Tax season is in full swing: broker and bank statements are being mailed soon, and many clubs
have already begun filing their taxes. Here's a quick update on the status of the various NAIC tax printer software
products:
NAIC Club Tax Printer for Windows (Federal Version)
NAIC Online Club Tax Printer (Federal Version)
- Available for pre-order by clicking on the Taxes tab in your NAIC Online Club
Accounting club Website.
- Currently in its official NAIC beta test. We expect to release it to the public in the next 7-10 days. We will email
all NOCA clubs when this becomes available.
NAIC Club Tax Printer For Windows (State Version)
You may purchase or download any version of the tax
printer programs.
Do you know anyone that fits any of the following descriptions?
- Won't, doesn't, or can't do a Stock Selection Guide
- May manage to struggle through an SSG by rote but doesn't understand it fully
- Is intimidated by the NAIC methodology
- Makes inadequate contributions to your investment club's stock selection.
- Family member, friend or acquaintance with whom you've tried unsuccessfully to share your positive NAIC experience
with
- Has suddenly found herself alone, needing to know what to do next
- Wants to learn about investing but doesn't know where to begin
- Believes investment professionals can do a better job than they in managing a profitable portfolio
It's doubtful if anyone reading this message couldn't find at least one candidate to fit each
of the above descriptions, let alone just one of them. In fact, many active NAIC members will probably admit in their heart
of hearts that they, themselves, resonate with at least one of them.
NAIC has served long and well those who have had what it takes to absorb what they've had to
offer. For a couple of generations, now, dedicated volunteers have worked to bring investment education to the world,
devoting their valuable time to teaching the messages that George Nicholson, Tom O'Hara, and the others who founded NAIC and
developed the successful investment methodology that' been with us for a half-century.
But, while NAIC has worked hard to empower those who have had the required motivation,
aptitude, and tenacity to learn the NAIC methodology, somehow or other, those described above have fallen through the cracks
and were left behind.
Recently, NAIC has introduced a new software product that, more than being just another stock
analysis computer program, addresses exactly the issues that have kept those described above from participating fully and
happily in the NAIC experience. It is NAIC's Take Stock.
Developed by Inve$tWare Corporation (now part of ICLUBcentral), NAIC's Take Stock is a
brand new approach to fulfilling NAIC's mission of empowering the world to invest successfully.
No longer does one have to be able to "do" an SSG. One has only to grasp the simple concepts
behind NAIC investing to implement them. And, those concepts are introduced in a simple enough format that anyone can tell,
just from looking at the pictures, nearly all they need to know to fulfill the SSG's goal: to determine if a company is a
good quality company and, if it is, determine a reasonable price to pay for its stock.
Utilizing the same source of data as all of the other more sophisticated products use,
NAIC Take Stock produces five graphics for the novice to look at and asks her to answer a simple question for each
picture, based on what she sees. (The program even suggests the appropriate answer and tells you why, to make learning the
concepts easily.)
Upon completion of the questions, a single-sentence evaluation is delivered and, if the
company is of sufficiently good quality to invest in, NAIC Take Stock will suggest a good price to pay for the stock
in order for the investment to produce a desired return without unnecessary risk.
You may "drill down" to find out why the program arrived at the conclusions it did, and you
have adequate tutorial content about the concepts so you will fully understand what the objectives were and why.
NAIC Take Stock delivers a "Summary" of "Reasons to Buy" and "Items to Check" to serve
as a guideline. And, it even delivers a completed SSG as a by-product.
With ample access to the Internet and specific sites useful for research, a simplified means
of performing your defensive and offensive portfolio management chores, it's the perfect way to introduce those folks
described above to NAIC investing without the drudgery and discouragement experienced so often by so many.
An ideal gift for those among your acquaintances that you'd like to help overcome the things
that have kept them from enjoying the benefits you enjoy, see how much pleasure you'll get from giving it to them. Order NAIC Take Stock today!
The Investor Advisory Service offers subscribers a choice of receiving issues by mail
or by accessing the issues online on the IAS Web site.
However, print subscribers can also view current issues as soon as they're published, as well as archives of issues since
2002, by visiting the site. Here are some tips to make more productive use of the online IAS edition.
