Avoiding Long Term Care Facilities During the Virus Crisis

During the Coronavirus crisis in our country there have been countless stories in the news about infections running rampant in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Our seniors are in the cross hairs of the virus as it works its way through these facilities, not just making the residents ill, but also the nurses and other staff members. As this happens, the family members of the residents are not able to visit their loved ones. It's a terribly tragic situation all around.

Is there a way to avoid this scenario? Not always, as some residents may need to be in a facility for various reasons. Their families may not live in the area, or they may have no family at all. Of course, nearly every person who lives in a facility would rather live in their own home, or with their adult children. For some, the adult children are working and unable to take care of their parents (or grandparents) and it can be cost prohibitive.

Home health care can be very expensive. Using the example of my father, the price of his home health care was nearly double that of a facility. The reason is simple, in that a small staff can keep an eye on dozens of people at once, whereas he had one caregiver staying with him. And home healthcare workers generally cook and do some "light housekeeping".

As I mentioned several weeks ago, my father was dipping into his home equity line to pay for his caregivers, which were in excess of $70,000 a year. He obviously didn't have that kind of money but was determined not to go to a nursing facility. When he passed away he was indebted to the tune of over $100,000.

I can only imagine how horrible it must feel to know that a loved one is in a facility during these times. But if you could keep your mother, father or grandparent at home with a caregiver, would you do it? What if you could find a way to afford it? What if the shoe were on the other foot and your family was having to decide what to do as you became chronically ill or mentally incapacitated?

Luckily, we now have something called Short Term Home Health Care (STHHC) policies that can alleviate the cost issues related to home care. Typically they cover the insured for 365 days for in-home care only. And the 365 days don't have to be consecutive, as some people receive care 3 or 4 days of the week.

It may not be the fully encompassing solution to keeping a loved one from a facility, but STHHC can save a family tens of thousands of dollars while preventing your older family members from getting sick and stuck in a nursing home or assisted living facility, which can be fatal during this pandemic.

And while a large majority of people who show an interest in the program are Medicare aged, we are also seeing interest from their adult children who have seen the costs associated with being ill or cognitively impaired.

To see a short video of how STHHC works, click here. This plan isn't available in all states, so let us know where you live and we'll check. In the meantime, stay healthy and check out our website below.


Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, as well as a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient. 

What Coverage For the Coronavirus?

A few days ago I met with some other insurance agents for a nice lunch in Charlotte, NC. Quickly the conversation turned to current events and, of course, the Coronavirus came up. Then one colleague from the Richmond, VA area, asked the group what policy would best cover the Covid-19 bug. This is when our conversations get pretty interesting.

Insurance agents can be a weird lot sometimes. In a nutshell, we sell policies to cover loss of life, income, or other tragedies. When you deal with such morbid topics all day it affects your sense of humor. Not everyone is appreciative of dark humor as many agents are. Heck, there are a quite a few agents who would rather discuss something a bit lighter. 

This was not the "light conversation" group. Quickly and without hesitation someone blurted out, "A Hospital Indemnity plan!" with great enthusiasm. Maybe a bit too much enthusiasm. The rest of the table nodded in agreement to this idea. I like to think of us as "insurance geniuses" and that birds of a feather flock together. 

At this point you're probably asking yourself what a Hospital Indemnity (HI) plan is and what does it do. In a nutshell the typical HI* helps cover expenses associated with:

• short hospital stays
• ambulance trips
• outpatient surgery
• critical accidents
• emergency room visits

For the most part HI plans are sold through companies through work via payroll deduction, however there are a few companies that offer these plans on an individual basis. Our clients like them because they are easy to understand and very affordable. 

Hopefully, your major medical insurance will cover most of the hospital and/or doctors bills if you're stricken by the Coronavirus. And if you think you may need an extra layer of protection to cover the out of pocket expenses that can go with any illness, perhaps a Hospital Indemnity policy is for you. Luckily, we at Surf Financial Brokers may be able to help.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a serious matter and is affecting people differently. I have personally spoken to people who have tested positive but with no symptoms and those that have said it was just a case of the "sniffles". I've also spoken to people who said they were seriously sick and in the hospital and people who have had family members pass away. As a matter of fact, my neighbor's parents both died from the illness within eight days of each other. With an illness like this that we are still learning about, the concern for a supplemental plan to offset medical bills is increasing everyday. 

