Why Hospital Indemnity Insurance Is A Must For Self-Employed And Small Business Owners

Being your own boss comes with a unique set of rewards – freedom, flexibility, and the satisfaction of building something from the ground up. But it also comes with unique risks, especially when it comes to healthcare. For self-employed individuals and small business owners, a sudden hospital stay can wreak havoc on both personal finances and business operations. That's where hospital indemnity insurance steps in, offering a crucial safety net.

Unlike employees with employer-sponsored health insurance (and options for HRA's and company funded HSA's), self-employed individuals and small business owners often shoulder the full burden of healthcare costs. Even with a solid health insurance plan, unexpected hospital stays can lead to significant out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles, copayments, and non-medical costs.

Here's why this is especially concerning:

• Lost Income: When you're running your own show, time off means lost income. A prolonged hospital stay can severely impact your ability to work and generate revenue.
• Business Disruption: For small business owners, a health crisis can disrupt operations, potentially impacting employees, clients, and overall business continuity.
• Financial Strain: The combination of medical bills and lost income can create a financial burden that's difficult to recover from.

Hospital Indemnity Insurance: Your Financial Buffer

Hospital indemnity insurance provides a fixed cash benefit for each day you're hospitalized. This benefit is paid directly to you, regardless of your other health insurance coverage. Here's how it can be a game-changer:

• Covers Out-of-Pocket Expenses: Use the cash benefit to pay deductibles, copayments, and other medical expenses not covered by your primary health insurance.
• Replaces Lost Income: The cash benefit can help offset lost income during your hospital stay, allowing you to focus on recovery without financial stress.
• Pays for Non-Medical Expenses: Use the money for things like childcare, transportation, or even hiring temporary help to keep your business running.

Why It's Ideal for Self-Employed and Small Business Owners:

• Flexibility: Hospital indemnity plans typically offer flexible benefit options, allowing you to choose a level of coverage that fits your needs and budget.
• Direct Payment: The cash benefit is paid directly to you, giving you the freedom to use it as you see fit.
• Supplement to Existing Coverage: It works alongside your existing health insurance, filling in the gaps and providing extra financial protection.
• Affordability: Compared to major medical insurance, hospital indemnity plans can be relatively affordable, making them accessible to those on a tight budget.

Investing in Your Well-being and Business Continuity

As a self-employed individual or small business owner, your health is directly tied to the health of your business. Hospital indemnity insurance is a smart investment that can protect you from the financial fallout of an unexpected hospital stay, ensuring you can focus on what matters most: your recovery and your business.

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. Please subscribe to this blog!

"Group Benefits" For The Self-Employed

I spend a portion of my time working in the "voluntary benefits" arena as an enroller, or "benefits counselor". In a nutshell, I enroll benefits for large groups, like schools, hospitals and municipalities, for example. Typically I sit with an employee in a one-on-one meeting and review their current benefits and check to see if they need any other insurance poducts. It's great to meet these folks and help them with insurance products like dental, vision, disability, accident and life insurance. 

The majority of my working time is spent working with individuals, however, many of which are self-employed. Realtors, sales professionals, small business owners and other "contract employees" or 1099's for instance, make up a lot of my clients. These great people are just as deserving of having decent insurance products, regardless of the size of their company. 

With this in mind, we invite all to visit our site and take a look at some of our voluntary products that can be purchased on an individual basis. There, one can get quotes for products such as life, cancer, hospital indemnity and accident insurance right from our site. And if you see coverage you like you can even start an application!

For some of our other products, like disability insurance and long term care insurance, one can book a short phone call to get a quote as accurate as possible.* We are independent agents and have access to many of the best policies. 

As independent insurance agents, we are also independent contractors, which means that we use our own products. Having a disability or cancer plan come out of our bank account instead of a paycheck doesn't change the fact that we need these important insurance plans. 

Please take the time to get a quote for yourself or your family. It probably won't cost as much as you think. 

*Quotes are not guarantees or offers of coverage and all policies 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!

