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Smoking is not just a burden on your health but your finances as well. There is the direct cost of purchasing them and the accrued cost over time can be ridiculously high. The collateral financial cost of smoking is the negative impact it can have on life insurance. Smokers more than other clients will be more likely to suffer serious illness or die as a result of the habit, and so companies know there is a higher standard of risk involved when offering them life insurance.

Smokers will no doubt be quoted higher costs because policies are taken out over the long term. The variation in quotes is stark in its honesty. For example, a policy which has the lowest price quoted for £200000 of life cover for a smoker over 25 years with critical illness cover included on a single basis, will be £4503 dearer for him/her as opposed to most policies for non smokers.

If a smoker is thinking of bending the truth when applying for a policy, the best advice is not lie at all. By saying a person is a non smoker on their policy-despite cutting a 20 cigarette habit a day to, say, 2-they run the risk of their policy being declared void or even fraudulent. If a person hides the fact about their smoking and this lie is discovered when the insurer is assessing a claim, they can easily refuse to pay out. The discovery can be even more embarrassing as the client may even be asked, as part of the application process, to undertake a saliva test to confirm that their non-smoker status. If the lie is then discovered for example, the application may be declined and other insurers could then refuse to cover the individual.

The key number is 12 months. That is all a smoker has to survive to gain a better life insurance quote. After a year of not smoking, life insurance companies start to class you as a non-smoker, and being a non-smoker can result in premiums of life cover and critical illness cover being 50 per cent lower. Of course a cheaper premium is not a certainty, as it depends on age and health but by ceasing the habit, the client stands a much better chance.

The best advice then to a smoker is obviously to quit the habit, and after doing so if the individual has honestly survived the 12 months without a cigarette then they should tell their insurance company straight away. Furthermore, the individual would be well placed to research the insurance market and find the best deal when renewing the policy-the likelihood being that the best premium will be from a new and different life insurance provider.

Saurav is an author of several articles pertaining to Life Insurance. He is known for his expertise on the subject and on other Business and Finance related articles.

ETFs, otherwise known as “Exchange Traded Funds”, are a fast-growing segment of the Finance and Investment Market which are moving towards supplanting Mutual Funds as preferred means of fund investing.

You probably know most of the ways available to trade the markets… Stocks, Forex, Options, Futures & Commodities, … plenty of trading choices to consider.

But for over a decade now – since the early 90′s, there’s been a group of funds that are now growing rapidly as more investors and traders become aware of their profit potential – that is, ETFs.

In 1996 there were about $16 billion in ETFs… then just over a decade later that number has sky-rocketed to in excess of $600 billion!

An ETF is a fund comprised of a group of stocks, bonds, or other investment vehicles similar to a mutual fund. However, unlike a mutual fund, ETFs trade like stocks allowing a trader to buy and sell during normal exchange trading hours. Hence you can have immediate access to your funds upon selling an ETF position during normal market hours anytime you want.

Whilst ETFs can be generally more cost and tax efficient than mutual funds, a commission cost applies in the same way as it would have when trading stocks. There are no minimum buy requirements or holding period requirements common to many mutual funds. Likewise, you can buy as little as 1 share of an ETF as you would buy 1 share of a stock.

In simple terms, this means you can get the diversification that a fund has to offer and the ability to trade in and out of the fund. This is a big deal, because you can virtually eliminate stock specific risk by trading a basket of stocks within the fund so that if one stock in the fund suddenly drops in price, the negative impact on a position you may have in the fund would be far less than if you had owned a position in the shares of that particular stock.

There are many different types of funds available. In the United States alone there are currently now over 600 funds, with more being added on a daily basis. ETFs include stock sector, country, currency, commodity, bond or other investment objective related funds.

Further, there are funds that have only short positions and are sometimes referred to as “short” funds, or “short ETFs”, which will increase in price as the short positions they hold go down in price.

