Elderplan Insurance Health Plan

The Health Payoffs of Time Banks - NYTimes.com

Friday’s Fixes post about time banks resonated with readers.  Time banks are local organizations that allow people to use their skills to help others by exchanging hours instead of money. You earn time dollars by, say, taking a neighbor to the doctor, and spend those time dollars on the same number of hours’ worth of other services, such as computer repair or singing lessons.  Strikingly, very few readers talked about what they could get from time banks; most  responded to the possibility of giving.  “The chance to help others and feel good about myself makes the bargain seem better than I thought possible,” wrote Ajasys from Vancouver, Wash. ( 41 )  — a typical comment.

Those who were wary of the idea raised two points.One was the worry that the Internal Revenue Service would swoop in.   But while some forms of barter are taxable, the I.R.S. has ruled that time dollars are not — because they value all work equally, work is done for a charitable purpose, and the exchange is informal and non-contractual.  Other readers brought up the many possible market confusions caused by the equal valuation of all work.  One reader, A from Jefferson ( 46 ) posed several questions:  “It’s April 15th, and tax returns are due before the post office closes today in an hour. There are ten people who still haven’t done their returns and don’t know how to. There is only one person involved with the time bank who can do tax returns. Which of the ten does he help for the standing rate of one time dollar per hour? Is it reasonable for someone who needs the service to try and outbid the others by offering more than one time dollar for the service?”

As Shana from Belingham ( 48 ) replies to that writer, “You have majorly missed the point.” A time bank is not simply the American economy in all its glory, with hours instead of dollars.  Members cannot choose to offer more than one time dollar: credits get issued by the time bank at the same rate for everyone.  Anyone interested in gaming the system is probably not a good candidate for time bank membership.  As the stories of people in time banks and many comments showed, time banks work in large part on trust and goodwill.  No, you can’t run an economy that way.  But it’s the main appeal of a time bank.

Natural Health, Natural Medicine, The Complete Guide to Wellness and Self-Care for Optimum Health

Insurance for Dummies

The new life insurance investment advisor

The Complete Book of Insurance, Understand the Coverage You Really Need

Men's Health