5 Ways We Are Different Than Our Competitors

For several months now I have spent a large amount of my time on marketing (or learning to market) our website. I'm realizing that there is a huge learning curve when it comes to getting your message out on social media sites. In this journey for knowledge, there have been times when I have found a new workaround or app that my own social media guy was unaware of. 

With all of that in mind, several of my friends and team members and I kicked around some ideas. After identifying who we think our main competitor is (we'll call them "XYZ"), we took the time to look at their site. We discovered that there were several differences, such as

1. On our site you get your quote* immediately. With XYZ, you will be contacted by an agent (or several). This is because...
2. They sell your name to an agent as a "lead". And it may not just be one agent who gets your information. Several agents may call you. On the other hand...
3. We will contact you to see if you have questions, but all of your information stays with us. 
4. We have other products, such as cancer, accident and hospital indemnity insurance plans that can help you with out of pocket expenses when you or a family member becomes ill. 
5. If you like your quote, you can even start an application! We will get a notification that you have started an application and will reach out to you (via email or phone call) to assist you through the underwriting process. 

Please do us a favor and visit our site and run a "no obligation" quote. Let us know what you think! 

Thanks and please stay healthy!

*Quotes are estimates based on information you submit and final rates are subject to underwriting requirements. 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. 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!

What Are You Buying Online? 2023

When I originally got into the insurance business the internet didn't exist. Agents would carry rate books with incredibly small print and have to calculate the premiums and fees by hand. Needless to say mistakes were a common occurrence, and I was one of the biggest culprits of quoting someone an incorrect price. 

At that time (back in the 1980's) we were taught a method of prospecting which involved networking and learning verbiage to ask for referrals. The networking part was not as bad as it would seem because I am comfortable talking to strangers. And I found out later that most of the people I was trying to connect with were not as comfortable as I was in that situation. On the other hand, though, the referral part was hard for me.

Let's face it, most people don't like to give referrals. When I have asked for referrals in the past I can sense the tension build and the wheels turn in my client's head. I understand the trepidation because I have been on that side of the situation as well. You give a friend's name and the next thing you know your friend calls you angrily. "Why did you give that insurance agent my name?"

Unfortunately, things haven't changed much since then. There are still companies out there trying to teach their new agents the old school ways. This is because they believe that insurance selling is built upon a relationship of trust. There's nothing wrong with that, but people in general, and younger people specifically, don't feel the need to have that relationship anymore. 

From an insurance agency standpoint, we still do some of the same "old school" things, but with the internet available, we can now market to a wider geographical area without having to be physically able to see and talk to our clients. Zoom and other tools have given agents access to people who need our products and services from multiple states.

This is evident by the increasing numbers of people who are buying financial products on the internet. Things like auto insurance, life insurance, investments and banking were handled in person by an agent or advisor, and they still are. However many people feel they no longer need, or want, to deal with someone for these types of services.

Personally speaking, I began purchasing my car insurance online years ago, as well as my small investment portfolio. By doing this, it keeps more money in my pocket and I don't have to wait for someone to return a phone call or be in their office. Convenience is the name of the game.

With that in mind, we have done our best to make available more products on our website that clients can look at when it is convenient for them. And if someone wants to speak to a real person, we have made our calendar available for a phone appointment accessible too. 

Check out our website and run a quote, and if you see a rate you like that fits into your budget, you can even start an application. We want to make things as convenient for our clients as possible. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. 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!

Now Is A Great Time To Reconsider Benefits For Your Employees

There has been a lot of talk on the news and social media about the labor shortage that we are having in our country of late. Despite what some outlets are saying, there are a variety of reasons why employers are having a hard time finding and keeping personnel.

One way employers can get the employees they want is to offer benefits. I have worked in the workplace benefits arena for years and have seen many small business owners brush off the idea of having to deal with payroll deductions and billing issues. But those same people are now starting to reconsider as they find staffing their businesses to be more difficult than ever.

