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Getting a Medicare Supplement plan is difficult for someone on  under age 65 that is medicare eligible due disability.  Most of the supplement plans available are only offered to those on Medicare at age 65 and older.   Although the options are limited there are still some good choices.

If you are on Medicare A and B and under the age of 65 you can still obtain an Anthem Plan A supplement for about $190.00 a month.  The plan covers basic benefits and the 20% part B coinsurance.  It does not cover the hospital deductible however. Even without the Part A hospital deductible covered, this is a legitimate plan offering strong coverage.

United/AARP will offer plans to those under age 65 as well but only down to age 50. For those on Medicare age 50 to age 64, AARP will offer plan A, B and C.   Plan A has the exact same benefits as the Anthem plan A discussed above.  Plan B covers the same thing as plan A supplement but also will cover the Hospital Part A deductible.  Plan C covers Basic benefits, 20% coinsurance, Part A and B deductibles and skilled nursing facility.  With the extra coverage comes additional cost as plan C with AARP costs over $230.00 a month

For an Anthem BCBS Plan A supplement summary of benefits click here

For an Anthem BCBS Plan A supplement Application, click here

For an AARP Plan A-C application click here

For an AARP plan A-C summary of benefits click here

Applications may be printed out and sent into Anthem or United HealthCare directly or they may be sent to Crowe & Associates for processing. Crowe & Associates will review applications to ensure they are complete prior to submission to United HealthCare. Applications can be sent to Crowe & Associates by the following methods

Fax- (203)-567-6235

Email- Edward@CroweandAssociates.com

Mail- Crowe & Associates, 155 Main Street, Suite 205 Danbury, CT 06810

Additonal questions may be emailed to Edward Crowe at Edward@CroweandAssociates.com or by phone at (203)-796-5403

With the decline of private pension plans and worries about the future of social security, retirement planning is more important than ever.  Many people make a commitment to save money in order to supplement Social Security and maintain our lifestyle when the time comes to retire.   We also spend a great deal of time trying to figure out the best investment approach available.

Unfortunately, most people have no idea how much they actually need to save.  A recent study in CNN Money showed that, of those saving for retirement, only 10% had assessed the amount they need to save.  The general concensus is to put away 6% to 8% percent of earnings every year but this really does nothing to address each persons unique situation. We also tend to ignore the substantial effects inflation will have on future income.

We utilizes a software program called IMAX that provides clients with a picture of how much they need to save for a comfortable retirement.  The program takes all current variable into consideration such as inflation rate, future social security payments and COLA increases, investment return, taxes, future living expenses, ect. in order to paint a picture of your savings needs.  IMAX will provides a detailed report on your current situation and will show if adjustments are needed going forward.  Using the program you can also see the effect that changes to current strategies will have on future results. 

Please contact us if you would like to have a personal profile completed.  There is no cost for this service and it will provide real, tangible information that can be used for current and future retirement planning.

A sample profile is attached here for review

Those who have qualified retirement accounts (An IRA, 401K, or other account that has never been taxed) will need to start paying Required Minimum Distributions (RMD’s) at age 70.5.   RMD’s specify that you must take annual distributions from your qualified accounts every year.  Failure to do so will result in substantial IRS tax penalties.  

For a updated RMD calculator click here

The RMD is based on a table that determines what percentage in a given year needs to be paid.  The percentage amount increase with age.  Roughly, a person who is 70.5 will need to take about 3.7% while a person who is 80 will need to take approximately 5.6%.  

Many people are taking money out of the qualified accounts every year for income which meets the RMD requirement on an annual basis.  This does not pose a problem for them but it does for people that are trying to preserve a qualified account in order to pass it on to heirs.   For them, the annual RMD reduces the amount in the account which reduces the amount they will pass on.   If they can achieve annual account growth in the market to off set the distribution, the account will be preserved but how many investors have been earning over 4 % every year with their investments?

Two companies have products that specifically address this problem.  Annexus (Aviva) and Security Benefit have both come out with annuities with RMD friendly death benefit riders.  These products will provide a minimum guaranteed growth on the account as a death benefit regardless of actual account growth.  In other words, the actual account value may be going down every year but when the owner dies, the death benefit payout will reflect a minimum growth of 4% per year. Both companies currently offer a 4% growth minimum. 

