How to Fix Your Life in 2009
Whew!
Last year at this time, we were wondering if it could get any worse.
It did. Trouble in the subprime market exploded into an across-the-board rout. The credit crunch evolved into a global financial crisis. Markets tanked. Mighty institutions fell. Recession took hold. Layoffs began to mount just as the holiday season got under way. Few people have been left untouched. And still, we don't know if we're through the worst of it.
If you're living in a house worth less than you owe on it, you aren't alone. Ditto if your retirement savings are down by double digits. Or if you're earning nearly zero interest on your savings, and yet unable to borrow at historically low rates. Or if you're looking for a job or worried about keeping the one you have.
![[Fix Your Life]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PJ-AN909_pjFIXY_DV_20081230210148.jpg)
Lisa Haney
All of which has given rise to the newest new normal. Exuberance and excess have made way for prudence and pragmatism. Frugality is, once again, a virtue. To help you settle into this strange new world, our reporters have dug deep into their beats. Modeled on Personal Journal's regular Quick Fix feature, the advice here covers a lot of ground, but shares a common theme: helping you make your dollars work harder.
Problem: You have a load of beaten-down
stocks in your portfolio.
Solution: Consider giving some of
that stock to your kids. There's a silver lining to stock prices' descent: You
can give away more shares tax free. In 2008, an individual can give as much as
$12,000 to each gift recipient before getting hit with gift taxes. That amount
will rise to $13,000 in 2009. The gift helps reduce the size of your estate --
probably a good idea since the estate tax isn't likely to go away soon,
financial advisers say. It also may allow the recipients to enjoy a nice rebound
from today's depressed stock prices over the long haul.
Another approach:
Consider a grantor retained annuity trust, or GRAT. You can put your beaten-down
stock in the GRAT, name your children as beneficiaries, and receive an annuity
from the trust based on a percentage of what you contributed. As long as you
survive the trust term, often just a couple of years, any stock appreciation
beyond a "hurdle rate" set by the government passes to the beneficiaries
tax-free. That hurdle rate, currently 3.4%, is at historically low levels, and
it's set to move even lower.
"If you ever thought of making lemonade out of lemons, this is the time to actually do it," says Bill Forsyth, senior fiduciary counsel at wealth-management firm Bessemer Trust.
Eleanor LaiseProblem: Your older-model computer sucks up
electricity.
Solution: Energy-management software lets you
put your computer on a schedule to reduce the amount of electricity it
uses.
Verdiem, a Seattle-based company that makes
energy-management computer software for businesses, recently released a
consumer-grade version of its software called Edison. The free software lets you
set your computer on working and nonworking schedules. It also provides
estimated savings reports that show how much carbon dioxide has been saved. It
works on computers running Windows XP and Vista. (www.verdiem.com)
The Environmental Protection Agency (www.energystar.gov) also has a free
energy-management program called EZ Wizard for computers running Windows 2000 or
Windows XP. Google Desktop users can download a free plug-in called Energy Saver
that works on Windows XP and Vista, but to use it you must first download Google
Desktop at www.desktop.google.com/plugins.
Joseph De Avila
Problem: You want to apply for new credit,
but aren't sure if your credit is good enough. It's also a good idea to check your detailed credit reports
at least once a year, which you can do free of charge at annualcreditreport.com.
Jane J. Kim
Problem: You're drowning in credit-card
debt. Nonprofit credit-counseling agencies offer a different
approach. After reviewing your financial situation, the agency may offer you a
debt-management plan, which will help you steadily pay down the full amount owed
over a period of roughly three to five years. Creditors will often reduce
interest charges or waive fees for consumers participating in these
plans.
A good place to start looking for a nonprofit credit
counseling agency is www.debtadvice.org, a
Web site maintained by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. The NFCC
sets guidelines on fees that member agencies can charge consumers and requires
agencies to provide services free of charge if a consumer can't afford to pay.
To find NFCC member agencies, click on "find a counselor now."
Eleanor Laise
Problem: Those four-inch heels that cost a
mint are too high to walk in. "Even one-fourth inch can make a big difference to reduce
the pressure on the ball of your foot," says Randy Lipson, owner of Cobblestone
Quality Shoe Repair in St. Louis, which charges between $8 and $15 to cut down
high heels. He does this by taking the heel apart, removing the metal rod inside
the high heel, shaving it down and reattaching the heel to the shoe.
