When Alan Greenspan lowered interest rates continually beginning in 2000, there was a multitude of side effects with one of them being the internal rate Life Insurance companies paid on their investments. This effect had a shockwave through the industry. Life Insurance policies which were both Universal and Whole LIfe began to get weaker internal rates of return, which caused some policies to suffer. Also, new annuity contracts (and those ending their terms) were given very low rates as well. I was fortunate in 2001 to get my Aunt into an annuity contract paying 6%. This was an incredible rate at the time, which unfortunately the insurance company tried to not honor. However, a contract is a contract. The last time anyone saw something close to 6%, without the rate being a teaser rate, was early 2000's.

My suggestion: Take a look at any insurance contract you have entered over the past five years. With a very, very low interest rate environment comes very, very low payouts by the insurance companies. Even check out Universal and Whole Life policies which were issued over the past four years. You might be surprised to see the differences today.

** As an aside, if you had to borrow money over this same period unless you were living off the annuity you probably benefited more from lower rates ** 

Kinda makes you mad doesn't it. But don't just blame Big Oil for this, thank the lawmakers too.

Ladies, what age is the new 20?

Here's a somewhat humorous video to illustrate the new technique:

It's not your parenents CPR. The previous recommended method for adults called for a combination of chest compression and artificial respiration. The artificial respiration part has been abandoned when performing CPR on adults.

The Wikipedia entry has been changed to reflect and explain the new method:

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency medical procedure for a victim of cardiac arrest or, in some circumstances, respiratory arrest. CPR is performed in hospitals, or in the community by laypersons or by emergency response professionals.

CPR has for 50 years consisted of the combination of artificial blood circulation with artificial respiration (i.e. chest compressions and lung ventilation). However, in March 2008 the American Heart Association, in an historic reversal, endorsed the effectiveness of chest compressions alone--without artificial respiration (see 5.1 Cardiocerebral Resuscitation below). CPR is generally continued, usually in the presence of advanced life support, until the patient regains a heart beat (called "return of spontaneous circulation" or "ROSC") or is declared dead.

CPR in a nutshell

It's pretty simple. The American Heart Association has created a new website dedicated to the technique called Hands CPR Only:

When an adult suddenly collapses, trained or untrained bystanders – that means a person near the victim – should:

1) Call 911
2) Push hard and fast in the center of the chest.

Studies of real emergencies that have occurred in homes, at work or in public locations, show that these two steps, called Hands-Only CPR, can be as effective as conventional CPR. Providing Hands-Only CPR to an adult who has collapsed from a sudden cardiac arrest can more than double that person’s chance of survival.