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Alasan pengambil kredit yang tidak jadi merealisasikan kreditnya macam-macam, mulai sedang wait and see, hingga ‘menahan diri untuk tak melakukan ekspansi usaha’, alias rame-rame menikmati masa dormansi.
Ekonomi riil tak berjalan? Sebaiknya jangan buru-buru menyalahkan perbankan. Karena perbankan pada prinsipnya juga sebuah industri, sebuah bisnis. Dimana kegiatannya harus menghasilkan keuntungan. Perbankan bukan lembaga charity yang membag-bagikan uang sosial.
“Jadi tidak tepat kalau semua masalah ekonomi dibebankan pada dunia perbankan,” ujar Pak Gubernur.
Pak Gubernur malah mengilustrasikan, bahwa peran perbankan hanyalah sebagian kecil dari peran-peran lain untuk bangkitnya sebuah kegiatan ekonomi.
Mungkin apa yang dikatakan Pak Gubernur benar, apalah jadinya jika pelaku ekonomi tak memerlukan kredit tetapi justru perbankan yang memaksa-maksa memberi kredit. Akibatnya akan berbeda. Pengusaha malah menganggapnya menerima angpao cuma-cuma. Kalau sudah seperti itu lebih runyam lagi kan keadaannya.
Yang paling baik adalah memantapkan sisi entrepreneurship pengusaha, menguatkan sikap mental untuk memiliki tanggungjawab dan kewajibannya, memberikan dukungan infrastruktur yang memadai serta regulasi bisnis yang memungkinkan para pengusaha dapat berperan lebih besar dan dapat mengembangkan usahanya. Tentu langkah itu tidak mudah. Mau yang mana dulu. Jawabannya sama, telur atau ayam yang harus ada terlebih dahulu.
Pak Gubernur mengetahui jawaban itu, tetapi ia yakin tak akan mengatakannya.
How to Choose Health Insurance
Most of the time it's a lady shopping for the Health Insurance, in families it's Mom, in companies it's payroll/book-keeper (also sometimes Mom in small companies). The guys just say 'I never use it', and leave the room.
The primary concerns are usually Office Visits, Rx (Prescription Drugs) and Hospital stays. Since ladies are usually looking more closely, we often find Maternity in the list of concerns, when the guys stay in the room, sometimes we are asked about Chiropractic. This is not ALWAYS the case, just the usual mix of concerns. You should definitely read the summary of benefits BEFORE using my comparison method. Both plans should be acceptable to you, you just want to know which makes sense financially.
Having been in thousands of discussions about Health Insurance I have found a simple way to compare High Deductible plans that cost less monthly, to Low Deductible Plans that cost a lot of money monthly. It is basically this:
Add up the annual cost of the High Deductible plan, say $100 per month times 12 = $1200 per year.
Add up the annual cost of the Low Deductible plan, say $300 per month times 12 = $3600 per year.
Subtract the smaller: $3600 minus $1200 = $2400, that is the yearly savings if you choose a High Deductible Plan.
Now, you don't use the deductible to compare, but a feature of PPOs called "Maximum out of Pocket" or "Stop Loss". That is your worst case scenario, everyone is sick, or everyone is injured and you all meet your deductible and co insurance up to that number, say $10,000 for a family.
At that rate, saving $2400 per year, you would have to go about 4 years to save the money you would need in a worst case scenario.
In my own case, family of 5, Los Angeles rates, a Low Deductible Plan is over $1000 per month, a high deductible plan is less than $300, we save over $8000 per year, and have been saving for over 12 years (we have an HSA, with a $3400 deductible, $10,000 max out for the family).
Many newer High Deductible plans like TONIK, from Anthem Blue Cross ,include Preventative, Dental and Vision benefits, which are more likely to be used than major medical. We all need a teeth cleaning, we don't all need a transplant, so those plans make sense to many people, and are extremely popular.
My comparison system still works, you simply add the cost of buying separate Dental and Vision to the cost of the plan without them, that really makes the newer plan including those benefits desirable, if you would use those extra benefits.
It's a simple rule really, and can be applied to other benefits, like Glasses on a Vision plan:
Vision coverage is $3 per person per month, with Lenses and Glasses covered it's $10.
You have 10 in your group, so that is $100 per month, $1200 per year.
Only two wear glasses, everyone else just needs the exam.
You only need exams for most, so that's $3 per month times 10, $30 = $360 per year.
You simply buy new glasses every two years for the two who wear them, and save $840 per year.
Once again, the focus here is on financial aspects of insurance, not the benefits, which must be weighed separately, and could be called "Getting a good deal". This method can tell you if you are "Getting a good deal" financially, comparing benefits is another story. Which I intend to write soon!
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Tak Atraktif?
Dalam suatu pertemuan dengan Gubernur Bank Indonesia akhir Mei 2007 lalu, saya berkesempatan mendengar pemikiran beliau, tentang masih adanya anggapan bahwa perbankan masih enggan mengucurkan kredit, khususnya kepada masyarakat pengusaha kecil. Menurutnya, perbankan kini memang tidak seatraktif sebelum zaman krisis dahulu. Kalau dulu, LDR perbankan bisa mencapai 100 persen, kini angka seperti itu sangat sulit dicapai, malah hanya 60% saja. Persoalannya bukan karena perbankan yang enggan mengucurkan kredit, tetapi justru kondisi makro ekonomi yang belum memungkinkan. Malah ada kredit yang sudah disetujui oleh perbankan tetapi tidak diambil oleh pengambil kredit jumlahnya cukup banyak. Angkanya mencapai Rp170 triliun !.
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