Archive for the ‘Insurance’ Category

A New Twist on Spring Cleaning

Friday, April 9th, 2010

This year along with gleefully putting away the scarves, gloves and snow shovels, why not make part of your spring cleaning taking a careful look at insurance policies, wills and health care directives? Often things in your life have changed since you first created these documents. What situations have changed for you? Are all your directives still valid, or is someone you haven’t spoken to in years still your executor? Isn’t spring a perfect time to dust off those documents, and rethink your priorities?

Since I sold my company 5 years ago, first we got rid of the partners life insurance. Now, I’m  looking at my disability policies. Should they be changed to long term care as that might be more relevant to my life going forward, or were they written long enough ago that they’re too good to give up? Mind you, if you are disabled, according to a recent GMA investigation, you might find yourself being tracked by the insurance company. Isn’t it always amazing that you pay so much for insurance, and they’re so loathe to pay it back to you? Maybe the answer is to cover your bets, and keep most of the disability and add some long term care. What do you think?

Then, I’m making an appointment with my attorney to review my will, health care proxy, etc. to make sure they’re all up to date, and still the way I want them. At the same time I’m going to review my beneficiaries, and update those retirement plans and insurance policies. Remember the blog from a few weeks ago? Maybe this time I’ll even get my husband to finish and sign his (hint, hint).

What documents do you have that could use a little spring cleaning?

Don’t forget the other Blogging Boomers, this week’s carnival is hosted by So Baby Boomer.

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Posted in Insurance, boomers, business, cleaning, legal, people, will | 1 Comment »

Spending Less On Drug Co-Pays. Ideas To Save Money.

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

It's All About Aging Expensive DrugsMany people these days are frustrated over the high costs of prescription drugs. I know whenever I have to pick up something for my husband it’s $100…This is causing some people not to fill their prescriptions, which could be dangerous, even deadly. Here are some ways to cut down on costs:

Inform your doctor about your prescription coverage, including your co-pay costs. Also be sure your doctor knows EVERYTHING you’re taking, including over the counter medications, vitamins, and supplements.

  1. Does your doctor have any samples of medications he is prescribing?
  2. Are there generic versions?
  3. Ask if it’s possible to get double the strength of the medication, and cut the pills in half.
  4. Find out what the maximum amount is that your doctor can prescribe, if you don’t take that many in a month, you’ll be refilling prescriptions less often.
  5. See if your health insurance plan has a mail order pharmacy. For medications you take all the time (like statins), this may be much less expensive.
  6. Look for coupons, free trials and other patient support programs from pharmaceutical companies. Just be careful on the Internet, that the sites are legitimate.
  7. Is there a homeopathic remedy, or would a change in diet reduce the condition?

What other ways do you save money on prescriptions?

This week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival is being hosted by Vaboomer, be sure to check it out.

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Posted in Insurance, aging, health, health insurance, people, tips | No Comments »

Beneficiaries Who Do You Choose? Rock, Paper, Scissors, IRA, 401K?

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Not sure how this came up, it might be because of the ability to transfer your IRA to a Roth IRA this year, but I recently

Who to choose? How to choose?

Who to choose? How to choose?

started thinking about who my beneficiaries should be, and how you choose them. Everyone is used to just signing spouses, parents, kids, on insurance and retirement plans, but are there guidelines? Is there a smart way to approach this?

Understand that my list isn’t very long. My husband of course, but if we go together, then what?  Since we don’t have children, that eliminates one obvious group. From there it gets dicier. When my niece and nephew were younger, they were listed so there would be money for their education.  Now they are pretty much out on their own, and while some  money for them would be a nice thing, is it the best use of the money? Do you give leave it to someone older that is needier? What about charities?

Turns out this is a much bigger issue, than just picking a couple of relatives, and signing your name. First of all, you need to decide if tax planning will be an issue (is it ever not?), or if you just want to give away the “stuff” and let your heirs deal with the tax implications. According to attorney Amie Gartenberg, “the tax tail wags the dog”, and with inheritance tax rules currently in flux…

The other thing I didn’t know, was that bequests in your IRA, 401K etc, supersede those in a will. What I also learned is that you should review all these documents periodically with your attorney. Just think about it like this, every time there’s a new president, you should probably make an appointment, as taxes seem to change with every administration. And people forget to update wills and other documents when they or their family members undergo major life changes, such as divorce, federal indictments, or a loosing poker hand.

So this year, spring cleaning for me will include dusting off my will and other documents, and making sure everything is up to date. What about you?

Don’t forget about this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. Where else can you find out whether spring clogs are for those of us over 40, and other great topics?

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Posted in Insurance, aging, boomers, family, legal, taxes, will | 2 Comments »

What would you pay for Botox? An H1N1 flu shot?

