Top 5 Insurance Plans to have after turning 65

Every hear the phrase, "I'm insurance poor"? Perhaps you said it yourself.  Realistically, you could hav too much of the wrong coverage. I once talked to a gentleman who was inquiring about getting life insurance. After reviewing what he had, and he admitted he had a lot, I discovered his life insurance policies were for accidental death. If you don't know, this meant he would have to die by accident for his beneficiaries to receive money.  If he died of natural causes, had a heart attack, stroke, or any other non-accidental passing, the policies he had would not pay out. Just like having dental insurance if you have no teeth, some things don't make sense.  Furthermore, they are not serving any purpose.  It is important to know what coverage you need in preparation of things to come, so you don't waste your money.

MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT OR MEDICARE ADVANTAGE

For this discussion, and because Medicare is not purchased from an insurance company, we are not going to include it as an essential insurance. However, we are including it as a coverage you have to have to avoid penalty.  The first insurance you need of course, would be a Medicare Supplement with a prescription drug plan, or a Medicare Advantage Plan that has both. As you know, you can't have both a Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage plan together.

DENTAL, VISION, & HEARING

This is not an insurance that after you get it, you use immediately and then cancel. Some would argue that you might not even need it. When you need it, you need it yesterday. Something to consider if your teeth are healthy is the cost of the premium and what you want to use it for.  Average premiums are around $50 a month, making the yearly cost $600.  Cleanings have been going for $125 to $150. If you have two cleanings a year, that would be only half of what you paid for the premium.  Don't forget that this is still charged on top of the premium if you hold onto a policy. The longer you have the policy the better your benefit. If you have to see a dentist more than twice a year, this is where you see the benefit.  Of course, as you age the vision may start to go  as well as the hearing.  You would see greater benefit then.

HOME HEALTH CARE AND/OR RECOVERY CARE

As you know, Medicare covers the hospital and your doctor, plus your drugs. What Medicare does not approve, is not covered by your plan, unless somehow the doctor and Medicare approves it.  Home Health Care,  such as custodial care provided for you if you are unable to perform two of your activities of daily living are not covered by Medicare.  Also, if you need assistance with such things as meal preperations, bill pay, or other similar household duties, these are not covered.  These are some of the plans available.

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LONG TERM CARE OR ANNUITY

A friend of mine, now deceased, had a wife who quit her job at age 70.  Shortly after, it was announced she had Alzheimer's.  She passed about 8 years later. At his funeral, she sat on the front pew of the funeral home chapel. None of the family believed she was aware of his death.  The point is diseases of the mind can last a long tme and place a significant strain on or completely delete your bank account.

You've saved a life time and you don't know how long you will live these days.  Furthermore, you don't know if you will have enough money to last the rest of your life however long. Would it be a benefit to extend the life of those savings funds while protecting your principle?  With an annuity part of that money could be used for long term care.  If you don't have the funds, then a long-term care policy could help you if you are unable to live by or care for yourself. You have to decide which one makes more sense for you.

LIFE INSURANCE

Unless you have a sizeable estate, you probably want to leave your loved ones with extra money to replace unexpected expenses.  With the cost of everything going up, this could include your funeral.  If you didn't plan well enough ahead, this could mean your family may have to come out of pocket for your funeral.  This would probably reduce the amount of money they would receive.

Now you know the main categories of coverage you should strongly consider and why.  Of course, we are talking about primarily health and life insurance. It goes without saying you still need your car insurance.  If you would like more information, just subscribe above or come visit us at Retirement Concerns

How much does Medicare Cost? (2023)

 If you don't have to use Medicare, then it is relatively inexpensive.  As you get older though, more things go wrong with your body that eventually start to add up. Just like you don't buy the car insurance after the accident, you don't want to wait until something happens before purchasing coverages that pays for what Medicare doesn't cover. For that reason, let's look at the potential costs that could add up.

The complete package of Medicare includes Parts A, B, C, and D.  To keep it short and simple, part A covers the hospital costs.  Part B covers your doctors costs and part D covers your prescription drugs.  Part C has two options but you can't have both.  You either get a Medigap plan otherwise known as a Medicare Supplement plan, or a Medicare Advantage plan.

If you worked 10 years of your life and payed through FICA you will qualify for part A, otherwise you will have to pay for it.  Part B is something you have to sign up for and is currently costing $170.10 a month and will come out of your Social Security check. You will also need to sign up for part D. Not signing up for parts B and D could cost you by way of a penalty in years to come. 

