A Deep Dive into Long Term Care Insurance and B2B Partnerships with Jim Better

In this episode of B2B Synergy, Alan Armijo, owner of Power Partners USA, interviews Jim Better, owner of Essential Plans of Insurance. The focus of the conversation revolves around understanding long-term care insurance and the crucial role it plays in comprehensive retirement and estate planning.

The conversation delves into the identification of power partners in Jim's business network, including financial planners, estate planning attorneys, and caregivers. Jim emphasizes the importance of collaboration with professionals who understand the holistic nature of planning, beyond just legal documents. He explains that referrals often come from professionals who recognize the need for comprehensive planning in the face of long-term care expenses.

Jim Better provides insights into the services he offers, emphasizing the importance of planning for the costs associated with aging. He highlights alarming government statistics that indicate a significant portion of the population will require assistance with daily activities as they age. The episode explores the necessity of including taxes and funding mechanisms for long-term care in estate plans.

Listeners gain valuable insights into the often-overlooked aspect of estate planning, making this episode a must-listen for anyone navigating the complexities of aging and financial preparedness.

Click for FAQs about Long Term Care insurance

Jim Better  |  Essential Plans of Insurance | Long Term Care Insurance
Power Partners: Estate Attorneys, Financial Advisors, Fiduciaries, CPAs
Member Since November 2023
Click Here for account page
Jim's  "Explained Here" Page   

1. Phone: (603) 964-2020
2. Email: jimbetter@essentialplansusa.com
3. Website:  www.epinh.com

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• Power Partners USA website - www.PowerPartners.us
• Power Partner Members - "Explained Here" - www.PowerPartnersUSA.net (short Q&A Video and Podcasts)

• Graphics by Debra Armijo - www.iTrustMarketing.biz
• Music by Joan Jones - www.clubjoan.com

Have a question for Power Partners USA or any of its members? Call, write or text Alan Armijo - info@powerpartners.us   562-843-7801

Transcript

[00:00:01] Introduction and Welcome

Welcome to B2B Synergy, the Power Partners USA podcast, your exclusive guide to discovering the potential of B2B partnerships. I'm Alan Armijo, owner of Power Partners USA, Business to Business Introduction and Referral Service. Our members are B2B professionals who team up to provide each other repeat referral business.

Today we are speaking to new 

Power Partner USA member Jim Better, owner of Essential Plans of Insurance. Jim, um, welcome, especially to Power Partners USA as a new member. Um, I know precious little about long term care insurance and your associated insurances. 

[00:00:58] Understanding Long Term Care Insurance

Can you give us a background or [00:01:00] understanding of your services?

Sure, Alan, and you're not alone. And I'm not understanding, the, the, the mechanics and the need for planning for aging. my client base primarily is anybody who expects to age. I work through business professionals who also, don't completely understand what the needs are. for people when they reach their, their retirement years.

The fact is that, you know, a lot of people will, do a retirement plan, but no estate plan is complete without a funding mechanism for long term care. Government statistics tell us that 70 percent of the population That's, that's two thirds of the population, two out of three people, are going to need help with their activities of daily living, which technically are being able to bathe without supervision or standby help, um, being able to eat properly, being able to dress properly, being able for condense issues, transfer, and cognitive impairment, those [00:02:00] are, are government regulation, uh, statistics that tell us that.

That, more than half of us are going to need help with those things as we age. planning for that, is really important. and I know that from my family experience. and I've been doing insurance for, well, I'll say many decades. 

[00:02:18] Personal Experience and Career Shift

But, um, what really got my focus, in the mid 90s, really, my mom, who had saved money, that she had inherited from her grandmother, and she would tell my brother, sister, and I occasionally as we were growing up, when she passed, we would get that money.

Well, it didn't work out. Um, she got cancer and she was in care for, more than three years and, more than 400, 000 got burned up in that. And that care, um, that got my attention. I wanted, does anybody know about this? And, that's when I decided, okay, the rest of my professional career is going to be to educate people on the need to plan for the cost of aging and [00:03:00] to show them financial tools to deal with it.

