November 8, 2025 • 32 mins
In this eye-opening conversation, Ron Roel sits down with Joe Battaglia, CEO of Senior Services of North America, to demystify one of the most confusing challenges facing Americans today; how to navigate Medicare, Social Security, and retirement planning together.
Joe reveals how a simple postcard led him to build a national organization devoted to helping seniors make smarter decisions about their healthcare and financial futures. From understanding open enrollment and avoiding costly Medicare mistakes to optimizing Social Security and protecting your savings from market volatility, Joe breaks it all down with clarity, compassion, and humor.
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Am I really ready for retirement?”, this episode will give you the roadmap to get there. Topics include:
Website: seniorservicesofnorthamerica.com
Call Joe directly: 888-230-2199 or 516-884-2238 🎧 Hosted by: Ron Roel
Visit 45Forward.org for all past episodes and resources.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/45-forward--6550893/support.
Joe reveals how a simple postcard led him to build a national organization devoted to helping seniors make smarter decisions about their healthcare and financial futures. From understanding open enrollment and avoiding costly Medicare mistakes to optimizing Social Security and protecting your savings from market volatility, Joe breaks it all down with clarity, compassion, and humor.
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Am I really ready for retirement?”, this episode will give you the roadmap to get there. Topics include:
- The origin of Senior Services of North America and Joe’s postcard story
- Why healthcare costs are the #1 cause of bankruptcy in America
- Understanding the “Three-Legged Stool” of retirement: Medicare, Social Security, and financial planning
- How to avoid being overcharged or left uncovered during open enrollment
- The importance of reviewing your Medicare plan every year
- How to optimize your Social Security payout (and why waiting can mean tens of thousands more)
- Protecting your retirement savings from downturns through diversification and fixed index annuities
- The power of planning early — even before you hit 50
Website: seniorservicesofnorthamerica.com
Call Joe directly: 888-230-2199 or 516-884-2238 🎧 Hosted by: Ron Roel
Visit 45Forward.org for all past episodes and resources.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/45-forward--6550893/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hundreds of thousands of people losing coverage across the country.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Are you one of them? Well, did you get that letter?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Did you call up your insurance come to find out?
Did you get your new ID card?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I don't know. Well you need to do that.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
And that's what we're there for and what we do
run is we don't charge anything to have a conversation
with us. Whether you call us on the phone or
you come to our office, is no charge.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We you to help you. That's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Hello everyone, I'm Ron Roell. I'm the host of forty
five Forward, where my mission has help you make the
second half of life even better than the first. And
today's show, I'm talking with Joe Battaglia, the CEO of
Senior Services in North America. For Joe, the story of
Senior Services all began with the postcard about Medicare. Joe
didn't just answer it, He built a thriving nationwide business
(00:49):
from it, dedicated to helping people understand one of the
most confusing systems in America, Medicare. Today, we talked to
Joe not only about Medicare, but about how his three
legged stool social Security medicare and retirement. Playing solutions can
help you build a stable foundation for your future, and
it's an important time because the future right now is
(01:09):
really uncertain. Joe Battaglia, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Well, thank you, Ron, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I appreciate And every time I hear a story like
my story with that post and I'm like, wow, that
really is true. So thanks for bringing up because I
always recognize that.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
You know, yeah, let's start with that that you know,
You've intrigued me with this story and it shows to me,
you know, how you need to look at life and
be ready for accidents and take advantage of them. Just
tell me a little bit about that postcard.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, so you know, not opportunity knocks, right.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
They always say that look for things, and I always
do out life, always have my eyes wide open, always
listening to things, listening to ideas because.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
You never know what turns up.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
You know, we always know the very successful people, you know,
they weren't just launched into something. Something passed their way
and they had this idea and they sure they can
make things better and right, they ran with it.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And that's the same thing I did.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
You know, I got a postcard in the mail when
it spoke about Medicare some new programs that came out
back in two thousand and six, So in two thousand
and seventies programs actually hit the market. And when I
saw it, ron, I knew it was something because healthcare
is very expensive in this country right It's a major
topic of concern for everybody, young and old and everything
in between. So when I heard what it was all about,
I said, wow, this is pretty good. You know, I
(02:16):
always thought about providing solutions for people. That's what we do,
provide solutions, and unfortunately a lot of people aren't there
