NEW LENOX, ILLINOIS—Tim W. was in the kitchen tossing dough like a twirler…
Tim’s the owner and manager of the Chicago Dough Company pizzeria in New Lenox, Illinois. His business card lists him as the dishwasher, too.
He also happens to be a regular reader of The Palm Beach Daily.
When we asked for readers to share their stories about Trump’s “America First” policies, Tim emailed the Daily and invited us to his pizzeria.
We took him up on his offer…
When we arrived last week, his pizzeria was dimly lit. It was just before opening time.
The walls were plastered with movie posters from the 1980s and ’90s: The Blues Brothers, Risky Business, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—all filmed in Chicago.
The view from inside the Chicago Dough Company
After I sat down, Tim brought out a sausage and onion pie, poured a glass of water, and started talking about the economy…
Killed by Health Care
Tim told us he’s been in the restaurant business for 38 years.
He started out working at Wendy’s as a teenager. He quickly became the fix-it man for Wendy’s locations in the Chicago area.
If any restaurant was struggling, they brought in Tim to turn it around.
After his time at Wendy’s, Tim decided to strike out on his own. He bought into the Chicago Dough Company and never looked back.
He loves being his own boss. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
But he’s discouraged by one thing: Obamacare.
When we started our Rust Belt Tour, we wanted to find out whether President Trump’s economic policies would help bring back manufacturing jobs.
But along the way, we’ve found that small businesses are just as concerned about rising health care costs and increased regulations.
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who don’t like Obamacare, we’ll show you three ways you can opt out of the law.
Meanwhile…
Repeal and Replace
When Donald Trump ran for president, he didn’t only vow to bring back American jobs… He also promised to repeal and replace Obamacare.
The law mandates businesses with more than 50 full-time employees to provide health insurance for those employees.
Profit margins in most restaurants are between 5% and 10%. When you tack on a huge expense like employee health care, that margin disappears.
Most of Tim’s employees are part-time, so they don’t fall under the law. He does offer health insurance to his full-time workers. But if he had more, he’d struggle to stay in business.
If President Trump can roll back regulations, it would help entrepreneurs like Tim stay afloat. But the president’s own health care bill is tied up in Congress. No one knows when—if ever—it will be passed.
This isn’t just a problem for businesses…
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Individual Mandate
Obamacare also requires individuals to carry health insurance or pay a penalty. And that’s another mandatory expense that entrepreneurs must pay.
Last year, Tim received a notice that his premium would rise to $1,700 per month for a family plan—with a $14,000 deductible. That’s over $20,000 per year.
You don’t make that kind of money running a small pizza restaurant.
Tim decided it was too much. And he dropped out of the system.
He’s not the only one. According to government figures, about 500,000 fewer people signed up for Obamacare in 2017 than the previous year.
Eventually, Tim joined a church co-op. And that lowered his premiums.
At the Daily, our job is to help you get a bit richer every day. And paying less for health insurance will help achieve that goal.
We’ve researched hundreds of alternatives to Obamacare. Today, we’ll share three you can try to bring down your costs…
Three Ways to Beat Obamacare
Most people don’t know that there are real, viable alternatives to expensive insurance and government mandates. Here are three of our favorites:
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Concierge Medicine: In this option, you pay a monthly or annual retainer directly to your doctor. He or she then becomes your personal physician. Concierge doctors limit the number of patients they see. And they have the time to develop a comprehensive prevention and treatment plan for you. Not to mention a personal relationship.
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Building Your Own Health Care Fund: A health savings account (HSA) is one of the best tax-saving and growth vehicles around. You can establish an HSA only if you are enrolled in a high-deductible health care plan. And you can use the funds in it whenever you need to, as long as it’s for medical expenses.
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Medical Tourism: Medical tourism means traveling to a foreign country for medical treatment. An increasing number of U.S. citizens have been traveling abroad for medical care. But estimates range from 500,000 to over 1 million. Often, a procedure can be thousands of dollars cheaper overseas. For example, a liver transplant in the U.S. can cost $300,000. In Taiwan, it’s $91,000.
Our team back in Delray Beach recently published a special report called “How to Opt Out of Obamacare.”
It’s a premium that only comes with one of our paid services. The report includes six solutions (including the three above) to opt out of expensive medical insurance plans and slash your costs by up to 47%.
But as part of our Rust Belt Tour, we’ve convinced our publisher to offer it to Daily readers. For a limited time, you can download a free copy right here.
Regards,
Nick Rokke, CFA
Analyst, The Palm Beach Daily
P.S. If you’re ever in the Chicago area, stop by Tim’s pizzeria. You won’t find a better sausage and onion pie anywhere else. The restaurant’s website is right here.
CHART WATCH
The market internals are strong…
Wall Street will tell you that FAANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google/Alphabet) are the only ones driving the market higher.
That’s just not true.
The advance/decline (A/D) line shows the number of stocks in the S&P 500 that are going higher rather than lower.
As you can see in the chart below, the line is rising along with the S&P 500. This is a sign of strength.
During major market turning points, you’ll see the A/D line turn down before stocks fall.
Take the 2007–08 crash, for instance. You can see in the chart below that the A/D line turned down before the market peaked.
The market isn’t showing signs of weakness yet. So hang on to your quality stocks.
—Nick Rokke
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
Thanks to a predictable act of government meddling, there are four “profit windows” that open at certain times each year. When these windows open, you have the chance to make very large (and fast) gains.
In the past year, master trader Jeff Clark tested this strategy on 35 trades using his own money—and his success rate was 90.2%.
Jeff says it’s the biggest breakthrough he’s made in his entire career. Today, he’s opening up early-bird registration for his upcoming presentation on this strategy. You can sign up for this free event right here…