Great, great. Uh, thank you for that. The, you know, the sounds like a horror story, you know, is which I want to, you know, maybe learn about as well as like what people need to watch out for. Um, what they're in for. But, before we get there, and a lot of the other questions I want to ask,

can

can you, 

[00:03:24] Identifying Power Partners

because we're, uh, targeted Uh, this audience to your power partners, can you explain who gives you, what business professionals give you repeat referral business?

Well, there are a number of sources, Alan. Um, certainly financial planners and the state planning attorneys, um, are, are good sources for, um, for leads because they understand that the, the, the, the need for planning in total, not just for legal documents, which are really necessary, of course. But not, that doesn't complete the cycle.

So estate planners are [00:04:00] important referral sources. Financial planners are important referral sources. Um, caregiver people, people who, um, will help people move from, um, you know, one source of care to another source of care, from home care to assisted living to nursing home care, wherever it may be. Those are the, uh, Uh, those are the people who generally say, Hey, Jim, um, I've got this client, uh, uh, say 70 years old and, you know, she has, has some money, but she doesn't want to see it all burn up.

Long term care expenses. Can you do something for her? Um, and those are the people that, uh, that generally need my, need help with, completing their clients, portfolios. 

[00:04:45] Target Audience and Referral Partners

So you have estate planners, financial planners, and like home caregivers, right? Home care givers, nursing home people, uh, you know, the thing is, Alan, it's the person going into care.

Um, and there are, there are [00:05:00] financial instruments, instruments that we can create that will help them if they're going into care. But really the people who are the real target audience are the adult children of the people going into care. Um, they've got their own children, they see what the cost of care is.

And, uh, they're the ones who are really the target. They have, they have all the options available to them. Their parents who are, need home care, um, their options are limited. So really the 40 to 50, 65 year old, um, people who are, who have adult. Who are aging parents are the ones who are most likely to say, hey, look, I need some help here.

And the financial planners and the caregiver institutions are the ones who would say, yeah, this is the guy you need to talk to. Right. So when, um, an estate planner, financial planner, they're talking with those people, right? So like when those, those conversations [00:06:00] come up. They would think of you. That's the point.

And you know, our, all of our, um, branding efforts, um, since we moved to California four and a half years ago, is to, um, is to promote ourselves as, uh, as experts in the long-term care financing field. But I'll tell you the truth, Alan, I'm, yeah, I know a lot about it, but I'm really a student. Um, 'cause I learn every day, uh, about, uh, how the instruments work and what people's needs are.

And, um, and my focus is learning as much as I can to help my clients and my referral partners provide their clients with quality services. Great, great. 

[00:06:38] Importance of Early Planning

So, um, when, when we're talking with, um, like I said, like, uh, I'm learning about Long term care insurance and, and how it fits into everything, but, um, what are some of the words or phrases or conditions, uh, that come up in, like, the course of conversation with [00:07:00] somebody that would, uh, trigger the need for your services?

What do people say, like, at a partnership? You know, if they're talking within family or at a party or something, not to break up the party, but... Well, you know, it's interesting that we've just come off of a Thanksgiving holiday where families spent a lot of time together. Um, and there are aging parents who are part of those gatherings.

And, what comes up on those conversations is, you know, what's your plan, mom, when you get older, when you need help? Um, do you have the legal documents in place? Um, those conversations are difficult to have, and they're difficult to get started. And there, there are a lot of tools that you can use to get those conversations going.

Uh, but I've already had a couple of conversations this morning with people who've come out of the family gatherings and says, Hey, um, my mom wasn't able to be with us for a year. The Thanksgiving dinner because she was in a nursing care and we're all talking about how much that costs. And you know, [00:08:00] what can we do about that?

We don't want that to put that same kind of burden on our Children. would you say that, like, with this sandwich generation, you have elder parents, but then you also have to worry about, uh, your own kids? Um, the, the kind of conversations that are, that are made, like, let's take my family where, like, my mom's 80.

