OMG ... I need Health Insurance! How am I going to pay for that?

Are you feeling stressed out by all the TV coverage and news articles telling you how bad the new health insurance rules are or how great they are depending on who you talk to?  Exchanges, subsidies and penalties oh my!

 

Take a deep breath, its going to be okay.  I'll give you the basics for free!  I am licensed in Indiana so I'm going to talk about the set up here, if you are in a different state you will need to talk with someone in that state to be sure how it will work for you.  Are you ready?  Here we go!

 

First if you have a policy and you've not gotten a cancelation notice it means for now your current policy and network will remain the same.  You can keep it for a year and maybe longer, but that is not set in stone.  If you have a policy and have received a cancelation notice, it means your policy must be changed to comply with the new law and it was not grandfathered in for some reason.  You will need to get a new ACA policy (ACA stands fro the Affordable Care Act, which is a misnomer because it doesn't make coverage more affordable it just gives subsidies for those that make less money).

 

In Indiana you have 5 basic choices depending on your age situation and income.  I'll run through the first three quickly because they are very limited choices.

 

1. Medicaid - If you qualify for Medicaid it satisfies the ACA requirements.

2. Employer plans - If your employer has a group plan available to you that costs less than

    9.5% of your income then you need to stay with it.

3. CHIP - This is for children of lower income families that don't qualify Medicaid.

 

Okay so for the other two options ... you can buy an individual plan through an insurance company direct or you can buy the same plan from the federally facilitated marketplace (commonly called the exchange).  Both plans could offer identical coverage but there are two very noteworthy differences.

 

1. Plans purchased through the exchange will most likely have a much smaller network than those purchased directly from the insurance company.  So you may not get to use your current doctors or hospitals.

2. Plans purchased through the exchange may qualify for a federal subsidy to offset the cost of the insurance.  Plans bought directly from the insurance company are not qualified for a subsidy.

 

The bottom line is that the law is requiring you to get some basic health coverage.  If you are at or below the poverty line you will have access to Medicaid, and if you make above the poverty line (up to 400% of that amount) you may qualify for a subsidy that can pay for most or part of your health insurance costs, but if you choose either of these options you'll just have a limited number of options for doctors and hospitals.

 

You can make an appointment with me to go over your options but do it quick, because you only have a small window to enroll before you'll be forced into a higher cost option while waiting on open enrollment.

 

Contact me about health insurance here!

 

Jason

Is Pizza More Important than Life?

 

Sounds like a silly question, right?!  Could someone possibly think that a pizza is more important than a human life, or better yet the life of a loved one?  No Jason ... that's just too silly to imagine.  Now, what a minute, lets talk this out.  First off we need to establish what we are really talking about here.  I mean a pizza dinner at let's say Monical's Pizza, in Linton, if you order a large pizza Meat Eater Special with breadsticks and sodas for 4 people would cost roughly $32 (including tip).

 

Does that sound about right?  I think it does, and I think most of us will have pizza at least once a month (it's reported that 70% of Americans do).  So that proves to me that Pizza is more important than life!  Because nearly half of those folks having pizza this month will say that they don't have enough life insurance (according to a LIMRA study in 2013)

 

"But Jason", you say in a whiny voice, "Life insurance costs so much and pizza is so cheap!'  Most Americans greatly over estimate the cost of a life insurance policy.  For example, a non tobacco using man age 30 who is good health and a normal body weight can get a level term policy with a face amount of $500,000 for $28 a month.  How much does he need?  Well if he is 30 years old and he currently provides $40,000 a year for his family, he will earn $1,400,000 over the next 35 years until he retires, at age 65.  So lets say he wants to be worth 1,000,000 .. guess what the monthly cost would be?  About $46 a month or less than a pizza dinner and one trip to the Linton movie theater (full price adult tickets are $6.75) for a family of 4 ...

 

Life insurance is affordable and necessary ... don't make dinner and movie more important than your family's security.

 

Jason

Too Busy? Not Really!

Sometimes when I think about years ago, I imagine that I was less busy and that I had more time.  Maybe you think that too from time to time, but it's not true.  We chose to do different things today than we did when we were younger, and sometimes we have more responsibility than we did early in life, but all in all we still get 24 hours each day to spend as we see fit.  My brothers and I are good examples here ... we all seem to be too busy with work and life to visit each other very often but we all somehow manage to squeeze out a movie and dinner out every now and again.

 

Even as I'm writing this I look back and it's been a month or more since my last post, and I'm thinking I just didn't have time to write it.  But that's a lie, I did have time, I just chose to ignore some activities in favor of other ones.  The time we have doesn't change, we just change what we do with it.

Now, don't get me wrong we are all busy, but it is the important stuff that we should pursue and ignore the things that don't mean much to us.  I enjoy fishing, but I rarely get out to fish and I'm always saying I'll go when I have time, but if the truth be told, I could just go fishing and fill in the rest of my life around that time. 

 

So take a moment this week (and every week) and decide what is important, then do that and the rest of your life will still be there when you're done.

 

J

 

Protect what is really important with life insurance, call me for a quick quote!

What's really important?