to provide their solutions to the ever growing senior marketplace.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So when I saw that, I said, wow, this is it.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
And you know, once I get involved with it and
I really see how it really helped the senior population,
I really ran with it. And at that point I
started recruiting agents more and more across the country to
where we are today and one of the largest in
the Northeast right now. But you know, we have thousands
of agents who are utilizing our product lines and on
our services to help out tens of thousands of seniors
every single year.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
So it's very rewarding for.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Me to look at my humbling past, where I started
and where we took it to today. And we're always
reinventing ourselves every single day because we look at what
is a senior need and from there we look at
what solutions are out there to help them. Because there's
no one spot to everything for the seniors. They have
to look here, they have to look there. So we said,
let's put everything together, and that's what we really accomplished.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So we're very proud of that.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Obviously, Medicare is front and center because this is the
open enrollment period, but let's just take a step back
a little bit and talk about your holistic approach because
this is what I like, you know, this is what
I think about at forty five forward. It's like, well,
what what do people need in various aspects of their life,
not just financial? And you've taken that notion to your
particular niche. So you talk about talk a little bit
(03:32):
about your holistic approach of you know, looking at Medicare,
but also how to defit into social security other kinds
of you know, retirement solutions.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So when you look at you know, the retiring employee
or retire whatever it may be, you know, once they
hit that age and you know, they work all their
life and now they come into retirement, the're solos to
enjoy themselves. But there's a lot of constraints around a
lot of constraints, and financially they really affect them, you know,
whether it be their medicare, health insurance concerns.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
You know, the number one reason.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
For bankruptcy in this country is, unfortunately, is healthcare. So
with the spiral in court, it never goes up the court.
You never go into the hospital and you look at
the bill say wow, how comes so cheap? It's always wow,
look at this right, So we know that, right, So
is there ways to help with that solution? Answer is yes.
Now are there other people that can help people with this?
Of course there is. But that's what we started the
(04:21):
whole other aspect of what we do, because that's where
most agents stop. They stop at that medicare portion, right.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
But what about everything else?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Because social security and financial you know, that's that three
legged stool.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And we came up with.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
That concept because if everything is not right on a
three legged stool, you're going to fall over. And what
that literally means is what are you doing retirement? How
is it going to work for you? So we take
this solistic approach, meaning that everything counts. It's not just
one thing. You know, how can you leave a retiree
or a senior just there and say I took care
of your medicare see it, that's not good because one
(04:55):
thing affects another thing. So we really took this approach
to look at what what does everything look like? How
do we make how do we cap their cause, how
do we reduce their exposure? How do we make sure
they have a wonderful retirement because most don't. You know,
the numbers out there show a lot of people aren't
doing very well in retirement anymore so because of the planning.
I'm like, there's that old phrase nobody plans have failed.
(05:17):
But if we failed the plan while you have a problem.
So we take this approach that we're here, right, we're
here to help you with every concern that.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
You have, and we're doing very well with that. Run.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Well, let's talk first about medicare. This confusing matrix that's
facing us and right now, of course, you know, there
are lots of uncertainty is going forward, but there's lots
of you know, probably you know, misinformation about it. So
let's just talk a little about what what should people expect?
What should they be doing now? I know you deal
with looking at their plan, looking at their potential, and
(05:48):
but you know whether medicare, you know advantage plan works
for them. So what should they be thinking about and
what what changes should they be looking for?
Speaker 1 (05:57):
What they're going to look for right now is they're
going to Probably a lot of people received letters saying
that their plan has been terminated, right unfortunately right, And
people say why why was a terminative? Well that's the
insurance company's decision, it's not ours. But there are solutions,
So we want everybody to know that, don't worry. There
was a solution at one time, and you have that plan,
there's a solution now you'll have another plan, right, So
(06:17):
you don't have to get frantic.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
We're going to find something for you.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
But the idea is, you know, insurance companies raise premiums,
they raise copays because they have to make sure they're
making money to cover their costs. Right, because healthcare is expensive,
not only for the senior but for the insurance company.
