A family member recently passed away. He had an estate plan, but no life insurance. Of the many lessons from this experience, including the obvious lack of life insurance, let's choose one: Communication. We (the heirs) met with the estate attorney, whom we'd never met as we live in other states, but who did the estate plans for several family members (including two physicians and a sales rep). The meeting briefly covered transfer of assets and a mention of an estate tax payable to the home state of the decedent. The attorney said he'd send us a reminder about paying the estate tax. ...

We've all seen the commercials - "What's in your wallet?" Well, no matter what bank you use for your credit cards, if you don't insure your income and then become disabled, the answer is very likely to be "Nothing!" Bill Cosby once said, "A father is a man who replaced the money in his wallet with photographs." So, if you contribute to the financial support of a family, "Nothing" will come even more quickly, plus it will be more painful looking into the eyes of those who grace the photos in your wallet. Now, let's look at another famous quote, this time from Winston Churchill. “If you’re ...

Your doctor calls. The biopsy is positive. The unthinkable has happened - your spouse has cancer. Now what? Will you be at work tomorrow as usual? Will you be working more or less in the coming months? Will your household income go up or down? Will your expenses go down or up? Will your mortgage payment seem less or more challenging? Will you be able to get the policies you should have bought while you still qualified? Will even a great major medical plan cover all of your new expenses? You get the idea and the answers are obvious. The unthinkable diagnosis adds insult to ...

The last post briefly covered “good vs bad” plans. Ok, so what to do? The basic approach consists of a 1-2 punch with 1) a solid high deductible major medical plan, and 2) savvy supplemental policies that fill gaps and address your risk factors (more on supplemental in future posts). “Holey” health insurance plans can bleed your finances dry. Remember, you get what you pay for. So, economical “limited” plans will have limits and holes. For example, Idaho’s most popular health insurance plan in recent years is a “Limited” benefit plan that has holes by design. ...

Consumer Reports ran a series on individual health insurance last May. It is still very relevant. Here's a key excerpt: "We think a good health-care plan should pay for necessary care without leaving you with lots of debt or high out-of-pocket costs. That includes hospital, ambulance, emergency-room, and physician fees; prescription drugs; outpatient treatments; diagnostic and imaging tests; chemotherapy, radiation, rehabilitation and physical therapy; mental-health treatment; and durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs. Remember, health insurance is supposed to protect you in ...

We're asked this a lot. On one hand, the government's takeover of the free market health insurance will make passive health insurance agents even more useless than they are now. You know, the ones who simply say, "Here's what most people get, fill in and sign here." That's the kind of lackadaisical service that prompts people to apply online without consulting a professional - often with sad consequences! On the other hand, for professionals who truly work for the best interests of their clients, Obamacare, however it unfolds, will increase the need for the services of competent health ...