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Long Term Care Deposit Products vs. Traditional Long Term Care

Traditional LTC

Long Term Care insurance provides needed Protection against the costs of home health care, Skilled Nursing care and institutional care. While there are a number of reasons to purchase a Long Term Care Policy, one of the most important is to protect hard earned assets. If some form of care is needed, the LTC policy will help to cover the additional expense associates with that care and alleviate the need to spend assets in order to cover the cost. Read more

When it comes to generating guaranteed income, Security Benefit has had the highest paying deferred income product on the market for two years with the Secure Income Annuity. The Secure Income annuity has simply provided the highest payout to clients looking for future income.

With the release of their new product called the “Total Value Annuity” they are taking a different approach. While the Secure income annuity provided the highest income payout, it did not offer any additional features that someone may be looking for. So how does the new “Total Value Annuity” stack up with the “Secure Income Annuity”? Here is a review Read more

Medicare charges premiums for various benefits.  In most years, the premiums are increased. The attached document provides the premiums for Part A of Medicare (most people do not need to pay a Part A premium),  Medicare part B premium (Most people do pay Part B premium unless they receive drug or copay help from the state) and the Medicare part D drug base premium. Read more

The original Medicare A and B benefits are updated every January.  The benefits do not change drastically from year to year but they usually increase slightly . The changes are made areas such as the Medicare Part A Inpatient Hospital Deductible, daily skilled nursing home copy, annual Medicare part B deductible, etc….. Read more

We work with annuity clients every day and we see the same mistakes made over and over.  Here is a quick list of the more common mistakes made that you should avoid.

Buying an annuity based on the company’s name- This is the biggest mistake I see made the most often.  Buying an annuity simply because you know the company name is a sure fire way to ensure that you are buying a product that is not competitive.  Look at the payouts when buying an annuity instead of just trusting that a big name company is going to be offering you a good deal. Most often,  it is the big name companies that are relying on that big name and are not looking to be best in class. They know they name will bring in customers so there is no need to be making a great offer. Read more

What is the best annuity?  The answer is that there is not a best annuity for every situation.  The trick is to find out the best one for whatever you are trying to accomplish.

Companies compete bitterly with each other in the annuity market.   They are always trying to come up with an annuity product that will be the next big seller.  While they want market share, they are never willing to offer a product that is the best in every category.  Instead, they will pick one area within a product and try to be the best in that space. Read more

Annuities are often used to generate lifetime income streams for retirees.   SPIA’s and Income Riders are the two main ways to accomplish a lifetime income stream for a single person or for a couple.  Here I will explain how both work and the positives and negatives of each.

SPIA- (Single Premium Immediate Annuity)   A SPIA is one of the oldest types of annuities and are used exclusively as a tool to generate a lifetime income stream.  The concept is simple: The annuitant gives an amount of money to the insurance company and in return, the insurance company provides the annuitant with a lifetime income stream that they can not outlive. Read more

United Healthcare offers multiple types of Medicare Advantage plans throughout the US.  Some of these plans are under the United Healthcare name while other are under the United name with AARP branding.

The AARP name is usually added to the United RPPO Medicare advantage plan.  This plan is an in and out of network plan.  If you stay in network (use United doctors and hospitals) there is a copay schedule.  If you see a non participating doctor or hospital, you will pay a cost share such as 30%.  This plan offers  a bit more flexibility than an HMO plan does as the HMO does not allow you to go out of network. Read more

One of the biggest points of confusion for seniors seems to be making a decision between a Medicare Advantage Plan and Medicare Supplement Plan. I receive phone calls on a daily basis from people either turning 65, moving from an employer plan to Medicare or just trying to decide what to do for the Medicare Annual Election period. Often they are confused and feel overwhelmed by the amount of information and plan choices available.

The reality is that it is actually very easy to learn enough to make an educated decision. This article is going to point out the basic differences between the plans and point out the strengths and weaknesses of each. With this info, anyone will be on their way to having enough information to make a confident decision on the best plan for them. (This Article is for people in Connecticut and NY- I will write one for other states in the next few days) Read more

A number of our clients want to know how a Medicare Advantage plan works and how it is different from Medicare A and B and/or a Medicare Supplement plan.  The fact is that Medicare Advantage plans are very different from standard Medicare A and B and a Supplement. Read more