Is There A Covid_19 Insurance Package? (Pt. 2)

In the last post told you about a couple of insurance products, namely life insurance and disability income insurance, that are a great fit if you are concerned about catching the Covid_19 virus. In my opinion they are two insurance coverages that everyone probably needs. As a matter of fact, when I speak to groups about their insurance products I discuss the "Holy Trinity of Insurance", consisting of life and disability insurance, as well as the major medical portion. 

Just because other products are not in the Holy Trinity doesn't mean they can't be good products and act as the "saints"(as you can tell my mother sent me to Sunday school). I have a couple of  options for you if Covid_19 is in the back of your mind.

The first policy I would like you to consider is a Hospital Indemnity (HI)* plan. Generally speaking, HI plans cover you for being admitted and confined to the hospital. There are a few other benefits that we see from time to time, including anesthesia and outpatient surgery, but not all policies have those or they may be additional riders. These policies can vary dramatically from different companies and also state regulations, so check into what is available in your state. 

One of the things I like about most HI plans is the simplicity. Generally speaking, an HI plan will offer a daily confinement benefit that you decide on. For instance, you can choose $100 or $200 a day benefit. Some policies will offer an additional benefit for being admitted to the hospital like $2500 or $5000. These plans offer riders for critical accidents, skilled nursing facility, outpatient surgery, as well as dental and vision. With all of these riders available one can "customize" their policy for their own needs and budget. 

You can get a great description of the policy and run your own quote by clicking here. 

One other policy I want to mention may sound out of place in a discussion about Covid_19, I think it deserves a listen. Given that nursing facilities are suffering greatly from the virus, which apparently is very contagious amongst the residents and caregivers in these facilities, the option of staying in your own home is much better. Of course, there is one obstacle in that strategy, and that's price. 

In my hometown, a good skilled nursing facility would have cost my father around $35,000 a year. He was adamant that he wanted to be in his home and hired a home healthcare company. The cost of this was over $75,000 each year. Even though he really couldn't afford it, my father used the equity in his home to pay for the caregivers to stay with him around the clock. 

With all of this in mind, we offer a Short Term Home Healthcare plan, which helps pay for those expenses related to staying in your own home. Unlike a Long Term Care plan, this plan helps you pay for care only in your own home for up to 365 days (not necessarily in a row). Even though the carrier recently changed the minimum age of this coverage to 61, it is still very affordable and you only have to answer a few simple health questions. To see a short video on this product click here. 

So if you are concerned about how Covid_19 could affect you or your family's finances, look us up on the web and book an appointment to speak with us. In the meantime, please stay healthy. 

*Not all policies are available in all states and rates are subject to underwriting. 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!

Is There A Covid_19 Insurance Package? (Pt 1)

The Covid_19 has now struck at the highest levels of government and has illustrated that no one is immune to virus. For many of us, the pandemic is something that is a concern, especially as businesses and schools begin to reopen.  Whatever virus "fatigue" that was there has quickly evaporated. 

As I was enjoying a meal with a couple of close friends this weekend, the topic of the pandemic reared its ugly head. One of my buddies asked if there was any particular insurance product that would help people who were concerned about Corona.

Actually, there are several products that come to mind during these times. Each insurance product has a need and can help those who could be worried about the virus ravishing their family's financial situation. To be clear, these products are subject to underwriting and may not be available in all states. Let's look at a few.

First of all, there is life insurance.  After 9/11, the American people had a wake-up call. They realized that they could die at any given minute without warning. For about 6 months after that tragic event, life insurance sales spiked. Sales of life insurance have risen again with fears of the virus working its way through families. 

If the main breadwinner of the family should die unexpectedly, the rest of the family could be in a world of financial pain if there is no life insurance in place. Making sure that your spouse and children can maintain their home, pay off any outstanding debt and insure that your kids can afford a good education can be accomplished with an affordable life insurance policy. 

What happens if, God forbid, you should lose a child due to the virus. It's a terrible thing to consider. Unfortunately I have attended many a fish fry fundraiser to help pay off the cost of a child's funeral. People are hesitant to purchase insurance on child. As one parent told me, "I don't want to profit off of my child's death." No one says you have to profit at all. But there will be expenses and if there is any money left over from the insurance policy, the parents can set up a scholarship fund or contribute to a charity "in memory" of their child. 

If you are confused as to whether you need term life insurance or a permanent plan like whole life or universal, we can have a conversation to help you find out what your needs are, as well as your budget. 

The second type of insurance I would consider is Disability Income Insurance (DI). A good DI plan should be in place to replace the income of the person who is sick or hurt and not able to work. As we know, the survival rate is high among those who contract the virus, but it can still keep you from working. As stated before, your most valuable asset is not your home or car or investments, but your ability to earn a living. And when someone is out of work due to an injury or illness the bills don't stop coming. 

Many people don't seem to realize that they are one medical emergency away from dire financial straits. Did you know that over 80% of all disability claims are due to illness? And that 62% of all bankruptcies are due to medical costs? Having a DI policy in place can keep a stressful situation, like being seriously ill, from becoming much worse when the bills start to pile up.