Problem: Your job hunt is hitting a dead
end. Meanwhile, consider hiring a career coach who can critique
your résumé and interviewing skills and suggest ways to improve them.
Problem: Your health plan refuses to cover
a medical treatment. Either way, you'll want to secure copies of key insurance
documents, including the denial letter and a full explanation of your plan's
benefits, often called the "Evidence of Coverage." That will help you understand
what's supposed to be paid for by your insurer. If your appeal centers on
medical necessity, enlist the help of your doctor, who can write a letter
explaining why you needed the treatment. You should also try to find medical
studies backing your case.
If the health plan upholds its denial, you may have other
places to turn. Most states have an outside review process for health-insurance
appeals, though not all appeals are eligible. For more detailed advice about
filing a health-insurance appeal, try the Web sites of the Kaiser Family
Foundation and the Patient Advocate Foundation.
Problem: You want to buy organic and
name-brand foods without breaking the bank. Sites such as thecouponclippers.com, grocerycoupons.com, and centsoff.com, clip the coupons from
newspaper inserts and mail them to you. They tend to have coupons on a wider
assortment of items, including green cleaning products, brand-name goods and
health foods. But the service comes at a cost. Some sites take a percentage of
the savings offered by the coupons, while others charge a flat membership fee.
Make sure the coupon bargains outweigh the cost of the service.
Several manufacturers offer coupons for new and popular
products on their Web sites. Organic Valley, for instance, offers free and
printable $1-off coupons on organic milk, cottage cheese and butter on organicvalley.com. But these sites may
still require you to register with your email and mailing address in order to
access the coupons.
Anjali Athavaley
Problem: You need affordable health
insurance, fast. Problem: Your 529 college-savings account
has been wiped out, and your teenager will soon head off for college.
If possible, wait until your teenager is in his third or
fourth year of college before you tap the plan so that you give the investments
time to recover. If your plan is under water, you can also cash out without
penalty or taxes (though you may have to pay state taxes if you got a state tax
deduction for contributions) and possibly count the loss as a miscellaneous
itemized deduction.
Problem: You're getting hit with overdraft
and late fees at your bank. Consumers can also take advantage of free personal-finance
Web sites, such as Mint.com, Wesabe.com, and QuickenOnline.com, that will break out
the fees you pay in your checking account and offer tips on how to avoid those
fees. Or, for those who ditch the bank altogether, brokerage firms can offer a
lower-cost checking-account alternative. Account holders at Fidelity, for
example, can link their checking-account held there to their brokerage account;
any overdrafts will automatically pull money, as needed and without fees, from
the cash portion of your brokerage account.
Jane J. Kim
Problem: Your Individual Retirement Account
has plummeted in value. With a Roth account, there are generally no taxes on
withdrawals or any future earnings, unlike with traditional IRAs. There's also
no mandatory distribution schedule -- again in contrast with traditional IRAs,
from which account holders must begin taking minimum distributions by April 1 of
the year following the year they turn 70½ years old.
Converting to a Roth could work well either as a year-end
fix or as a way to plan ahead: Legislation approved by Congress earlier this
month waives any required withdrawals from traditional IRAs for 2009. That means
you could roll over assets from a traditional IRA to a Roth without having to
first take a mandatory distribution. So more of your assets could wind up
protected from future taxes and withdrawal requirements, Mr. Slott
says.
One other advantage: You can leave a Roth account intact for
your heirs. Heirs other than your spouse would have to take required withdrawals
each year, but they generally wouldn't owe tax on those withdrawals.
To be eligible to convert traditional IRA assets to a Roth,
your modified adjusted gross income must be no more than $100,000 a year, either
for an individual or a married couple filing jointly. Neither a required IRA
distribution nor the converted amount would count against that limit, but they
still count as taxable income. See IRS Publication 590, at irs.gov, for more information about traditional and Roth IRAs.
Kelly Greene
Problem: Someone posted embarrassing photos
of you on Facebook or MySpace. Tagging is used in Facebook to tell users who is in a photo.
If someone posts and tags you in an unflattering photo, you have some options.
