Feedback please (Does it matter or do you care?)

I do a lot for my community in Anderson County, Oak Ridge and Clinton, little less for Oliver Springs.

Does all this local involvement make a difference to you when it comes to making buying decisions?

Or do you just go with whoever pops up on the internet?

Do you just use some company that advertises on the TV or radio?

(I am actually planning on doing some joint radio/internet radio ads and am just looking for some feedback before I go investing money)

!

Does the fact I show up at City Council meetings and am active in two Chambers of Commerce make a difference (good or bad)?

I know many people are impressed that I have this level of giving and community involvement but does it translate into you more willing to work with me?
(I will keep up my community involvement regardless of your answer, I was just not sure if it was a good marketing point)

Thank you for your thoughts and input.
Dave your Local Community Involved Insurance Agent

Employee Benefits without the HR Headache.

With your affordable care act looming just months away, I am finding business owners are becoming more interested in figuring out a solution (as opposed to staying in the problem and just complaining) for the rest of 2013 and trying to preserve their pricing for 2014.

In the last three weeks, I have talked with five different business owners that do not have HR (Human Resource) departments, but do want to offer their employees benefits.

They either do not have enough employees to justify the cost of an HR person, they outsource the payroll so an HR department is not needed for that part.
One employer is not planning on growing any larger.
(I do not advise on if you need an HR department or if you should have one or not.)
If you are lacking an experienced person in HR it can be difficult to set up employee benefits.

And that is where I step in and become a resource for the company!

I am all about making an employer’s life easier (I have been there and done that and even had to fight with attorneys when employees committed interstate banking fraud back in 1998).  I know what it is like to be an employer without the right support.

I am the resource the employer can direct employees to so they can apply for health insurance without having to wait until 90 days are up.

I am the person who will help the employee design a strategy (health insurance pays the doctor and hospital but I can put policies in place so the employee has cash and can keep a roof overhead or food on the table)

I help the employer and employee because the benefits are the employee’s:
a) comes out of the employee’s checking account
b) Employee is in control of their benefits
c) Employee is not shoe horned into what is good for the group, they can design an insurance strategy that meets their needs, concerns and goals.
d) Employer does bot have to worry about payroll deductions and the bookkeeping of balancing list billing
e) Employer does not have to worry about liability or being sued if the employee leaves because of COBRA
f) employer can still “bonus” monthly as an allowance for the employee to use for health insurance (or whatever else the employee chooses)

This is not a new concept, it has been around for years.  Just so many people are brain washed into thinking group benefits are the ONLY way to go.

Now the one BIG disclosure is this does not work if your employee(s) are unhealthy and do not qualify for an individual plan.  But with the Affordable Care Act starting January 1, 2014, it is no longer as large of an issue.

Thank you for reading and please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns or interest.
Dave, Your Local Community Involved Insurance Agent

Young people math

(Well oops!  This was supposed to be saved as a draft from my phone, not published until Friday)

Back when I was young teenager, my parents claimed that I was aging faster than they were.

Poppycock!  We all age at the same rate…right?

It was an interesting concept for sure. I’m not sure it will actually hold up to the time continuum or advanced physics, but it definitely made me start to appreciate my youth and think that I was getting smarter faster.

My fellow Scout and alter boy, Muffin was his nickname, just could not understand the concept. He also did not like the fact he was aging faster than people older than him.

So here is how it works, not the formula, we do not want to get that mathmaticial.

How it works: you take someone like me…um…we will say 30 (not my real age) and a 15 year old.
Now in 15 years I will only increase my age by 50%
But in 15 years the 15 year old will be 100% or doubled his age (twice as old)

Ergo younger people age faster, simple math!

It also helps if the younger person is gullible…which you know is not in the dictionary right? Go ahead, I will wait while you look it up!

Any way you look at it, it is important to make decisions that will take care of your family today and not put them off until you double your age (or increase it by 5% for us more experienced folks)

And this includes everything from health insurance (at least looking at it before October or 2013) and your life insurance (please use a professional, not just some stranger on the internet).