These are just a couple of the products that can help you if you are concerned about the virus, but there are more we will cover in the next post. In the meantime, please continue to social distance and stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!

Insurance News This Week

Again, I wanted to share some news items with you from the world of insurance, with a wee bit of comment added. Feel free to tag someone who would find this interesting. 

We just learned this week that life insurance companies are paying out far fewer life insurance claims due to Covid-19 than they initially expected. The reason for this is that the disease is killing a disproportionately large number of people who don't have life insurance. 

Even though anyone can apparently contract the virus, it is mostly striking older Americans and minorities. Older Americans typically carry smaller policies than those who are still in the workplace. As a group, seniors don't have to worry about paying off a mortgage or making sure their kids can pay for college, because the kids are grown and have their own children. 

According to an article posted on the Wall Street journal website, " In a pattern dating back decades, Black Americans typically have bought modest policies aimed at paying burial and related costs, rather than bigger face-value policies, according to life-insurance agents and historians. Detailed data on policy ownership by race is hard to come by. Since the 1960s, U.S. life insurers quit using race as a factor in underwriting and pricing policies, so they quit collecting race information, executives say."

The two demographics have been hit hard by the virus and sometimes something like this acts like a wake-up call. Now is a great time to consider purchasing additional life insurance.

In another piece of news, the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners have created an online tool to help people find life insurance and annuity benefits. Thus far in 2020, over $7.4 million have been located. 

“I am pleased to see that Tennesseans are using the Life Insurance Locator Service to find their loved ones’ benefits during this year which has brought unprecedented hardships to Tennesseans,” said TDCI Commissioner Hodgen Mainda. “As part of Life Insurance Awareness Month, I remind Tennesseans to educate themselves about the importance of life insurance today so they might be better prepared to be a beneficiary in the future.”

This is the kind of story we at Surf Financial Brokers enjoy to see. At the essence of our business is a promise made by the carrier. That promise, that if you die they will help your loved ones by giving them money when they need it most, is important to all in the insurance industry. However, when people move or don't update their beneficiaries often, it can be difficult for an life insurance company to pay the claims. 

With that said, apparently many people who are beneficiaries of policies either don't know they are, or have no idea where the policies are located. We ran into this scenario with my own father's passing. His beneficiaries had predeceased him. Obviously he had not updated his beneficiaries in years. And we found one policy by accident when I called to update someone that he had passed away.

As agents selling life insurance, as well as disability, cancer, accident and long term care plans, a paid claim let's the client know that we stand behind our promise. That translates to how valuable our work really is to us. 

Let us help you find a policy that is in your budget. And for your convenience, you can even schedule your own appointment here. And in the meantime, please stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!

The Differing Types of Life Insurance, Part 2 (The Term Life Talk)

In a previous post we discussed the reality that there are different types of life insurance and that all are good for some people, but not all are necessary for all people. As this series progresses, we'll take a look at each type of life insurance and discuss their pros and cons. For now let's look into term life coverage.

Term life is, as it's name states, good for the term of the policy. A 20-year term is good for 20 years, and in that 20 years, the price won't go up on you. At the end of the term, in this case 20 years after the purchase date, the policy will typically end. In some cases the insurance company will continue to policy as an annual renewable term (ART), which means each year the price will increase.

When is it a good idea to buy term coverage? Most people will purchase this during their working years, which is usually when they can quantify the time they need coverage. For instance, if you are pretty sure that your home will be paid off in 20 years and in that same amount of time your kids will be grown and on their own, a 20 year term policy is appropriate.

My favorite term life story is about a friend of mine who told me he borrowed money from a relative and needed to secure the loan with a life policy, in case he died before he was able to repay the loan. The insurance carrier required a paramed exam and my friend's wife was confused when the nurse showed up at their house. Apparently he did not tell his spouse about the loan and had to come clean.

Term life can be very affordable, as it is only coverage for death and builds no cash value. You can't borrow against it either. With this in mind, it's can still be a great value.

There's a school of thought that states that people shouldn't buy permanent coverage, which we'll discuss later, but instead should buy term and invest the difference in premium. My experience shows that people will purchase the term coverage and say that they'll do the investment part at a later date, which never comes.

A great feature of most term policies is a conversion feature. This allows you to convert all or part of the coverage to a permanent policy with no health questions or additional underwriting. Let's assume that in 10th year of a $500,000 policy you have a heart attack. Even though you've survived, the heart attack may prevent you from buying additional coverage. But you can convert, say $25,000, to a permanent policy. The remaining $475,000 will still be there, but now you have some coverage for final expenses that will always be there for you, as long as you pay the premium.

Note: When you convert a term policy, the premium is based on your age at the time of the conversion, not the age you originally purchased the policy.

Term life insurance can be a great fit for young families and people on a budget. If you aren't sure if term would work for you, drop us a note. Or you can book your own phone appointment from our website. We want to make buying insurance easy for you. In the meantime, stay healthy!


 Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life and disability insurance coverage. He's also is a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient and has spoken to professional and civic organizations throughout the Southeast. And please subscribe to this blog!