 I'm having that conversation with my brother, let's say, like, you know, how are we going to best help her, um, or what is she going to need? Because there's, like, she's healthy at 80, but when she's older, like, there's, there's obviously, a decline in, in mobility and things like that. At what point does a family have to say, like, this is when this is, needs to kick in when, you know, what's the planning process for a family, let's say, so that they're ready when that.

Time happens. Well, [00:09:00] there's a lot of things that go into that, Alan. You know, what I encourage my clients to do when we've completed the process and, you know, I, I, whenever we do a transaction for a long term care insurance, one of my requirements is that they, that their legal documents be in place. Um, they, the legal, the, uh, the will of course is necessary, trust documents are necessary.

Um, who's the power of attorney for medical, who's the power of attorney for finances? Um, those things are really, really important. Um, and, um, and I, I encourage and, you know, insist that my clients have those documents in place when we complete the transactions for a long term care insurance policy. So yeah, that's, that's super important.

The power of attorney and the health, um, uh, documents for that. do you... You know what else goes into that, Alan? Yeah, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I didn't finish that. I took a breath and, um, forgot that I had another part to it. The other part really is to, um, your mom's 80 years old. [00:10:00] Um, does she have, uh, has she done any work to determine who would be a good service to have?

If she needs home care, um, you know, there's a whole bunch of them out there, um, but doing some of that preliminary work and being able to, it's hard to deal with a crisis when you're in one, um, and having the knowledge of, you know, what a good home care agency is, um, how much do they cost, um, what is the, uh, the, the average age of the, and the experience of the caregiver who's going to be visiting the home, you know, that's, that's step one.

Thank you. Step two is, okay, we've got the nursing home, we've got the home care thing nailed down, we know the agency that we want to use if that becomes the case. Um, when that's over, because the next logical step obviously is assistant living. Um, our full nursing home care, um, I, you know, I encourage my client and give them names of, um, of agencies that can show them around, um, on video if they prefer, or [00:11:00] in person.

What do these places look like? Um, you know, are they, are they clean, are they well staffed, are they, do we have specialty nursing function available to them, are the doctors available, you know, those kind of Right. details, they're hard to deal with. As much like when you write a will and you trust who's going to be the trustee for your children.

Well, okay, that's, that slows people down in getting those documents done because those are hard decisions. Um, who's going to be the power of attorney for finances? Again, a hard decision. Who do you trust? Who's going to take care of that? Um, and, and all of those things are really part of the whole planning for aging process.

Well, it sounds like, you know, there is a lot to go. So like somebody would talk to you and get those details. Like, you know, you know, my details and my family are going to be different than somebody else. I'm sure there's a lot of commonalities. you know, a lot of times it's like the family takes care of the elderly parent and, [00:12:00] uh, but with, with like some, home healthcare providers or nursing as well, it is like something like that as well.

Is there like a hybrid or is there different ways that that your insurance could could offset costs that you're obviously going to have? Um, no matter what, right? 

[00:12:18] Understanding the Cost of Care

Yeah, well, you know, that's a good point you bring up, is what's the cost of care? Um, the cost of care, it starts out with a couple of hours a day for a home care agency to come in.

You know, so maybe it's 40 an hour for a couple of hours a day. And, you know, so maybe you're talking 1, 000 a month, maybe 2, 000 a month. But when that progresses... And you get into, um, assisted living and nursing home care. Um, now you're talking, it's real money. You're talking 100, 000 a year. You know, 10, 000, 12, 000 a month.

24, 724 home care for somebody. I don't know, these numbers just, they're unbelievable. But we're talking over 20, 000 a [00:13:00] month. For a 7. 24 care at home. Um, that's when you take the 40 an hour and you just do the math. It gets very, very expensive. And how do you deal with where does that money come from? Well, you know, that's the kind of problem that we solve with, you know, at essential plans.

Okay, so let's, let's back it up then. So, at what point should a family, at what age, in the, in like, say, the, the, the parents health, or the parents age, should people start looking at long term care health insurance in order to, because you're going to get a, like, a lower premium, right? Yeah, when, when you talk about insurance, this is like health insurance.

