July 29, 2026 • 36 mins
Hosted by Safe Money Advisor Christopher Krolak, Estate Planning Attorney Kevin Clark and Medicare Advisor Jeffrey Kuhn, The Roc Your Life Show guys offer expert insight for your life with an entertaining twist."
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is paid programming by the Rock Your Life
Radio Show. The content of this show is that of
the Rock Your Life Radio Show and does not reflect
the views or policies of this station or iHeartMedia.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
News Radio Wham 1180 welcomes you to the Rock Your
Life Show, discussing safe money, estate planning, and Medicare with
an entertaining twist. Now from the News Radio Wham 1180
studios in downtown Rochester, here are your hosts, the Rock
Your Life guys, Christopher Krolak, Kevin Clark.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
And Jeffrey Kuhn.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Welcome to Rock Your Life Radio. I'm Christopher Krolak of
the J. Christopher Group, and alongside me is Kevin Clark
of Clark Peshkin and Jeff Kuhn of The Medicare Shop,
and today we're talking about something that affects every one
of us. Why do we always want something better? And
I heard a great quote, the pursuit of better isn't
the problem. The problem is chasing better without first defining
(01:03):
what better actually means. So why do we want A
better house, a better job, better health, better relationships, better investments.
Think about it. Manufacturers release a new phone every year
and suddenly ours doesn't seem quite as exciting anymore. We
finally buy the car we've always wanted and six months later,
(01:24):
we're looking at the newer model. The truth is, wanting
better is part of being human. Without it, we'd never grow.
We'd never improve. But sometimes the pursuit of better can
actually make us less satisfied. We compare ourselves to other people.
We chase returns. We always assume the grass is greener
somewhere else. So today, we're going to explore why we
(01:46):
think this way, how that mindset affects our money, our health,
our legal decisions, and even our happiness. And maybe by
the end of the show, you'll discover that better means
something completely different than you thought. So guys, why do
you think our brains are wired for better?
Speaker 5 (02:06):
Kevin, you know, and Chris, that's a great point. When
we talked about this show, it made me really think
about that. It's a very kind of thoughtful subject. We
define what is better, right? We think about health, wealth,
you know, for me, emotional can be tied in to it.
I think a lot of it's really based on your surroundings.
You know, you think about the inputs, the people that
(02:27):
you know, you see things around you that are happening.
I think it's human nature to a large degree that
you've kind of the inputs of of the people and
the things that surround you that are influencing you. What
is better, right? If you think about your friends, family,
the people in your lives that have a positive impact,
do you think that has an impression?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I absolutely think it does. I also think that as
we grow through our years, your 20s, 30s, 40s, things change.
Your perspectives change. You learn, to your point, your inputs
that you have affect how you strategize life. And I
think what's better for me, that feeling that dopamine hit
(03:09):
when I purchased that thing is going to be completely
different than it is going to be for you. I mean,
to go to some extremes, the shopaholics, they are doing
it because they're better is the next thing that makes
them feel better for purchasing it. On the other side
of the extreme, the more miserly people are feeling better
when they sock away that money into their shoebox or
(03:32):
their investment account. And they're not spending it, but they're
getting the same feeling. So I really do think it's
individual based on our strategy of life at the time
and the age that we are.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
There's so many influences out there too. Advertising convinces us
that we need something. And do you guys know how
many times you're exposed to advertising in a single day?
Take a guess.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
The number would have to be astonishing. If I were
to put it, my brain sometimes thinks in time, I
would have to say, it's probably every three seconds that
I'm exposed to something that could provide advertising.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Right.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
It's got to be for people that are especially watching TV.
Like I can't watch TV anymore. I think partly due
just because the amount of information.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
So statistics show that you're exposed to over 4,000 advertisements
a day. Now that's not a commercial. That could be
riding behind a car and then you see the logo
on that car.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
License plates.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
License plate. Every single thing has... that form of advertising
and that it's like, gosh, I like that car ahead
of mine. You know, I just bought mine three weeks ago.
Then all of a sudden you see everyone else driving
your same car and maybe you want the next best
model that's out there. So I think it's really interesting
in not to mention social media. Oh my God. Social media.
(04:52):
I mean, if you're scrolling, if you're new to scrolling
or anything like that, you know, you like to see
what your friends and families are doing and, you know,
maybe some funny pictures or something like that. But literally,
every second scroll that you see on there is what?
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Yeah, Chris, there's times I think my social media is
reading my mind. It's scary because I will think about
something and I probably have talked about it and all
of a sudden I'm seeing ads for that exact thing.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
You're probably seeing me for my workshop.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Yeah. Just the other day, you know, I had to
bring my dog in. They have to get their teeth cleaned.
My goodness, it's $ 1, 200 to get your dog's teeth cleaned. So,
of course, I'm a little bent out of shape about that.
I Googled it once. Now all of a sudden.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
The target of pet insurance probably.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Bing, bing, bing. It just keeps popping up. Try this,
try that. Put your dog on this new pill for 60,
90 days. And now I'm in the rabbit hole.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
You are.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
And now I'm starting to get reviews on it. And
it's like I just wasted a good hour of my
day investigating this rabbit hole to try to find something
better that might be out there. Yeah. Maybe better is
just doing things the right way the first time and
not messing around with trying to improve it or make
it better every single time. I don't know. So social
(06:08):
media is a big thing. So I've got another question
for you guys. What was the last thing you bought
because you thought it would make you feel better? And, Kevin,
you had a good story about this one.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Oh, it's so recent and relevant. It's also very humbling.
I just got back from a destination wedding yesterday. my
girlfriend's daughter just got married in Cabo San Lucas. And
there was going to be a welcoming party at the
resort for the family and friends that were traveling far
to come to this glorious event. And I realized that
(06:43):
the male dress attire was going to be linen suits.
And I don't have a linen suit. So I started
to do my shopping and went down the rabbit hole
of linen suits. And I I found a really economical,
good-looking suit that I really liked. It came. It fit
perfectly right off the rack, no tailoring. And I went
(07:04):
to the wedding. It survived the travel. I didn't have
to have it pressed. I put it on. I felt
like a million bucks. So I go to the welcoming party,
and we went over to congratulate the bride and groom-to-be.
And he turns around, and he goes, we're wearing the
same suit. And I was instantly humbled. I've never felt
(07:26):
that low. I felt ashamed. And I almost turned around,
went back to my hotel and changed to the suit
I brought for the wedding. But luckily, my girlfriend called
me down and said, no, it's not a problem at all.
And they came over later and I said, hey, man,
I'm really sorry about wearing the same suit. He's like,
how would you know? And by the way, you've got
great taste. And I thought, well, first of all, what
(07:48):
a cool guy. But second of all, what a cool
experience to go along with the topic of this show.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
To have that better thing. How long did it last
for you?
Speaker 5 (07:58):
How long did you live on that? Look in the
mirror and go, yeah, I'm looking great in this linen suit.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Yeah, I mean, to the point where I'll be a
little transparent.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I was.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I walked out, and I'm like, all right, we're going
to go do this thing. And so it lasted as
long as it took to walk from the– the door to,
of my, of my room to the, to the, uh,
the welcoming event location, five minutes, 10 minutes.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
I would have loved to seen your face the minute
you walked in and saw him, you know, I, it
would be a job. I just dropped open completely. Yeah. I, I,
if you've met me or you've seen me, um, I don't,
I don't hide things very well. I wear it on
my sleeve and it was, it was humbling. Was anybody laughing?
Speaker 4 (08:37):
So what was the last thing you bought that you
thought would make life better?
Speaker 5 (08:41):
You know, it, it's a tough one, Chris, because you
can think the easy answer is, is what did I buy?
That's materialistic, right? And, you know, one of the things
that most recently it wasn't, and my dad, you know,
he's in his eighties. He's a very social guy, lost
his tooth. He broke it off, really bothered him. You
(09:01):
didn't want to spend the money. If you've been to
the dentist, you hear about costs of implants and other things.
