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!

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!

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. 

Would You Trust This Doctor?

Imagine you live in a town, and it that town there is a physician who treats every ailment the same. "I only prescribe penicillin,"  says the doctor.  Everyone through the door, whether suffering from an infection, a cold, broken bones, mosquito bites or just a headache gets the same medication to cure them. 

In reality, if this doctor existed, he or she would be run out of town on a rail, or at the very least, have their license to practice medicine revoked.

However, there are financial advisors and insurance agents who do the same thing.  Have you ever heard the agent that says "I tell all of my clients to buy term and invest the difference"?  One cure for a variety of financial ailments. 

People have different situations, and like snowflakes, no two are exactly the same. Consider factors like marital status, elderly parents, kids who are at home, kids who are out of the house and those who have returned back home. There are other variables as well, like debt, employment status, benefits through work and many others. I can go on listing all the things that make your financial situation different from others. The gist is that one insurance product may be good, but not great.

At Surf Financial our philosophy is this:  There are a wide variety of insurance and investment products out there and they all serve a purpose somewhere, but not every product is for everybody.  Does a 25 year old need an annuity?  Probably not, but some universal life or a savings plan might be a good start.  Does a 75 year old need a term life policy?  Not unless they need it to secure a loan or have another specific need in mind. 

The truth of the matter is that if an insurance agents says to you "I don't sell that product because I don't believe in it" the odds are good that either they don't understand how that insurance products works and who it works for, or it simply is not available to them. 

In the first case, I remember working with agents who just could not wrap their heads around universal life insurance. Their excuse was that if they couldn't understand it, then how could they explain it to their clients. Going back to our doctor, can you imagine hearing "I don't understand how a virus works so I only treat fractures"? 

And there are those agents who do not have access to certain insurance products. I knew a couple of agents who were "captive", which meant that they had contracted with a company who only allowed them to sell approved products within their portfolio. Newer agents like working for these kinds of carriers because they only need to learn a handful of products. In the long run, it put them and their clients at a disadvantage. 

In other words, without asking questions, a true "advisor" isn't any better than the doctor with one prescription.  Let us help you by having an honest conversation. Yes, we will ask you some questions to find out what your situation is, but it only takes a few minutes. And if you are looking for the best disability insurance quotes, life insurance or a cancer plan, give us a call. You can even book your own appointment to make it even more convenient. 

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!