Where it tends to get gray is in Part C. That is because it depends on the type of plan you favor.  Do you prefer upfront costs and reduced back end charges?  Or, do you prefer less front end charges but you will pay as you go?  In general, a Medicare Supplement will cost more in premium but will possibly not cost you much after you pay the deductible for the year.  Some popular supplements are G and N.  Plan F is still available if you were 65 before Jan. 1, 2020.  You could find one of these plans for $100 a month or so.  Your current part B deductible is $233. Roughly for only $1433 a year plus the cost of your Part D you would have BASIC coverage.

On the other hand, a Medicare Advantage plan would not have as high of a premium. Many have a $0 premium but this is where it gets tricky.  These plans are like many employer plans in that you pay something to your doctor every time you visit. If you read the policy carefully, the plan states you pay for services such as emergency room service, outpatient care, mental help, and so on.  Each policy is different, so you may also have to pay for transportation such as an air ambulance. They may include dental, vision, and hearing but one visit could be the maximum that plan would pay for the year so the rest of your visits would be out of your pocket.  Finally, these plans have a maximum out of pocket expense which could be in excess of $10,000 ANNUALLY. Neither plan will cover costs that are unapproved by Medicare.

Next, depending on your family history it may be necessary to add extra coverage to Part C. These plans pay you back for your expenses which don't have to be medically related.  Most common areas are for cost that arise when having Cancer, Heart Attack, Stroke, some accidental coverage, and reimbursement for those medical expensed listed above, emergency services, outpatient, etc.  This money comes to you for you to use it as you see fit.  After all, the bills don't stop just because you are laid up!

As you can see, the true cost of Medicare depends on what you mean when asking the question.  If you elect not to get a Part C plan, and you can do that, it can really add up but again depends on your medical history or an unexpected accident. If you

have further question or would like to talk to a licensed representative visit https://retirementconcerns.info

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NOW IS THE TIME!

We all have heard that sales person say "Now is the best time to..." Why? Recently a life insurance commercial popped up during one of my favorite evening show.  You probably know the one.  Lady says to guy assumingly her husband, "you know the guy up the street?. Husband responds with,  the one  who always is seen trying to stay fit, or something like that. She says "not any more". He responds with, "wait, are we having the discussion about..."  She says, "no, we are getting..."  Some would use the cliche, "Time is of the essence". Really, there is no better time than the present, and let me explain why.   

You hear this a lot in car sales. Now is the best time because this price isn't lasting.  Your car is getting older so the value is going down. Interest rates are at an all time low. Perhaps your credit is in the best position right now.  All true mind you, but is this a way to get you to buy? No, it is simply to get you to think.  If you rationalize this thought, you might be more susceptable to getting the car.   It is done daily in the sales routine.  You still have the ultimate choice.   

This is also done subconsciously in marketing and retail.  Everyone knows Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart not from the serial show "Little House on the Prairie".  Sam was known for putting eye catching product in the isles, doorways, and entrances to trigger that impulsive purchase.  It didn't matter if you needed something, it just got you to purchase yet another item or go to the section of the store where other options of the same type were available.  

Does it work in relationships? Can you imagine the results if you tell your girlfriend, boyfriend, mother, father, boss, etc. "can you call me back", "let me think about it", "I need to run that by..", or "Im just looking"? The consequences of such behavior, positively reinforce immediate action. 

Today we have the science of NeuroLinguistic Programming, or NLP.  NLP is the art of using trigger words that further put suggestive thoughts in your mind.  A recent television car ad is full of them.  The commercial mentions a sales event for a car manufacturer using visual aids such as cliff hangers, interest rates on the side of the mountain, and a guy falling off of a cliff to be caught by a beautiful brunnette who is seen racing to save him.   As a result, most people are having the thoughts in their head around the subject of purchasing a new car. 

Lets take a look at your insurance.  Regardless of your age, regardless of whether you are going into, already in it, or retirement is a long ways off, now is the best time to be considering that insurance.  Age wise, rates are cheaper the younger you are. More life insurance can be purchased for the same dollar at younger ages.  Medical coverage before retirement or just turning 65 is less expensive for two reasons.  Chances are you are definitely healthier today than you will be down the road. After 65 and six months, heath questions may have to be asked.   Also, the rates are based mostly on attained age. Considering care for the long term such as home care, skilled nursing, cancer, heart attack, or stroke coverage, hospital or dental indemnity programs or any other type of coverage? All are based on current health conditions.  Some may go up after purchase but many remain the same amount year after year. Therefore, if you get life insurance, or  any of the above mentioned health related plans, the rate today is the best for you.  

