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[F216]Financial Help For Veterans

by Tanya Young, Tan

Charles Myrick the President of ACRX announced the re-release of the American Consultants Rx community service project where over 20 million ACRX discount prescription cards were donated throughout the country. One of the main locations in the Dayton,OH area that received an initial donation of ACIRX free prescription cards,is the Veteran Readjustment Counseling Center. The cards are to be donated to anyone in need of help.

Due to the rising costs, unstable economics, and the mounting cost of prescriptions, American Consultants Rx Inc. (ACRX) a.k.a (ACIRX) an Atlanta based company was born in 2004. The ACRX discount prescription card program was created and over 3 million discount prescription cards were donated to the community across the country free of charge between 2004-2005.

The ACRX cards will offer discounts of name brand drugs of up to 40% off and up to 60% off of generic drugs. They also possess no eligibility requirements, no forms to fill out, or expiration date as well .One card will take care of a whole family. Also note that the ACRX cards will come to your organization already pre-activated .The cards are good at over 50k stores from Walgreen, Wal mart, Eckerd's, Kmart, Kroger, Publix, and many more. Any one can use these cards but we are focusing on those who are uninsured, underinsured, or on Medicare.

ACRX made arrangements online for the ACRX card to be available at ACIRX where it can be downloaded as well. This arrangement has been made to allow organizations an avenue to continue assisting their clients in the community until they receive their orders of the ACRX cards. ACRX made it possible for future request to be made from online as well. ACRX also developed a unique marketplace at 2spendless com where you can also click on the ACIRX blue banner and download your free discount prescription card as well as find other key discounts.

With a backorder of over 40 million cards ACRX is working diligently to assist as many people and organizations as possible. ACRX will be working over the next few months to fulfill as many backorders as possible. It should be noted that while many other organizations and companies place a cost on their money saving cards, ACRX does not believe a cost should be applied, just to assist our fellow Americans. ACRX states that it will continue to strive to assist those in need.

Good news. There has been increased education, albeit slowly, for financial advisors to help people in retirement. But be careful about the several designations you may see.

The most widely held senior designation, Certified Senior Advisor (CSA) is not a financial training at all. Although many financial professionals gain this designation, so do nurses, gerontologists, funeral home directors and others dealing with older people. The designation is really a training in communication skills and issues of aging and not in financial issues.

The Certified Retirement Financial Advisor designation (CRFA) is ONLY for financial professionals that have at least 2 years experience in financial services. The enrollees seek to polish their retiree-specific financial knowledge and the course covers every aspect of financial concerns to someone in their retirement years: how to avoid tax on social security income, how to liquidate assets for the lowest or zero capital gains tax, how to utilize section 72 rules for early retirees who need to tap their retirement funds before age 59 ½, IRS sections 1035 and 1031 exchanges for tax deferral, Roth IRA conversions, how to minimize taxes on IRA distributions, how to build retiree portfolios for greater secure income, how to create low risk equity portfolios, training in estate planning and asset protection, long term care planning and related tax issues, trusts, advance directives, integration of your retirement plan and estate plan, asset titling issues, beneficiary selection for retirement accounts and other assets. Fifteen hours of continuing education is required annually to maintain the designation.

The other legitimate designation is Chartered Advisor for Senior Living (CASL). However, of the 5 courses that graduates must complete, 2 of them are general and not retiree specific. Fifteen hours of continuing education is required every 2 years to maintain the designation.

Be cautious of any other designations held by a financial advisor who contends that the designation has prepared him to give appropriate financial advice for people in retirement. There are several designations that have no substance and are programs designed to make a financial sales person look like a professional.

Here are some simple questions you can ask a retirement planner. If the professional cannot answer them easily, then move on:

How can IRS section 1031 help me (it helps people divest real estate without current taxation)

What is the lowest possible rate on capital gains that I could possibly qualify for (5% currently, 0% starting in 2008)

Can anyone convert their IRA to a Roth IRA (their modified adjusted gross income must be under $100,000 currently)

If I want to leave my IRA to my 3 children, do I need to split it into 3 accounts (no, the children can split the IRA after your death into 3 accounts)

Will a living trust help me save taxes (no—the benefits of a living trust that cannot be accomplished otherwise is the avoidance of probate and privacy)

What's the difference between an annuitant driven and owner driven annuity (all annuities are owner driven—if the owner dies, the owners beneficiary gets the proceeds)

Can I lose money with an equity indexed annuity (yes, if you withdraw funds during the surrender period, the surrender charge could be larger than anything you have earned resulting in a loss)

Why shouldn't I put my sons name on my accounts as joint tenant so he inherits them directly if I die (you can be deemed to have given a gift which may have tax consequences and you have exposed jointly held assets to your son's creditors).

Article Source : Pg. 28

About Author

Both Tanya Young & Larry Klein are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Tanya Young has sinced written about articles on various topics from Food and Drink, Investments and Online Dating. $$bio_HTML$$. Tanya Young's top article generates over 201000 views. to your Favourites.

Larry Klein has sinced written about articles on various topics from Stock, Insurance and Careers and Job Hunting. is president of the Society of Certified Retirement Financial Advisors. He has several educational web sites for retirees linked from. Larry Klein's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.