I went to his dentist. I thought about it and
he had a lot of things coming up. You could
tell it was on his conscience. And I just said,
Call him up. I took care of it. And I
want to make sure that he had that. And I'll
tell you, the change in him having that, being able
to smile again, be social, it just made me feel
(09:23):
really good. It was just very rewarding I could do
that for him.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Fantastic. Hey, we're bumping up on time, but stay with
us because, as my mom would say, we have something
more better coming up right after the break right here
on Rock Your Life Radio on WAM 1180.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Welcome back to Rock Your Life Radio on News Radio
WAM 1180. I'm Jeff Kuhn, along with estate planning attorney
Kevin Clark and Christopher Krolak from the J. Christopher Group.
Continuing from our last segment, you know, thinking about what's
better and makes life better. You know, I was mentioning
about materialistic purchases, right, with my dad and the decision.
(10:00):
I made is to do something for somebody else and
how that made me feel, seeing the joy, you know,
and things that brought on to him. But you can't
help but think about the materialistic, right? And you think
back going to COVID when we started this whole conversation
about this show. What were people doing in Pulse of
Purchases during COVID? They're trying to fill this void.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Yeah, I bought a dog.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
You did?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I did.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
You bought a dog, right? Companionship.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
A lot of people, when you look at what happened
with boats, RVs, the huge surge and all these big
items that drove.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
That market through the roof. It was crazy.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
I mean, people were buying things. And before COVID, for myself,
I did something that For different reasons, you know, I
used to ride motorcycles and I got an old Harley
just to get out with no technology to detach from
stress and ambient stress. And it was just very freeing.
It cleared my head out. It just made me mentally
just a lot healthier being able to get out and
(10:56):
just be in the present. But going back, Chris, I mean,
why did you buy a dog?
Speaker 4 (11:02):
It just seemed like the right thing to do. And,
you know, sitting in the house and you know, staring
outside and there was no cars on the road, you know,
no visitors, nothing along that line. So I said something
was missing and I could feel it. And it was
so intense. So I went down, he saw me, I
saw him and the rest is history.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
So, yeah, there was, you know, this whole conversation made
me think back to COVID. And I remember having a conversation,
I was talking to my primary care doctor and I said,
you know, You know, Cuomo shut me down from being
able to see clients. We're not allowed to have office
hours and visits. And he was talking to me about,
you know, some of the struggles that everybody's going through.
(11:43):
And one of the things that came up, it was
unprecedented at the time, the Surgeon General wrote a book
during COVID, not about physical health, but mental health, right? Loneliness,
the sense of belonging and the crisis that COVID's created.
And he said, this is the biggest epidemic or pandemic
we've ever seen of people struggling because of isolation and
(12:04):
people are doing things that, that really contribute to it.
So one of the things that I've definitely noticed, you know,
at least in my business dealing with clients and myself
and other people, there's a definite correlation between, you know,
your mental wellbeing, doing better and physical. And those two
things are really tied together. I remember one of the
first meetings, um, as far as Medicare goes, I was
(12:25):
down in Livingston County with my clients down there. It
was just on the back end of COVID. I had
a pack room of people just dying to get out.
They wanted that social connection, interaction. One of them had
a mask on. They were like, they use funny language.
I can't say it on the radio, but we're done
with this. We're ready to come out of this and
get out there and embrace it and get social again
(12:46):
because everybody struggled for so long. And there's a carryover
between that mental side of it and the physical side.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
So true. And I do think what you're saying is pre-COVID,
or at least since COVID, mental health has become such
more in the forefront of people's minds, maybe as a
result of that.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
Yeah. And it goes back to originally, you know, that
materialistic thing I, before COVID I'd bought, you know, an
older Harley just to get out and cruise to clear
my head out. And what that did for me mentally,
just to be in the present, you just, your sense
of wellbeing, your energy, your outlook towards everything else, just
having that mental break and not having the ambient stress
feeding into you. It makes a huge difference.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
It's better.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
It is.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
It is. You know, one of the more.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Recent things I've noticed with, you know, both at time
with both mental and physical, you can't help, but see
it with people. And I have so many clients that
come in and people, you come in to, um, your
social circles that you notice a dramatic change and you see,
you see it physically first and you can't help, but
notice the mental side of it is the GLP wants,
(13:51):
you know, people start taking them for different health reasons, diabetes.
a number of other things, and you see just a
huge change in somebody's sense of confidence. You talk about
your linen suit, how you felt wearing that. Imagine you're
in Wegmans and you pick up a five-pound bag of
sugar and you're carrying around a lot of those every day,
and all of a sudden you lose all that.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
You look good. People are complimenting you. How do you
think that makes you feel? Yeah, it's amazing. It's transition. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
And especially on Medicare, everybody's trying to like, you know,
I see all my friends have lost all this weight.
They're way more active. They're now their blood pressure is
coming down. There's all these side benefits that physically go
with that weight loss. It's not just mental, but it's
a huge difference you see in people. And just recently,
as of July, people are now able to get this
(14:44):
through Medicare for weight loss. And they've never been covered
for weight loss before.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
What are those called?
Speaker 5 (14:49):
The GLP-1s, as far as the weight loss drugs, they
do have one of the ones you can take as
a pill. There's a couple that are the injectables. But
people have been going crazy asking, how do I get this?
Because I've seen what's happened with all of my friends,
peers that are out there. And especially, think about this
past winter. How long was this last winter? I was
(15:11):
just talking to somebody about this.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
It was brutal.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
I mean, up here, it's tough to stay active, to
keep the weight off and You know, there's tremendous benefit,
both physically and mentally, for people when they shed that
weight and they want to have and feel better the
same that they see their friends.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
All right. So what does Medicare have to do with
the GLPs now?
Speaker 5 (15:34):
It's interesting, Chris, because people, it's very confusing. And I've
talked to doctors already that request it as of July 1st.
It is covered under Medicare, but it's not necessarily through
their drug plans. They have to have one. to get it,
but there's certain requirements they have to meet. They can't
have to have any of the preexisting conditions that would
normally qualify them, but they can request it through this
(15:58):
bridge program that their doctors go through and request that
they get denied, and it's done outside of their drug plan.
They have to have one to get it, but it's
$ 50 a month. It doesn't apply to their deductibles or
max out-of-pockets for their Part D plans.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
So do you think this has opened up accessibility to
people that didn't have it before?
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Oh, it's huge. I mean, I just did a podcast
on this because I've got so many people asking about it.
I can just tell them, go listen to my podcast
on the Medicare show. And I've got a cheat sheet
that people can bring to their doctors because a lot
of the doctors aren't up on it yet. And they're
waiting to see how this whole program.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Is going to work.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
But there's a huge, huge, huge amount of people that
want to drop the weight for a lot of physical
reasons and mental reasons. For a lot of people, the
question is, is the GLP-1 right for me? I always
tell people it's a conversation you need to start having
with your doctor. There's people that are paying $ 450 a
month because they want it for weight loss. They can't
(16:55):
get it. But for the people that need it, I mean,
this is very life-changing because at $ 50 a month, it
becomes very affordable.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
So I've created just a.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
One-page cheat sheet that both you could bring to your
doctor to have that conversation, say, am I eligible for it?
is this right for me? How does the doctor get
this or get me onto this bridge program?
Speaker 3 (17:14):
And by cheat sheet, you mean just questions to ask
or information that somebody otherwise wouldn't know. Because I can
imagine if I'm on Medicare and I've heard about this
and think it might be appropriate for me, but it
costs $ 500 a month, I'm not even investigating it.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
Yeah, you can't afford it, right? So for $ 50 a month,
do I qualify? Do I meet the right BMI? Do
I have any of these other preexisting conditions? Because if
you're normally qualified for it, With other medical reasons that
normally have been covered, you can't get into this bridge program.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Wow, that's great.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
Just because, Kevin, it's a great, great thing for the
right people, right? Because of the cost savings, you talk
about health and wealth. And what I did is because
we had so much information, there's two ways to get
the information. You can email me at the Medicare shop.