Finally the same applies to savings.  Due to the compound effects of interests, if you put off getting that annuity, 401k, IRA, TSA, etc., your chance of long term savings greatly decrease the closer you get to retirement. If a young person starts saving $25 weekly at age 21, they will be a millionaire by the time they retire.  On the other hand, waiting means they would need to put in much more to be a millionaire at 65.  

 Now that you know today, right now, NOW  is the best time! What have you been putting off?

Time Consuming Tasks

 If you are in business, really in business for yourself, what is your number one priority? If you are not making money, is what you are doing a time consuming task?

What is a time consuming task? A time consuming task is anything that keeps you away from customers. Have you ever wondered what people do all day 7 days a week who manage to only write one or two apps a week? What is more mind blowing is if your office has about 80% of the sales staff who do this or less. Two areas I want to focus on are first what am I doing that is stealing my time. One good example to me is taking the time to do for a customer what they could do for themselves. Some call it customer service, but usually only your customer can provide the answers, work, etc. Let me explain. If you work from home, there are only certain things you can do for a customer. You cant fix their computer if that is what you do, without them being your eyes and hands. If you sell or provide financial services and if the customer has a policy issue the insurer wants to speak to that customer these days and not the agent. If you run a business you cant run the register, sweep the floor, stock the shelves, clean rooms, clean the pool, fix appliances, etc, by yourself. You hire someone and train them so that at any given moment while you are planning your vacation let's say, all these other things are being done.

Your goal is to get customers however you do it. If you sell things or provide services, you need leads. Is there a difference in leads? Take for example a match, that thing you use to start a fire, as your lead. If you put a little pressure on one end, the match catches fire. However, if you strike the other end, nothing happens. So there you are holding the match. It's still a lead but at the right time it is hot, hence a hot lead. Any other time, it's just a lead, a person to talk to. Obviously, when the match is lit, you can use it for whatever, boiling water, cooking food, lighting the room, etc. Any other time that match is worthless unless you are doing some kind of art construction. It takes another lit match to get it going again.

The second area I want to address is, what is my method of getting leads that is time consuming? How do you get more matches? Of course you could buy them. You could go to the isle where they keep the matches and talk to them. You could go door to door asking people for a match. You could send out a self addressed stamped envelope asking for spare unused matches. You could get on facebook and ask for matches. You could advertise for matches on Google or other sites for matches. I think by now you see where I am going with this.

So which of these are waisting your time, and also your money? Obviously going from one door to another with a purchased list is time consuming. You may have to go back also if the person wasn't home. Calling from this list is also time consuming. It takes about 28 seconds for the phone to ring 4 times. So if you can do one dial per minute allowing for any notes you take, and not talking to anyone, you could make about 60 dials in an hour. Thus in your 10 your day you could probably make 600 dials. Then you might make maybe 6 appointments.

Sending mailers means purchasing paper, stamps, envelopes, creating the mailer, stuffing envelopes and putting stamps on them. Then you have to wait in line at the post office. I don't know about you , but no thanks. To do it right you should probably send out 1000 mailers. Then what is your response rate? 2%. That's 20 leads. The rest you may want to call to see if they received your mailer at least a couple of times. Ideally, you want to do this weekly or at least bi-weekly to get enough money to pay your bills. Look for rapid burnout.

Having or going to events puts you in contact with more people but how many clients do you get? How many apps will you get? Talking to people is nice but if it isn't getting me to an appointment TODAY or putting money in my pocket, TODAY, it's waisting my time!

The last area I want to look at is advertising. Be it Googe, Facebook, the newspaper, television, radio, blog, podcast which one will get me the biggest audience and consequently the hottest customers. We know we can get 1000 or more leads by purchasing them. We can send out as many mailers. Remember the match? These are just leads. Since people don't answer their phone as often these days the chance of talking to someone makes these methods extremely time consuming. With the right advertising, the sky is the limit. If you want to work around your area then local advertising should work best. However with Covid, people were stuck in their homes. The phone and computer became the norm. So why not do more business outside of your area. What ever that means for your business. #10x it! For an insurance agent getting licensed in multiple states means much larger audiences. Plus with computers and the phone, business can be conducted without being around any people. So if you take that same money you used for mailers and put it into online advertising, you could reach many thousands. And guess what? You have now gotten into their homes without you having to beg and plead. Those who respond want to hear from you. Done correctly, it doesn't take a lot of time to put an ad together. Within minutes you could have people calling you so all you have to do is take phone calls and write business.
Don't get me wrong, if you like to stay busy doing nothing and getting paid nothing, go for it. As for me, I want to write more apps a day than most people write in a week or some a month.