They both also offer a feature that allows any account value gains to be stacked on top of the 4% growth.  For example, if the Annexus product earns 3% interest in a year, the 3% is added to the minimum 4% death benefit growth for a 7% interest rate that year.  The accumulation accounts can never product less than a 0% return in any given year which means the death benefit will never grown less than 4%

Both products will work well to preserve qualified assets for those looking to pass them on.  The Security Benefit Product currently has a 10% bonus which gives it a small edge however.

Click here for illustrated example of a 70 year old with $100,000

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

Income- The Total Value annuity provides a 10% bonus on premium and then will roll up income payments at a guaraneed minimum of 4% compound per year.  The payouts in year 1 are comparable to those provided by the Secure Income annuity in the fist year. (The older Secure Income Annuity starts to payout substantially more as you defer income for multiple years however)  It also provides the potential for higher payouts by using a stacking feature.  This feature allows any market based gains to be added on top of the 4% minimum in any given year.

Which is better?- The older “Secure Income Annuity” simply offers guarantees that the new product can not match.  While the new version gives potential for greater income gains, it can not guarantee them for income planning purposes. The “Secure Income Annuity” clearly wins when it comes to income.

Death Benefit– The old Secure Income product only guaranteed the account value as a DB.  The new product provides a 10% bonus and a guaranteed DB roll up of 4% compound to the payout per year.  It also allows for any gains to be stacked on top of the 4% minimum. This option will be very appealing to those who want to leave as much qualified money as possible to heirs without the Required Minimum Distributions eating away at the account balance.  This provides a substantial guaranteed Death Benefit and is a huge advantage over the old product.

Which is better?- New product is a huge improvement over the old product and offers one of the best Death Benefit options available

Potential for Account Value Gain- The Total Value Annuity offers the same accumulation accounts as the old product with an annual point to point account capped at 3% per year and a fixed account at 1.25% per year.   The big difference is in the ALTVI account.  The TVI (Called the Trader Vick) is a diversified futures account created by RBS.  The account is run on a 5 year point to point with 100% of gains credited to the accumulation value after 5 years.  In normal english, you put money in year 1 and then at the end of year 5 you get any interest gains.

This allows for much greater growth potential than can be achieved with the conventional fixed indexed annuity.  The gains are also stacked on top of the guaranteed 4% annual growth of the death benefit rider or income rider if they are chosen.

Which is better?-The new product clearly offers big advantages with accumulation growth.

Vantis Life offers a 100% guaranteed issue life insurance plan with the lowest rates available in CT. The plan is 100% guaranteed issue with no health questions or verification phone calls. Anyone will be accepted in this plan regardless of all health conditions.

The plan will also build a cash value which can be borrowed against in future years. Premiums will never increase and the policy can not be cancelled as long as payments are made. Issue ages in CT are 50 to 80 years old with coverage amounts from $5,000 to $20,000 dollars.

Vantis was founded in 1942 and is currently rated A-(Excellent) from A.M. Best. They offer the Guaranteed Golden Plan in 45 states throughout the country.

Rates and applications may be accessed below

vantis rates CT

Vantis Application CT

Applications may be printed out and sent into Vantis directly or they may be sent to Crowe & Associates for processing. Crowe & Associates will review applications to ensure they are complete prior to submission to Vantis. Applications can be sent to Crowe & Associates by the following methods

Fax- (203)-567-6235

Email- Edward@Croweandassociates.com

Mail- Crowe & Associates, 155 Main Street, Suite 205 Danbury, CT 06810

Additonal questions may be emailed to Edward Crowe at Edward@CroweandAssociates.com or by phone at (203)-796-5403

Vantis Life offers a 100% guaranteed issue life insurance plan with the lowest rates available in NY.  The plan is 100% guaranteed issue with no health questions or verification phone calls.   Anyone will be accepted in this plan regardless of all health conditions.

The plan will also build a cash value which can be borrowed against in future years.  Premiums will never increase and the policy can not be cancelled as long as payments are made.  Issue ages in NY are 50 to 75 years old with coverage amounts from $5,000 to $20,000 dollars.

Vantis was founded in 1942 and is currently rated A-(Excellent) from A.M. Best.  They offer the Guaranteed Golden Plan in 45 states throughout the country.