To see a short and informative video on how this plan works click here. 

Buying any kind of insurance can be a bit stressful, and we all have too much stress in our lives right now. So let us help you. You can pick the time you want us to call you and we will have a short discussion on the merits of how HI works and do our best to make it work on your budget. We can even take your application right over the phone. With the Coronavirus around no one wants an agent to call on them. 

*Please note that not all plans cover all of the above, but you get the idea. Also, not all plans are available in all states.

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 3 Stages of Retirement

When we think of retirement planning, we usually think of traveling, visiting the grandchildren or working in our garden.  Looking forward to age 65 is a milestone for a large number of us, but the reality can be quite different.

Did you know that only about 15% of Americans fully retire at 65? Most will just continue working or cut back on the hours they work. And self-employed people, such as business owners or 1099 employees just keep working as well because they know the boredom will set in and want to stay active.

When I talk to groups about retirement years, I go over the three stages of retirement:

• The Go Go Years - This is when we think of retirement as traveling and having a good time.Visiting the grandchildren, going on cruises and days full of pickleball sound great, and if you have some money saved up you can move to a great retirement community. 
  
• The Slow Go Years - As the name implies, maybe we need to take it a bit easier. "Piddling" in the garden and staying closer to home. Sometimes a health related issue or an accident begin this part of the process.
  
• The No Go Years - Serious health problems and aging keeps us in home or a facility. This can also be the time when you can go through most of your savings due to healthcare costs, even if you are not in a facility. As a matter of fact, home healthcare services can cost up to twice as much as a nursing or assisted living facility.
  

Unfortunately, when planning for those retirement years, we fail to plan for the No Go years. Some have their heads in the sand, not thinking it will happen to them. According to the Motley Fool, 69% of people will need long term care insurance. And you're likely to need it from 1 to 3 years. Given that care in a facility isn't cheap, and in-home care is even more expensive, why not shift the burden of the costs to an insurance carrier instead of wiping out everything you've worked your whole life for?

There's a myth that the government will take care of you. Signals from politicians show differently and we don't recommend you rely on it.

Fortunately, there are options and depending on your age and health, you can find something in your budget. The long term care insurance landscape has changed over the last few years. Many insurance are acting as if they no longer want to be in that part of the business by selling off those books of clients to other carriers, while others have changed their policies by decreasing the rich benefits they previously offered for years.

However, there are still a handful of carriers still offering long term care policies. And now we even offer a short term home healthcare policy which is a great way to stay in your own home affordably. In addition to these options, many life insurance policies now offer "living benefits" in their coverage which can help with the dilemma of being chronically ill.

If you would like more information about planning for your future healthcare costs, contact us or use our "Books a Free Consultation" tool. We'll be happy to have a phone conversation with you. And as always, 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!

Are You Playing Checkers or Chess?

Many people don't have a complete financial gameplan in place.  They buy life insurance, have a 401k through their employer and only insure their paychecks through a work sponsored program.  In other words, they are only thinking of one move at a time. This can be a fatal mistake when it comes to planning for you and your family.

On the other hand, forward thinking folks look at the big picture. They aren't just thinking of their needs for the present, but down the road. They know that their needs will change with time because their situations will change. Kids will be born and need to be raised.  Illness or unemployment can affect a families finances.  When making a financial plan, there can be a lot of landmines.  Just like a good chess player, these people are thinking several moves ahead.

In any game, whether it's chess or football or Monopoly, you have to play offense and defense. Think of offense and making money and defense as protecting what you have worked for. Insurance is playing defense in that sense and can be important in the case of an illness or accident. 

Take life insurance for instance. There are many types of coverage and depending on what your own situation is, you may need to buy several policies over your lifetime. Term is great during your working years, when you are still paying off a mortgage and want to make sure your kids have funds to go to college if they want to. And term life coverage is very affordable. 

As you get older and the house is paid off, you may want to look at coverage that is permanent, like a whole or universal life policy. You probably won't be looking for cash accumulation in that scenario, but instead something to relieve the burden of burial costs from your family. 

Of course, your income (or the incomes nowadays) is how you provide for you family and pay the bills. If you were to unexpectedly get sick or hurt and became unable to work, your family's financial situation could become a nightmare. And unlike the possibility of your death, you may still need care, which could involve paying someone or having a family member take time from their job. Either way, a disability policy could provide insurance for your paycheck. 