Um, age and health status are the most critical factors. Uh, the younger you are, the um, two things. One, the lower the cost, and number two, the less likely that you're going to have a disease that's going to cause an insurance company to say, uh, we don't want to take this risk. Um, because that's really what it is.

It's a risk sharing with an insurance company. [00:14:00] Um, so the younger people are, uh, my clients generally, my oldest client is 73 years old. My youngest is 36. Um, and, and they're all in between. Um, most often the people who, um, who are referred to me are in their 50s or their 60s. And um, you know, they're, they've had the parent and care issue.

They've got their own children and, uh, they want to do something about, um, making sure that their parents, their children, number one, aren't burdened with the responsibility. And number two, that they've earned and saved through the lifetime of work goes for its intended purpose, not for long term care expenses.

Thanks so much. Right. So, um, so can you explain that, that conversation or that planning a little bit with, with, with a family, um, you know, say that they're, they're, I don't know, like a typical scenario for you. Can you kind of like paint a picture of what might be a typical scenario for you? [00:15:00] Well, sure.

It's like I had a phone call on Friday with a Uh, she, 53 year old woman who's, uh, um, who, whose mother was in care and she had her own children and she was interested and in, uh, in getting some financial coverage for herself. And I said, well, you know, what about your husband? Well, no, he's not really interested at this time, which obviously said, wait a minute, he is not interested.

He doesn't love his family. Um, but I don't get into that part. And I say, okay, if that's the way it is, then we'll go with it. Um. Well, you know, that's a good question. There really is no typical. There's really about six different, if I have to call them, pigeonholes, where people, when they're referred to me.

Um, the adult children, the aging parents, of course, with their own children, we've talked about them. Uh, the single women... Um, with, it was, um, Mering or adult children. Um, they're [00:16:00] very interested. They don't want their sons having to give them a bath. Okay, they want to be able to pay a professional to do that.

Um, uh, men with younger wives, um, when younger, we're talking, you know, 10 years younger, uh, than they are, uh, they recognize that if they need long term care, the assets they've saved are going to be used up, be used up for their care and not go to take care of their spouse. Um, so that's the second category.

well, uh, One thing that's really interesting, a recent client was a 73 year old woman who had, um, considerable assets. We're talking, you know, the 10 million range. And, um, she was referred to me by a, friend of hers who was also a property casualty agent. Thank you. And I said, uh, Norma, that wasn't her name, but, Norma, you've got the money to pay for this, why, why would you be interested in [00:17:00] a long term care policy?

She says, because I want to be sure that, that, that I, that gets taken care of without burdening anybody else. I didn't get this money by being careless or casual about things. Um, and, and having a long term care insurance policy makes sure and guarantees. That the money I have is going to go for the purpose I have.

She had no children, but she had a couple of charities. Um, and she already made sure that the charities were going to get all the money that she had. Accumulated in her lifetime, and the long term care policy was going to assure that she was going to get, the money was going to go for its intended purpose.

So in those scenarios, are you developing, like, a plan, like, for different contingencies? How does the actual policy look for a family, and can you change it, you know? Yeah, well, you know, the first thing I ask, I make [00:18:00] sure that people understand that we're going to make this affordable, you know, I get a lot of people say, Oh, it costs too much.

Oh, the rates are going to go up. And, you know, or I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm too thin, I'm too fat. I get people have lots of reasons and excuses for not wanting to engage. But when they come to me, I know that they have an interest. They whoever was that made the referral, had a good reason for doing that.

Um, And once we've determined, okay, we're going to determine affordability, and that requires that, okay, I got to know about what you got for money, you know, what do you have in the bank, or what is, what's locked up in IRAs and 401ks, um, what's liquid, understanding their financial circumstances. Um, is really important in building a plan.

Um, uh, before that even is determining their eligibility. And, I mean, this is insurance and you have to qualify. Uh, so we go through, okay, what kind of drugs are you taking? Why are you taking these drugs? Have you had any medical experiences in the [00:19:00] last 10 years that the insurance company is going to want to know about?

