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. Well, he forgot. After one of us inquired, he sent a hasty note about getting him the checks (these are for around $10,000 each) in a week so he can submit the payment to the state’s department of revenue. Can you write a $10,000 check today? Apparently it’s nothing to him. He sent a basis for the tax calculation that included hand written scribble for $2700 in fees. When asked what these were, he said to disregard trivial fees for now. He gave ambiguous answers to questions so we couldn’t replace our ignorance with knowledge and facts; that way he could find more ways to charge us. You get the picture. Because we lived in other states, he saw no future business in us so he figured he could at least milk us for “trivial” actions. Oh, and to us, $2700 isn’t trivial.  We bet you’d agree!

Communication Lesson 1 – After establishing your estate plan, learn the details of implementing it and pass that information on to those who need to know.  If our beloved family member had informed us of the estate transfer process and associated fees up front, we wouldn’t have to put up with this nonsense from an arrogant attorney that we did not choose.

Communication Lesson 2 – Choose professionals who talk straight with you, and are willing to help you learn to do simple things on your own, if you would like that. Avoid professionals who prey on your ignorance of their field, thereby creating a false sense of dependency and even a false sense of respect.

Communication Lesson 3 – Referrals are powerful, either good or bad.  Perhaps this attorney was good at estate plans; afterall, with one intrafamily referral he did several estate plans, raking in tens of thousands of dollars in the process.  But his true colors shone when he knew there were no more big dollars to make off this family.  So, give referrals with specific experience.  When asking for referrals, be specific.  Joe Pro might be good at “service A,” but he might not have the integrity or heart to look beyond the immediate fee for “service A.” 

Although it seems obvious, everyone needs to be deliberate in finding a straight shooter.  We pledge to shoot straight with you regarding life, health, disability, individual and group insurance!

Since one’s ability to earn an income is one’s greatest tangible asset, and since the likelihood of needing to draw on disability insurance is very high, the issue is not a matter of “convincing” one to get disability income insurance. The issue is one of appreciating the need early in life – when it is inexpensive and before family obligations replace cash with photos in one’s wallet. Don’t wait to be a fiscal conservative.

Beware the complacency of, “My employer offers disability insurance.” Maybe. You might find that the benefit is a pittance, and you can’t even take that paltry policy with you. People are changing jobs more frequently, while employers are offering less benefits. To have occupational freedom, one must get those benefits outside of work. Be in control. Know what will be in your wallet – no matter what. Disability income insurance could someday be your only income – but only if you actually got it.

May is Disability Insurance Awareness Month.  Learn more or call us at (208) 557-9344.

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 injury with unthinkable costs. You already know some living this nightmare, right?

What about the solution? Healthy habits certainly reduce the chances of cancer (or heart disease, kidney disease, strokes, and more), but not to zero – ask Lance Armstrong! Medical technology is increasing the odds of surviving – Great!

Yet the direct and indirect costs of that technology, the treatments, and the rehabilitation process levy financial consequences that can be ruinous to health and home. This reality led not an insurance company, but the surgeon of the world’s first human-to-human heart transplant, Dr. Marius Barnard, to come up with the concept of Critical Illness Insurance. It’s living insurance. It lets you focus on healing without the stress from mounting bills.

We can help you choose the best critical illness insurance value for your situation, whether included with your life insurance, or a stand alone policy, lump sum or menu of benefits, on payroll or direct. Think it over, then choose.

“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. Economics caught up and renewal rates have mostly exceeded 30%! Even popular plans NOT labeled “limited” have limits on Rx – $2000 or less – and outpatient benefits.

• Chemotherapy often falls under both – can you say “Big Hole!”

Let’s illustrate how devastating these holes can be.

From http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/fightingcancer/index.html

Michael Treinen, Indiana

Michael, a teenager, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. His treatment required 10 doses of a chemotherapy drug that cost $10,000 per dose and a 56-day stay in an intensive care unit that cost $400,000 dollars. Michael reached his family’s lifetime maximum in less than a year. The hospital informed the family they needed either $600,000 in certified insurance or a $500,000 deposit to move forward with Michael’s bone marrow transplant. Despite eventually receiving financial support from the community, Michael died before he could receive the transplant. Today, his family continues to pay for the cost of Michael’s treatment.16

So, how far would your comprehensive or “not limited” major medical plan help with your 10 treatment chemo series at $10k/treatment when the annual Rx limit is $2k?

With health insurance you can’t stop a financial bloodbath, you can only avoid one!!

How? With $25M lifetime, company pays 100% after a single deductible, and no separate limits for outpatient treatments and Rx. That’s how. Let’s talk about your health insurance.

“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 case of a catastrophically expensive illness, not simply cover your routine costs as a generally healthy person. And many individual plans do nowhere near the job.” [emphasis added]

We agree with CR. However, we would like to have seen more emphasis on the old adage, “You get what you pay for. If it looks too good to be true, then it is.” It should not be a surprise when a cheap plan pays little to nothing for protracted cancer treatments. This is why a good health insurance agent will try to point out what plans don’t cover, as well as what they do cover. Let’s face it — sometimes limited coverage (“bad” plan) is better than no coverage. The fundamental questions any insurance agent must ask himself are, “Did I help to improve my client’s situation, and does my client understand the limitations?” However, a good agent will steer clear of limited plans when a more comprehensive plan is within the client’s means. Note that CR recommends a minimum lifetime maximum of $2 million. Again, we agree with CR. Yet how many people know their lifetime maximum off the top of their head? Do you? Do you know – beyond the deductible – your plan’s limits and exclusions? If not, let us take a look with you. Perhaps your annual renewal came back sky high. Perhaps it’s time to let us help you!

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 insurance agents. How? Many ways, but for now let’s briefly look at Medicare – that lofty foundation (laid on sinking sand) upon which much of Obamacare is being built. The rollout of Medicare decades ago created the need for – you guessed it – Medicare Supplements! Make no mistake – the heavy hand of government will control costs by controlling services (at least to a significant degree). Controlling might be more accurately called Limiting. People who don’t want to be limited will demand something more than standard government fare. People will want something better, faster, in addition to, on top of – “good enough for government work.” Remember, anonymity breeds mediocrity. Hence the mediocre service, if that, of most government agencies. Ever find yourself impressed when a government agency performs almost on par with the private sector? Me too!

If your last encounter with a health insurance agent left you disappointed, find another with references. If you think the government will simplify health insurance so that you won’t need a pro, think again.

So, if you’ve been putting off life insurance and you think ROP term life insurance would suit you, ACT NOW -before Dec 29!

What is ROP? Conventional term life insurance offers a death benefit only. It’s like car insurance in that you pay your premium and hope you never use it. Let’s set aside the debate on term life insurance vs permanent life insurance and simply recognize that many people embrace the idea of getting all the premiums back should the insured survive the term (e.g. the 10, 20, or 30 years for which the policy provides the promise of a death benefit). Think of it this way, there can only be ROP if there is no RIP. If the insured goes “RIP” (before the end of the term), there is no ROP.

The insurance company profits by investing the premium. Simplistically, when the insured receives the ROP at the end of the term, the insured’s cost of the insurance was the lost opportunity to invest the same dollars. Not a bad tradeoff for the promise of the death benefit.

Use this ROP opportunity deadline to go get yourself a “Life” with a “money back guarantee” for Christmas this year – your loved ones will appreciate it, so will your bank account!