We work with several companies that offer benefits and can coordinate existing benefits into the mix as well. And we can cover groups of any size, from 2 people to 2000! If you are a business owner or know of someone having staffing issues, let us help you find a good product mix that your employees will want.

Drop us a note or book a short phone call to discuss what you currently offer and how we can help. 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. 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!

Benefits For Business Owners (and Otherwise Self-Employed) 2023

At Surf Financial Brokers, we really do enjoy helping owners of small businesses, entrepreneurs, sales professionals and otherwise self-employed. This is because we are in the same boat as independent agents. The lack of group benefits can be troubling, but we are doing our best to help these great folks (who are the backbone of our economy) have access to quality dental and vision plans, cancer insurance and, of course, disability insurance. 

Being self-employed can be scary, but it can also be very rewarding. Paying for your own benefits is a small price to pay for the independence and freedom of owning your own business. 

We have put a few of these types of plans on our website for you to look at, run a quote, and even apply if you like what you see. If you need information for something that isn't there, drop us a note or book a short phone appointment to speak with us. We look forward to helping you out. 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. 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!

Are You Buying Insurance Or Peace Of Mind?

As I have mentioned previously, the Greek word for insurance is "asfalia", which literally translates to "security". The Greeks are not paying for someone to insure them, but instead are buying peace of mind, knowing that their families and loved ones are secure.

One of the recurring themes that insurance companies use when advertising, or even training their agents, is that their products give people the peace of mind. I worked with one company that had a brochure titled "What Keeps You Up At Night?", with the idea being that prospective clients would be so worried about what would happen to their families that they couldn't get to sleep. One can imagine that this may be the case for some people. 

If only there was a way to get to these people when they were worrying about this. How could I help people who were in their pajamas? 

That's why we have added several quoting tools onto our website. A concerned breadwinner can visit our site and run quotes for life, cancer, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance. We even have one for our combo dental, vision and hearing plan. And the best part is if someone sees a rate that fits into their budget they can start their application, all without a pushy salesman. (We aren't pushy.)

On the other hand, we make ourselves available if someone is looking for a little assistance, and we do have other insurance products, like disability and long term care, that we currently don't have the capability of quoting online. For those kinds of concerns, we ask that you book an appointment that is convenient for you from our site and we can help you out over the phone. 

If you are in Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina or South Carolina, and can't sleep, visit our site. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. 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!

Why You Should Plan For 3 Stages Of Retirement 2023

Two weeks ago I was asked to give a talk to a local networking group about long term care insurance, as well as other related subjects. Most of the material I discussed had to do with the products available to us, like long term care insurance, short term home healthcare insurance and life insurance with "living benefits" that can be used in the case of a chronic illness or cognitive impairment, like Alzheimer's or dementia.

As usual, I discussed the three stages of retirement which are the Go Go Years, the Slow Go Years and the No Go Years. Unfortunately, most people don't plan for the last part, which is what ultimately costs them the most money. 

Take a couple of minutes and watch the video below which covers a short talk on the subject. If you have any questions or comments, please post them below and if you can, please subscribe to our channel on YouTube. 

 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. 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!

Why I Got (Back) Into To The Insurance Business

A few weeks back I joined an online chat with some people I really didn't know but who had some valuable information to offer. Fortunately, these very nice people welcomed me to their group. One of them in particular, Adam Griggs who is the CEO of CLARAfi, dropped me a note a few days later, which began a conversation. 

Adam took a look at some of my videos on YouTube, gave me a word of encouragement, and then suggested that I make a short video explaining my "how and why" I got into the insurance business. To be honest, I initially was thinking, "Yeah, no one really wants to hear that story." But since Adam took the time to watch a few videos, I thought the least I could do would be to consider his idea. 

I thought back to my first venture into insurance back in 1985. Having graduated from college with no real job prospects, my father wanted me to work with him at his fledgling engineering firm. Keeping my eyes open for other opportunities, I begrudgingly went to work for him entering data into an MS-DOS program. 