So because of that, they have to pass the long
Sensus somewhere and that's what happens.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So now this person you know, goes on to Medicare,
they've been on for a few years now, they get
this letter that the plan changes.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Now we're in the open Roman season where they.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Can look for changes. But I'm going to tell you
someone a lot of people don't know. You know, we
speak to so many seniors to say I didn't get
that letter when they did, because it's the insurance company's
responsibility to make.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Sure they get it. And they did get it.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
So now they don't have coverage on January first, and
they just have regular Medicare.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
And that's a big no no.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
You don't want to do that because you subjected to
lots of copays deductibles when you're going to the hostel.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
The sky's the limit. That's no good.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So there are other ways to cap the costs like
they first did. Right, So it's always important to review,
you know, the AP season is a season to review.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
But a lot of people don't.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
They feel comfortable because nothing happened. What you must look
at ron is that every year plans change, right, some
change for the better, some change for the worst. But
the idea is you need to look at how has
your plan changed because a retire your seniors, their health
may have changed, their medicine requirements may have changed.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Different things happen.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
So if you don't review, what you're doing is you're
leaving your health care up to a surprise. So when
you have to use it, you get surprises that how
could that be? And that's when people call into us
to say, how could this be?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Well, you didn't review.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
But there's not a lot of people out there trust
the resources.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
To do that for them.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
And that's the way this unbiased, trusted resource for the
senior population. So we do a great job of it
because you really take the seniors the best interest into
concern and we look at the carriers that are out
there to find that when the matches in e because
there's no one size fits all, you have to look
at the one that makes sense for you.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
So that's what that's that looks like. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So some of the big changes right, so that there
are changes in the in party. Right, there are more
more drugs that are available through the medicare negotiated prices, right,
So that's one big change. Right.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
What you look at right now is this year, you
know used to have a party plans that are lower
is somewhere ten dollars, but now the one hundred dollars
because they went up a lot. You know, prescriptions they're
just very costly, and it's very important for a senior
to have that because if you don't want to pay
the premium for something because it feels too high, watch
what happens.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
When you have no part day.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
You're going to get a penalty anyway, not for having
the part day, but what's going to happen is how
do you go and shop around for retail on these medicines.
They're crazy the prices of prescriptions nowadays, so you need
to shop around with that party plan, you know a
lot of different things. People can choose it depending on
their requirements. Like what we do when a person comes
to us, we say to them, you know, what are
(09:14):
you looking for? What are you trying to accomplish? You know,
And it all boils down to money to run. They
want to make sure they can afford it, and we
always say to them, you want to have the most
comprehensive coverage. You want it to cost as little as possible.
And we understand that.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We all want that.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
But the idea is sometimes it's not available, you know,
depending on your prescriptions that you take, depending on the
doctors that you're going to visit. We have to look
at those changes every year because things change, and when
things change, your plan will change how it's going to
cover you. So that's important. We have to take a
look at that and that's what we look for for them.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I just want to mention too, you do have a
free report right how to avoid costing mistakes when choosing
a Medicare health plan.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, so what we have is we do this comparison report.
It's really cool because you look at what they have
compared to what is available to them, and it looks
all the different plans available in their particular area and
it'll show its side by side comparison.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
You know. For a person to do this on.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Their own, they have to call up each each insurance
company and go through the summary of benefits, which is
a very daunting task, and they have to look and
itemize every single thing. How much is the primary care
visit for this one, this one, and this one, and
then do the same for outpatient visit. There's a whole
summary of benefits for all different coverages. So it's a
real daunting task for us. You need to do it's
(10:28):
very difficult, but we make it simple and with our software,
just upload all the information. Doctor's Hostle medicine is a
very confidential way and it'll tell us everything what makes
sense to the person, so they'll know what they want
to do.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
You know, it's all about.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Choices, but if you don't know the choices exist, how
can you really use the choices?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Right?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
So now blending medicare with uh, you know income retirement income,
we have solcial security and then there's astal wealth management,
So how do you talk about these two things? Everyone now,
of course, is all worried about social security. It looks
like you know that it's not going to disappear, but
it's in jeopardy because you know there's more money going
(11:08):
out than coming in. So exactly what is your thought
about social security in terms of social.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
City will be here.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
It's just amount and they change, whether it's bendpoint changes.
I don't get too technical right now, but the idea
is that they might raise certain premiums, that there's different
things they could do. It's not going away, you know,
statistics show is I think in twenty thirty three seventy
seven percent of the benefits will still be given out right, right,
But that's before they do changes.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So they're going to do some kind of change. What
it's going to be, we don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And look, the population is agency of so many people
aging and not enough workers, so they can't pay the retirees.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So that's what happens with SOID security.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
But what's really confusing with SOLI security around it has
over twenty seven hundred rules and regulations. So when a
person retires, the major thing they think about is, oh,
I'm sixty two, I can retire. Oh I'm sixty five,
I can retire, I'm sixty seven can retire?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Or do you wait TIERR seventy to retire.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
It's all about that optimization of your monthly benefit check
and that all depends on different things.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
We have to look at your working years. You know
what kind of income you have coming in now? Because
taxation comes into into play too. Are you going to
collect off your spouse. It's lots of different things to
look at. But what we do is we have what's
called the roadmap, and the roadmap actually takes us through
this journey and it gives us different scenarios. If you
retire sixty two, remember that's not your full retirement age.