IAS Publishing Schedule and E-Mail Notifications
The Investor Advisory Service is published on the fourth Friday of each month (which may or may not be the last
Friday!). On this date, issues are sent by First Class Mail to subscribers from our printer and are also made available on the IAS site. The schedule may change
slightly around certain holidays -- for instance, the December issue was published on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving last
year, instead of on Black Friday.
We do send e-mail reminders to subscribers once the online version is available. Since the
IAS online edition is usually published at 5:00 PM ET on Fridays (and also because there are occasionally delays in
the delivery of e-mail), you might think about adding the IAS schedule to your personal calendar or reminder service.
That way you'll remember to check for the latest issue before you leave the office (not that I'm suggesting that you use
your work computer for personal business!).
E-Mail Alerts
In addition to the e-mail notifications about the publication of new issues, we also send alerts by e-mail when events
warrant. However, remember that the IAS takes a long-term view of the market, and company news that strikes panic in
the hearts of other investors won't always rattle IAS analysts.
If you're not receiving the alerts or new issue notifications by e-mail, first make sure that
your spam filter is not blocking e-mail from IAS@iclub.com. It would probably be a good idea to allow all e-mail from the
iclub.com domain so that you can receive related e-mails from ICLUBcentral.
To add your e-mail address to our records, or to change your e-mail address, write to IAS@iclub.com with your old and new e-mail addresses (if applicable) and your membership
number (to help us find your record in our database).
Using Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Files
The IAS online edition requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to access some sections of an issue. The small
Acrobat icon next to a link is your indication that the file requires the free Reader software. If you don't have Adobe
Acrobat installed on your computer, you can download it for
free from the Adobe Web site.
Each complete issue is provided in the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. The PDF version is
identical to the print version. Click the IAS Print View link at the bottom of each issue's Web page to download the
issue, and then read it on your PC or print it on your printer.
Various other sections of each issue are also published as Acrobat files, such as the company
sorts and Stock Selection Guides. Look for the Print View links and Acrobat icons to download these pages.
Trouble Downloading Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Files?
If you have trouble downloading PDF files, first make sure that you have an updated Adobe Acrobat program installed (the
most current version is 6.x, and we recommend that you have version 5.0 or higher on your computer).
Sometimes, the Acrobat files seem to "hang" while being downloaded to your computer. This
could be due to Internet congestion, traffic on the Web server or a memory problem with your PC. Often, you can get around
the problem by saving the PDF file to your computer first, and then opening it in Adobe Acrobat. Right-click on the link and
select "Save target as..." or "Save link as..." from the popup menu, and then save the file to your hard drive. (Mac users
should hold their mouse cursor over the link to access the popup menu.) Once the file has been completely downloading, just
double click on the file to open it in Acrobat. It goes without saying that you should note where you save the file when you
start the download process!
Download SSG Files Into Your SSG Software
Completed SSGs are provided for each of the three featured companies in each issue. These are for use in any SSG software
program -- NAIC Investor's Toolkit, NAIC Classic or NAIC Stock Analyst. Click the "Download the SSG"
link to automatically open the file in your default SSG program. If you have trouble with this, you can use the right-click
trick outlined above to save the file to your hard drive and then use your SSG program's "open" or "import" command to view
the SSG.
ICLUBcentral's Customer Support for NAIC Software products has changed quite a bit over the
last few months, and I wanted to take a few moments to let you know how we're working to make it easier for you to get the
answers you need.
To preview, here's the sort of thing I'll be talking about:
- Extended support hours
- Free software updates on CD
- New resources mean fewer busy signals
Let me start with a little history: There's been some consolidation in the NAIC software
market. Companies that used to be based all around North America - from California to Massachusetts, from Florida to
Vancouver - are now all based in Cambridge, MA as part of ICLUBcentral.
Part of this change is that our support staff has been moving too! As with any move, there
was a period of less than perfect organization while we settled in. Even with all our efforts to make sure that all customer
contacts reached us, we still ended up with a few people lost or confused. So, for anyone who did not get the letters or
emails we sent out at the time of these changes, here's how to contact us:
Reaching Support by Telephone
For questions about NAIC Club Accounting and tax products, NAIC Stock Analyst, NAIC Classic, NAIC Stock Prospector, or the
Investor Advisory Service, you can reach us by phone at 617-661-CLUB (that's 661-2582), weekdays from 11 am to 6 pm Eastern
time. During Tax Season, these hours have been extended from 9 am to 6 pm.
