D.I.M.E.

I was talking with friends couple weeks ago about the life insurance coverage at their work.
It turned out that the company covers up to 100K, 
which is quite generous considering IRS says any company is not going to be able to deduct for coverage over 50K.
http://www.irs.gov/Government-Entities/Federal,-State-&-Local-Governments/Group-Term-Life-Insurance

So, is 100K enough?

It is certainly enough for a burial (~15K, not counting land plot) and cremation (~2K).
It is certainly not enough for to cover the 30-year mortgage for someone who purchased a house in OC within the last 5 years; or have children who are over the age of 10 and are planning to go to college.

D.I.M.E is a quick way to calculate the coverage needed.

D - Debt.   Car loan, Credit Card Debt, etc.
[usually not applicable for Asian Americans I know. Being very politically-incorrect here.]

I - Income.  Annual income multiplies by 20 years.
(or 10 years if the main income earner is retiring within the next 10 years.)

M - Mortgage.    How much is left to pay?

E - Education.   How much student loans one have left to be paid off.
and/or how much you are saving for your children to go to college?
(p.s. State College tuition has tripled in the last 6 years.)

Usually, for a full-time worker, this number is no less than 1 million, even without the mortgage.

5-year term life insurance should be relatively cheap to start until the age of 40. That is why AAA loves to advertise it. Then it become expensive so most people have a hard time replacing the coverage when the 20- or 30- year term are over, which is when the family may need the coverage the most.

Frankly, the coverage could be significantly less when one re-calculate for the coverage sum through the DIME at age 55 rather than at age 22. On the other hand, a family of age 22-ers recovers much more readily than a family with age 55 single-income provider.

Talk to me if this does not make sense.

Sincerely,
Mindy
2013 October

“I like your Christ....[but] Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Mindy's conclusion:
 sometimes it is still easy for me [all human] to make
a 5-second judgement on others in this rushed world.
The graceful thought of this reflective and honest author
is simply TMI (too much information.)


I wish/pray non-Christians and different Christian
will both understand me when I act totally imperfect.


////
It is believed Mahatma Gandhi said, “I like your Christ,
I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Statements like these have been made millions of times,
 and with good reason. Many of us live unlike Jesus.
... it makes sense that many feel this way.
Christians have done many awful things in the name of Jesus.
...why do we so quickly move to the place of ignoring our weaknesses
 and pointing the finger at others?
We must be willing to own up to our own mistakes and the mistakes of others."
- -
We should admit we have been wrong, caused pain and
that we share in the guilt of misrepresenting Jesus.
...He went person-by-person through his office and apologized.
One of his co-workers who was the most cynical toward Christians said to him,
 “I didn’t know Christians ever apologized. It’s good to finally hear it!”
- -
In my experience, people don’t expect Christians to be perfect.
Any time I have ever admitted my faults, no one has been surprised.
It turns out everyone already knows I am imperfect.
They have just been waiting for me to be honest about my imperfections.

Too often we criticize the behavior of others
and condemn the masses for their grave sin,
all the while ignoring our own sinful behavior.

[Christ's] heart broke for the sinners in the margins
and for the super religious who thought they were doing the right thing.

If I’m honest, I usually don’t
[ carry that type of compassion toward the zealots.]
Especially when it comes to judgmental, bigoted or legalistic Christians.
 More often than not, I am just angry at how they treat others.
Mostly, I am frustrated because others associate me with them.

..if we are more honest and open about ourselves, we would see the log
 in our own eyes, and know we have a lot of work to do on ourselves
before we can deal with the splinter in the eyes of our brothers and sisters.
And if we practice this kind of honesty and openness,
we then can speak about something else:
namely, the grace, love and transforming power of God.

It is then we can move from talking about all the bad things
 Christianity has brought about and instead
talk about the good things Jesus has brought about.

** If this happens, we won’t need to tell anyone what we are not like,
 because they will already know what we are like.  **

////
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/should-we-apologize-church