That's SHOP at Gmail. You can search for the Medicare show.
which is a podcast you can get on Apple. It's
(18:07):
on YouTube, and I have information on there. And I'm
happy to email the PDF, and it's a great place
to start to get some of the information and have
that conversation with your doctor.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
And many of these links can be found also on
the rockyourlife.com website. Exactly. That's rockyourlife.com. And we're going to
have all these links available to our listeners. So if
you want to download this cheat sheet, It's going to
be up on the website. It'll be real simple for
you to get.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Absolutely. We want to make sure you've got this great
information available to you. So is that better news?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
I think it is.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
I do too.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
We're going to take a short break, but stay with us,
and we're going to be right back right after the news.
This is Rock Your Life Radio on WAM 1180.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Welcome back. I'm Kevin Clark alongside Christopher Krolak of the J.
Christopher Group and Jeff Kuhn from the Medicare Shoppe. Guys,
I love this topic that we're on, what is better?
And as it relates to my field and profession of
estate planning, I kind of have a lot to say
about that because it's not necessarily is your plan better
(19:12):
because unfortunately estate planning is so undereducated by both attorneys
and non-attorneys alike. I mean, there's just not a lot
of great information about what is better out there. And
I think when you think about estate planning, you don't
start with what's better You start with, do I have
a plan or do I not? And then what's better? Well,
it's better to have a plan. Well, how do I
(19:34):
find out what a better plan is? And that's what
I talk about to people is a good foundational knowledge
of what estate planning is. And what I see out
in going to social media and the things that are
promoting estate planning is it's really two sides of the highway.
There's a financial side of people talking about the finances.
(19:56):
And then there's very few people like me talking about, well,
not only your finances, but what's your plan? Where are
your documents? Do you have a healthcare proxy? Do you
have a power of attorney? Do you have a will?
Do you even know what a trust is and why
that's better than a will or why a will isn't enough?
So in my line of work, I'm at the very
(20:18):
kind of ground level of better in educating people that
it's better not to procrastinate and it's better to have
a good estate plan.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
I attended one of your workshops and daunted at the
amount of information that you provided. And one thing that
really stood out was there's a difference between a plan
and planning, you know, when you're talking about your estate. Correct.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Well, yes, absolutely. So when I talk about a plan,
I want people to understand what their plan is versus planning.
Planning is kind of this ominous thought of, you know,
am I going to have enough? Is it going to
work out? Do I really want to tell my kids where–
my stuff is for after I'm dead because I don't
(21:07):
want to think about being dead. So I'm planning versus
a plan. I have it. I've got it all in
one location. I've communicated to my family that I've made
the plan. I'm comfortable with where everything's going to go
after I pass. And most importantly, you know, I want people,
if you want to think about better as an estate plan,
(21:28):
answer this question to yourself. How important is it to
me while I'm living to and thinking about my plan,
that when I die, my loved ones, for me, my children,
how easy, efficient, and low cost will it be for
them to handle and wrap up my estate? That's like
the foundational question. Do you want it to be easy, efficient,
(21:51):
and low cost? Another way to say that is you
want them to remember you and be able to grieve
you without having to look up the hill of this unknown,
uncharted place court-based, surrogates court, attorneys, who has power to
even use funds to pay for my burial. There's a
lot of messiness without a great plan.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
And it's time too, because we all have our lives.
We all have our jobs. We have kids we have
to take care of. We have things we have to do.
And when you're settling all of that, it just dominates
your time. You're waiting at the bank. You're waiting at
the clerk's office. You're waiting at the attorney's office. only
to discover that you don't have the right document at
(22:34):
that time. Now you've got to go back and you
have to start all over again.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
That's absolutely correct. And I get validation of that point
in almost every consultation that I do individually with people.
You know, the ones that come in and they're ready
to go. They're open ears for a new better estate
plan for them than what their parents did.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Why? Why?
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Because they had to handle their parents' estate, and it
was exactly the way.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
That you said.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
And you should see the absolute confidence and determination on
their face to make it better for their kids. You know,
and sometimes people kind of chuckle at me when I
make the little cliche or statement that, you know, the
best gift you can give to your kids is an
estate plan that is better than their parents.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Well, you're giving them time right at the end of
the day. You're giving them some freedom. You're giving them
back their independence and making their life a little bit
better during probably one of the most difficult times of
their life.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Well, that's exactly true. And Chris, that brings up something
that fuels my passion why I do this. So, you know,
when I do this and the reason I do this
is because I want to help people and I want
to make it better. And when I think in my mind,
what does that mean as I'm talking with people is
I want them to experience freedom. you know, the ability
to grieve their parents or their loved ones and not
(23:56):
have to worry about the things that you just mentioned,
not have to worry about going to the clerk's office
or finding an attorney to go to court. And what
does court even mean? You know, and just kind of
a spoiler alert, when you have a well-drafted revocable living trust,
it eliminates all that. So it's one of those things where,
you know, what's better at first is getting the knowledge
(24:16):
of what's out there and then really understanding and understanding
debunking some of the programming that unfortunately, you know, attorneys
and media and even TV, I've seen 14 different TV
shows in the last two years that portrayed the best
estate plan is a will.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
And they show it.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
And when I say this in my workshop, people start nodding.
They portray it as the family comes into the lawyer's office.
The lawyer reads the will out to everybody, has pre-populated
envelopes with the inheritances in there with the names of
the kids on the envelopes, hands them out, and the
estate is closed. That doesn't happen. It actually can't happen.
There's some confidentiality issues there. But people think that that's it.
(24:59):
Or they think, you know, I don't want to think
about my death, so I'll just get a simple will.
Simple will is, honey, I love you. When I die,
you get everything. When you die, I get your stuff.
If we both die, the kids get it. Yeah, you know,
the seminar was incredible.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Afterwards, I recently went to it, and it was truly educational.
And just sitting there going through it, you're clearly very
passionate about bringing this information and helping people. And it's
not about, I've got to get business, which a lot
of them are. There was a gentleman afterwards that I
heard talking. It was a men's room conversation. I just
happened to go in afterwards and was talking to somebody
(25:36):
and said, I've been to several of these from different
estate planning attorneys. He goes, this by far was the
most educational thing. And genuine, like this guy really cares
and wants to do the right thing. They're really impressed.
And it made me think about when you're just talking
now of all these different cases and people.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
I got a call a.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
Number of years ago from a woman that was referred
to me. Her husband just passed away. And it's not
just about the kids. It's about your spouse. If you
really love your spouse, you have to do this. And
this poor woman, I never forgot this conversation. Her husband died.
Mortgage is in his name. All of his bank accounts
were in his name. First thing I asked is, did
you tell the bank yet? And she goes, yeah, I've
(26:16):
called the banks and the mortgage company. Well, guess what happened?
Accounts were all frozen. She has access to zero money.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
It happens. And what happens with a mortgage? Exactly. It's due.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah, it's all a mess. And until the traditional way of,
either put it off, procrastinate, don't do anything, or get
your simple will, people don't realize you don't have power
over assets in the deceased person's name until you're appointed
by the court in those situations.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Kevin, what happens, you know, somebody passes away, now you've
got that trust document in your hand. What happens next?
What kind of power does that trust document have to
start to do all the things that we're hearing these
horror stories about?
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Well, great question. What it does is it gives... the
successor trustee, which would be the person that is appointed
to take over the estate, kind of like the executor
in a will. But with a will, you've got to
go to court and have the judge appoint you. With
a trust, it's automatic. The second the person is deceased,
that person has the power.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
So you can bring that trust document into the bank.
