SafeMoney 8-31-24

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good Saturday morning on this last day of August twenty
twenty four. Can you believe that last day of August earlier?
We are earlier this Saturday morning due to Hawkeye football
taking my normal time slot, so a little bit earlier
on Saturday. But we're still here. Schools are in session

(00:21):
for our parents and grandparents, busy with the start of
another school year. Hey, this is Dick Shilling, and this
is safe money. We've been here for lots of years
now talking with you, our listeners, about strategies we use
with our clients to manage and protect assets safely in

(00:42):
today's very very unsafe world. First and foremost, today a
reminder that the thirtieth annual Run with Carl will take
place on Monday, just a couple days from now, on
Labor Day, Monday, September second. This event benefits Pleasant Valley
and Bettendorf graduates by providing scholarships. To date, the Run

(01:06):
with Carl that is the funding vehicle for the Carl D.
Shilling Memorial Fund, has provided over fifty four thousand dollars scholarships,
plus one of the schools has set up an additional
one thousand scholarship and has awarded seven of those scholarships.

(01:27):
So that's the Run with Carl. It's a huge benefit
for a pleasant valley and Bettendorf High School graduates. There
is still time to register for the thirtieth annual Run
with Carl. Do so do so today. Go to the
website Wwwrunwthcarl dot com and get registered for this awesome

(01:49):
community event. There is a slight adjustment in the starting
point of the Run with Carl this year due to
row construction, but the course remains the same. There is
a one half mile, there is a five mile run
and a five k run walk. So sign up today.

(02:10):
Labor Day is only a couple days from now, so
don't forget. A brief forecast from AARP this morning is
the forecast based upon the twenty twenty three inflation. Inflation
figures that the colon for twenty twenty four increase monthly

(02:32):
benefits by three point two percent. Alicia Manuel, director of
the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, says cool
inflation will produce a twenty twenty five adjustment of two
point six percent two point six to two point nine percent.

(02:55):
This increase will be available effective January first, twenty twenty five,
and The actual amount of increase will be announced in October.
We will continue our virtual monthly community meetings during this
month of September. The next meetings are scheduled for Tuesday,

(03:15):
September seventeenth and Thursday September nineteenth, ten o'clock in the morning.
Craig from our office hosts and presents these meetings and
does a good job at doing so. So on Tuesday,
September seventeenth, Greig reviews the basics of Medicare and then

(03:36):
focuses on the Medicare supplement plans that are available today.
Then two days later, on September nineteenth, Craig again reviews
the basics of Medicare and then focuses on the alternative
to original Medicare, and that alternative is Medicare Part C.

(03:57):
That's the advantage plan, and what we believe is the
more competitive of the advantage plans, and that is the
AAARP Medicare Advantage Plan offered by United Healthcare. So, folks,
if you are aging into Medicare turning age sixty five

(04:18):
in the near future, I know you are being inundated
with solicitation requests from various insurance companies. My gosh, remember
with original Medicare what we call a three card system.
There are kent and there are ten Medicare supplement plans.

(04:39):
We get to choose one of these ten plans. There
are eighteen prescription drug plans available. We get to choose
one of these eighteen plans. Remember, this is what we
call a three card system. You have your Medicare card
issued by the federal government, then you have a Medicare

(05:00):
supplement card issued by a private insurance company, and the
third card is a prescription drug card issued by a
private insurance company. This is the three card system. The
alternative to the three card system is the one card system.

(05:21):
This is the advantage plan. There are eight Medicare advantage
plans issued by private insurance companies. We advocate what we
believe is the more competitive of the advantage plans. That
is the AAARP Medicare Advantage plans issued by United Healthcare.

(05:45):
Of the eight advantage plans available, we believe this plan
is the more competitive of the advantage plans. As I
emphasized last week, in twenty twenty four, more than half
or fifty four percent, fifty four percent of eligible beneficiaries,

(06:08):
that's thirty two million people out of sixty one million
Medicare beneficiaries with both Medicare Party and Medicare Part B.
These people are enrolled in a Medicare advantage plan. SO
Medicare advantage plan as a share of the eligible Medicare

(06:29):
population has jumped from a low of nineteen percent nineteen
percent in two thousand and seven to fifty four percent
in twenty twenty four. So Medicare advantage plans are becoming
increasingly more popular. Medicare advantage plans offers benefits in addition