One thing you can do is de-tag the photo. You do this by going to the page that
has the photo and clicking on the "de-tag" link next to your name. The photo can
still be viewed in the photo album of the person who uploaded it, so if you are
really worried about the photo, you should contact the person who posted it and
ask them to take it down.
Another option is to tweak the settings on your profile's
privacy settings. Under the section titled "Photos Tagged of You," specify which
groups or friends can view your photos. If you use Facebook for professional
networking, you may want to limit who can see your private photos.
On MySpace, if one of your friends tags you in a photo, the
site sends you a message asking for your permission to allow it. If you decline
to be tagged, your name won't be associated with the photo. But friends of the
person who posted the photo will still be able to see it. If you do accept to be
tagged, you can de-tag yourself later by going to the photo's page and clicking
on the red "X" next to your name.
As a last resort, you can ask MySpace to take down a photo.
Each photo page has a link to report a photo. MySpace will remove photos on a
case-by-case basis. Facebook only removes photos that violate its terms of
service.
Problem: You don't know how much money to
stash away for your child's future college tuition.
Experts say parents who are financially able should
generally expect to pay at least half to two-thirds of their children's college
costs through a combination of savings, current income and loans. According to
the calculator, someone with $20,000 saved up already and with 18 years to go
before the child graduates should aim to contribute $818.25 a month to cover
half of projected costs at a private college, making certain
assumptions.
Problem: You're too nervous to invest in
the stock market, but your bank is offering paltry yields on CDs.
Savers can also find high-yield CDs with brokered CDs, which
are offered by banks and brokerage firms around the country, and typically sold
through brokerage firms and financial intermediaries. As the big brokerage firms
expand their deposit business, many -- including Morgan Stanley and Merrill
Lynch -- are offering attractive yields to lure buyers. Keep in mind that
brokered CDs have different rules. If you cash out before they mature, you may
lose some of your principal.
Problem: You need to find a new job but
haven't updated your résumé in more than five years.
Finally, have someone you trust proofread the document to
ensure that it is clear and correct.
Problem: You want to curb medical costs
without jeopardizing your health. Go to www.ahrq.gov/consumer/index.html to
download the government's recommendations, including how often to get your blood
pressure checked and when to have a colonoscopy. The U.S. Preventive Services
Task Force's recommended tests are generally covered by insurers.
Keep immunizations up to date. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention now recommend that all adults over age 60 get vaccinated
against herpes zoster, or shingles. You can download its 2008 recommended adult
immunization schedule at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/adult-schedule.htm.
Skipping medications can be especially dangerous, so talk to
your pharmacist about whether a cheaper generic brand is available, or whether
it is safe to split pills. There are also medication-assistance programs for
which you may qualify; check needymeds.org.
Laura Landro
Problem: You work indoors, live in a cold
climate and wear sunscreen to protect your skin -- and you wonder if you're
getting enough vitamin D. If you are low, you can boost your level with inexpensive
supplements. Current U.S. guidelines call for 200 international units per day
from birth through age 50; 400 IUs from 51 through 70 and 600 IUs from age 71
on. Many medical organizations now think that's too low. The American Academy of
Pediatrics says children should have 400 IUs a day, and the National
Osteroporsis Foundation thinks adults over age 50 should have at least 800 to
1,000.
In most of the U.S., being in the sun for at least 20
minutes a day can boost your D level nicely but also raise your risk of
developing skin cancer.
Problem: Your produce spoils before you can
finish it. Storing produce correctly makes a difference in shelf life.
Fruits and vegetables, for example, should be stored separately in a
refrigerator so that ethylene gas released by certain fruits doesn't accelerate
the ripening of the vegetables. Items such as tomatoes and bananas are best kept
at room temperature. Food-science experts say it is also a good idea to rotate
the food in your fridge so that the items that are more perishable are at the
front and get consumed first. If you notice fruits or vegetables growing mold,
toss them out immediately so that they don't contaminate other foods in your
produce bins.
Problem: You need more money for college
quickly and don't know where to turn. If you're maxed out on lower-interest federal loans,
consider comparison shopping with SimpleTution.com or StudentLoanMonkey.com. The sites allow
prospective students to shop around for student loans and avoid a hard inquiry
on their credit reports. As the credit crunch has crimped student borrowing and
increased interest rates on private loans, SimpleTuition and StudentLoanMonkey
will show you available offers from a wide swath of lenders, not just ones that
market heavily.
