It was an eye-opener the first time I walked into the office of a civil engineer back in the 1970s and saw, spread across an entire wall, the flowchart mapping out the relationship and time sequence of all that was involved in getting an eight-story building there in the Burg from ground-breaking to grand-opening. The...

Few American publishers have had or will ever approach the influence of Henry Luce in his heyday. Through the middle half of the 20th century, Luce founded and successfully grew a family of magazines whose content was a major factor in shaping the thought and activity of American society. He named...

How much does an insurance company think that your client is worth?  Many times it is much more than your client does, and you have their underwriting guidelines to prove it! Insurance companies don’t want to over-insure someone.  Too much coverage can often result in someone falling down a flight...

There's the old story about the hungry chicken and the hungry pig who agreed to both contribute to a mutual breakfast.  The chicken suggested they have ham and eggs, to which the pig replied, “That’s a contribution for you, but it’s total commitment for me!” When proposing life insurance we would...

Many argue that the best Super Bowl halftime show took place in Jacksonville, FL, some years ago.  In a forum known for mediocre performances that fail to meet the hype and fulfill the expectations, the lights and fireworks opened on a band named Wings, led by one of the last vestiges of an earlier...

Back in the days before the development of things like the NiMH or lithium-ion battery, stand-up comedian Don Adams (who later became Maxwell, the original Get Smart secret agent) used to joke that electric cars were unpopular because of the high cost of the extension cord. Many insurance advisors...

The term collateral damage was originally used during warfare when a military target was struck.  Even when the attack was successful it often left behind peripheral harmful results – usually affecting nearby innocent civilians.  The phrase is now more broadly used to describe negative unintended...

The circumstances surrounding the case weren’t unusual.  A single grandparent wanted to purchase coverage on his five year-old grandchild.  He loved his son and daughter-in-law, the parents of the proposed insured, but felt they might be tempted to access the cash values during tough times if they...

Director Francis Ford Coppola leaves us with a cold and calculating Michael Corleone looking out the windows of his lake house over the water that would prove to be the River Styx for his brother.  What is to be a day of relaxation and fishing for Fredo will end in the fulfillment of Michael’s directive...

What’s the best way to attract and retain key people in the face of a government that does, and continues to do, all it can to proscribe or eliminate the advantages of selective benefits?  The non-discrimination and other limitations on qualified plans often make them ineffective for the purpose. Deferred...