You can bring it to the brokerage and say, this
is my legal permission to To have this stuff move
this way. Absolutely. All right, we're bumping up on the
news right now, so stay with us. We're going to
take a short break. We're Rock Your Life Radio on
WAM 1180. We'll be right back. I'm Christopher Krolak, alongside
(27:39):
estate planning attorney Kevin Clark and Medicare specialist Jeff Kuhn.
And I'm going to take a couple minutes to talk
about what it means to me when people ask me, hey, Chris,
what's a better place for my money? And that's one
of the most common things I hear. And my response
is always the same. Tell me what better means to you.
(28:01):
Sometimes they're looking for more income. Sometimes they're worried about
the market downturn. Maybe they're paying too much in fees
or sometimes they want to leave more money to their children.
And over my 25 years as a financial advisor, I've
noticed something interesting. Most people don't need more investments to
make their portfolio better. They need clarity. They need a
better plan. They need every retirement dollar to have a
(28:25):
clearly defined purpose. Because if you don't know what each
dollar is supposed to accomplish, how do you know whether
it's in the right place? So people spend 30 to
40 years saving for retirement, but very few ever stop
to ask one simple question. Hey, what's my money supposed
to do for me now? Most people assume that answer
(28:45):
never changes. But one of the biggest mistakes retirees make
when you're working is Your retirement dollars really have one job.
They're designed to grow. You're adding money to every paycheck.
You have years before retirement. Market downturns don't necessarily hurt
because you're still buying investments at a lower price. Growth
is exactly what those dollars should be doing. But then
(29:06):
something changes. Retirement. Those paychecks stop. And suddenly those same
dollars are expected to do three completely different jobs. I
want you to imagine hiring one employee. You tell them,
I need you to be my accountant. My attorney and
my heart surgeon. Could one person do all three jobs
exceptionally well? Of course not. And Kevin and Jeff, we
(29:28):
were talking about this over the break a little bit.
You know, we see this in our industry all the time.
You know, you walk into an office and they're a
financial planner and they say, well, gosh, I can do
your estate. planning and I can do your Medicare planning.
Do we really think that one person has the expertise
in each of these areas? And are you going to
get perfectly objective advice from one person?
Speaker 5 (29:54):
You know, Chris, that's a great point. I was just
talking to Kevin about this event I was at. A
couple nights ago, and there were a bunch of insurance
agents or Medicare agents, and they were talking about life
insurance or trying to do all these different things. And clearly,
none of them, they were doing well. You know, it's
that phrase, a jack of all trades, but master of none.
You got it.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Right. It's an incredibly difficult assignment. But, you know, that's
what retirees unknowingly ask their dollars to do. So I
like to think about retirement dollars split up into three
unique jobs. So the first job is always income. These
are dollars that pay your electric bill, buy your groceries,
fund vacations, help you enjoy the retirement you work so
(30:38):
hard for. These dollars need to be dependable and predictable.
Their purpose isn't to hit home runs. Their purpose is
to help provide confidence that your paycheck continues after your
career ends. The second job is stability. This is the
money you need for life's unexpected events. Life happens. Roofs leak.
furnace quits, grandchild needs help, health care expenses can show
(31:02):
up unexpectedly. These dollars should be available when you need
them and protected from major market decline. Their purpose isn't
maximum growth. Their purpose is to be there when life calls. Now,
the third job, these are dollars you won't need for
many years. They have time to recover from markets ups
and downs. Their purpose is to help fight inflation and
(31:25):
continue building wealth over the long term. Now, let me
ask you something. Why are we asking $ 1 to do
all three jobs? Maybe we shouldn't. One of the things
I see most often is that people have accumulated investments
over their lifetime. Several mutual funds, a few ETFs, maybe
some stocks, maybe an annuity, some bonds, a little bit
(31:46):
of everything. But when I ask, which investment is responsible
for generating your retirement income? Or which dollars are specifically
protecting you if the stock market falls 30%? Most people
don't know. They've collected investments, but they haven't assigned them
a purpose. And that's a very important difference. The answer
(32:07):
usually isn't buying another investment. It's making sure the investments
you already own are aligned with the job they're supposed
to perform. So I'm not saying every dollar should be safe.
I'm certainly not saying every dollar should be invested aggressively.
I'm saying every dollar deserves a purpose. When income dollars
(32:28):
can focus on income, stability dollars can focus on stability,
and growth dollars can focus on growth, something amazing happens.
Retirement becomes simpler. You worry less about the market did
today because every dollar already knows its job. So if
you're within 10 years of retirement or already retired, I
(32:50):
got a challenge for you. Ask yourself one question. Can
I identify exactly which dollars in my retirement are responsible
for income, which are responsible for stability, and which are
responsible for long-term growth? If that answer isn't crystal clear,
that doesn't necessarily mean you need more investments. It may
(33:12):
simply mean you need a better definition of what better
really looks like. That's exactly why I developed a purpose-based
retirement planning scorecard. And what this does, it's a simpler
way to discover whether your retirement dollars have a clear
purpose or whether they're trying to do too much. And
(33:33):
a great way to access that scorecard, it's kind of interesting,
it's like four pages long. You can go to our
new site, rockyourlife.com, that's R-O-C-yourlife.com. And on there, each of
us are putting up these guides, we're putting up these scorecards,
we're putting up some really great information that you can
(33:53):
easily access. You can learn a little bit about us.
So check out rockyourlife.com for all this information.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Chris, thank you so much for that. And I just
want to echo what you've said about every dollar having
its own job. When I learned about that from you,
I started taking stock of my own portfolios and investments
and how I do things. And it really, really shocked
me when I started thinking the way that you just said.
What does every dollar do? And how am I having
(34:24):
a plan that is in line with what you're saying?
And I think, folks, if you adopt that, you're going
to see a whole different perspective on what retirement looks like.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
And it's a hard mindset, Kevin, because the way we
thought when we were 20s, 30s, 40s is so much
different than we're in our 50s, 60s, and 70s in
respects to how we look at our investments. They have
a different purpose today than they did back at our
younger ages.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Oh, 100%.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
One of the things, Chris, is you're talking about dollars
having a purpose. The two toughest questions that people have
answering you have to think about is, one, how much
really do I need? And two, where is it coming from?
Speaker 4 (35:04):
Exactly. Yeah, and I appreciate that, guys. So I want
to have a little bit of fun here at the
end of the show. Kevin, I want you to finish
this sentence. When I was younger, I thought better meant..
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Success, prestige, and... Ease.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
And when I get older, I realize better means?
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Security, safety, and trust.
Speaker 5 (35:29):
You know, when I was younger, I thought better meant things.
You think about accumulation and things. And now, as I'm older,
I really realize it's health, wealth, and the relationships that
you have.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Absolutely. Yeah, we spend so much of life chasing better
that we rarely stop to define it. Maybe better isn't
having more. Maybe it's worrying less. Maybe it's sleeping better
at night. Maybe it's knowing your family is protected. Maybe
it's having enough income to enjoy retirement instead of watching
the stock market every day. Better looks different for everyone.
(36:04):
The important thing is making sure you're chasing your definition
of better, not someone else's. So I want to thank
you for joining us on Rock Your Life Radio. And
we're excited to announce that our brand new website is
now live at rockyourlife.com. And you'll find information about us,
upcoming shows, past episodes, contact information, and other helpful resources.
(36:27):
And thank you for joining us on our episode of
Rock Your Life Radio. And please come back next week
because the best decision isn't the one that looks better
on paper. It's the one that helps you live better.
