Costco Connection - August 2011

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

effectively “premiums” to insure the minimum future value of the owner’s account.

Fixed index annuities and variable annuities purchased since 2001 have wonderful features to protect principal and earnings. I have invested in both types. They also provide the option of a lifetime income stream at a guaranteed rate that can be exercised if the underlying stock market investments or indices don’t perform well.

The equity index annuities that I purchased in 2004 have appreciated more than 40 percent, while the S&P 500 has risen only 10. 5 percent. And, while these index annuities were outperforming the stock market, none of my principal was at risk of loss and each year’s gains were locked in and protected.

I am not an annuity salesman, just a happy investor.

Roy Rosner
Wellington, Florida

Horowitz to the rescue

Costco has saved our family money for some years now, but the recent article in the July 2011 issue, “Be a scam detective” [David Horowitz], not only saved me money, but saved my computer from crashing, and my sanity.

I had just read David Horowitz’s article on
computer scams, when the very scam that he
wrote about popped up on my computer
screen. The advice and procedure to eliminate
the pop-up without infecting the computer
was brilliant. This very scam infected our
computer some time back, and not having
had this information resulted in having to
take the computer in for repair, which meant
a costly expenditure, time without a computer
and much frustration.

Linda Pearson
Fresno, California

Teacher’s debate

I couldn’t wait to read the June edition of The Costco Connection to learn the May Debate results to the question: “Should literary classics be sanitized?” As a high school English teacher, I posed the same question to my students who just finished reading two American classics, To Kill a Mockingbird and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

We discussed the impropriety of the language in this day and age and debated whether it should be modified to suit today’s mores. The students overwhelmingly voted to retain the original language of the novels in order to maintain credibility and context. I’m pleased to see that many readers who weighed in on the issue agreed with us.

I read many magazines, and The Costco Connection is one that I read cover to cover due to the informative nature of the articles. I use several in class to spark discussion.

Thank you for the intelligent and insightful articles!

Susan Rettew
Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Have something to say? Readers are encouraged to submit letters to our editors on any topic or issue covered in The Connection. Please include your full name and phone number or address. Send an email to dialogue@ costco.com; or write to: Dialogue, The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088; or fax to (425) 313-6718. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for publication.

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