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

 A Gestalt Approach to the End Zone(continued)

Have we covered everything? The crowd goes wild here shouting, “NO”. We did not discuss funeral arrangements, nor do I plan to because this is only meant to be a high-level overview. Besides, if doing a proper needs analysis, one should have uncovered the need for life insurance. Sometimes though a good funeral home is needed, so having a reputable contact in your contact list is an asset to servicing the senior market.  What if however, that person has a sizeable cash value and high medical bills? Do you have a viatical expert in your contacts that would pay you a referral? 

 

Also often overlooked is the assistance with transitioning mom or dad. Sometimes this happens when attempting to find a good nursing home.  Sometimes this is  after expiration. Why not help the family transition their parents to a nursing home by purchasing, wholesaling, rehabbing, renting the house, or connecting them with a realtor friend?  Most of these options, make you money. Having the connection solidifies the relationship you can have with your customers and their families.

 

We have now reviewed the steps between the goal line and the goal post. If you need help with your customer, please visit me at ltc-ab2 and put in your contact information, or directly contact me so I can help you. Or, if you have a client who is in need of a fast transition, you can either use the above link or visit my investor site at http://broabpropertiesgroup.com. Game over!

 

A Gestalt Approach to the End Zone

 

After recently ending the 2020 football season, one might think this article was about football. All the terms fit appropriately but they can be applied to numerous subjects. The only relevant subject that we will discuss here is retirement. Decades of preparation go into this life event, but many parts are ignored or lightly treated. I feel it is time to dissect this period of life for ultimate service. 

Most people who are in the retirement market, whether you sell insurance, retirement savings plans, help with medical service or assisted living, naturally and usually only focus on that aspect of retirement. That is like looking at the goal line and saying you are off the field.  As you know, everyone around you would be hilariously laughing.

Why? Because everyone who knows the game of football knows the field is marked with an end zone.  The goal line is not quite the end of the playing field. Now for the game, this area might not be that significant, but for life, the goal leads to retirement. The end zone is that period after retirement age until one is off the field. It is that period for which we should start in our twenties to prepare. Once one has crossed the goal line, the end of the field is just a short distance away. 

Most agents stop at this point and think to themselves they have focused on the customer's only end concern. Whether that is a retirement plan, long-term care product, Medicare Supplement, etc., the bottom line is we have only covered one need. 

Medicare covers some of the medical needs. Supplements partially cover what Medicare does not cover. Long-term care insurance mostly covers retirement communities. The retirement plan covers the financial need for that period of life in the end zone. The problem with this is the end zone in life is not a fixed line, nor does it only have one variable! As a general rule, people are living ten, twenty, thirty, and forty years longer than just a few years ago. So, the agent/advisor/consultant is only taking an educated guess to fully cover the needs of the customer.  Most good agents know today's needs have changed.  The customer no longer thinks that the nursing home is the final goal. Most customers do not want to spend their last days in one either. Many would rather have service at home. Hence the new “need” is care for the long term! 

Numerous products meet varying needs. Short-term care products reimburse the customer for the eighty-plus days' Medicare does not cover. Hospital indemnity reimburses not only seniors but others for those out-of-pocket expenses related to the hospital stay. There are plans to even cover critical illness. To someone on a fixed income and unable to supplement their income, these products pay off. 

The agent/advisor/consultant who has done their due diligence completing a thorough needs analysis would have uncovered these issues.  Still, there are other needs not being met! It is NOT just doing your “job” to uncover these, it is going above and beyond to uncover all needs. The initial needs assessment is not the only place to do this.  Staying in contact with the customer often uncovers other needs previously unmentioned. Then, if one is truly working for seniors, in my opinion, it is best to have the resources for ALL their needs.

 What does that mean? One does not have to be a doctor, lawyer, accountant, estate planner, etc. One only needs to know where to direct the customer to assist them. Therefore, it is good to have the connections to be able to assist your customer. Why not be their “go-to” SME(subject matter expert)! (continued)

What's all this talk about pensions?

Taking a turn down the cul-de-sac called Retirement Drive recently, changed my focus from daily activities to thoughts about the future.  Having taken some turns in the past few years, that in all likelihood, when looking back, should have been handled differently, I started searching for solutions to my future plans. While I currently think my plans will work for me, I uncovered much information about which the average person might not be aware. Distracted by the smoke screens of the media such as the Coronavirus, presidential nominations, the stock market, or gas prices it is easy to lose focus. With 2 Billion people retiring over the next decade or so, many are in serious trouble and don't even realize it. The issue? Not enough savings for retirement, or less than expected.

According to the podcast put out by the Rich Dad, Poor Dad company, the median savings of people over 55 is only $60,000.00 and many retirees don't even have any savings.  With fees eating available pensions, and social security in peril, how will so many people sustain? As people age into retirement, they will be "too broke to retire and too frail to work". Furthermore, as life expectancies have increased what savings one has will then be stretched thinner and thinner. For example, take the average median savings divided by 20 years leaves $3000 a year or $250.00 a month.  As more people take from the social security pot than the number that contributes, the well runs dry. 

You say your pension is GUARANTEED?  What does that mean?  Does that mean the initial deposits are guaranteed?  Are all your deposits and interest guaranteed? Is your pension insured?  It is said the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation will be insolvent by 2025, just 5 years from now. So much for your guarantee!

How did we not see this?  Mis-information! Poor education! Illusion! Deception! The bottom line is we hear what we want to hear, not what we need to hear. Knowing this the perpetrators of these financial schemes focused on the benefits while hiding the truth.  Your money, at least in part was loaned to others who were charged interest.  Sound familiar?  As we saw in the housing market alignment in 2008, many of the lendees could not pay the money back causing rippling effects in the financial community.  Will this happen again?  Many truly informed believe the next time will make the depression, and the 2008 recession look insignificant by comparison.

So, is there no hope for the widow's son? First, of course, take the time to educate yourself about money and secure investments. Take control of your money.  Learn how to reduce spending you have control of, such as taxes.  Did you know that the government gives you incentives to reduce your taxes?  Tax refunds are not your friend! Then, change your investment vehicles to reflect realistic savings as opposed to hyper-inflated unreliable results and lower your taxes to keep more of your money. Lastly, study your investment yourself.  Do not rely on someone else's interpretation and be aware of financial deception.