Mary Pilon
Problem: You need to find more ways to
tighten your budget. Other free personal-finance Web sites and many banks will
provide consumers with a snapshot of all of their bills in one place while also
providing budgeting tools to help them keep track of their spending.
Problem: You're lost, you don't have a map,
and you need directions. If you are already behind the wheel, avoid texting and call
347-328-4667 (It spells "directions."). With this program, you tell an automated
service where you are and where your destination is. After this, you'll get
several text messages with your directions. While these services are free, you
may incur charges under your cellphone plan.
Problem: Your employer just suspended its
401(k) matching contribution. First, make sure you've established an emergency fund
outside the 401(k). It's always a good idea to have about six months' worth of
living expenses stashed away in cash. And since the match suspension may be a
sign that your employer is in financial trouble, that emergency fund can help
ease anxiety over sudden layoffs.
Ideally, you should also boost your own contributions to the
401(k) to make up for the amount your employer is no longer contributing. "The
employee's need to save for retirement doesn't go away just because the match
does," says Trisha Brambley, president of Resources for Retirement, a
retirement-plan advisory firm in Newtown, Pa.
Explore other tax-deferred savings options as well. The lack
of a match puts the 401(k) and IRA on a more equal footing. You might want to
save first in the account that gives you the best investment options and lowest
fees. But keep in mind that any tax deduction you get for an IRA contribution
may be reduced or eliminated if you're covered by an employer retirement plan,
depending on your income and tax filing status.
Problem: You want to minimize those
annoying fees that jack up the cost of travel. Also, some airlines offer a discount on checked-bag fees
that are paid in advance on their Web site. For example, United Airlines is
offering customers a 20% discount until Jan. 31. on the fee to check a first bag
if it's paid for in advance on United.com. Spirit
Airlines gives $10 off the first checked bag to those who prepay on its Web
site.
Sarah Nassauer
Problem: You're overwhelmed by unpaid
hospital bills. Also, request a copy of your hospital's financial-assistance
policies and look into charity care. If you qualify for Medicaid, the program
often pays for care retroactively. Seek help from consumer groups. Some
organizations include the Medical Billing Advocates of America, Access Project
and Patient Advocate Foundation.
Try to avoid putting medical bills on credit cards or using
home loans to pay them off. The consequences of not paying credit-card companies
or home lenders -- such as high interest rates or even foreclosure -- can be
greater than those from not paying hospitals.
If collection agencies come calling, promptly send the
collector a letter requesting verification of the debt. Then, the collector
can't resume collection activities until it sends you confirmation of the debt.
You can also write collectors a letter telling them to stop contacting you,
though this doesn't mean your debt has gone away. The Federal Trade Commission
explains your rights: www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm.
Sarah Rubenstein
Solution:
Get a free credit score. Several Web sites -- Credit.com, CreditKarma.com and Quizzle.com -- allow consumers to check
their credit scores free. Although CreditKarma and Quizzle offer scores
developed by the credit-reporting companies, including TransUnion and Experian,
and not the widely used FICO score developed by Fair Isaac Corp., they can still
provide users with a quick snapshot of where they stand. At CreditKarma.com,
consumers can estimate how certain actions -- such as applying for a new card,
being late on a payment or paying on time -- will change their score.
Solution: Consider working with a nonprofit
credit-counseling agency. Consumers seeking help with debt need to tread
carefully. As Americans' credit-card bills have spiraled out of control, the
airwaves have filled with advertisements for "debt-settlement" services that say
they'll help consumers settle debts for a fraction of what they owe. But they
often charge high up-front fees, and their strategies can drag down clients'
credit scores and even make their debt burden balloon.
Solution: Trim down those
heels. Ask any veteran stiletto wearer. She most likely has a few pairs of high
heels that she hardly ever wears because they hurt too much. An expert
shoe-repair shop might be able to cut heels down to size. Shoe-repair
specialists say that with few exceptions, they can shorten most stilettos by up
to half an inch, the maximum amount allowed to maintain the shoe's original
pitch and alignment.
Solution: Start by researching your online reputation.