Thank you reading and I hope you have a great day!
Dave, your Local Community Involved Insurance Agent

Do you have the right health insurance and how do you know?

If you know me personally or see me out at networking events, you know I am doing lots of education on the Affordable Care Act.

(for that 70% out there, yes it is real, no it did not get shot down and I do suggest you make plans today)

I attended an education event this past Tuesday that was very matter of fact.
“This is what it says.”
“This is what is expected to happen.”
It did not do much in the helping develop a strategy for dealing with the Affordable Care Act.  They are planning on having another education event later this summer on that.

Next week the TVBA (TN Veterans Business Assoc) is planning on having a different type of education event.  They will have someone from the TN Co-op…which I have read about in OR but do not know about locally here.  So I will be attending so I am better informed for my clients.

Then on May 22nd, the Oak Ridge Chamber is having a government contractor consultant speak on how the Affordable Care Act affects their clients as sub contractors.

I am looking at speaking for the Anderson Chamber in June about how Small Businesses (under 50 employees or FTE, full time equivalent) can plan from now until December 31, 2013 to be better prepared for the Affordable Care Act and the benefits to their employees of doing something now!

My standard questions for people include some of the following.  And if you do not know the answers, you better talk to your agent or me or you may have some surprises waiting for you next January.

Did you buy health insurance because it has a low deductible,?

Or did you buy health insurance because it fits your needs?

Or did you buy health insurance because you were told you needed it but have no idea why?

Or are you in a group and that is why you took it even though it does not meet your needs? (you know you do not have to take it right?)

There are many different ways to structure your health insurance much like the  many ways to structure your life insurance and it is important to have a strategy that fits your unique needs.

Good luck, I am only a call or email away and please take some action, do not just play ostrich and put your head in the sand.

Thank you for taking the time to read,
David, your Local Insurance Agent

Using Social Media (besides a good way to get in trouble)

To start off:
Facebook got me in trouble this past week! How dare they?!?

Hmm? Oh, you want to know what they did? WELL JUST LET ME TELL YOU!

I have a personal profile and a professional page (in facebook).  I periodically review the invite section of the professional page and I see people in there I am sure I have sent “invite to like your page” messages to before. And sometimes I even find those very people under the “like” section of my professional page (note, to me this is doing my due diligence).

So I am scrolling through the invite section and I see My Wife’s name! I am positive she has “liked” my professional page! So I go through the list of “likes” (I have more likes than people fb is willing to show me, one of the reasons I do not like fb engineers) and My Wife is not in there!  So I send her another invite and post a post picking on Her.  She logs in and goes to my professional page and WALA! (did I spell that right?) she has already “liked” it.  So I have to post a detractor to my poking fun post and I do believe in placing blame where it is due!

But with all that said, my main point is I am again going through LinkedIN and reviewing my groups and connecting with people and trying to actually connect with some of these people (many I know personally) with more than just a weekly posting of Blogs of Friday.

My buddy Brian Hilliard does a good job of using LinkedIN to expand his circles of influence, I just I have not found a way to do it consistently.  And I think that is my problem, consistency in my social media marketing.

The way it was explained to me, in 2011, is:

Twitter is hanging out at the bar on the weekend.

Facebook is hanging out at the local block party or soccer game with others.

LinkedIN is hanging out at the water cooler at work.

They each serve their own purpose, depending on how you want to market your business and what you are allowed to do (compliance tends to be a little sticky on Twitter and fb).

Please leave suggestions on the bottom and visit my professional page and give me a like…and if you end up with an invitation after you have already liked me, blame fb, I try to do my due diligence.

Thank you for sharing a few minutes of your day with me,
Dave

Husband Brownie Points (HBP) for Mom’s Day!

Attention all Husbands!  This is a good weekend to get HUSBAND BROWNIE POINTS! (HBP)  Yes, even if you do not have kids, you can score points!

I am able to write this and post it on Friday because I know my wife will not read my Blog before Sunday.

(random hint: these HBP may involve flowers)

When My Wife and I got together, we did not have a gold fish between us!  We knew we are in the better Aunt and Uncle role than the parent role.  We know it, we admit it, we are fine with it.