Monday, February 1st, 2010

An article in the December AARP newsletter caught my eye. It’s about an online service that allows you to bid on medical services (think eBay for Botox, and no, you can’t get it on eBay). PriceDoc “connects you to affordable, quality doctors and dentists for the best cash price”. Is this where our health care system is heading? How different is it from picking doctors on the Internet from the (ever shrinking) list that your insurance company provides? There are still a lot of doctors on the list that you have no idea about, and as someone once said, “half of them graduated at the bottom half of their class”. My friend Dr. Tara Kahn is the founder & CEO of DocMatcher, her ” goal is to help patients and doctors take control of health together.” Is a rating system the answer? Zagat for medical procedures? Do doctors get fewer points, if the patient dies?

Now if only they had to wear their sponsors logos...

Now if only they had to wear their sponsors logos...

If I wasn’t so nervous about things like Botox, I’d actually check this out, but when you’re dealing with your health… What do you think? Would you bid on a tummy tuck? How about a flu shot? Where would you draw the line? I guess the saddest thing is that this is even going on. Why in a country like the United States are we allowing ourselves to be ruled by the insurance companies, and the elected officials in their pockets? One of the many talking heads recently said that politicians should be forced to wear the logos of their sponsors on their suits, like racing drivers, so we can see easily which companies they’re in bed with. What do you think?

This week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival is sponsored by Andrea Stenberg. She’s always got great ideas for entreperneurs, so check it out here.

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Posted in Insurance, boomers, health insurance, people | 1 Comment »

Insurance Settlements, the Next Wall Street Collapse, or a Good Deal for You?

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Remember reverse mortgages? Next up,  reverse life insurance, or life settlements. Life settlements refers to the sale of a life insurance policy by its owner to an investor who will collect the death benefit. From the same group that took reasonable mortgages, and packaged them as investment vehicles, we now have insurance settlements, and the same “packaging” that brought down Wall Street, may strike again. Check out this video from a recent Good Morning America.

The next financial crisis?

The next financial crisis?

So, how does this work?

Life settlements should be considered by anyone who has a life insurance policy that is no longer needed or wanted, or where the burden of premium payment has become too great.  For example; a person who bought a policy while they had young children who are now grown up, or a policy purchased by an older person with relatively high premiums that they can no longer afford. There are many investors who purchase life settlements, as well as many brokers who arrange for sales. While the most desirable policies from an investor standpoint are Universal Life Policies, other types of policies, such as term policies, can be sold. These differ from “Viatical” settlements, which are the purchase of a policy from someone who is terminally ill at an unfair price.  This practice is highly regulated and can be prohibited in many circumstances.

If you think a life settlement might be for you, proceed with caution. Please make sure you have a trusted lawyer, or reputable financial advisor to guide you. As with so many things connected with seniors and money, there are any number of scams connected with life settlements. One of the most common, involves someone asking you to buy a life insurance policy and offering to pay the premiums in exchange for that person splitting profits from the sale of the life settlement with you. These practices are highly questionable from a regulatory standpoint and subject to challenge by insurers.

My thanks to Darren L. Ofsink of Guzov Ofsink, LLC for his expertise in this field, and especially his patience in making this understandable  to me, and I hope, all of you.

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Posted in Insurance, legal, seniors | No Comments »

First health insurance, now how about home owner’s? Let’s just reform all insurance.

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Have you ever gotten a letter from an insurance agent to come in and review your policy? You’ve never done it rightIt's All About Aging Insurance needed? My friend and insurance agent, David, used to send them out, and one night over dinner, when I complained about the lack of personalization on these letters, he asked if it would make a difference. “No one” he said, “ever comes in to review their policies.” He then went on to tell me about someone who was under-insured and trying to collect on a claim, unsuccessfully.
“That’s the problem, I said, “we’re all afraid that if we put in a claim it won’t be paid, and then the insurance company will bounce our coverage.” Like many others, I was afraid  a review of my coverage would just end up costing my hundreds of dollars more.  Recently, my policies were reviewed by a different agency, and yes, it was going to cost hundreds of dollars more. We have never put in a claim for either of the homes we own, or the cars we drive, my credit score is excellent. So then we must be really upgrading our coverage, right? Wrong. My husband likes to drive fast, really fast. Five years ago, he got a speeding ticket, a big one, and now, no one wants to insure us for anything.
This is what’s wrong with the insurance system in this country, and especially the health insurance (although home-owners probably comes in a close second). If you use it, you get punished. If you need it, you can’t collect on it. Four years later, look at the victims of Katrina, how many of them have actually collected? If you collect on it, your policy gets canceled, and you pay even more, for even less. When did this become acceptable? The debate about health insurance continues, but the truth of it is, we need an insurance system that works. For everyone, always.

One thing that you can do, the next rainy day, start making a list with photos or videos of your house, and all your valuables. If you have receipts, make them a part of the package. Make several copies, and keep them in safe, accessible places, just in case.

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Posted in Insurance, crisis, family, health insurance, people | 3 Comments »