(06:55):
to benefits offered by original Medicare. These benefits include limited vision, dentistry,
and hearing benefits which are not offered by original Medicare.
We classify original Medicare as a sickness only plan, so

(07:17):
if you are sick, original Medicare provides wonderful coverage. The
alternative to original Medicare is the advantage plan that offers
sickness benefits and offers wellness benefits, limited vision, dent and
hearing benefits which are not offered by original Medicare. So,

(07:44):
if you are aging into Medicare turning sixty five soon,
I know you are being inundated with solicitation requests. Guys.
There are ten Medicare supplements. We get to choose one
of these ten plans. Further, there are eighteen prescription drug

(08:05):
plans and we get to choose one of these eighteen plans.
And Further, there are eight advantage plans the advantage plans.
The advantage plan is Medicare Parts C. It is an
alternative to original Medicare, and the advantage plan offers some

(08:26):
benefits for vision, dental, and hearing. None of these vision, dental,
and hearing is provided by the Medicare supplements. Further, we
need to obtain a prescription drug plan. There are eight
eighteen prescription drug plans available. We get to choose one

(08:49):
of these eighteen plans. Remember, this is the three guard
system Medicare. Your supplement and your description plan, Medicare card
issue by the federal government, your supplement card issue by
a private insurance company, and your prescription drug plan offered

(09:12):
by a private insurance company. That is the three card system.
Now we advocate for the one card system with the
advantage plan that covers illnesses and benefits for a vision, dental,

(09:32):
and hearing folks. Our agency is an independent agency. We
represent multiple insurance companies. We get to pick and choose
the insurance company that is best suited for your situation. So,
if you are aging into medicare turning age sixty five,

(09:56):
first of all, congratulations on turning age sixty five. Secondly,
be aware of your choices with medicare. Encourage you to
be one of those that can say, now I understand, now,
I understand the choices I have for medicare. That's what

(10:21):
we do. We provide the knowledge and you need to
make this choice. In addition to offering protection of assets
through medicare, we offer safe money investment harbors for our
clients in addition to protecting assets through insurance. As a

(10:43):
financial professional, I want to include I want to conclude
this week's program by saying something about the stock market.
My gosh. As of this recording, the stock market is
nearing again new records. Doll as of this recording is
at a gain with over three hundred points ending that

(11:07):
as of this recording at forty one thousand, four hundred
and thirty four. The Nasdaq is that a one hundred
and one hundred and seventy four one hundred and seventy
four point gain, and the S and P is that
at five thousand, six hundred and thirty two. My gosh,

(11:30):
that tremendous, tremendous gains. Now, with these gains, safe money
is about preserving those gains. That's why we offer special
safe money programs. We offer annuities which share in the

(11:53):
growth of the market. They do not share in the
downside of the market. So if the annuity if the
market does well, the annuity will grow with the market.
If the market does poorly loses money, your annuity value
does not share in those losses. The annuity value stays

(12:16):
the same. It does not depreciate. It will only increase
if the market increases. No personal machine can accurately accurately
predict what direction the market will go. Politlity remains. As
a financial professional, I know that now is the time

(12:38):
to take gains off the table at a minimum and
position those gains in a safe money vehicle. Use our
annuity strategies. The annuity share in the growth of the market,
and they protect you from the downside of the market.

(13:00):
The market decreases, your account value does not decrease. Your
account value stays the same and it will grow assuming
that the market grows. So that's our annuity strategies. I
encourage you to give us a call, email me determine
what is best for your situation. We are independent insurance agents,

(13:25):
so we represent original Medicare, the Medicare supplements, and the
prescription drug plans that are available. In addition to that,
we represent the advantage plans. So the advantage plans offer
what the original Medicare offers with the supplements, but also

(13:47):
offers living benefits. Living benefits that include some limited dental,
limited vision, and limited hearing. Dental vision hearing. These benefits
are not covered by original Medicare, but they are covered

(14:07):
with the advantage plans. So I encourage you to take
a look at the advantage plans will be available to
share with you what we feel is the more advantageous
of the advantage plans and what is most appropriate for
your situation. Our virtual community meetings coming up here Coming

(14:35):
up here in September include September seventeenth, with we review
the basics of Medicare and then we focus on the
Medicare supplement plans and the prescription drug plans. That's on Tuesday,
September seventeenth, and then two days later on Thursday, September nineteenth,