Um, and we take that medical information and we submit it anonymously to appropriate insurance company to get a pre approval. Why do we bother going through that? Because once an insurance company declines an application, that information ends up in this quiet little organization that sits out there called the Medical Information Bureau.

And the MIB collects, you go to the doctor, he writes down some notes, that information ends up in the Medical Information Bureau. You get a prescription, that ends up in the MIB. You get declined for insurance. That ends up in the MIB. And if somewhere down the road you want to secure another financial transaction, that declination of insurance is in there, which could be a problem with whatever the transaction is.

So, you know, we determine finances, we determine the health status, and make sure that at least on the basis [00:20:00] of the information they've given me, that they're going to be able to be qualified for care. Um, so the next, the next thing really is, okay, now let's look at your different options for, for, uh, for coverage, uh, because there's, you know, four different really, four different categories of insurance plans that can help people out with the expense.

[00:20:22] Different Types of Insurance Plans

Uh, the first one is the traditional style contract, which is like your home insurance, your car insurance. Once you've, uh, uh, you don't generally get any money back on those policies. Um, but if you had an accident or a house burned down, your insurance company is going to pay for it. So the traditional policies are you're going to get coverage and if you never use it, well, thank you very much.

Your money is going to be used to cover somebody else's care. Um, and then there's that, what's very popular these days is the so called hybrid contracts. The hybrid contracts are really a long term care rider on a life insurance policy. [00:21:00] What attracts people to those contracts is it pays off no matter what.

Um, if you need long term care, it covers those expenses. If you croak and never use a long term care, it's going to pay off like a life insurance policy. And if you say, hey, insurance company, I bought this 15 years ago, um, everything's changed, I don't need it anymore, and they'll give you your money back, you know, and some of it or all of it, um, and so people are really attracted to that.

Um, another style contract is a home only policy. Generally, the home only policies are for those who really don't... qualify or have some medical condition that makes getting a real policy difficult. A home only contract will cover home expenses. Um, if you go into an assisted living or nursing home care, you know, all bets are off.

Thank you for your premium. Um, but there's no coverage for that, but it will cover, cover for home care. Um, and then there are annuities. Um, that have what they call multipliers built into them. [00:22:00] Um, again, these are for people who have difficulty getting a hybrid or a traditional policy. Um, and the way that these annuities work is that, you know, it's a lump sum of single premium that goes into it, and if, you know, five years from now, it wouldn't normally pay out, let's say, you know, 10, 000 a month.

The multiplier would pay 20, 000 a month. And you can use that for long term care, uh, once you've been certified as needing long term care. So there's a lot, a whole range of, uh, uh, financial products. Insurance companies, you know, they've been in the business a long time. Um, if, if there's a, a need out there for something, they will find a way to, to insure it.

Um, that's a great breakdown of those, um, types, those categories. 

[00:22:45] Understanding Tax Benefits

Um, what intrigues me is, um, or you might have to... Talk to me like I'm a five year old is how did the taxes play into this? Um, I, I, I know we had talked about [00:23:00] this before and you were, we were talking about taxes, but I didn't really understand how taxes for the, the client.

Okay. That's a great question. I'm glad you brought that up because that's one of my favorite subjects. Um, but first of all, when, um, the HIPAA Act was passed in the late nineties, It included a provision for long term care, um, long term care, tax qualified long term care policies, um, has some standardization within the tax code, um, you have to suffer at least two activities a day, loss of two activities of daily living, um, and it has to have inflation built into the, into the benefit, 

 Okay, so the HIPAA Act built in qualifies every insurance policy have to have to be tax qualified. What it means to be tax qualified is the premium is deductible. Um, but it depends on, um, what your tax status is. If you're [00:24:00] filing, filing as an individual and you do long form, you can deduct the premium, but it's part of the 7.