Rates and applications may be accessed below

Vantis GG rates NY

Vantis Application NY

 Applications may be printed out and sent into Vantis directly or they may be sent to Crowe & Associates for processing. Crowe & Associates will review applications to ensure they are complete prior to submission to Vantis.  Applications can be sent to Crowe & Associates by the following methods

Fax- (203)-567-6235

Email- Edward@Croweandassociates.com

Mail- Crowe & Associates, 155 Main Street, Suite 205 Danbury, CT 06810

Additonal questions may be emailed to Edward Crowe at Edward@CroweandAssociates.com or by phone at (203)-796-5403

AARP Medicare Supplment Plans had very low rate increases from 2011 to 2012.  As a result, they offers the lowest rates for most supplement plans in Connecticut and New York.  Here is a quick review of the most competative plans offered and the options Medicare Beneficiaries are choosing for 2012.

• Connecticut
• AARP Plan F Supplement-  Plan F has a 2012 premium of $216.50 ($214.50 after Bank Draft ) this represents the lowest cost plan F available in the state of Connecticut.  Plan F is the most comprehensive supplement covering the most services of any of the options.
• AARP Plan N supplement-  Plan N has been on the market for 2 years $154.75 and has quickly become the most popular supplement choice.  The plan covers the same services as plan F with 4 notable exceptions which are (Part B Medicare deductible, Part B excess, $50 charge for ER and $20 charge for doctor office visits)
• Plan K supplement– Plan K was brought into the market overpriced but is now worth taking a look at after 2 years of rate reductions.   This plan offers a much lower premium but leaves much more potential for out of pocket cost vs. Plan F and N.   Those seriously considering a plan K would likely be better suited to choose the Anthem BlueCross BlueShield Plan F High Deductible Supplement with a monthly premium of about $35.00 a month at this point
• New York
• Plan F Supplement- AARP has a rate advantage over all competitors in the NYC, Long Island, Westchester area and most all of NY.  AARP plan F is the choice in NY for those that want the least out of pocket expense possible.
• Plan N Supplement- AARP also has the lowest plan N supplement rate in NY but they do have more competition with Empire BCBS within a few dollars of the premium they offer.
• Plan K supplement-As is the case with CT, plan K is now a bit more attractive for those willing to have more out of pocket risk.  Those interested in a plan K may want to look at the High Deductible F supplement offered by First United American

Applications and full benefit summary links below

AARP Medicare Supplements Summary 2012

AARP Medicare Supplement Application CT

AARP Medicare Supplement Summary NY 2012

AARP Medicare Supplement Application NY 2012

AARP 2012 Medicare Supplement Summary and Rates CT

AARP Medicare Supplement Rates NY All Areas

Applications may be printed out and sent into United HealthCare directly or they may be sent to Crowe & Associates for processing. Crowe & Associates will review applications to ensure they are complete prior to submission to United HealthCare. Applications can be sent to Crowe & Associates by the following methods

Fax- (203)-567-6235

Email- Edward@CroweandAssociates.com

Mail- Crowe & Associates, 155 Main Street, Suite 205 Danbury, CT 06810

Additonal questions may be emailed to Edward Crowe at Edward@CroweandAssociates.com or by phone at (203)-796-5403

United Healthcare has made  changes to their current suite of AARP branded Medicare Complete plans for 2012. The majority of changes are to the basic co pay structure of the plan.  Some of the bigger changes are detailed below.

The AARP Medicare Complete RPPO $0 premium plan will no longer be $0 premium for 2012. The plan will now have a $20.00 monthly premium but will have the same platform as last year (PPO with in and out of network benefits). Office vist copay for 2012 are $20 per visit primary doctor and $45 per visit specialist. The Inpatient hospital copay has been changed to $400 a day for 4 days in 2012 vs. $320 a day for 5 days last year. The Rx benefit copays have increases slightly to $5.00 tier 1 generic, $8.00 tier 2 non-preferred generic, $45.00 tier 3 name brand and $95.00 for tier 4 non preferred name brand.  The biggest change is in the outpatient surgery benefit which is now a 20% cost share.

The plan still offers in and out of network coverage and maintains one of the larger Medicare Advantage plan networks in the northeast.  United HealthCare will also be offering their Non AARP branded Medicare Complete Plan 1 and Plan 2 HMO plans in most Northeastern states.   The Plan 2 option will still be $0 monthly premium.

More detailed information can be found by clicking on the links below

 AARP Medicare Complete Choice RPPO Summary of Benefits CT, MA, RI, VT

AARP Medicare Complete Choice RPPO CT MA RI VT Application 2012

AARP and United Medicare Complete plans comparison

United Medicare Complete Plan 1 and 2 Application CT