Enter your name into search engines to see what employers might find. If you
have a profile on a social-networking site, such as Facebook or MySpace, be sure
to remove any inappropriate photos or comments. Invest time in networking:
Studies show that most jobs are filled through referrals. Inform friends,
family, former colleagues, alumni, fellow parishioners and others that you're
looking for work and that you'd welcome their help. Attend business events, such
as industry conferences and seminars that cater to your career field. Create
profiles on career-related networking sites, such as LinkedIn, ExecuNet and
Plaxo, and participate in discussion boards to develop online
relationships.
Solution: Appeal the rejection. Start
out by calling the insurer to see if the problem is a simple billing or
procedural mistake that can be easily corrected. If not, appeal the decision.
Most disputes center on one of two issues: whether your care is medically
necessary, or whether it is something that's covered under your plan.
Solution: Take
advantage of coupons. For those who don't want to go through the hassle of
coupon-hunting through circulars, there are a number of Web-based services that
offer them. Smartsource.com,
coolsavings.com, and ppgazette.com link to the same coupons --
primarily for snack and personal-care products, such as Totino's Pizza Rolls and
Bausch & Lomb ReNu contact lens solution -- and allow users to print them
directly from the site. But with no search tool, locating the coupons you want
may be time consuming. Also, coupons usually print only one or two to a page, so
you may end up wasting a lot of paper.
Solution: Comparison-shop online.
Healthinsurance.com and eHealthinsurance.com give you detailed
estimates of multiple health-insurance plans in your state and what's covered
under them. You can apply online -- without having to fork over any medical
records -- and in some cases hear back from providers in minutes.
Healthinsurance.com also gives estimates for travel insurance and dental
coverage. And eHealthinsurance has information on health savings accounts (HSAs)
and options for small-business owners. The eHealthinsurance portal for student
health insurance is also good for the budget-conscious undergrad or graduate
student not covered under a parental policy. Discount cards are offered through
the site.
Mary Pilon
Solution: Switch to more-conservative 529 investments, such
as money-market mutual funds and CDs, to preserve what you have. Investors have
typically been allowed to make one investment change per calendar year, but if
you've already made one change this year, you can change it immediately if you
change the plan's beneficiary or roll over the money to another 529 savings or
prepaid plan. For 2009, the IRS issued a special rule that allows investors to
make investment changes in their 529 plans twice a year. There is a risk,
however, that people might tinker too much with their investments, says Mark
Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org. "If you
pull out now, you're locking in losses," he says.
Solution: Sign up for alerts
from your bank. Many banks, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citibank,
will offer to send you email or cellphone text alerts when your balances fall
below a specific threshold. PNC Bank's new checking account, called "Virtual
Wallet," combines checking, savings and high-yield-savings accounts and lets
users program "Danger Days" that warn them when too much money has been drawn
out. Another option is to sign up for a transfer service that will automatically
tap a savings account or a line of credit or a credit card in case there is an
overdraft in the checking account. You may pay a fee, plus interest on
outstanding loans, for each transfer, although the costs should still be lower
than an overdraft or bounced-check fee.
Solution: Convert what's left to a
Roth IRA. When you roll over traditional IRA assets to a Roth, you have to pay
the income taxes up front on the account's value -- but those values, and
income-tax rates, are both relatively low at the moment, says Ed Slott, an IRA
consultant in Rockville Centre, N.Y.
Solution: "Untag" your photo
or block who can see your photos.
Solution: Develop a savings plan. The encyclopedic
financial-aid Web site FinAid.org has a section with more than 50 calculators,
but the "savings plan designer" is among the most useful. It shows exactly how
much you should plunk into an interest-bearing account each month in order to
reach a certain savings goal. It also asks how much you've already saved and
what the interest rate on those savings has been. Then you punch in how many
years you have before your child enrolls, and how frequently you want to
contribute.
Solution: Auction your cash to the highest bidder. At
MoneyAisle.com, more than 100 small and
midsize banks compete for consumer deposits through live auctions. When a
customer comes to the site and asks for the terms of a CD or high-yield savings
account, the banks bid against one another -- through automated auction software
that runs on the Web site -- to win the deposit. The cost is free to consumers,
and you don't have to commit to investing anything before you see the results of
an auction. Participating banks, which are all FDIC-insured, are screened by an
independent bank-rating agency to filter out the riskiest banks.
