Until just several years ago, individuals in situations laid out about above were facing a monopoly, a market situation in which a seller can only sell to one buyer. Imagine if a homeowner, after living in home for many years, was told that instead of being permitted to sell home to any willing buyer, he or she could only sell it back to original builder at price determined by builder. Clearly, no one would tolerate such a situation for homeowners, but it has existed for life insurance policy owners. For many years, policy owners have had only one buyer for their policies — life insurers. The advent of a secondary market has lessened monopoly power of life insurers and created a free market for policy owners to create value from and using their insurance.

Before advent of secondary market, life insurance policies could not readily be sold, and it would have made little sense to speak of a policy’s fair market value. By its very existence, this new and growing secondary market for life insurance bestows on every policy a fair market value like owner’s other financial assets. A life settlement can now be treated like any other financial vehicle.

Peachtree Life Settlement Funders Life Settlement Experts

You can apply Fed's calculator to Government. In 1952, you could mail a postcard for one cent. If CPI were accurate it would now costs you about seven and a half cents to mail a penny postcard. On other hand, you can confirm that oil prices have stayed well below inflation threshold. In 1957, regular gasoline at pump in San Francisco Bay Area was $0.34/gal. Today, it should be $2.36. It's $2.69 today, but a year ago, it was $1.79/gallon.

If you are in business, take past price of your twenty most expensive overhead items. Note their cost year that you started your business. Using Federal Reserve calculator, determine what they should cost you in 2005. Calculate percentage difference between your current actual costs and Federal Reserve's calculator factored price. Average percentage difference and you have a percentage adjustment for your business that should be applied to CPI to get your business's inflation rate.

For your family, take past price of twenty most expensive costs you incur as a family. This usually includes housing, food, funeral, college education for your children, etc. Determine their cost in year that you were married. Using Federal Reserve calculator, determine what they should cost you in 2005. Calculate percentage difference between their actual costs today and Federal Reserve's calculator factored costs. Average percentage difference and you have a percentage adjustment for your family that should be applied to CPI to get your family's inflation rate.

If you still believe CPI is more or less an accurate index of American inflation, go to your local library. Borrow some old catalogs from 1913 or later. A useful one is 1916 Sears catalog. Using it with Fed's calculator, you can prove to yourself that not everything Government says is true --- or even close to truth.

I doubt that folks in Minneapolis wanted to supply proof that Government is lying about CPI. If this article is well published on Net, I wonder how long Fed's calculator will be available to public?