Some funds are leveraged funds, meaning that when the stocks in their funds go up by say 5%, the fund could go up by 10% and short funds whose stocks go down in price by say 5%, could go down 10%.

ETFs are also a growing investment vehicle in international stock markets as well. A prospectus on each ETF is available and information on the individual holdings of an ETF can be found on Yahoo Finance and other financial related websites.

However, not all ETFs are suitable for trading as many are thinly traded or too volatile to be considered good swing trading vehicles. ETFs in the U.S. are created and maintained by sponsor companies subject to the approval and regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Success in any chosen field can only be gained by knowledge and practice. Knowledge is best gained from recognised experts in their field.

Nadine Huegel
http://www.squidoo.com/MoneyMarketMastery

Von Willebrand Disease (vWD) is a common health issue in Dobermans. It is a bleeding disease just like hemophilia in humans that can put Dobermans life at risk from surgery or injury. Although it exists in other breeds, such as Poodles, Shelties, Scottish Terriers and the Pembroke Welsh Corgi, it is most common in Dobermans. In a study of 15,000 Dobermans screened, 70% were carriers. Most of these dogs were not clinically affected.

Some of the symptoms of Von Willebrands Disease are excessive bleeding, nosebleeds, bleeding from the gums and bloody stools or urine. This requires special consideration before surgery and special attention to injuries. Physical and emotional stress can worsen bleeding. The treatment for a bleeding episode is a blood transfusion. Certain drugs should be avoided in dogs with Von Willebrand Disease. These include, aspirin, antihistamines, sulfur based antibiotics, ibuprofen and amoxicillin. Your Veterinarian will know how to handle treating your dog.

There are 3 types of vWD. Type I is the mildest form of the disease and is the type most common in Dobermans. Type 2 is more severe and is more common in German Shorthaired Pointers. Type 3 is the most severe form and is usually found in Scottish Terriers and Shelties, although as mentioned above, there are several other breeds that can carry this gene.

Besides, surgery or injury, Dobermans are at risk for excessive bleeding during whelping and during the docking of the puppies tails. It is so important to know that your Doberman and his breeding line are tested and do not have Von Willebrand affected breeding dogs.

One way to test for Von Willebrand Disease is a blood titre test called Elisa. This test is not very accurate. We had one of our dogs test positive on the Elisa test but was clear on the DNA test. The only true way to test for this genetic disease is through a DNA test, which is done with a swab and costs around $140.00. There are 3 levels of results for the DNA test, clear, carrier or affected. What this means in terms of breeding Dobermans is somewhat complicated. It is safe to breed a vWD clear Doberman with a vWD carrier. It is estimated that the bad gene would be eliminated over a period of 2-3 generations.

Breeding 2 Dobermans that are affected (actually suffer excessive bleeding) will always produce 100%affected puppies. Breeding an affected dog with a carrier will result in half the puppies being affected and half being carriers. Breeding 2 carriers of vWD will result in 25% of the pups being affected, 50% will be carriers and 25% will be normal. Breeding a carrier of vWD to a normal Doberman will produce a litter of half carrier puppies and half normal puppies.

You might be wondering why a breeder or anyone would breed a Doberman that has any indication of vWD. Why not breed only dogs with no vWD, as affected or carries of the disease? This would be the ideal situation but only 1/3 of Dobermans are normal, meaning they are not affected with, or carrying the disease. Using only normal dogs for breeding would greatly reduce the gene pool which would have a negative impact on the breed. Doberman breeders have worked so long to perfect the Dobermans temperament and health after the problems of the 1970s. To eliminate 2/3 of the breeding population would result in the same problems we worked to correct.

It is important to buy a Doberman puppy from a reputable breeder who has tested his dogs for Von Willebrand Disease. Be an informed buyer.

Joseph M. Sabol is a world class Doberman breeder. Please go to http://petvitamins4u.com or to http://theroadhousedobes.com for further information