Finally there are the costs of aging. We all want to think of retirement as a time to kick back, travel and spoil the grandkids,but we rarely think ahead of a time when our health is failing and we can no longer be independent. The only time we consider it is when we see our parents or grandparents in that predicament. In the case of my father, who refused to go to a nursing home but could no longer care for himself, we had to bring in a private caregiver company. He pension and other small income streams were eaten up quickly each month. Desperate, he began dipping into his home's equity. 

Life happens and bad things can occur at any point of our lives. Planning ahead and making sure you have your bases covered is a sign of "financial wellness". Shifting risk from your own wallet to that of an insurance company (life, disability or long term care) is a smart move.

So the question to ask yourself is, "Am I playing checkers or chess when it comes to my finances?"

At Surf Financial Brokers, we know which plan is more successful.  Let us help you become a chess player.

If you have any questions or comments, please let us know and stay healthy!

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, located in North Myrtle Beach, SC, as well as a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient. 

My Own Life Insurance Story Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous post, my father's passing was left us in a lurch. It wasn't sudden or unexpected, as he had been suffering from the effect of Parkinson's Disease for years. And even though I have been a life and health agent for years, he ignored any of my pleas to let me take a look at what he had in place. And with him living in Fayetteville, NC while I lived two hours away and my sister living seven hours away, it was more than difficult to keep an eye on his affairs.

His beneficiaries were horribly out of date. Yet he managed to keep these policies up to date, either paid up or still making premium payments. Always trying to impress us with his financial intelligence, he screwed up when it came to something simple like life insurance. 

And worse, he put his family, my sister and I, in a situation that needed to be cleaned up. I can foresee myself spending hours on the phone with these carriers trying to sort out death claims that will eventually be paid to his estate. At this point we would be satisfied to cover his funeral costs, which were in excess of $13,000. (Did I mention he had an equity line on the house that he was using to pay his monthly bills? Another surprise!)

A horrible thought crossed my mind. What if he had died 40 years earlier? His insufficiently low face amounts would have probably forced us to move from our home. College would have been a "maybe" for me. My mother, who was a great home maker but had few marketable skills, probably would have been forced to enter the job market. 

These are the reasons why agents like myself ask a lot of questions when we sit down with a family to discuss life insurance coverage. And a good agent will get an answer and continue to drill down for more answers. It may seem annoying and a bit invasive at the time, but the process of discovery is necessary to make sure that families can stay financially solvent if the breadwinner dies unexpectedly.

Life insurance agents sometimes get a bad reputation. I get it. However, the vast majority of us are genuinely concerned for our clients. We know that people have budgets, yet they also have families who will be in trouble in someone dies too soon. The question to ask yourself if this: If I were to die tomorrow, will my family be okay?

Even though my sister and I are adults and have our own families, we never expected to be on the hook for my father's final expenses. Nor did we think we would be having to sort out a tangled web of life policies. The main problem was lack of communication. My father dismissed our entreaties to go over his finances. We weren't vultures waiting for him to pass to inherit his vast empire. But we did want to be aware of potential landmines that could have been eliminated. Now we are dealing with those landmines.

The moral of the story is as follows. Let your life insurance agent help you. Take into account final expenses and the "cost of dying", as well as any outstanding debts. And even though we hear horrible stories in the news concerning elder abuse and financial fraud, most adult children are caring and should be trusted. 

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!

My Own Life Insurance Story Part 1

My father died this past Sunday after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. He was the kind of person who would never answer questions when it came to his personal finances, especially when his son was an insurance agent. When I would mention life insurance he would grunt something like "There's plenty for you, don't worry about it." Unfortunately, there wasn't plenty for anyone.

After spending hours going through his personal effects, my sister and I found a few inklings of policies here and there. The face amounts looked extremely low, like $1000 kind of low. Some of the policies were paid up in the 1970's (not a good sign) and in it all, there was no rhyme or reason to any of it. But that's the way he did things.

I cobbled together any and all evidence of policies that could be in effect and took them to the funeral home where my father had "pre-planned" his wishes. And that's all they were. Wishes. No contracts had be signed, not a deposit or anything else. He had chosen his casket (a very expensive one) and a few other items, and had been given a price. The funeral director did his best to honor those prices, but inflation had taken it's toll. He told us he would give the insurance information to a lady in his office who would do some investigating. The moral of this was that pre-planning was not the same as pre-paying.