(12:31):
You're not getting your full benefit right now, it's sixty
seven for most people. That's when you get your full retirement, right,
the full benefit. But if you stay, it's eight percent
every year up to age seventy. So do you want
to stay, Well, that might be a strategy if you
don't need the money, right, that's okay to do that.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
But what if you need the money?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Now?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
What do you do? So that's different things to look at.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
And then there's another concept to look at, which a
lot of folks don't realize is you know, most people,
I think it's like forty five percent of the people
in social Security, that's like fifty percent of their.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Income coming in. Now, just think about one thing.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
If one of the spouses passes, right, well, you get
the highest the highest monthly benefit, but you lost that
other half. Right, So if you couldn't leave, if you're
at fifty percent, you're living on when one disappears, how
do you exist with that? Now? So a lot of
people don't plan, they don't even think of that concept.
But you must think about that concept. See medicare if
you don't plan right while you be subjected to high codepays, deductibles,
(13:29):
high aspiraling healthcare costs, if you don't optimize your SOI security.
You know, there's a figure out there of one hundred
and ten thousand dollars and what that is. That's the
actual money that's left on the table. That's according to
Social Security. That's the average money left on the table
from people who don't optimize their monthly benefits. So what
you have to look at is how long does it
take a retiree to save up one hundred thousand dollars?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Right? A long time and now you're in retirement, what
do you really do?
Speaker 1 (13:56):
That becomes very difficult, right, So that's what this holistic approach,
which when a senior understands is they start saying it
makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
And it certainly does.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
So, yeah, so you've got to look at those rules
and regulations and optimize that. So the first step is
your Medicare health insurance to make sure you choose a
right plan. It's got to be right for you, whether
it's a Medicare advantage or a Medicare supplement plan with
a standalone part date. But again we look at that, right,
because different needs for different folks, and then optimizing your
social security is so very important, right, and again we
(14:25):
provide those roadmaps for them too, so that's something can
help them all.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
So yeah, so you optimize your social security, but in
many cases it's still not enough. You know, I mean
a lot of people. You know rely a tremendous man,
but especially in high cost areas like we are on
Long Island, you need to think about the third like,
which is uh, wealth management solutions. So let's talk about
how that works with social security.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
You know, this unfortunately is the most important aspect that
you have to look at because it's all about the money.
If you don't have money to take you through your
livelihood right when you retire, what are you going to
Because they look at you know, statistics will show it's
they could vary here and there. But let's say you're
going to live thirty years, right, and let's say the
optimal income for you to live is fifty thousand dollars
(15:10):
a year. So if you take the fifty thousand dollars
a year times that by thirty years, you need one
point five million dollars in savings.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
They don't have that right. We know it's so so
low the savings rate in this country.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Right, So what happened is now is and it's very
it's an odd kind of situation, but that's what's out there.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
You know, while a person is working, they're.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Accumulating their assets, right, you're working getting employee matches if
you have that way, So you're accumulating your.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Assets, right.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
And then what happens is you start to retire and
maybe you're edging towards your time, maybe three years to retirement,
and now you start to hold back a little bit
on how aggressive you are with your investments, and rightfully so,
because you don't want to be, you know, playing Russian
roulette with your with your retirement. So the idea is,
so now you start hold them back, right, Okay, and
(15:56):
now you retire and hopefully you have your medicare on,
your social crurity is optimizes. Let's talk about that wealth.
Once you retire, you're in a decumulation phase. So you're
not earning no more, you're not investing no more.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Now you're taking money out.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Now we look at that fifty thousand dollars and times
up our thirties one point five million. The idea is
most people have two hundred thousand dollars in the bank,
so how do you live? And another thing is what's
really frightening is you know, if you work twenty five
years of your life, you know, right now, we know
that in the stock market it's very erratic, very fragile.