(15:00):
focus again on the basics of Medicare and then focus
on the Medicare advantage plan. And what we believe is
the more competitive of the advantage plans, and that is
the AARP Medicare Advantage Plan, and that plan is underwritten

(15:20):
and offered by United Healthcare. We believe that United Healthcare
offers this the most significant, the most comprehensive of all
the advantage plans. So we encourage you to look into that.
Please give us a call or email me. Call me

(15:41):
at five sixty three three three two twenty two hundred,
tell me about your situation and we can share with
you what we consider to be the more the more
advantageous plan for you. With that Medicare Advantage plan, remember
it offers limited vision, tental hearing benefit which are not

(16:04):
offered by original Medicare with the supplements you know. I've
been here on safe money for the last twenty years
because we believe in making money safe and providing avenues
for that safety. So in today's market, which is extremely

(16:28):
extremely polatal, I wonder if you are on the fence
about what to do in this very volatile market. I'm
here on safe money for the last twenty years because
recent market volatility has many retirees and pre retirees concerned

(16:51):
about how their accounts and future volatility may be affected.
I don't want to be the sky is falling type
messenger because I do not know whether the stock market
will or will not do. But many retirees recognize that
because they are no longer contributing, they are no longer

(17:14):
contributing to funds in their retirement accounts, it is far
more difficult to whether financial losses and turmoil. I'd like
this message to serve as a reminder, as a reminder
that we are here to help. We have based our
entire annuity strategy, service and practice to servicing folks just

(17:36):
like you, those who appreciate the financial wisdom that eliminating
losses during retirement is more important than capturing all the gains.
So call our office so we can show you how
we can do this for you, no pressure or obligation,
no strings attached. Don't forget Next month the month of September,

(18:01):
we continue our virtual community meetings. September seventeenth is a Tuesday,
and September nineteenth, which is a Thursday. Call Craig at
our number five sixty three three three two twenty two
hundred to receive instructions on how to prepare for these
meetings from the privacy of your own home. You know,

(18:25):
we used to do these meetings in person. We have
a meeting room rented somewhere throughout the quad Cities and
we have these in person meetings. Now what COVID taught
us is that we don't have to do that. We
can go online and communicate directly with you via the
Internet and correspond about the pros and cons of the

(18:49):
Medicare supplement and about the pros and cons of the
Medicare advantage plans. So take advantage of that service. So
wonderful service and provides wonderful information for you. Call us
at five six three three three two twenty two hundred,
or go to my website. Go to dickshillig dot com

(19:13):
and when a website opens, scroll over to the contact
icon and drop down for the email addressed to our
office and send me an email if you'd like to
correspond in that manner. So don't forget that. This coming Monday,
September second is Labor Day, and Labor Day brings the

(19:35):
thirtieth annual Run with Carl. So if you are not
registered for this event, be sure to do so today.
Check our website Wwwrunwithcarl dot com and especially go to
the Facebook page Wwwfacebook dot com over slash Run with Carl.

(19:58):
On that website you obtain some very very detailed history
of the Run with Carl. Run with Carl is now
in his thirtieth year. Thirty years of Run with Carl.
So it's a great, great event, and it provides benefits
for graduates from local schools, from Pleasant Valley High School

(20:20):
and for Bettdorf High School. And the Run with Carl
has funded the Carl Shilling Memorial Fund, which has now
provided fifty two four thousand dollars scholarships fifty two four
thousand dollars scholarships to graduates of Pleasant Valley or Bettendorf

(20:42):
High School. Several years ago one of those schools has
offered a separate scholarship, a separate, one time one thousand
dollars scholarship and they are offering one thousand dollars for
that for that scholarship. So there's some benefits for the
benefits from the Run with Carl. Now, as a family,

(21:04):
we are no longer involved directly with the Run with
Carl at the local schools, Pleasant Valley High School and
Bettendorf High School have formed a partnership, and that partnership
has agreed to continue the Run with Carl. So this
year is our thirtieth year of the Run with Carl.

(21:25):
Take advantage of that event show up there Monday morning.
You can register. In the meantime, you can register online
by going to Run with Carl dot com. Score all
over to the contact icon and register and get signed
up for the Run with Carl on Monday, September second.

(21:48):
That's about all I have for you this morning, so
have a good, good weekend, a great great holiday weekend.
I'll see you Monday morning, September second, bright and early
thee run the Carl's starting line. I'll look for you there,
So have a great, great week end. Good day,