There were several issues with this situation, with a major problem being that I was not an engineer. My degree was in Business Management. Also, my old man, who was a micromanager to say the least, wanted me to live at home, work with him, and let him decide what I should eat for dinner. Also, that dinner would include discussions about work, which I had just suffered through a few hours earlier. I was quickly going crazy.

I needed to find a job where I could learn some real world business skills while getting out from under the old man's thumb. One morning I told my father I had a job interview in Raleigh, NC, about an hour away. I didn't really, but my plan was to go there and start looking for work. In the course of a few hours I had managed to find what I thought was a good opportunity with an insurance company.

The job wasn't exactly as presented by the recruiter, who had made it sound fairly easy work with banker's hours and great pay. Instead I found myself driving all hours of the day and night in rural areas doing what boiled down to door-to-door insurance sales. And the product was not something I would not purchase for myself. As a matter of fact, I met several people who were angry about their claims experiences. One even threatened to get his gun and shoot me. 

After a few months of this, I realized that my coworkers were leaving and being replaced by a revolving door of new agents. It didn't take me long to jump ship as well, and being young and naïve, I got out of the insurance business altogether for about 15 years. 

In 2000, I decided to give insurance another go, but this time would be different. I wanted to learn the business from multiple perspectives, so I worked for various companies as an independent agent. Each company had its own way of doing things, from how they prospected for clients to the ways they collected premiums. I learned how some insurance carriers' products were better than others and when those products were suitable for clients.

About this same time, I had an aunt who had been in a nursing home for over 20 years. She had fallen and broken her hip when I was still in high school. My parents had been left with the responsibility of taking care of her bills and I watched them struggle. Even though my father's engineering firm was doing okay, his finances were stretched. A long term care policy would have been a great help, had one been available for her (and subsequently my parents) when she had gone into a facility. 

That's when I realized that selling insurance was more than just a job, but a way to help people who were in bad situations by convincing them to mitigate their financial risks ahead of time. There were plenty of examples of insurance policies keeping people from financial ruin, from strangers to those close to me.

For example, my wife's father had died unexpectedly before I had met her, and his life insurance policy helped her graduate from college and take care of other necessities. We even used some of the proceeds years later to make a down payment on our home. 

Making sure that people have the right amount of insurance, their beneficiaries are up-to-date and keeping it all in a budget can be tough. Insurance is a product that most people don't want to buy, so the job is more about convincing them they need it. Because of this, the stereotypical insurance salesperson is high pressure. I prefer to say I use "good pressure", because my intention isn't to get the sale, but to make sure that when something bad happens, my clients won't have to move out of their homes or take a second job to pay the bills. 

When someone goes to my website and books a phone appointment to discuss life, disability or long term care insurance with me, I may give them a bit of a nudge to make sure their needs are met. It's all done with their best interests in mind. And that is why I do what I do. 

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. 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!

What Is Heart Attack and Stroke Insurance?

Even though Covid has been the main medical headline for the last year or so, other serious health issues are still leading to more deaths. Heart disease, for example, is the leading cause of death in the United States, and as Covid deaths continue to decrease due to vaccines, strokes and cancer will remain near the top of the list as well.

Many times on this blog I have discussed the importance of a cancer insurance plan. Cancer, which comes in many forms and can be specific to one organ or another, is recognized by many when the topic comes up. And even though we all know that heart disease and cardio vascular issues prevail, we don't discuss them as much as cancer.

Part of this is because for many people, avoiding these health problems is a matter of changing one's lifestyle, diet and fitness goals. Making those changes, like eating less pork, drinking less alcohol and going for a walk tend to cut into our wants and needs. And it can seem as if it interferes with our work day. Of course, stress is a leading factor in all of this.

Yet we see and hear about heart attacks and strokes all the time. Think of all the commercials on TV for medicines that can reduce your chance of a heart attack or stroke. 