No event in life ranks as high as the birth of a child.  The birth of my first grandchild a couple of weeks ago really punctuate that point for me again.  In everything that we do and all we try to obtain in this world we should realize that it is the two common experiences that we all have that bind us together in this world.

 

We are all born and we all die ... all the events in between pale in comparison to those two.  Our first day on this planet is a special one that should be celebrated and honored.  No matter how humble or expansive our beginnings, we come into life the same way.

 

Likewise, when it is time for us to leave this world, we do so alone and without the money, or possessions we've accumulated.  It is such a powerful and profound moment when you get to share someone's last second on earth with them, it will forever change you.

 

I make my living by helping people protect the things they accumulate after they are born and leave behind when they die ... sounds silly in the scope of things, doesn't?  That's why I'll always tell you that life insurance is the most important kind of insurance there is.  It's the only type of insurance guaranteed to pay off.

Protect the ones you love, FIRST!  Then we can talk about you car, business or home.

Call or email me for a low cost option for life insurance!

Secrets Revealed!

I'm often asked how to lower the cost of insurance.  People are quick to point out that their premiums have gone up every year and they want to know why.  I understand and while they don't typically blame me I'm a convenient target for their aggravation.  I try to be patient with folks but really I'd like to point out that everything increases in cost and your insurance is in place to protect that ever increasing replacement value.

 

In other words as the price of auto parts goes up the cost to fix them when the are in an accident will also increase, and like all businesses, the insurance company has to make money or it will go bust.  When repair parts and labor costs start going down the insurance company can begin to look at becoming competitive on pricing.

 

There are only two ways to lower your premium's ... here it is the big secret revealed;

 

1.  Buy less stuff ... if you have 12 cars you are going to pay 12 premiums ... if you have a half million dollar home, you will pay more than the guy with a hundred thousand dollar home.

 

2.  Accept more responsibility for your risk ... we talk about deductibles in the insurance business but really a deductible is just how much are you willing to share in the damage?  If you have a zero deductible or a $100 deductible you are telling the insurance company that you will make a lot of little claims.  If you set your deductibles at $1000 then they know you are not going to ask for their help until you really need it.

I hope this helps everyone!  But I know that rising prices get on our nerves, remember I pay the same insurance rates that you do, so find an agent you trust and have a conversation about the cost verses the benefit.  You may decide to down size or at least shoulder more of the cost of a loss.

J

Call me for all your insurance needs. 

Sometimes life sucks!

Ever have one of those days? weeks? months?  You know the kind of week or month that defies a good attitude, the kind of month that makes you question that there is anything good left in the world?

Yep, me too!  It's like when you drive to the town of Worthington after a big rain and see that 300 foot on the road was under 8 feet of water.  If you live around here you know that means to get to Worthington I had to back track 20 miles to go that final few feet and get into town.

While that was aggravating and it seemed like a big deal at the time (30 minutes of wasted time) it didn't effect me for long.  It's the rest of life that weighs us down, the traumas and conflicts that bite deep into our hearts and minds.  So yes, sometimes life sucks and there is nothing we can do about it.

It's during times like these that I seek the face of my creator ... I know he may not turn back time, or erase the heart sicking events.  But perhaps just seeking his purpose and asking for comfort is enough.  

I don't know ... I don't feel very wise today so take what you can from this ... I hope your month is uneventful.

Insure against what you can!  Pray to avoid that which you can't insure against.

How much will you donate to the government when you die?

How much do you want to donate to the government when you die?

Is your savings account earning you 2% or more?

Two silly questions but if you leave money in a savings account, you will donate to the government when you die even before your heirs get one single cent.  

The average interest rate being paid by a savings account today is less than a quarter of a percent.

If you deposited $5,000 in a savings account that paid 1/4% APR you would have about $5063 at the end of 6 years (assuming  the rate didn't decrease over that time).  If that $5,000 account gets caught up in the estate, it could be reduced by any taxes owed by the estate.

EXAMPLE 1

If a 35 year old woman in good health who does not use tobacco deposited that same $5,000 in a single pay life policy, her cash value at the end of 6 years would be $5,130 (twice the earnings from the average saving account).  Plus, if she died during that 6 year period her heirs would receive $14,470 (nearly three times the deposit amount).  The proceeds at death are paid directly to your designated heirs (tax free) and the government is left out of the loop.  If you need the cash you can cancel the policy and withdraw the cash value at the time you cancel ($5,130 at the end of year 6).

EXAMPLE 2

If a man age 65 in good health wanted to donate an sizable amount to his church but retain control of the funds in case he needed them, he could buy a single pay life policy for $51,949 with a death benefit of $100,000.  When he passes the church gets nearly twice his original donation, but if he needed to use the cash for an emergency it could be withdrawn.

EXAMPLE 3

A woman age 45 in good health inherits a $60,000 CD from the estate of her mother.  She wants to pass that on to her children but there are 3 of them and they are very young.  She can deposit the $6,000 in a single pay life policy and capture a $250,000 death benefit for her children, but if she needed to use the cash for an emergency it could be withdrawn.

 

If you are under age 84 and in reasonable good health, then let me talk to you about making more with your money or at least not giving it to Uncle Sam.