5 percent adjusted gross income for medical expenses. Medical expenses for premium or out of pocket expenses and long term care premiums. So do you have to exceed that 7. 5 percent before you can deduct? That's right. You know, that, that, it, it, it, those, those, all those expenses built into the seven and a half percent, um, and however, um, almost, well, I would say 85, 80%, 90 percent of the people I work with have a LLC or they're self employed, or maybe they're, they're a part owner of a company, or maybe they're a sole proprietor, or they're a C corporation, or an S corporation, whatever it is, those types of designations allow for full deductible, um, That's the deduction of the premium, um, and in most cases, uh, there's some, you know, tax codes are very complicated and there are provisions in there that, uh, [00:25:00] that you have to make sure are qualified for the tax deduction, but most of the, most of the premium for the long term care expense premium is deductible, uh, through a business entity.

Um, now the, when the benefit comes out, benefit comes out. This comes out tax free, um, so let me see if I get this right. I can buy a long term care policy, I get a tax deduction for it, so I put in, you know, I don't know, 10, 000 a year, um, I'll get 500, 000 worth of long term care coverage, and that's all tax, tax free, uh, so what's the underlying message here is the government, the federal government, and state governments now are very interested in people who Building their own personal safety net and they provide incentives through the tax code to get people to do that.

Great. That's great. I understand it now. Thank you. Okay. 

[00:25:56] The Role of Referral Partners

Um, I think we covered a lot, [00:26:00] right? Um, is there anything I'm forgetting? 

 You know, one of the frustrating parts of this long term care industry is getting people to be aware. of the cost of aging. Um, you know, people are busy with their lives. They got a business they're running. They've grown a family. They're still educating themselves.

Um, they've got, uh, a lot of expenses and, you know, if you've got growing children, you're looking at college expenses, get in to say, okay, look, you know, I've got to think about what it's going to be 30 years from now. That's a hard, hard to get people to do that. And that's where my referral partners, um, are, uh, where I can help them out is because if somebody comes to an estate plan or is ready to do an estate plan, they're ready.

Okay, they know that they've got a plan for the future. Um, the people who are providing  care services, whether [00:27:00] it's home care or assisted living, um, they get an adult child coming in and says, Okay, here's my mom and what's this going to cost? They're ready. They're ready to receive the message. And that's why my referral partners are so important.

So let's put that in reverse with referral partners is that, how do you help the estate? Attorney, the financial advisor. I'm sure that you give them leads as well, right? I don't think whenever they come across him now, I do a lot of marketing now, social media wise and network meetings and so on.

And, um, I'm always looking for, uh, um, I've been trying real hard and I've tried all of this year to be a connector. and you know, I guess the first couple of years I was here, I was just trying to get to know, get to know people, um, and I didn't know anybody that I could refer to. But, you know, after four years, after, you know, two years on a flat screen and two years on the road and in the network [00:28:00] meetings, I'm finally getting to the point where I can provide referrals to the people who are referring to me.

And I've known for a long time that not a get, you've got to give. Um, and are you seeing a difference, and do you, like, if you, if you say you have a referral for. Whatever, uh, category of business professional, you know, I'm talking about estate planners, you're, you're, you're somebody you can refer to. It could be, um, another insurance company, right?

Um, but do you look at all of those referrals as the same, or if you know them, do you see certain specialties that, that you would, that, so this attorney would be better than that attorney for this client? Um, yeah, of course, I try to, you know, when I'm dealing with somebody who needs an estate plan, um, I try to get a sense as to, you know, who they are.

I mean, I always, to the extent that it's possible, I try to [00:29:00] meet all of my clients in person. Um, I know we've got, um, Zoom meetings and we do a lot of transactions that way, uh, by getting to know people, uh, face to face. it makes the referral to the state attorney, whoever it may be, much more valid because I'll know something about them and say, this is going to fit in good for you, Kevin, or this is going to fit in good for you, George.

 you know, try to make it a sense. I, you know, I, I did have a, uh, a psychology course in college. Um, but I'm not all that good at it, but I do my best. Well, well, I, I didn't take any psychology classes, but an amount of. relationship building, networking that I've done, I've noticed that, that no two professionals in the same category offer the exact same service.