(16:34):
Things happen every single day. You know, people look, one day,
oh I'm up, next day, oh I'm down. So you
can't have that updown mentality in retirement. While you're in
the accumulation phase. Well, that's one thing, but when you're
in retirement, well that's something got to really consider now,
because what do you do? Think about this? Think about
all the people. Let's look at COVID right back in
(16:55):
twenty twenty. So let's say people work in twenty twenty
five years, they had hundreds of thousand dollars in a
four to one k and now they retire, right, and
they retire now when they retire in December, right, and
then in January, so December of twenty nineteen, and in
January twenty twenty we have COVID And now look what
(17:17):
happened to the market after that? It took many, many
years to rebound and not to get too financial technical,
but the idea is is something called sequence of returns,
and what happens is if your if your portfolio is
down in the beginning years, you're not going to recover.
It's not going to happen for you. So you don't
want to be subjected to that. So you know, everybody
(17:38):
has their financial advisors and they have a great place
what to helping the seniors, they really do, but unfortunately,
nothing is guaranteed. You know, with with Medicare, you have
Medicare health insurance to guarantee your health. Right with Social Security,
that provides a guaranteed foundational income in retirement. Right, So
(17:59):
that's a good thing that right, because you've got coolar
adjustments all that.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
That's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
But now you're in retirement, right, so you're four to
one k now becoming an IRA. What do you do
with the market during downturns because it's gonna happen, right.
We know that the past is not indicative of the future,
but we do know history repeats itself at times. And
the idea is we know that you know what you're
gonna get these bear markets and bear markets are really
(18:24):
you have to watch them because you know, you have
the the upticks in the market, right, and they last
for years and years and years, but suddenly you have
these downturns, these bear markets. These bear markets can last
twelve to fifteen months, but they drop sharply. And again,
if those sharp declines are happening the sequence of returns
in the beginning of retirement, that could be devastating for
(18:45):
your portfolio. So you're never gonna achieve the money that
you need. So what we look at are their things
right that can really help ensure your portfolio. And like
I always say to people, ryn it is that you
know there is no one product that's good for everything, right.
A person needs to be diversified. That's the bottom line, right.
So there is a place of financial advisors to be
(19:06):
helping them and counseling them and find them the right
one is very very important. One that's going to answer
their phone, one that's going to console you and guide
you in downturns to know what's going on. But what
we look at it there are ways to guarantee a portion,
meaning that you're not subjected to any downturns. If the
market drops down to zero, your portfolio still stays where
(19:29):
it was. And there's something incredible out there called fixed
indexinuities that are really incredible. Billions of dollars of assets
go into that every single year, and what makes them
so unique.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Is they guarantee your investment. It can never go down.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
When the market goes up, you participate in the portion
of the upside, but if the market ever goes down,
you never lose a dime.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And they guaranteed by the insurance.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Companies, right, So you're not just putting money in an
insurance company and hoping they're going to be around. They're
guaranteed and those funds are in reserves for you. Right.
They're regulated by states too, so there very regulated insurance products, right,
they're not investment products. So what we look at is
how do we take this holistic approach. Now, so you
have financial advisors out there that are doing a great job,
(20:13):
but they're not helping them with Social Security and medicare, right,
So what we look at is how can we put
everything together?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And that's who we came up with the three legged approach.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
So in terms of you know, sequencing of this, it
seems to me so so medicare obviously you can't you know,
take that until you're sixty five, So that's not that's
not really the first step, but it's it's but it's
part of the thinking of the first step. So I
don't think people first of all, as they look head
towards Medicare, it's like understanding what the costs are. So
first of all, they don't understand that Medicare covers eighty
(20:46):
percent of your cost so there are going to be
health care costs and sort of so first thinking you're like,
what are my health care costs going to be? You know,
what is Medicare going to cover and what they're not
going to cover. But then you know before you're well,
before you're sixty five. Here to me, you're saying somebody
should be talked to you about they should look at
their SOB security, how much is that going to cover?
What's the strategy there, and then how does that need
(21:08):
to work with your other retirement options, you know, investment
options and insurance options.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, that's exactly right, that's exactly it right, and you
have to look at if you you can't leave. Most
people they are not taught about this. No one's when
they're working and their HR staff, they're not edging. In fact,
what we do educate a lot of HR directors across
the country because this topic is so important because you
know a lot of people either they're not working because
they're married and they stay at home, whatever it may be.