The following is paid programming by the Rock Your Life
Radio Show. The content of this show is that of
the Rock Your Life Radio Show and does not reflect
the views or policies of this station or iHeartMedia.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
News Radio Wham 1180 welcomes you to the Rock Your
Life Show, discussing safe money, estate planning, and Medicare with
an entertaining twist. Now from the News Radio Wham 1180
studios in downtown Rochester, here are your hosts, the Rock
Your Life guys, Christopher Krolak, Kevin Clark.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
And Jeffrey Kuhn.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Welcome to Rock Your Life Radio. I'm Christopher Krolak of
the J. Christopher Group, and alongside me is Kevin Clark
of Clark Peshkin and Jeff Kuhn of The Medicare Shop,
and today we're talking about something that affects every one
of us. Why do we always want something better? And
I heard a great quote, the pursuit of better isn't
the problem. The problem is chasing better without first defining
(01:03):
what better actually means. So why do we want A
better house, a better job, better health, better relationships, better investments.
Think about it. Manufacturers release a new phone every year
and suddenly ours doesn't seem quite as exciting anymore. We
finally buy the car we've always wanted and six months later,
(01:24):
we're looking at the newer model. The truth is, wanting
better is part of being human. Without it, we'd never grow.
We'd never improve. But sometimes the pursuit of better can
actually make us less satisfied. We compare ourselves to other people.
We chase returns. We always assume the grass is greener
somewhere else. So today, we're going to explore why we
(01:46):
think this way, how that mindset affects our money, our health,
our legal decisions, and even our happiness. And maybe by
the end of the show, you'll discover that better means
something completely different than you thought. So guys, why do
you think our brains are wired for better?
Speaker 5 (02:06):
Kevin, you know, and Chris, that's a great point. When
we talked about this show, it made me really think
about that. It's a very kind of thoughtful subject. We
define what is better, right? We think about health, wealth,
you know, for me, emotional can be tied in to it.
I think a lot of it's really based on your surroundings.
You know, you think about the inputs, the people that
(02:27):
you know, you see things around you that are happening.
I think it's human nature to a large degree that
you've kind of the inputs of of the people and
the things that surround you that are influencing you. What
is better, right? If you think about your friends, family,
the people in your lives that have a positive impact,
do you think that has an impression?
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I absolutely think it does. I also think that as
we grow through our years, your 20s, 30s, 40s, things change.
Your perspectives change. You learn, to your point, your inputs
that you have affect how you strategize life. And I
think what's better for me, that feeling that dopamine hit
(03:09):
when I purchased that thing is going to be completely
different than it is going to be for you. I mean,
to go to some extremes, the shopaholics, they are doing
it because they're better is the next thing that makes
them feel better for purchasing it. On the other side
of the extreme, the more miserly people are feeling better
when they sock away that money into their shoebox or
(03:32):
their investment account. And they're not spending it, but they're
getting the same feeling. So I really do think it's
individual based on our strategy of life at the time
and the age that we are.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
There's so many influences out there too. Advertising convinces us
that we need something. And do you guys know how
many times you're exposed to advertising in a single day?
Take a guess.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
The number would have to be astonishing. If I were
to put it, my brain sometimes thinks in time, I
would have to say, it's probably every three seconds that
I'm exposed to something that could provide advertising.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
Right.
Speaker 5 (04:10):
It's got to be for people that are especially watching TV.
Like I can't watch TV anymore. I think partly due
just because the amount of information.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
So statistics show that you're exposed to over 4,000 advertisements
a day. Now that's not a commercial. That could be
riding behind a car and then you see the logo
on that car.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
License plates.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
License plate. Every single thing has... that form of advertising
and that it's like, gosh, I like that car ahead
of mine. You know, I just bought mine three weeks ago.
Then all of a sudden you see everyone else driving
your same car and maybe you want the next best
model that's out there. So I think it's really interesting
in not to mention social media. Oh my God. Social media.
(04:52):
I mean, if you're scrolling, if you're new to scrolling
or anything like that, you know, you like to see
what your friends and families are doing and, you know,
maybe some funny pictures or something like that. But literally,
every second scroll that you see on there is what?
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Yeah, Chris, there's times I think my social media is
reading my mind. It's scary because I will think about
something and I probably have talked about it and all
of a sudden I'm seeing ads for that exact thing.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
You're probably seeing me for my workshop.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Yeah. Just the other day, you know, I had to
bring my dog in. They have to get their teeth cleaned.
My goodness, it's $ 1, 200 to get your dog's teeth cleaned. So,
of course, I'm a little bent out of shape about that.
I Googled it once. Now all of a sudden.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
The target of pet insurance probably.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Bing, bing, bing. It just keeps popping up. Try this,
try that. Put your dog on this new pill for 60,
90 days. And now I'm in the rabbit hole.
Speaker 5 (05:45):
You are.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
And now I'm starting to get reviews on it. And
it's like I just wasted a good hour of my
day investigating this rabbit hole to try to find something
better that might be out there. Yeah. Maybe better is
just doing things the right way the first time and
not messing around with trying to improve it or make
it better every single time. I don't know. So social
(06:08):
media is a big thing. So I've got another question
for you guys. What was the last thing you bought
because you thought it would make you feel better? And, Kevin,
you had a good story about this one.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Oh, it's so recent and relevant. It's also very humbling.
I just got back from a destination wedding yesterday. my
girlfriend's daughter just got married in Cabo San Lucas. And
there was going to be a welcoming party at the
resort for the family and friends that were traveling far
to come to this glorious event. And I realized that
(06:43):
the male dress attire was going to be linen suits.
And I don't have a linen suit. So I started
to do my shopping and went down the rabbit hole
of linen suits. And I I found a really economical,
good-looking suit that I really liked. It came. It fit
perfectly right off the rack, no tailoring. And I went
(07:04):
to the wedding. It survived the travel. I didn't have
to have it pressed. I put it on. I felt
like a million bucks. So I go to the welcoming party,
and we went over to congratulate the bride and groom-to-be.
And he turns around, and he goes, we're wearing the
same suit. And I was instantly humbled. I've never felt
(07:26):
that low. I felt ashamed. And I almost turned around,
went back to my hotel and changed to the suit
I brought for the wedding. But luckily, my girlfriend called
me down and said, no, it's not a problem at all.
And they came over later and I said, hey, man,
I'm really sorry about wearing the same suit. He's like,
how would you know? And by the way, you've got
great taste. And I thought, well, first of all, what
(07:48):
a cool guy. But second of all, what a cool
experience to go along with the topic of this show.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
To have that better thing. How long did it last
for you?
Speaker 5 (07:58):
How long did you live on that? Look in the
mirror and go, yeah, I'm looking great in this linen suit.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Yeah, I mean, to the point where I'll be a
little transparent.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I was.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
I walked out, and I'm like, all right, we're going
to go do this thing. And so it lasted as
long as it took to walk from the– the door to,
of my, of my room to the, to the, uh,
the welcoming event location, five minutes, 10 minutes.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
I would have loved to seen your face the minute
you walked in and saw him, you know, I, it
would be a job. I just dropped open completely. Yeah. I, I,
if you've met me or you've seen me, um, I don't,
I don't hide things very well. I wear it on
my sleeve and it was, it was humbling. Was anybody laughing?
Speaker 4 (08:37):
So what was the last thing you bought that you
thought would make life better?
Speaker 5 (08:41):
You know, it, it's a tough one, Chris, because you
can think the easy answer is, is what did I buy?
That's materialistic, right? And, you know, one of the things
that most recently it wasn't, and my dad, you know,
he's in his eighties. He's a very social guy, lost
his tooth. He broke it off, really bothered him. You
(09:01):
didn't want to spend the money. If you've been to
the dentist, you hear about costs of implants and other things.
I went to his dentist. I thought about it and
he had a lot of things coming up. You could
tell it was on his conscience. And I just said,
Call him up. I took care of it. And I
want to make sure that he had that. And I'll
tell you, the change in him having that, being able
to smile again, be social, it just made me feel
(09:23):
really good. It was just very rewarding I could do
that for him.