[00:29:44] Understanding the Diversity in Professional Services

You know, not all bankers, not all banks are the same. And, um, uh, you know, even photographers, videographers, they have specialties, they have, um, you know, kind of personalities too, that might work better for one than the other. that's [00:30:00] why in our, in our network, we don't have like a limit on. Any kind of category.

It's, it's, it's based on, um, you know, their, their service, their professionalism, things like that. And, and, uh, that's how we grow our network. 

[00:30:15] The Importance of Referrals and Building a Network

But, I just, I just wasn't wanting to get your, your take on that, um, kind of differentiation among referral partners. Um, You know, what's Brenda? 

[00:30:27] The Role of Trust in Referrals

I'm, and I know you, this is important too, is, you know, if I'm making a referral, I, I wanna make sure that, that, that that person I'm referring, uh, a client I'm referring to, or an estate planner or a financial planner, or a property casualty guy, or whoever it may be, that, that that person I'm referring is gonna do a good job.

Um, and you know, I, so, you know, I've got a handful of, of, uh, estate planners and financial planners. 

[00:30:54] The Value of Personal Connection in Referrals

There are service agencies and so on, um, but I, and I know them because and, and I [00:31:00] make a point of, you know, having a cup of coffee with them, a meal, maybe a cocktail, whatever, to get to know them. So when I refer, um, a client to them, um, I have a, a, a strong sense that it's going to be done right.

[00:31:13] The Role of Our Network in Facilitating Connections

And, and just so you know, like, you know, we're, uh, before you have that coffee meeting with them, any referrals or introductions that come from us, we actually send them the clips of your interviews with me, the video, this podcast, so that they can get, um, an understanding of you, so you're, they're, they're, they have more information about you, so your meeting is more productive, that's, that's part of our service, so, you know, hopefully we can save you time there.

We can do the same for you. Yeah. And, and vice versa. 

[00:31:42] The Importance of Research in Building Connections

Like, like, like, um, you know, our, our website, uh, is, is growing list of a knowledge base of all our, the professionals. And, um, uh, it'll save you time. checking out that website, um, is, is, um, I've done that before you meet with 'em. Oh, good, good. So,[00:32:00] 

Yeah, I'm glad. 

[00:32:01] Wrapping Up the Discussion on Referrals

I think... We've, we've, we've covered a lot. I, I think people have enough information and, we'll show them how to reach out to you. Your website has a lot of good information and videos and, testimonials about your services.

[00:32:15] The Importance of Personal Contact in Business

Um, but I think, you know, they, they need to call you, right? They need to really talk with you and, bare their souls. yeah, they do, actually. 

[00:32:24] The Growing Importance of Personal Safety Nets

Um, you know, one other point, too, that you might want to put on here is that, uh, I touched on HIPAA and the, what the federal government and state governments are doing to try to encourage people to build their own personal safety net.

Um, that, that's, uh, that initiative is becoming very strong on a state level. 

[00:32:44] The Role of Government in Encouraging Personal Safety Nets

 a couple of years ago, the state of Washington passed a payroll tax. Um, that was, requires any W 2 employee to put 5. 85 percent of their income, um, into a fund that will help pay for some of [00:33:00] their long term care expenses. When the time comes, California is on the verge of introducing legislation to do the same thing, somewhat different than what Washington State did.

Um, the good news is that California learned from the mistakes of Washington and, uh, come January, there'll be a bill introduced that will do essentially the same thing. It's going to apply a payroll tax. Um, for, uh, every W 2 or K 1, employee, uh, to pay into, into this long term care fund. There will be exemptions.

You'll be able to opt out, um, if you're a low earner. You'll be able to opt out if your income is over 400, 000. And you'll be able to opt out, um, if you already own a long term care policy. Um, again, there's an incentive here to encourage people to take care of themselves. But this is being driven by the fact that, um, well, in California, in six and a half years, in 2030, eleven and a half million people in California [00:34:00] will be over 65 years old.