When my mother-in-law, who resided outside of Charleston, SC, passed away several years ago, she had a policy for $75k. We signed a few forms to assign the policy to the funeral home. The funeral home got their share and the remainder of the policy went to the beneficiaries. It was a seamless process and worked marvelously. If only everyone would think this through.

The irony was that after my mother-in-law passed away, I had related the story to my father, letting him know how easy the process was for my wife and her siblings. The talk must have fallen on deaf ears because he failed to take any action that could have improved the situation that was yet to come.

So here we were. My sister and I, along with our spouses, were confused about my father's burial plans.The lady at the funeral home was thorough and did lots of research by reaching out to the insurance companies and explaining our dilemma. We found out that two of the polices, one of which was paid up and the other in good standing, both hadn't had a beneficiary update in years. My mother as well as my paternal grandmother, were both listed as beneficiaries and were both long dead. Again, if he had just let me take a look at things I would have spotted the problems, not that I'm super smart. As an agent who has been in the business for many years I know what to look for.

Yet another policy, which was in force and up to date, had by father's business as a beneficiary. The business had been shut down three years earlier. This whole affair was beginning to look more like a bad train wreck than a way to cover the expenses for burial and other related costs. 

In Part 2, I'll give you more of this story.

 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!

Do You Have the Old Kind of Life Insurance or the New Kind? Part 2

In the last post, I discussed how life insurance carriers were struggling with the long term care market. Check out the post if you want to catch up.

As the stock market dropped in 2008, claims reserves (where your insurance company keeps your premiums) dried up like a raisin. And claims were higher than expected. To offset this, almost all of these policies had a provision that allowed for a rate increase if need be. After 2008, several companies put in requests with state insurance commissions for rate increases, from 17-20% on policies that were in effect. Some companies did this multiple times.

I've always considered people who buy long term care coverage, to be "forward thinking". Unfortunately that forward thinking wasn't paying off for many as they saw their rates increase.

Also, at the end of the last post I mentioned the number one objection when people discuss LTC with an agent. The conversation usually goes like this.

Client: How much is this going to cost?
Agent: $120 a month.
Client: That's a lot of money. What if I drop dead and don't need long term care? What happens to my premium?

And that was the deal killer for many. Of course you could purchase a "return of premium" rider, but that would nearly double your premium. There had to be a better answer.



Now we have life insurance with long term care riders which are handled differently by different companies. Some underwrite the rider separately, others just underwrite the life insurance part. Some just called them "living benefits" to work around certain requirements by state commissioners. On the whole, it's just life insurance that you can use while your living.

It's life insurance that you can use for long term care if you need it. And some now have other benefits. We offer one with a critical illness component in the event of a heart attack or stroke. And the cash value can also be used as a retirement supplement. And being life insurance the rates are locked in. No rate increases!

So there's the old kind of life insurance and the new kind that you can use before you die. If you have questions or want to drop us a comment below or go to our website and request information.

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, as well as a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient. 

Do You Have the Old Kind of Life Insurance or the New Kind? Part 1

For many years we have had a few types of insurance. There's term life, universal life, whole life and indexed universal life, among others. They generally did the same thing, which was paying if you died and maybe building some cash value. Other than that, the differences were in rates and performance.

And then 2008 came around and the industry had a bit of a shake up. Companies offering life insurance as well as long term care began to change benefits of the latter. And as the years went by, the bond rates stayed very low, affecting dividends and profits. These carriers had to make changes.

Stand alone long term care (LTC) policies were stripped of certain benefits like lifetime payouts. Some companies got out of the LTC business altogether. Some maintain their business on the books but not writing new business, while others just sold their books to other companies.

Demand for the product, along with a slow but increasing awareness, was still there. Around this time, a few hybrid products began to get marketed. I was working at a very large life insurer at the time and we were told to poo poo any hybrid products if a prospect asked. For example, we were to compare a life/LTC product to those TV/VCR's that never quite worked as good as a separate system.

But it did address the number one objection to buying long term care coverage. And I'll cover that in part 2, so be sure to subscribe.

Chris Castanes is the president of Surf Financial Brokers, as well as a professional speaker helping sales people be more productive and efficient.