Speaker 4 (09:26):
Fantastic. Hey, we're bumping up on time, but stay with
us because, as my mom would say, we have something
more better coming up right after the break right here
on Rock Your Life Radio on WAM 1180.
Speaker 5 (09:37):
Welcome back to Rock Your Life Radio on News Radio
WAM 1180. I'm Jeff Kuhn, along with estate planning attorney
Kevin Clark and Christopher Krolak from the J. Christopher Group.
Continuing from our last segment, you know, thinking about what's
better and makes life better. You know, I was mentioning
about materialistic purchases, right, with my dad and the decision.
(10:00):
I made is to do something for somebody else and
how that made me feel, seeing the joy, you know,
and things that brought on to him. But you can't
help but think about the materialistic, right? And you think
back going to COVID when we started this whole conversation
about this show. What were people doing in Pulse of
Purchases during COVID? They're trying to fill this void.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Yeah, I bought a dog.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
You did?
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I did.
Speaker 5 (10:22):
You bought a dog, right? Companionship.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (10:25):
A lot of people, when you look at what happened
with boats, RVs, the huge surge and all these big
items that drove.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
That market through the roof. It was crazy.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (10:34):
I mean, people were buying things. And before COVID, for myself,
I did something that For different reasons, you know, I
used to ride motorcycles and I got an old Harley
just to get out with no technology to detach from
stress and ambient stress. And it was just very freeing.
It cleared my head out. It just made me mentally
just a lot healthier being able to get out and
(10:56):
just be in the present. But going back, Chris, I mean,
why did you buy a dog?
Speaker 4 (11:02):
It just seemed like the right thing to do. And,
you know, sitting in the house and you know, staring
outside and there was no cars on the road, you know,
no visitors, nothing along that line. So I said something
was missing and I could feel it. And it was
so intense. So I went down, he saw me, I
saw him and the rest is history.
Speaker 5 (11:21):
So, yeah, there was, you know, this whole conversation made
me think back to COVID. And I remember having a conversation,
I was talking to my primary care doctor and I said,
you know, You know, Cuomo shut me down from being
able to see clients. We're not allowed to have office
hours and visits. And he was talking to me about,
you know, some of the struggles that everybody's going through.
(11:43):
And one of the things that came up, it was
unprecedented at the time, the Surgeon General wrote a book
during COVID, not about physical health, but mental health, right? Loneliness,
the sense of belonging and the crisis that COVID's created.
And he said, this is the biggest epidemic or pandemic
we've ever seen of people struggling because of isolation and
(12:04):
people are doing things that, that really contribute to it.
So one of the things that I've definitely noticed, you know,
at least in my business dealing with clients and myself
and other people, there's a definite correlation between, you know,
your mental wellbeing, doing better and physical. And those two
things are really tied together. I remember one of the
first meetings, um, as far as Medicare goes, I was
(12:25):
down in Livingston County with my clients down there. It
was just on the back end of COVID. I had
a pack room of people just dying to get out.
They wanted that social connection, interaction. One of them had
a mask on. They were like, they use funny language.
I can't say it on the radio, but we're done
with this. We're ready to come out of this and
get out there and embrace it and get social again
(12:46):
because everybody struggled for so long. And there's a carryover
between that mental side of it and the physical side.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
So true. And I do think what you're saying is pre-COVID,
or at least since COVID, mental health has become such
more in the forefront of people's minds, maybe as a
result of that.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:04):
Yeah. And it goes back to originally, you know, that
materialistic thing I, before COVID I'd bought, you know, an
older Harley just to get out and cruise to clear
my head out. And what that did for me mentally,
just to be in the present, you just, your sense
of wellbeing, your energy, your outlook towards everything else, just
having that mental break and not having the ambient stress
feeding into you. It makes a huge difference.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
It's better.
Speaker 5 (13:25):
It is.
Speaker 4 (13:26):
It is. You know, one of the more.
Speaker 5 (13:28):
Recent things I've noticed with, you know, both at time
with both mental and physical, you can't help, but see
it with people. And I have so many clients that
come in and people, you come in to, um, your
social circles that you notice a dramatic change and you see,
you see it physically first and you can't help, but
notice the mental side of it is the GLP wants,
(13:51):
you know, people start taking them for different health reasons, diabetes.
a number of other things, and you see just a
huge change in somebody's sense of confidence. You talk about
your linen suit, how you felt wearing that. Imagine you're
in Wegmans and you pick up a five-pound bag of
sugar and you're carrying around a lot of those every day,
and all of a sudden you lose all that.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
You look good. People are complimenting you. How do you
think that makes you feel? Yeah, it's amazing. It's transition. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
And especially on Medicare, everybody's trying to like, you know,
I see all my friends have lost all this weight.
They're way more active. They're now their blood pressure is
coming down. There's all these side benefits that physically go
with that weight loss. It's not just mental, but it's
a huge difference you see in people. And just recently,
as of July, people are now able to get this
(14:44):
through Medicare for weight loss. And they've never been covered
for weight loss before.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
What are those called?
Speaker 5 (14:49):
The GLP-1s, as far as the weight loss drugs, they
do have one of the ones you can take as
a pill. There's a couple that are the injectables. But
people have been going crazy asking, how do I get this?
Because I've seen what's happened with all of my friends,
peers that are out there. And especially, think about this
past winter. How long was this last winter? I was
(15:11):
just talking to somebody about this.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
It was brutal.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
I mean, up here, it's tough to stay active, to
keep the weight off and You know, there's tremendous benefit,
both physically and mentally, for people when they shed that
weight and they want to have and feel better the
same that they see their friends.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
All right. So what does Medicare have to do with
the GLPs now?
Speaker 5 (15:34):
It's interesting, Chris, because people, it's very confusing. And I've
talked to doctors already that request it as of July 1st.
It is covered under Medicare, but it's not necessarily through
their drug plans. They have to have one. to get it,
but there's certain requirements they have to meet. They can't
have to have any of the preexisting conditions that would
normally qualify them, but they can request it through this
(15:58):
bridge program that their doctors go through and request that
they get denied, and it's done outside of their drug plan.
They have to have one to get it, but it's
$ 50 a month. It doesn't apply to their deductibles or
max out-of-pockets for their Part D plans.
Speaker 4 (16:13):
So do you think this has opened up accessibility to
people that didn't have it before?
Speaker 5 (16:18):
Oh, it's huge. I mean, I just did a podcast
on this because I've got so many people asking about it.
I can just tell them, go listen to my podcast
on the Medicare show. And I've got a cheat sheet
that people can bring to their doctors because a lot
of the doctors aren't up on it yet. And they're
waiting to see how this whole program.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Is going to work.
Speaker 5 (16:34):
But there's a huge, huge, huge amount of people that
want to drop the weight for a lot of physical
reasons and mental reasons. For a lot of people, the
question is, is the GLP-1 right for me? I always
tell people it's a conversation you need to start having
with your doctor. There's people that are paying $ 450 a
month because they want it for weight loss. They can't
(16:55):
get it. But for the people that need it, I mean,
this is very life-changing because at $ 50 a month, it
becomes very affordable.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
So I've created just a.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
One-page cheat sheet that both you could bring to your
doctor to have that conversation, say, am I eligible for it?
is this right for me? How does the doctor get
this or get me onto this bridge program?
Speaker 3 (17:14):
And by cheat sheet, you mean just questions to ask
or information that somebody otherwise wouldn't know. Because I can
imagine if I'm on Medicare and I've heard about this
and think it might be appropriate for me, but it
costs $ 500 a month, I'm not even investigating it.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
Yeah, you can't afford it, right? So for $ 50 a month,
do I qualify? Do I meet the right BMI? Do
I have any of these other preexisting conditions? Because if
you're normally qualified for it, With other medical reasons that
normally have been covered, you can't get into this bridge program.