(21:37):
But what about the workforce that's out there now once
they retire, Well, they've been working with HR directors all
their life for all the benefits they go to them,
but the HR director is they don't know that that's
not their thing, right. So what we really have built
relationships with many HR companies HR staff across the country
to help position those retirees. They have like a phone
(21:58):
home of people to call to help them with that,
because you know, if the HR folks are not educated
on this, when the retiree comes up to them and says, hey,
what do I do concerning my medicare my social curery,
thing is said, I don't know, bull up Medicare, call
Social Security, go on Google, go look for somebody, and that.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Could be devastating.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
You know, you make the wrong choice in the beginning,
that could be very devastating. So we really put together
a very easy, stress free kind of situation and whenever
we talk to people, we don't have there's no obligation
come and talk with us.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
No, we have our office. They stop buy, we sit
down and have.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Coffee and donuts whatever it is, and just chat and
whatever they're comfortable with. But we're really primarily focused on
education because that's very important.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
If you educate people, well that's good because we need
to spread the word.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
So we educate somebody, as seenior, they tell another friend,
another friend, and that's how we will we will make
it together.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Yeah, I know, it's your your philosophy. It's educate first, cell.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Later things like that. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, you have to
do that. It's very important.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
So talking about this education, I know that one of
the things that you're renowned for it, Joe, is also
you know, a training of your staff and recruitment your staff.
So you know, I think that's important for people when
they select people to work with, they have to trust them,
and one way to trust them is to really see
how they treat their people. So talk just you know,
in the left segment here, just talk a little bit
(23:17):
about how you work with people, how you recruit people,
and this philosophy of training through trust.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
So what we do is we have meetings and we
just reach out to insurance agents across the country because
there's a fact that's out there around it. There's not
enough agents to handle a demand. You know, with eleven
thousand plus seniors a day turning sixty five becoming eldph medicare,
there are not enough agents to handle a demand. And
in the coming years, eighty million people, twenty percent of
(23:44):
the population United States, will be on medicare. So there's
not enough agents to handle that demand. So you know,
we reach out to agents and we just share with
them this this opportunity that's there. But it's not just
an opportunity what it is. It's very rewarding on what
we do round because you know, we as an agency ourself,
we help out tens of thousands people every single year.
So it's incredible the number we look at. But we
(24:06):
help them out and we show agents that there's so
many people that need to be helped, right, and we
put them to training courses and stuff like that. We
really make sure that first of all, you've got to
be compassionate, you have to be empathetic, You got to
make sure you're taking care of the seniors first, because
that's what it's all about. And they do that, and
we monitor what they do too, so we make sure
that they're you know, they have cutting edge software, that
(24:29):
we have the technology that we give to our agents
to make sure they have what it takes to help
out that senior who needs solutions. It's all about solutions driven.
And then what we also do is our staff. What
we do is to reach out to our insurance agents
and make sure they're helping people the right way. But
our staff is very agent centric and also custom eccentric.
(24:51):
So what we really do is we make sure that
our phones. Somebody's always answering the phone. You know, one thing,
I hate ron and nowadays nobody answers their phone. But
if you should happen to text them, they'll text you back.
How could that be right? So the idea is we
make sure our phones are answered all the time. And
I'm the CEO of my company. I tell people you
can call me up from eight o'clock in the morning
to eight o'clock at night. I answer my phone no
(25:12):
matter where I am in the world, I answer my
phone because it's important to me. So whether it's my
staff or whether it's a retire just as a question
an HR director, whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
We're there to help the people, not sometimes but all
the time.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
So the last couple of questions I have for you is,
first of all, any surprises or things you've learned along
the way that you didn't expect.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Wow, surprises along the way. Let's think about that for
a minute.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
So I don't know if I was ever surprised with things,
because I'm the type of person that you know, when
something comes, if it's adversity, well I find it's like
a challenge for me, and I find the solution to
make that work. You know, if it's something that was
it just doesn't make sense anymore for some reason because
it's some regulatory issue or something like that. You know,
of course we don't go down that road anymore, but
(25:59):
we're always looking for things. So I don't think if
anything ever, you know, got me rattled and stuff like that,
because you know, we're in a space right now that
people need help, and if you're given unbiased help to people,
you never have to worry about a thing. So I
don't think I'm ever surprised with things. You have to
at times reinvent yourself to help people better depending on
certain economic climates and things. Yeah, of course, but the
(26:22):
idea is we always move forward and it always works
for us.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
So looking forward from the consumer's perspective, anything they just
be thinking about going forward. I mean you've mentioned you
know a few things, but you know any changes in
the landscape that we should be prepared for.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Well, you look at every year as far as medicare,
every there's always costs being changed, always right, So it's
very important. And you know, seniors retirees are very skeptical
about change, right because they don't want to change, and
I get it. But the idea is you have to
look at what you're changing from. You know, if something
makes sense. And as many times, you know, we talk
to people and we tell them, you know what, you're
(27:02):
on the right plan, You're on the right plan, run,
stay where you are. It is nothing you need to
do right, But most of the time they're not on
the right plan, so we help them with that.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
So, whether it's Medicare or social security or just the
retirement planning, right strategies to help people with it's always there.
