Great point.
1,850 karma · joined July 19, 2013
Oh, I'm never saying that claims get paid automatically or that humans don't look for fraud too.
I'm saying that there is also software on the back end that flags things to go to the fraud department automatically. Probably without your knowledge. I just remember reading an article about it a while ago - just about how good it has gotten over the years and it has become an important part of the insurance industry.
Just another example of extensive data mining.
When I say "every insurance claim from any insurance company" I mean that I assume any insurance company worth anything would be running such software.
Found some products:
http://www.csc.com/p_and_c_general_insurance/offerings/26121...
http://www.sas.com/en_us/industry/insurance/fraud-framework....
AllState implies they do.
http://www.allstate.com/claims/fight-fraud.aspx
>Through the use of innovative technologies and network analysis tools, we are able to help detect and stop these crimes
How about airplanes? :)
For example every insurance claim from any insurance company is run through fraud detection software. Turns out there are some characteristics of a fraudulent insurance claims that have been identified over the years. The software can flag a claim as potentially fraudulent for further human review.
Discover Card's fraud detection worked extremely well in my case. My CC number was stolen and after only two fraudulent transactions (total about $500) it tripped the software to freeze the card. I have no idea how they identified those as fraud so quickly, they didn't seem out of place to my eyes considering my transaction history.
My TOWN even has a whole book of additional rights for tenants/obligation for landlords in addition to national and state regulations.
Being a landlord is serious business.
You probably can also charge a larger than average security deposit to weed out the people with cashflow problems. Most states have a cap on amount of security deposit collected, I know here it is twice the monthly rent if under 60. Otherwise the cap is one month's rent.
Here's the rub: You usually gotta have a great place to rent that attract such tenants.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a landlord but I am considering becoming one. Yes, I FULLY know the risks, my parents were landlords for over a decade. So I know exactly what NOT to do as they only made pennies. My grandparents are also landlords and make plenty of money on their rental properties, so I have a positive model as well as a negative one. :)
It is HIGHLY regional. The Northeast and parts of the West mostly say "soda."
The South is "coke."
Let's, for example, look at the history of credit cards. I am sure you can agree that the 30% interest rate charged today is unreasonably high. It wasn't at a time, and lets look at how it got that way.
Back in the late 70s/early 80s we had a recession with double digit inflation while at the same time all states had usury laws that capped credit card interest rates. Inflation was so high that inflation surpassed the highest interest rates companies were allowed to charge. Citibank was "going broke" with this model - they were actually losing money lending at that interest rate at that time. Citibank then convinced South Dakota to drop is usury laws on credit cards and Citi would move there in order to charge an interest rate that beat inflation. Citibank moved there and overnight the stage was set for the US credit card industry to now flourish. "All of their senior people used to say it,'' [then governor of South Dakota] said. "That South Dakota saved Citibank. I believe it did. That South Dakota saved Citibank.'' It was a result of an economic recession with high inflation. There was a Frontline special years ago about this - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/more/ri... - though it is outdated, since credit card legislation has passed that addresses a lot of the topics brought up on the show. you can watch it online for free - I highly recommend you do.
Delaware and Nevada followed with similar legislation, so that's why most (all?) credit card companies have a return address in SD, NV, or DE.
However, we are no longer in double digit inflation but the old interest rates and legislation stand, for the most part. New laws are slowly reeling in on some credit card practices to keep up with the economic times and current circumstances.
[1]http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=656360...
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquette_Nat._Bank_of_Minneapo....
*Disclaimer: I have no idea about the economic situation of Ukraine. I am just making a point about judgements of different times/economies.
The US has had very low inflation in the last decade or so with very small deflation in 2009.[2] but interest isn't beating inflation here either though.
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_in_India
[2]http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/historical-in...
As far as "high yield" savings goes, for a normal savings account or money market account you'll be looking at 1% being the max rate right now, if you can find it. Last I took a glance I saw .95% being the highest. Those are for online banks. I get .85% with Discover Bank (online savings account). I also have a 17 month CD that earn me a whopping 2%. That was a one time special my [brick and mortar] credit union was offering. Those accounts are FDIC (or NCUA) insured.
However boredom is GOOD for you, for adults and especially for children. It fosters creative thought as well as has other positive aspects. Introspective thought and sometimes problem solving comes from boredom. Think about it - where do your best ideas come to you? In the shower.
That's why I get so depressed with how I see kids behaving these days. They have a zillion toys, DVDs, computers, iPods, tablets because (GOD FORBID) they don't have anything to do for a second.
They bring their toys outside of the house. I never once in my life brought a toy with me outside of the house. If I had to wait someone I just (gasp!) waited. They are watching movies in the car (!!!) and this is considered a positive to keep them occupied (and presumably just quiet). I was at a (somewhat snoody) restaurant and I saw two kids who were like 8-10 years old who brought several coloring books and crayons with them and they were all splayed out on the table like it was a child's play place. The concept seemed to be HORRIBLE for them to not have something to do in the time frame between ordering and eating! A full 10-15 minutes!