For questions about NAIC Investor's Toolkit or NAIC Take Stock, you can reach us by phone at
954-723-9910, weekdays from 11 am to 6 pm Eastern time.
Reaching Support by Email
For questions about NAIC Club Accounting and tax products, NAIC Stock Analyst, NAIC Classic, NAIC Stock Prospector, or the
Investor Advisory Service, you may send our support staff an email by filing a
request online.
Why use a Web form to send an email? Two reasons! First, the form asks you all the questions
we need to answer you quickly, saving you a response in which we ask for more information. Second, this form eliminates spam
emails to our Support team, enabling us to focus on answering your questions rather than deleting thousands of spam
messages!
For questions about NAIC Investor's Toolkit or NAIC Take Stock, you may simply send us an
email at help@investware.com. In the near future, we will integrate support for
Toolkit and Take Stock into our Web form.
We're Improving the Support Experience
Based on customer suggestions, we've recently implemented the following enhancements to our Support policies and procedures,
in order to help improve the NAIC Software Support experience:
- Extended Support Phone Hours
To better satisfy our customers during Tax Season, we've extended Support Hours from January through April. We're now
serving you from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Eastern time.
- Free Software Updates On CD
Some customers were unable to download the software updates necessary to bring their NAIC Club Accounting software up to
date with tax law changes. To make the update process easier, we've begun sending out CDs containing the latest software to
all clubs that order Support contracts.
- Faster Responses, Fewer Busy Signals
We've added more phone lines and hired more employees to meet demand, which means fewer busy signals and faster responses.
Together with other improvements, this has enabled us to answer roughly twice as many phone calls as last year.
- Better Training &Amp; Support Resources
All of our Support employees have undergone intensive training on every product we support, so that we can help you get the
answer you need faster. We've also taken all our notes and compiled them into an internal knowledgebase - which we'll soon
make available to customers - so that all of our solutions are clear and consistent.
- Hold Music!
We've just finished installing and testing a brand-new, state-of-the-art phone system, which among other upgrades features
hold music rather than the dull silence of last year's Tax Season. Any requests?
- Feedback, Feedback, Feedback
We try to do what you ask for. One method we're using to collect your feedback is via support surveys, which you have an
opportunity to fill out after every email correspondence with our Support team.
The Customer Support Team
Ever wonder about who's behind the voice at the other end of the line? Here's a brief introduction to our team:
- Adrienne Gormley, science fiction author by day and on email support most of the night, is likely to be
responsible if your solution arrives in the wee hours.
- Brandon Connelly, who holds the company record as recipient of the greatest number of baked goods from thankful
treasurers, is focusing on emails.
- Former President of the S.E. Florida NAIC Chapter, Irving Roth is everyone's favorite source for help with
Toolkit.
- Liz Goode, whom some will remember from EasyWare years ago, recently moved to MA to rejoin the team at
ICLUBcentral.
- Peg Keleher, former President of the Massachusetts NAIC Chapter, serves as our guiding light on investment club
operations.
- Sean Pulrang, formerly of Fleet Bank's Homelink division, is now our resident Club Accounting point man.
- Sonya Dunne, the one with the nice British accent, handles our letters and direct mail
- Paul Pitts is a new addition to our InvestWare support team in Florida.
- ...and I, Dan Abraham, have the privilege of managing this excellent group.
At any given time during business hours, five to seven of us are on phone duty, waiting for
your call. During Tax Season, we bring in extra help to cope with the additional calls. We manage our phone time so that
everyone has time to answer emails, follow up on sticky questions, write technical notes, and keep up-to-date on the
software. We keep a close watch on the ACD (that's Automated Call Distributor), and if there's a backlog, those of us not on
the phones jump in to help. We're doing our best, but sometimes a surge of simultaneous calls may increase your hold time.
If you don't want to wait, try sending us an inquiry via our Web site -- that's www.iclub.com/support/request.html.
Read past newsletters, subscribe, or unsubscribe at:
http://www.iclub.com/newsletters/
Copyright 2004 ICLUBcentral Inc. All rights reserved.