So you know, surprises only happen if you're not prepared,
and the ideas were always prepared. We always prepare that
retiree for what could happen, and we share with them
if this should happen to you, well, this is what
your cost are going to be. So if you should
(27:32):
happen to go in a hospital with this particular Medicare plan,
this is what you're subjected to. Are you okay with that?
You know it's not that do we just tell them?
We rattle off what the benefits are. Are you comfortable
with that? That's what we have to tell them, whether
it's social Security, you know, did you optimize it? Did
you navigate all those rules and regulations to find that
what makes sense for you? Are you leaving money on
(27:53):
the table that.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
You can't get back. You made your choice, You made
your choice. You can't get that back. So we got
to make sure that's right.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
And then as far as you know your retirement, the money,
you know, everything is about the money, unfortunately, and is
it about you know, we have so many horror stories
about people just existing out there right. They can't do
certain things, they don't go out, they don't travel. Retirement
is supposed to be a happy time, but we find
out a lot of times is not. Statistics will show
us that, you know, one in ten people. One in
(28:21):
twelve people will never retire, right, So that's kind of
ten percent of the population is never going to retire.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
That's pitiful. How many people are part time workers?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
That's a lot there, Thirty to forty percent are part
time workers. So the idea is when does it stop?
Is there something that could be done? And that's what
the planning in advance. So what I really tell people
RON is that don't be scared. You have to find
a resource that's out to help you. And what we
always tell people, we're not here to sell you anything.
We're going to educate you on what this is all about.
(28:53):
We're going to look at it holistically, and if you
feel that this is going to help you right, then
we're here for you. We can help you roll those
We're out here to help you. So it's very relaxed
to what we do RON, So we're very proud of that.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Yeah, you know, my motto is planned but don't predict.
That's right, that's uh. But people are reluctant to plan.
It's like they'll do anything plan.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
They wait till tomorrow, right, and tomorrow's year. What do
I do now? I should have done it? Right?
Speaker 1 (29:19):
How many I should have as doing here from people
all the time. Some times now do it, especially with medicare.
Now is the season, so you should be looking at that.
You know, in different parts of the countries, a lot
of plans of determinator.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Now what do they do?
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Hundreds of thousands of people losing coverage across the country.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Are you one of them? Well, did you get that letter?
I don't know. Did you call up your insurance coming
to find out? Did you get your new ID card?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Well you need to do that, and that's what we're
there for and what we do run is we don't
charge anything to have a conversation with us.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Whether you call us on the phone or you come
to our office, there's no charge. We here to help you.
That's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
So last thing is contact information, So how people reach
you tell us about your website and to.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Our website is Senior Services of North America dot com.
Senior Services of North America dot com. You could also
call us toll free at eight eight eight two three
zero two one nine nine or my personal lumber five
one six eight eight four two two three eight And
again if you call, we can show you the comparison
at Merit, the medicare comparison different plans, how yours stacks.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Up to others out there.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
And if you can save money with your prescriptions, money
on your co pays at doctor's nosciles, that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
We can help you there.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Social security if you're just retiring now and you want
to optimize it, we could provide that roadmap for you
to show you which scenario makes sense for you. And
then finally just guaranteeing guaranteeing your investments, right, so we
have to take a look at that too. So everything's
a holistic approach. But if you take everything and dissect
it and put this plan together like you talking about ron,
(30:51):
it works.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
That's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
And I think that once you think about doing it,
before you think you need to do it, you know
that that's well, that's why that my I was forty
five forward. People say well, you know the second half
of life, and I say well, and they say well
life forty five and I say, well, there are two reasons.
One think about things before you hit the fifty yard line,
because you know it's important to get ahead of that.