The effects of a major health event can be long lasting. Physically, one can expect to be on some sort of medication for the rest of their life after experiencing a heart issue. A stroke can be debilitating and lead to other issues. My mother had a small stroke while undergoing knee replacement surgery. The stroke, which affected some of her motor skills, also kicked her dementia into overdrive. What was previously some age-related memory loss became full-blown episodes.

There is a financial cost to all of this as well. Anyone who has been hospitalized for a cardiovascular disease knows all too well that there will be deductibles, copays, out-of-network cost (just because your hospital may be in the insurance company's network doesn't mean that everyone that works there is in the network!) and other out-of-pocket expenses. This can add up quickly. And believe me when I say this, not everyone wants to contribute to your GoFundMe page. Plus there is the loss of income when someone is out of work as a result of one of these illnesses.

With all of this in mind, it is important to know that there are insurance policies available that help cover these costs. Most of them pay a lump sum amount in the event of a major health issue, like a heart attack or a stroke. We offer several of these plans, including the following:

• Cancer, Heart Attack and Stroke plan. Just as the name implies, this policy will pay you a lump sum of money (you choose at the time of the application) when diagnosed for one of these conditions.
• Critical Illness. These plans also pay a lump sum but have a different array of illnesses. Most include heart attack, stroke, comas, and other major health events, but cancer may or may not be included. Check with your agent to see what they offer.
• Disability Insurance. When people think of disability insurance, they think of someone hurt who is in a wheelchair, but over 85% of all disability claims are from illness, with cancer and heart disease at the top of the list. 

If heart disease runs in your family or you have concerns about one of these health events, drop us a note or schedule a quick phone appointment with us. We'll be happy to help you with a quote. In the meantime, please stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. 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!

Has Covid Made You Rethink Your Insurance Coverage?

When the pandemic struck last year some people were too distracted by the news to take a look at their existing insurance coverages. Having major medical coverage is good, but if one were to be seriously ill and hospitalized, out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles and coinsurance could quickly take their toll on a family's finances. 

And the loss of income from being out of work could also lead to unpaid bills piling up. Extra stress doesn't necessarily help a situation like this. 

That is why many people took a second look at their insurance policies in the last year or so. It seems that almost everyone knows someone who has had the virus. Even though most managed to have mild symptoms and rode it out at home, we also know those who have been seriously ill from it and even died. 

Over the last year people have begun purchasing more disability insurance, along with hospital indemnity plans, and even increasing their life insurance coverage. I recently met with a group of teachers who all had some level of interest in at least one of the above mentioned plans because they had co-workers who had fallen ill due to Covid. I suppose it hit home for them.

Putting these policies together, some agencies have constructed a loosely knitted "Covid package" plan to get the message out. Sales for these plans have increased, especially the hospital indemnity plan. The weird part was that many people I spoke to seemed to have never heard of this policy before, so I would assume that the agents were not discussing them with their clients. 

Hospital Indemnity plans are exactly what they sound like. They help defer the out-of-pocket costs of being admitted and confined to a hospital. We offer a fine plan that has good benefits. If you would like a quote or more information, click here. 

Aside from the plans mentioned above, our agency has had an increase in sales of our Short Term Home Health Care (STHHC) Plan. Due to the very high rates of infections in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities, more people are wanting to make arrangements to stay in their own homes when they get older. The STHHC policy does just that, by helping to pay for cost of caregivers in the home. To watch a short video on the policy, click here.

The cost of having in-home caregivers is about double of that in a facility. Taking the burden off of family members makes these kinds of plans especially attractive, plus the family members don't have to worry about putting their own careers (and families) on hold.

Of course, everyone could use additional life insurance. Studies have shown that of those who own life insurance, up to 40% don't have the amount of coverage they actually need. And it isn't nearly as expensive as people think it is.

If you aren't sure if you have enough coverage for Covid or the next pandemic, drop us a note or book a short phone appointment. We'll be happy to look over your existing coverage and see if you need to fill any gaps. In the meantime, please stay healthy.

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, helping people find affordable life, disability, long term care, cancer, accident and other insurance coverages in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia. 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!