in Oregon by Water Right.

I am once again coaching Kate’s Ephrata U12 Girls Rec soccer team.  Got trounced in week 1, but every other game has been close, with 1 win and 1 tie to go with 3 losses.

Nate’s birthday goodies were a big hit, and included a set of poker chips.  Poker chips?  Yes, he and I and sometimes Kate play a lot of Texas Hold ‘em.  It is a lot of fun, unpredictable of course and makes the kids think about risk, reward, bluffing and reading people.

He got a dartboard, and is quickly kicking my fanny in Double in, Double Out.  After playing with a 3 dollar mini nerf football in WalMart a 100 times, we finally got him one.  It’s the small one that looks like an arrow is stuck in it.  Much easier for him to throw a spiral with.  I had plenty of balsa wood planes as a kid, and got him one with the propeller and rubber band.  They still fly great!  Available with hundreds of other nicely priced gifts on Main Street in Ephrata at the Fun-Est Toy Store Ever.   http://www.thefun-esttoystoreever.com/catalog/index.php

As a surprise we took Nathan, his friend Trent and Kate to go swimming at the New Holland Rec.  It’s very nice there, but 5 minutes after getting in the pool they had to get out because the staff discovered someone had pooped in the pool.  Doody!!!!  They closed the pool for 24 hours.  We got a refund and free passes too.  Excellent customer service on their part!

Sadly, though predictably, Nathan learned the truth about Santa this year.  I think Kate learned in 1st grade too.  There’s always some know-it-all brat in school that has to ruin the fantasy.  Nathan asked Lori about it one day after school, and she had to tell him the truth.  He cried and was pretty upset for a little while.  Though by dinner he was over it, and had already figured out the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny were bogus too.  Sigh.

For the 2nd year we passed on the Elizabeth Farms Christmas Tree experience.  It’s fun, but 80 bucks for a tree is nuts.  Norka was short on Fraser fir, so we went to the old standby, Frysville Farms.  I think it was 35 bucks for a tree they cut down like 2 months ago…oh well.

Kate is suddenly hooked on Justin Bieber, whoever that is.  All she wants for Christmas is a cell phone.  We’ll see.