What is Medi Cal going to do with all of these people? They're already broke, um, and now we're going to have an influx of people who don't take care of themselves, don't have a long term care policy, and come into the state to fund for their long term care expenses. Um, and so I'm, my expectation is after the first of the year, once the media gets hold of the fact that there's another tax being applied for in California, um, with an opt out option if they're on their own policy.

[00:34:33] The Implications of Relying on State Services

Um, that that's going to have a real incentive, create a lot of incentive for people to take care of themselves and not rely on the state, because what's the state services going to be? If you say, okay, well, I don't care about that. I'll let the state take care of it. Well, remember, the state is going to be the provider of services.

And they're going to tell you where you get your care. You need physical therapy, you may have to go to Hemet for physical [00:35:00] therapy. Or you may have to go to, I don't know, I don't know my way around California. You may have to go to San Diego for particular services or somewhere else. People who are going to rely on the state to take care of these services, I think, are going to be disappointed.

[00:35:17] The Role of Insurance in Providing a Better Alternative

So, you, your, your insurance really has nothing to do with that. You're like the better alternative to, to that, uh, type of client, right? We'll be, we'll be the alternative to relying on the state for your medical care when you get older, yeah. Okay. But you obviously know the, um, what's down the, down the road and we can reach out to you as, as...

These laws take effect and these taxes come into effect. 

[00:35:48] The Importance of Branding and Staying Informed

Well, that's that's what I've been branding myself as somebody who can help with those problems since I got here four years ago, and I thought it was [00:36:00] going to take five years to be able to establish that brand, but you know, it's happening. It's beginning to happen now.

[00:36:09] The Role of Free Consulting and Special Offers

Do you offer any free consulting or special offers if people want more information about how to work with you? The, um, sure. Everything that I, I say is free to the consumer. 

[00:36:22] The Importance of Education in Insurance

Um, 90 percent of what I do is educated. Um, how do I get paid? Insurance companies pay a commission. When somebody buys an insurance policy, um, and that's where the, if there's a source of income there, where it comes from.

Um, now that said, when I left Massachusetts, it was after 25 years of building a successful agency back there. And God bless those people. I've got some 20 year employees and they run the agency quite well. When I told them I was going to be moving to California, they said, you know, not bad, Jim. Good.

Cause I think the place runs better without you. Uh, we'll call you when we [00:37:00] need you and we'll send you money. Um, so when I talk to people about, uh, long term care insurance, it's not because there's a commission behind it. 

[00:37:07] The Role of Insurance in Family Protection

It's because I really believe that this is an essential tool for the well being of families.

Okay. 

[00:37:13] The Importance of Preparation in Insurance Discussions

And like, um, do you have, do you have any like checklists or reference guides that might help people in preparing to talk with you or, you know, you know, anything to guide them as maybe even in a conversation with a family member? We have, um, we've made up, um, and keep updating it. I want to say it's a one page, uh, frequently asked questions document, but it's turned into three pages now.

Um, so whenever I talk to anybody, uh, on the first, first basis, we do two things. One, we, we show them that the, uh, we provide them with that, uh, frequently asked question sheet, which goes into all the things that we've talked about here, Alan. Um, and then we also show them the chart that what the cost of care is in a given setting for every given zip code.[00:38:00] 

Okay. 

[00:38:01] Wrapping Up the Discussion on Insurance

Well, I want to thank you for your time today. Look forward to working with you as a Power Partner USA member, introducing you to, uh, Art Network and, and promoting you Outsider Network. No, I really enjoy this. There's nothing like better than, than talking about this stuff, Alan. You know, it's, it's age appropriate for me.

Um, number one and number two, , really because of my family experience and, and because I'm, I'm, I know what the value of insurance is.

[00:38:29] The Role of Insurance in Lifestyle and Family Protection[00:38:29] The Personal Impact of Insurance

It's about lifestyle. It's about family protection and it's about wellbeing. That's what drives me. I agree. Thank you. I agree. Um, yeah, thank you for that.

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