Home Health Care vs Home Care: The REAL MONEY PIT

 People I meet who have older parents, tell me all the time they were surprised by the cost involved taking care of their parents. They were under the assumption Medicare, and/or their parents part C plan would cover these expenses. This is, why we are discussing Home Care and Home Health Services. 

When you decide to take care of someone, or have someone take care of you, there are many considerations to ponder. If you have a child, remember when that child was incapable of taking care of themselves? You took them from point A to point B.  You filled their drinking cup and put a lid on it so they wouldn’t spill it all over.  You also probably fed them until they could hold a spoon. I’m sure you dressed them at least once a day and bathed them. Then there is that part most people find repulsive, toileting. Offensive foul odors beginning to come to mind now? That child had no concept of privacy only that his needs were met.

Now let’s turn the tables. You have been caring for yourself for 70 years or longer and your child has been taking care of himself/herself for 48 years.  You are no longer able to walk, hold a cup of coffee, or food on a spoon, and you need to relieve yourself. They have promised solemnly to take care of your every need except they have never seen you in such an infantile way. There is also the matter of taking care of their family. They live 200 miles away and both work. Do you move in with them or do they take time off? Additionally, they don’t have the credentials to provide skilled care. What do you do? Do you get HOME CARE, HOME HEALTH CARE, or something else?

First, the above scenario is typical designed to get you and your family to talk about events post retirement.  Home Health Care is what happens after you leave from a service in the hospital. CMS states, “Home health care includes skilled nursing care, as well as other skilled care services, like physical and occupational therapy, speech -language therapy, and medical social services. These services are given by a variety of skilled health care professionals at home. The home health staff provides and helps coordinate the care and/or therapy your doctor orders. Along with the doctor, home health staff create a plan of care, which is a written plan for your care. It tells what services you will get to reach and keep your best physical, mental, and social well-being. The home health staff keeps your doctor up-to-date on how you are doing and updates your plan of care as needed, as authorized by your doctor” Does Medicare cover this or your part C? Possibly!

 

Is Skilled Nursing Free?

 

For a while now, the government has been looking at the budget. As more people turn 65 more Medicare funds are used. Plus, as you know Medicare is available for certain individuals under 65.  If that wasn’t enough, then came the reactions to COVID.  No matter what your political beliefs are about Covid, it doesn’t presently matter. Older policy changes are being reviewed and further contained. It is important to know these changes because they will impact your out-of-pocket expenses should you need certain care.

If your agent has annually reviewed the changes in Medicare with you, then you know the current qualifications for Skilled Nursing.  Just in case, to have Medicare pay for your skilled nursing, should you need it, you need to be admitted to a hospital for at least 3 days. No problem, right? Just because you are “in” the hospital, doesn’t mean you have been admitted to the hospital.  You could be kept for “observation”. Such is the case if new medications are used, you are dehydrated, blood pressure is unstable, etc.  A licensed medical practitioner could give you better examples.  In this case, you pay for any skilled care outside of the hospital should you need it.  If you are admitted on the other hand, then Medicare will in full pay the first 20 days. That’s less than 3 weeks. If you need longer to recover, you pay a coinsurance of $185.50 per day up to day 100.  After that, you pay the full amount.  That could be up to $14840.00 depending on your stay. Would you have money to pay that in addition to your other hospital costs? Would your monthly retirement income leave room for additional  monthly payments.

Your plan covers that, right?  Regardless of whether you have a Medigap plan or a Medicare Advantage plan, if it is not medically necessary or Medicare approved your plan doesn’t cover it. Don’t believe me? Go get  out your plan and read the benefits.  Or, go on to Medicare.gov, find your plan, and then tell me what does your plan say is your part for Emergency Room Care, Outpatient care, Mental Health Services, etc. Most people miss that part because it sounds so insignificant. 

 

We also find other areas Medicare doesn’t pay for or only pays a limited amount.  The truth is most people don’t think about these costs because these events happen later in life.  If  you wait until that time, not only will it cost more, but due to health conditions at that time, you may not qualify. Then, it’s too late.  Remember, you don’t buy the car insurance after the accident, right? 

I’m glad you took a moment to stop by and listen to this podcast. Join us next time as we go over more areas, defining what they are, and what Medicare does or does not pay. 

 

Four Areas of Care after 65