Speaker 4 (17:43):
Wow, that's great.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
Just because, Kevin, it's a great, great thing for the
right people, right? Because of the cost savings, you talk
about health and wealth. And what I did is because
we had so much information, there's two ways to get
the information. You can email me at the Medicare shop.
That's SHOP at Gmail. You can search for the Medicare show.
which is a podcast you can get on Apple. It's
(18:07):
on YouTube, and I have information on there. And I'm
happy to email the PDF, and it's a great place
to start to get some of the information and have
that conversation with your doctor.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
And many of these links can be found also on
the rockyourlife.com website. Exactly. That's rockyourlife.com. And we're going to
have all these links available to our listeners. So if
you want to download this cheat sheet, It's going to
be up on the website. It'll be real simple for
you to get.
Speaker 5 (18:34):
Absolutely. We want to make sure you've got this great
information available to you. So is that better news?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
I think it is.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
I do too.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (18:41):
We're going to take a short break, but stay with us,
and we're going to be right back right after the news.
This is Rock Your Life Radio on WAM 1180.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Welcome back. I'm Kevin Clark alongside Christopher Krolak of the J.
Christopher Group and Jeff Kuhn from the Medicare Shoppe. Guys,
I love this topic that we're on, what is better?
And as it relates to my field and profession of
estate planning, I kind of have a lot to say
about that because it's not necessarily is your plan better
(19:12):
because unfortunately estate planning is so undereducated by both attorneys
and non-attorneys alike. I mean, there's just not a lot
of great information about what is better out there. And
I think when you think about estate planning, you don't
start with what's better You start with, do I have
a plan or do I not? And then what's better? Well,
it's better to have a plan. Well, how do I
(19:34):
find out what a better plan is? And that's what
I talk about to people is a good foundational knowledge
of what estate planning is. And what I see out
in going to social media and the things that are
promoting estate planning is it's really two sides of the highway.
There's a financial side of people talking about the finances.
(19:56):
And then there's very few people like me talking about, well,
not only your finances, but what's your plan? Where are
your documents? Do you have a healthcare proxy? Do you
have a power of attorney? Do you have a will?
Do you even know what a trust is and why
that's better than a will or why a will isn't enough?
So in my line of work, I'm at the very
(20:18):
kind of ground level of better in educating people that
it's better not to procrastinate and it's better to have
a good estate plan.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
I attended one of your workshops and daunted at the
amount of information that you provided. And one thing that
really stood out was there's a difference between a plan
and planning, you know, when you're talking about your estate. Correct.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Well, yes, absolutely. So when I talk about a plan,
I want people to understand what their plan is versus planning.
Planning is kind of this ominous thought of, you know,
am I going to have enough? Is it going to
work out? Do I really want to tell my kids where–
my stuff is for after I'm dead because I don't
(21:07):
want to think about being dead. So I'm planning versus
a plan. I have it. I've got it all in
one location. I've communicated to my family that I've made
the plan. I'm comfortable with where everything's going to go
after I pass. And most importantly, you know, I want people,
if you want to think about better as an estate plan,
(21:28):
answer this question to yourself. How important is it to
me while I'm living to and thinking about my plan,
that when I die, my loved ones, for me, my children,
how easy, efficient, and low cost will it be for
them to handle and wrap up my estate? That's like
the foundational question. Do you want it to be easy, efficient,
(21:51):
and low cost? Another way to say that is you
want them to remember you and be able to grieve
you without having to look up the hill of this unknown,
uncharted place court-based, surrogates court, attorneys, who has power to
even use funds to pay for my burial. There's a
lot of messiness without a great plan.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
And it's time too, because we all have our lives.
We all have our jobs. We have kids we have
to take care of. We have things we have to do.
And when you're settling all of that, it just dominates
your time. You're waiting at the bank. You're waiting at
the clerk's office. You're waiting at the attorney's office. only
to discover that you don't have the right document at
(22:34):
that time. Now you've got to go back and you
have to start all over again.
Speaker 3 (22:38):
That's absolutely correct. And I get validation of that point
in almost every consultation that I do individually with people.
You know, the ones that come in and they're ready
to go. They're open ears for a new better estate
plan for them than what their parents did.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Why? Why?
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Because they had to handle their parents' estate, and it
was exactly the way.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
That you said.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
And you should see the absolute confidence and determination on
their face to make it better for their kids. You know,
and sometimes people kind of chuckle at me when I
make the little cliche or statement that, you know, the
best gift you can give to your kids is an
estate plan that is better than their parents.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
Well, you're giving them time right at the end of
the day. You're giving them some freedom. You're giving them
back their independence and making their life a little bit
better during probably one of the most difficult times of
their life.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Well, that's exactly true. And Chris, that brings up something
that fuels my passion why I do this. So, you know,
when I do this and the reason I do this
is because I want to help people and I want
to make it better. And when I think in my mind,
what does that mean as I'm talking with people is
I want them to experience freedom. you know, the ability
to grieve their parents or their loved ones and not
(23:56):
have to worry about the things that you just mentioned,
not have to worry about going to the clerk's office
or finding an attorney to go to court. And what
does court even mean? You know, and just kind of
a spoiler alert, when you have a well-drafted revocable living trust,
it eliminates all that. So it's one of those things where,
you know, what's better at first is getting the knowledge
(24:16):
of what's out there and then really understanding and understanding
debunking some of the programming that unfortunately, you know, attorneys
and media and even TV, I've seen 14 different TV
shows in the last two years that portrayed the best
estate plan is a will.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
And they show it.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
And when I say this in my workshop, people start nodding.
They portray it as the family comes into the lawyer's office.
The lawyer reads the will out to everybody, has pre-populated
envelopes with the inheritances in there with the names of
the kids on the envelopes, hands them out, and the
estate is closed. That doesn't happen. It actually can't happen.
There's some confidentiality issues there. But people think that that's it.
(24:59):
Or they think, you know, I don't want to think
about my death, so I'll just get a simple will.
Simple will is, honey, I love you. When I die,
you get everything. When you die, I get your stuff.
If we both die, the kids get it. Yeah, you know,
the seminar was incredible.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Afterwards, I recently went to it, and it was truly educational.
And just sitting there going through it, you're clearly very
passionate about bringing this information and helping people. And it's
not about, I've got to get business, which a lot
of them are. There was a gentleman afterwards that I
heard talking. It was a men's room conversation. I just
happened to go in afterwards and was talking to somebody
(25:36):
and said, I've been to several of these from different
estate planning attorneys. He goes, this by far was the
most educational thing. And genuine, like this guy really cares
and wants to do the right thing. They're really impressed.
And it made me think about when you're just talking
now of all these different cases and people.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
I got a call a.
Speaker 5 (25:55):
Number of years ago from a woman that was referred
to me. Her husband just passed away. And it's not
just about the kids. It's about your spouse. If you
really love your spouse, you have to do this. And
this poor woman, I never forgot this conversation. Her husband died.
Mortgage is in his name. All of his bank accounts
were in his name. First thing I asked is, did
you tell the bank yet? And she goes, yeah, I've
(26:16):
called the banks and the mortgage company. Well, guess what happened?
Accounts were all frozen. She has access to zero money.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
It happens. And what happens with a mortgage? Exactly. It's due.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah, it's all a mess. And until the traditional way of,
either put it off, procrastinate, don't do anything, or get
your simple will, people don't realize you don't have power
over assets in the deceased person's name until you're appointed
by the court in those situations.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Kevin, what happens, you know, somebody passes away, now you've
got that trust document in your hand. What happens next?
What kind of power does that trust document have to
start to do all the things that we're hearing these
horror stories about?
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Well, great question. What it does is it gives... the
successor trustee, which would be the person that is appointed
to take over the estate, kind of like the executor
in a will. But with a will, you've got to
go to court and have the judge appoint you. With
a trust, it's automatic. The second the person is deceased,
that person has the power.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
So you can bring that trust document into the bank.
