Posts tagged: Independent

May 11 2011

Encouraging Independence in Children

One of the most important tasks of parenting is to help children become independent, so that as adults, they can take care of themselves and pursue their dreams. Teaching independence is a long process, beginning in toddlerhood and (hopefully) ending sometime in early adulthood. These skills will help children adapt to new circumstances over the course of a lifetime. Below are some tips to help kids develop independence as they mature.

Give children increasing responsibility.
Teach children that they are important contributors to the family, and give them age appropriate chores. When they are five years old, they may help to fold the laundry, when they are ten they may help with yard work, when they are fifteen, they may help prepare family meals.

As children approach their later teen years, they should know how to do most household chores (cooking, cleaning, laundry, and yard work); so that when they leave home they are ready to function independently.

Encourage kids to try things themselves first.
At times parents over function for kids, and kids become trained to ask for help rather than try things themselves. Whenever a child asks for help, if it is a task that you believe he can do on his own, ask him to try to do it himself first. If he tries, and doesn’t know how to complete a task, offer him help, but teach him how to do the task rather than doing it for him.

Teach kids to solve their own disputes.
Young children will often ask parents to solve disputes between siblings or friends. When children are very young, this is an appropriate role for parents. However, once children develop problem solving ability, encourage them to work out issues among themselves, and to approach you only if someone is in danger or the problem is intractable. If you do step in to help a child work out a dispute with a sibling or friend, act as an arbitrary in a negotiation so that you are modeling how to problem solve with others. If there is any bullying or abuse involved in the dispute, assume an authoritative role and discipline the offending child as needed.

Teach kids how to manage money.
Teach kids how to handle money, including earning money, saving money, prioritizing spending, and giving to others. When they are very young, you can begin be teaching them to save a portion of their money, spend a portion and perhaps donate a portion of by helping with special tasks. By the time kids are teenagers, they should be able to understand how to make a simple budget. Having kids earn their own spending money during the high school years with a part time job, is a great way to introduce them to the real world of providing for oneself.

Teach kids to set goals.
When your child discovers an interest or a passion in life, teach him how to set broad goals and smaller goals as a means to achieving the larger goal. Talk with your child about setbacks, and the importance of persistence in any endeavor. Some children will give up on goals prematurely due to anxiety about failure. Teach the anxious child that failure is an inevitable part of the journey. Children who can identify what they want, set goals, and persist despite setbacks are well on the way to independence.

May 10 2011

Is an “Independent Medical Examination” Really Independent?

In many states, you can purchase insurance to cover your medical bills if you are involved in a car accident, regardless of who is at fault. In Washington State, this type of insurance is called personal injury protection coverage (PIP), and it’s mandatory unless you sign a statement that you are declining the coverage. It is considered “primary” over your health insurance (your PIP coverage must be exhausted or cut off before your “secondary” health insurance will start paying your bills). PIP insurance can be extremely helpful if you don’t have health insurance or if your health insurance requires deductibles or large co-payments. The down side is that many insurance companies try their best to limit your benefits or cut them off all together.

One of the main tools for limiting or cutting off benefits is the use of the “independent medical examination” (IME).

These examinations are rarely independent. The insurance company typically hires a health care provider to examine you and then provide a report to the insurance company. Usually of the same or similar type of health care provider that you are obtaining treatment from is used, but not always. I have seen orthopedic doctors do examinations when my client has only seen a chiropractor and vice versa. Most of the time (although not always), the IME report comes back and minimizes the person’s injury in some way. Either the injured person was not really hurt, or their injuries should already have resolved, or they have treated for too long, or the treatment they are receiving isn’t helping them. The insurance company then uses the IME report to limit or cancel payments for treatment.

The dirty little secret is that often these “independent” health care providers are making a substantial income from doing these examinations for insurance companies.

The bias is clear: the health care provider has to write something negative in the IME report to justify the insurance company continuing to send people for these examinations. These “usual suspects” appear again and again in personal injury cases. Some people in the know refer to them as a not-so-nice word for “the oldest profession”. This term is actually quite appropriate if you consider that these health care providers are essentially selling their expertise to the highest bidder regardless of the medical ethics involved, and there is no doctor-patient relationship in these examinations. In fact this industry became not so secret recently when the New York Times profiled IME examinations, particularly in the New York State workers compensation system:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/nyregion/01comp.html?_r=1

The problem is that if you refuse to attend an IME they insurance company cancels your benefits anyway because it usually states in the policy that you have a duty to cooperate with the insurance company, and failing to attend the IME is “failing to cooperate.” I typically counsel my clients to attend these examinations, but I prepare them for what to expect. I also request that the PIP insurance company pay all outstanding bills up to the date of the IME, and not disclose the IME results to any outside parties because often an at-fault insurance company will try to obtain the IME report to use it against an injured person. Although the IME report is probably not going to be fair, with some caution and preparation, you can minimize the damage to your case.

May 05 2011

Professional Independent Mortgage Advice

Shopping around for the best deal on mortgages can often be confusing and a bit daunting. This is true whether you’re a first time buyer or someone wanting to relocate or get yourself a bigger house. Getting some advice to help you along the way can be really good idea before you commit yourself to anything, particularly if you’re not familiar with the different mortgages available or which one to go for. Talking to an independent mortgage or financial advisor is a good idea.

Perhaps one of the main benefits of going for an independent financial or mortgage advisor is the fact that they’re independent. This means they won’t be trying to sell you products from any particular bank or lending company as they receive the same finder’s fees from all mortgage companies. You’ll also have the peace of mind in that they’ll listen to your circumstances impartially and will be able to advise you on your best options without bias, so you don’t have to worry about being forced into anything.

Another great benefit of using an independent mortgage advisor is the fact they know so much about mortgages.

They have to be knowledgeable for their job, and so they’re ideally placed to explain all the technical jargon to you that often puts people off. They’ll also be able to explain to you about fixed rate and flexible mortgages, as well as issues such as early payment premiums. This will help you understand what’s on offer from different lenders so you can make an informed decision.

Once you understand the different products on offer, you also need to know the process of how to go about obtaining one of them. Here, your independent mortgage advisor will be able to guide you through the process of applying for a mortgage and will help you compile all the information you need.

They’ll also be on hand to answer any queries you have in an impartial manner, which can be ideal if you’re feeling a little blindsided by your lender of choice.

Lastly, having an independent financial or mortgage advisor on board can sometimes help to speed up the whole application process as you’ll have the benefit of being able to utilize their skill and experience to help you along. Getting them to help you means that you’re more likely to make a good application and they’ll also be able to keep an eye on the process as it progresses, so you won’t have to spend so much time stressing about the mortgage and can focus on your new house instead.

Jul 30 2010

Fixing Your Kitchen Independently

You must have a hobby in your life. As woman, you might love cooking very much. Besides that, you also love cleanliness. Kitchen as the place with highest activities get the biggest risk to get dirty quickly. You might have tried your best to clean the kitchen after it is used everyday. Still, the effect from the pollution, or the water resource make your kitchen looks terrible faster than the other room. Since you are spending most of your time there, you want to repair your kitchen condition. You want to replace the broken kitchenware and furniture, change the wall paintings, and set the new interior design.

All of those goals need a big budget. You night not have sufficient savings for that, and you do not want to bother your husband. Well, you can take cash advance then. This service will make you feel easier to realize your dream. You just have to get online and click Urgentcashloan.com. There you will get complete explanation about the kinds of assistance that you can get.

Today, women are getting more independent. By providing a representative website, this provider is also helping you to be independent by processing your cash advance by yourself. Now you can fix your kitchen renovation by yourself without having to bother anyone else.

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