Solution: Use a professional résumé writer -- but take the
time to shop carefully. Ask for sample résumés, making sure they look customized
and not like cookie-cutter templates. Contact previous customers to verify
claims of professional prowess. If you would rather save money and do it
yourself, consider starting with an objective statement that specifies what kind
of work you're seeking. Then outline your work history by showing
accomplishments for each assignment that demonstrate how you've benefited your
past employers. When applying for specific positions, tailor the document by
highlighting relevant qualifications. For example, if an ad says that the
ability to work well in teams is required, make sure to list any group projects
you were involved in.
Solution: Research what
care and preventive measures are truly necessary. While you can skip unnecessary
scans and forgo elective plastic surgery, it is important to get the recommended
screening tests for cancer and other diseases, as well as immunizations that can
prevent illnesses like the flu.
Solution: Have your vitamin D
level checked. Experts think many people aren't getting enough these days, and
that can put you at higher risk for a variety of problems, including
osteoporosis, heart attacks, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, macular
degeneration, mental illness, chronic pain and many cancers. Your doctor can
check your D level with a blood test, which costs about $100 and is usually
covered by insurance. Make sure the test measures 25-hydroxyvitamin D, not 1,
25-dihydroxyvitamin D. A concentration of less than 20 nanograms per milliliter
is considered deficient, and more than 30 npm is healthier.
Solution: Optimize how you choose and store your
food. How long produce lasts depends on the shape it's in when you buy it,
experts say. Be careful not to pick fruits and vegetables that are bruised or
damaged. And make sure the supermarket is the last stop on your trip home, so
that groceries don't get warm sitting in the car.
Solution: Look for
scholarships. Peruse the scholarship offerings online from the College Board
(collegeboard.com), Scholarships.com and Fastweb.com. Many have grants that have
rolling deadlines and easy, online applications.
Solution: Check out new Web sites that
help reduce your monthly bills. BillShrink.com helps
consumers save money by finding tailored deals on cellphone plans and credit
cards based on their individual needs. The site, which will analyze a consumer's
spending patterns, credit score and any existing credit-card balances, will
suggest the best credit card to maximize rewards or lower fees and interest
rates. If you're looking for a lower-cost cellphone plan, the site searches
through plans from all the major carriers and returns the best matches, based on
how many minutes you use each month and where you live and work. Another
recently launched site, ratesurfer.com, will
alert you when rates change on your credit-card accounts and, if you let it,
will move your balances between accounts to make sure you're paying the least
amount of interest. At SmartHippo.com,
homebuyers can review and rank lenders and compare mortgage rates with rates
that other people with similar risk profiles have obtained.
Solution: Use your cellphone to
get directions by text message. There are several free services available that
will send you directions, and you don't need a fancy phone like a Blackberry or
an iPhone. To use Google's service, send a text to 466-453. (It spells
"Google.") In the body of the text, include your starting location followed by
your destination. (for example Second St. and Third Ave. NY NY to 45th St. and
8th Ave. NY NY) You will then receive multiple text messages with driving
directions to your destination. The number of texts that you will receive
depends on how many steps are included in the directions.
Solution: Save more, and
consider an individual retirement account. Companies slammed by the economic
downturn, like General Motors Corp., have been suspending their 401(k) matching
contributions. While the match may have been a major force motivating you to
contribute to the plan, your employer's cost cutting doesn't give you an excuse
to cut back on your own saving.
Solution:
Consider signing up for hotel and airline loyalty programs or credit cards that
let you travel without paying some fees. Wyndham Hotel Group, owned by Wyndham Worldwide Corp., and Omni Hotels
both let members of their free loyalty programs access wireless Internet at many
of their hotels free. (Non-members are charged a daily access fee.) Continental Airlines waives its $15
first-checked bag fee for Continental Chase credit and debit cardholders, and
waives its second-checked bag fee for the highest-tier Chase cardholders, though
the credit cards have annual fees of up to hundreds of dollars.
Solution: Your hospital may be willing to
give you a discount on the bill in exchange for your agreeing to set up a
payment plan or pay some costs up front. If you're uninsured, appeal to your
hospital's sense of fairness, noting that the uninsured are frequently charged
far more than the insured for the same services.