You can bring it to the brokerage and say, this
is my legal permission to To have this stuff move
this way. Absolutely. All right, we're bumping up on the
news right now, so stay with us. We're going to
take a short break. We're Rock Your Life Radio on
WAM 1180. We'll be right back. I'm Christopher Krolak, alongside
(27:39):
estate planning attorney Kevin Clark and Medicare specialist Jeff Kuhn.
And I'm going to take a couple minutes to talk
about what it means to me when people ask me, hey, Chris,
what's a better place for my money? And that's one
of the most common things I hear. And my response
is always the same. Tell me what better means to you.
(28:01):
Sometimes they're looking for more income. Sometimes they're worried about
the market downturn. Maybe they're paying too much in fees
or sometimes they want to leave more money to their children.
And over my 25 years as a financial advisor, I've
noticed something interesting. Most people don't need more investments to
make their portfolio better. They need clarity. They need a
better plan. They need every retirement dollar to have a
(28:25):
clearly defined purpose. Because if you don't know what each
dollar is supposed to accomplish, how do you know whether
it's in the right place? So people spend 30 to
40 years saving for retirement, but very few ever stop
to ask one simple question. Hey, what's my money supposed
to do for me now? Most people assume that answer
(28:45):
never changes. But one of the biggest mistakes retirees make
when you're working is Your retirement dollars really have one job.
They're designed to grow. You're adding money to every paycheck.
You have years before retirement. Market downturns don't necessarily hurt
because you're still buying investments at a lower price. Growth
is exactly what those dollars should be doing. But then
(29:06):
something changes. Retirement. Those paychecks stop. And suddenly those same
dollars are expected to do three completely different jobs. I
want you to imagine hiring one employee. You tell them,
I need you to be my accountant. My attorney and
my heart surgeon. Could one person do all three jobs
exceptionally well? Of course not. And Kevin and Jeff, we
(29:28):
were talking about this over the break a little bit.
You know, we see this in our industry all the time.
You know, you walk into an office and they're a
financial planner and they say, well, gosh, I can do
your estate. planning and I can do your Medicare planning.
Do we really think that one person has the expertise
in each of these areas? And are you going to
get perfectly objective advice from one person?
Speaker 5 (29:54):
You know, Chris, that's a great point. I was just
talking to Kevin about this event I was at. A
couple nights ago, and there were a bunch of insurance
agents or Medicare agents, and they were talking about life
insurance or trying to do all these different things. And clearly,
none of them, they were doing well. You know, it's
that phrase, a jack of all trades, but master of none.
You got it.
Speaker 4 (30:15):
Right. It's an incredibly difficult assignment. But, you know, that's
what retirees unknowingly ask their dollars to do. So I
like to think about retirement dollars split up into three
unique jobs. So the first job is always income. These
are dollars that pay your electric bill, buy your groceries,
fund vacations, help you enjoy the retirement you work so
(30:38):
hard for. These dollars need to be dependable and predictable.
Their purpose isn't to hit home runs. Their purpose is
to help provide confidence that your paycheck continues after your
career ends. The second job is stability. This is the
money you need for life's unexpected events. Life happens. Roofs leak.
furnace quits, grandchild needs help, health care expenses can show
(31:02):
up unexpectedly. These dollars should be available when you need
them and protected from major market decline. Their purpose isn't
maximum growth. Their purpose is to be there when life calls. Now,
the third job, these are dollars you won't need for
many years. They have time to recover from markets ups
and downs. Their purpose is to help fight inflation and
(31:25):
continue building wealth over the long term. Now, let me
ask you something. Why are we asking $ 1 to do
all three jobs? Maybe we shouldn't. One of the things
I see most often is that people have accumulated investments
over their lifetime. Several mutual funds, a few ETFs, maybe
some stocks, maybe an annuity, some bonds, a little bit
(31:46):
of everything. But when I ask, which investment is responsible
for generating your retirement income? Or which dollars are specifically
protecting you if the stock market falls 30%? Most people
don't know. They've collected investments, but they haven't assigned them
a purpose. And that's a very important difference. The answer
(32:07):
usually isn't buying another investment. It's making sure the investments
you already own are aligned with the job they're supposed
to perform. So I'm not saying every dollar should be safe.
I'm certainly not saying every dollar should be invested aggressively.
I'm saying every dollar deserves a purpose. When income dollars
(32:28):
can focus on income, stability dollars can focus on stability,
and growth dollars can focus on growth, something amazing happens.
Retirement becomes simpler. You worry less about the market did
today because every dollar already knows its job. So if
you're within 10 years of retirement or already retired, I
(32:50):
got a challenge for you. Ask yourself one question. Can
I identify exactly which dollars in my retirement are responsible
for income, which are responsible for stability, and which are
responsible for long-term growth? If that answer isn't crystal clear,
that doesn't necessarily mean you need more investments. It may
(33:12):
simply mean you need a better definition of what better
really looks like. That's exactly why I developed a purpose-based
retirement planning scorecard. And what this does, it's a simpler
way to discover whether your retirement dollars have a clear
purpose or whether they're trying to do too much. And
(33:33):
a great way to access that scorecard, it's kind of interesting,
it's like four pages long. You can go to our
new site, rockyourlife.com, that's R-O-C-yourlife.com. And on there, each of
us are putting up these guides, we're putting up these scorecards,
we're putting up some really great information that you can
(33:53):
easily access. You can learn a little bit about us.
So check out rockyourlife.com for all this information.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Chris, thank you so much for that. And I just
want to echo what you've said about every dollar having
its own job. When I learned about that from you,
I started taking stock of my own portfolios and investments
and how I do things. And it really, really shocked
me when I started thinking the way that you just said.
What does every dollar do? And how am I having
(34:24):
a plan that is in line with what you're saying?
And I think, folks, if you adopt that, you're going
to see a whole different perspective on what retirement looks like.
Speaker 4 (34:34):
And it's a hard mindset, Kevin, because the way we
thought when we were 20s, 30s, 40s is so much
different than we're in our 50s, 60s, and 70s in
respects to how we look at our investments. They have
a different purpose today than they did back at our
younger ages.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
Oh, 100%.
Speaker 5 (34:52):
One of the things, Chris, is you're talking about dollars
having a purpose. The two toughest questions that people have
answering you have to think about is, one, how much
really do I need? And two, where is it coming from?
Speaker 4 (35:04):
Exactly. Yeah, and I appreciate that, guys. So I want
to have a little bit of fun here at the
end of the show. Kevin, I want you to finish
this sentence. When I was younger, I thought better meant..
Speaker 3 (35:18):
Success, prestige, and... Ease.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
And when I get older, I realize better means?
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Security, safety, and trust.
Speaker 5 (35:29):
You know, when I was younger, I thought better meant things.
You think about accumulation and things. And now, as I'm older,
I really realize it's health, wealth, and the relationships that
you have.
Speaker 4 (35:41):
Absolutely. Yeah, we spend so much of life chasing better
that we rarely stop to define it. Maybe better isn't
having more. Maybe it's worrying less. Maybe it's sleeping better
at night. Maybe it's knowing your family is protected. Maybe
it's having enough income to enjoy retirement instead of watching
the stock market every day. Better looks different for everyone.
(36:04):
The important thing is making sure you're chasing your definition
of better, not someone else's. So I want to thank
you for joining us on Rock Your Life Radio. And
we're excited to announce that our brand new website is
now live at rockyourlife.com. And you'll find information about us,
upcoming shows, past episodes, contact information, and other helpful resources.
(36:27):
And thank you for joining us on our episode of
Rock Your Life Radio. And please come back next week
because the best decision isn't the one that looks better
on paper. It's the one that helps you live better.
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