But we do have our three katz, which sometimes seems just as expensive and annoying as kids:

Sanitation
Kids use lots of diapers.
Katz have litter boxes that they do not outgrow
Food
Kids do not want to eat what you prepare
Katz will suddenly quit eating the flavors they have always eaten (normally right after you buy BUNCHES of cans on sale and you threw away the receipt)

Do your katz tell you this is not enough for 30 days?

Medical:
Kids, I know how often parents take kids to the doctor, I swear I was never that sick growing up…but then again it was after they took my tonsils out at 5.
Katz, rabis shots are expensive and you have to cage your katz…well maybe kids need caged to take to the vet’s too.

(side note, my little boy Zak had some kitten issues in his first 4 months and he helped me learn about all the specialties UT Small Animal Veterinarian Clinic offers.  It was expensive and My Wife and I both have in our wills that we are leaving money to elp other families pay for similar procedures for their little kittens. Do you have charitable giving in your will?)

So back to the point of HBP, while pets are not kids, they are My Wife’s little children with fur and fangs.  And this Sunday is Mother’s Day (HINT to married guys with kids…GET SOMETHING) so my three little beasties are getting Mommy flowers!

(Click the photo for the link, they are my personal.florists.  I call or email them the event, the dollar amount and they make me look good!  If you showed me two lilies in two different colors, I would not know they are the same flower…yet My Wife thinks I am an awesome flower giving husband)

If you do not know the story on My Wife and flowers, I will tell it again soon but let us simply say right now…umm, I am not sure there is a polite way to say this…I messed up very much bad and am lucky My Wife kept me with my flower SNAFU from back in the day.  Here is the story

But in my defense I am a guy!

Hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day (all you moms reading this) and hope you remember to get flowers or a card (all you husbands and kids reading this) and thank you for taking the time to read.

If you have any questions about leaving a legacy for a charity (like My Wife and I to UT) or other cause you like, you do not have to have a lot of money to make it happen. Just give me a call.

Later in the day update: the flowers my three katz got Mommy and Grand Mommy

Thank you for reading
Dave, your local insurance agent

My wife loves me (or lessons in health care)

(I have no idea what happened to the original post, last Friday, with pictures and all…it disappeared so I have tried to recreate)

My wife sent me to a dominatrix (this is G rated).

I was a half hour late to my appointment!  She came walking down the hall.
She stopped in the door way.
She yelled out my name and as I stood up she turned and walked away.
I think I was supposed to follow her…so I went down the hall.
She took me to back to little dark room, closed the door and told me to take off my shirt!
She told me how to lay on the bed and then she broke out some lube stuff.

If you have not figured it out yet, I want for my first heart echo today. Everything turned out fine.

There are multiple healthcare lessons and the story above.

1) When your wife told you to go to the doctors you do.  It keeps peace in the home and it is a good way to make sure you are healthy and will be with her for the long haul.

2) You go to the doctor so that you can receive your preventive care.  Most plans I offer today include an annual wellness visit and a woman’s wellness visit (make sure all the female parts are healthy).  These visits are included in the health insurance at no charge.

3) the Affordable Care Act is very big on preventive care, it is working on the theory find out when it is a small problem so it can be treated instead of it becoming a big problem, you requiring lots of surgery and medicine, etc.

4) if you do not go to the doctor regularly you may not have a doctor.  As an insurance agent, I can tell you we are expecting to enroll about 80 million additional persons come October, 2013.  If your doctor’s office is like mine, you schedule your appointments in advance. Sometimes WAY in advance.  Doctors want healthy patients that come in regularly for the preventive maintenance.  Shorter visits, more predictably, etc. If you have a doctor (or so you think) and you do not show up every year for your annual (not bi annual, annual) visit the doctor can bump you from being a current patient.  I have clients that moved here from N.C. and they had to go 45 minutes away to find a doctor accepting new patients.  All the doctors in their area were full up.  So if you have a doctor, I suggest you go sooner than later to preserve your place.

Again, I do not know what happened to my original post, but I hope this one works.

Thank you for reading, your Local Insurance Agent, Dave