Well in my opinion it is setting the children up for failure. They aren't interacting with their environment, engaging in conversation, asking questions, or even just learning at some point you have to learn to sit down with nothing to do. Or even learning to find something to do when they are "bored." Kids used to be good at that. Games like "I spy," hand clapping games, pretend and make believe, doing each other's hair, inventing games, singing, trying to find license plates from every state, creating dance routines, cops and robbers (and the politically incorrect version - cowboys and Indians), etc, etc. My friends and I even wrote, memorized, and performed an entire play when were were children.
I remember going to a really boring after school program for poor kids. There was basically nothing to do for hours other than a small playground that I was way way too old for. So I created a whole world in my head. I was out in the woods. I had to collect firewood and build a fire. I collected sticks, dug a small hole, arranged the sticks as I would if building a fire and arranged rocks around it. Bundled more sticks to make a torch, etc.
I have preteen cousins. When they visit family they don't interact with the family at all. They are on their phones the ENTIRE time at Christmas. I don't even know them at all except for what their parents tell me. I didn't hear a single word from either of them.
Nowadays distractions aren't even enough, people seem to be distracted from their distractions.
Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) wrote a really good article about it.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd...
Might also be of interest
http://www.the-exponent.com/in-defense-of-boredom/
I bring a book with my traveling sometimes but usually I don't even take it out, I just sit there with my thoughts and I feel no anxiety about it. I feel really sorry for those who seem to have anxiety about sitting around with nothing to do.
Please read this
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2010/1007.blake.ht...
Guy made a company Retractable Technologies and made medical devices that prevented infections and saved lives. Hospitals won't buy it because of the system.
Which happened partly due to regulation.
This might also be of interest
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/health/exploring-salines-s...
Pretty much every fast food place has a counter on the drive thru that starts when a car pulls up and ends when the car pulls away from the food window. It displays the average time for the shift when no car is ordering. Here's the really stupid thing about it - it is supposed to be a useful metric and is taken really seriously but it measures almost nothing useful. Often (most of the time?) a car pulls up and just sits at the menu board because they aren't ready to order yet. The best "hold on, we've never been here before." If you haven't been here before WHY ARE YOU GOING THROUGH THE DRIVE THRU! Drive thru is not for that! They can take up the entire "goal" time just sitting at the menu board. People pull up on their phones and act annoyed I am disturbing their phone call when I try to take their order. I actually had someone sit at the menu board for like 10 minutes on their phone having a real serious fight with their girlfriend and I'm pretty sure they broke up on at the menu board. He started crying and then pulled away without ordering anything. Then when they get to the window they can take a long time to get their money out and after they get their food they often sit at the window for another minute to put their wallets away or root through the bag or whatever. You also can't control what a drive thru person will order, if it takes 30 seconds to pack or if it takes 2 minutes to pack. I've had people come through the drive thru with $50-$100 orders. I don't care who you are - you aren't taking and packing that order in 2 minutes 30 seconds. Or people who want 3 separate orders which takes a much longer time. Then if you have a slow day and only have like 10 drive through customers and one takes like 10 minutes it will screw up your average considerably even if you are the best at drive thru ever. The best are "pull-aways" - people who pull up, change their mind, and pull away without ordering anything. This happen more than you'd think. Their "order" is clocked in at like 50 seconds and brings your average down especially on slow days. On really slow days employees have been known (I did it) to go outside and just drive around the drive thru several times to get the average down. At the same time I've been yelled at when the counter is reading 7 minutes and I've working on their order. "What's taking so long in the drive thru!!?" Um... well this guy has 100 questions about the menu and took 5 of those minutes to order, but just go ahead and yell at me. That accomplishes something.
I notice a sign now in some drive thrus that says "please have your money out when you get to the window." Yeah, ok, because I'm supposed to locate my wallet, get my money out and count it all while operating a motor vehicle... sounds realistic. I know, I know, it it meant for when there is someone sitting at the window in front of you but still...
That made it pretty unusable for all but the most tech savvy.
I have no problems whatsoever storing contacts on my device...and my friend puts all his on his SIM card.
http://alibertarianfuture.com/big-government/police-state/th...
This happens with surprising frequency from what I hear. I know of a couple people with almost the same story.
However, they are starting to get into the trade of fake food.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/fake-food-c...
http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21599028-organised-gan...
https://reportingproject.net/occrp/index.php/en/cc-blog/1758...
Are your children human rights activists at risk from attack, kidnap or torture? Do you anticipate them being in a situation that requires them to dial for help in a stealthy manner?
Do your children know how to dial you or 911?
That's something my mom would do. She once asked me how you can tell if the phone was on or off... no joke.