And the other aspect of it, you know, I use
(31:15):
this sports analogy which is, you know, if you want
to throw a football the farthest distance, what's the angle
forty five? So so throw So start thinking about this,
these things a little ahead of what. Don't wait till
your fifty five or sixty five, start talking to Joe
a little earlier, and then when you get to medicare,
then you can make that decision.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Bully Ryan, Absolutely, it's all good.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
But you know, hopefully today we provided some solutions for folks,
and we're here for you.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
That's the bottom line. Absolutely, but it's all good, all good, run.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
So thanks Joe. I really appreciate you talking with me today,
very valuable in form of conversation. And if once again
so you would you prefer emails as well or just
you know.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, just give me a call. It's all ok, yeah,
it's ally good.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Absolutely, okay, right, okay, So once again, folks, this has
been forty five Forward. If you want to see a
full archive of my shows, go to forty five forward
dot org. And if you want to send me comments
or questions or ask me anything about provide suggestions, you
could also subscribe to my monthly newsletter. So until then
(32:20):
our next episode, folks, keep moving forward. Forty five forward,
Hundreds of thousands of people losing coverage across the country.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Are you one of them? Well, did you get that letter?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Did you call up your insurance come to find out?
Did you get your new ID card?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I don't know. Well you need to do that.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
And that's what we're there for and what we do
run is we don't charge anything to have a conversation
with us. Whether you call us on the phone or
you come to our office, is no charge.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We you to help you. That's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Hello everyone, I'm Ron Roell. I'm the host of forty
five Forward, where my mission has help you make the
second half of life even better than the first. And
today's show, I'm talking with Joe Battaglia, the CEO of
Senior Services in North America. For Joe, the story of
Senior Services all began with the postcard about Medicare. Joe
didn't just answer it, He built a thriving nationwide business
(00:49):
from it, dedicated to helping people understand one of the
most confusing systems in America, Medicare. Today, we talked to
Joe not only about Medicare, but about how his three
legged stool social Security medicare and retirement. Playing solutions can
help you build a stable foundation for your future, and
it's an important time because the future right now is
(01:09):
really uncertain. Joe Battaglia, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Well, thank you, Ron, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I appreciate And every time I hear a story like
my story with that post and I'm like, wow, that
really is true. So thanks for bringing up because I
always recognize that.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
You know, yeah, let's start with that that you know,
You've intrigued me with this story and it shows to me,
you know, how you need to look at life and
be ready for accidents and take advantage of them. Just
tell me a little bit about that postcard.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, so you know, not opportunity knocks, right.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
They always say that look for things, and I always
do out life, always have my eyes wide open, always
listening to things, listening to ideas because.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
You never know what turns up.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
You know, we always know the very successful people, you know,
they weren't just launched into something. Something passed their way
and they had this idea and they sure they can
make things better and right, they ran with it.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
And that's the same thing I did.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
You know, I got a postcard in the mail when
it spoke about Medicare some new programs that came out
back in two thousand and six, So in two thousand
and seventies programs actually hit the market. And when I
saw it, ron, I knew it was something because healthcare
is very expensive in this country right It's a major
topic of concern for everybody, young and old and everything
in between. So when I heard what it was all about,
I said, wow, this is pretty good. You know, I
(02:16):
always thought about providing solutions for people. That's what we do,
provide solutions, and unfortunately a lot of people aren't there
to provide their solutions to the ever growing senior marketplace.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
So when I saw that, I said, wow, this is it.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
And you know, once I get involved with it and
I really see how it really helped the senior population,
I really ran with it. And at that point I
started recruiting agents more and more across the country to
where we are today and one of the largest in
the Northeast right now. But you know, we have thousands
of agents who are utilizing our product lines and on
our services to help out tens of thousands of seniors
every single year.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
So it's very rewarding for.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Me to look at my humbling past, where I started
and where we took it to today. And we're always
reinventing ourselves every single day because we look at what
is a senior need and from there we look at
what solutions are out there to help them. Because there's
no one spot to everything for the seniors. They have
to look here, they have to look there. So we said,
let's put everything together, and that's what we really accomplished.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So we're very proud of that.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Obviously, Medicare is front and center because this is the
open enrollment period, but let's just take a step back
a little bit and talk about your holistic approach because
this is what I like, you know, this is what
I think about at forty five forward. It's like, well,
what what do people need in various aspects of their life,
not just financial? And you've taken that notion to your
particular niche. So you talk about talk a little bit
(03:32):
about your holistic approach of you know, looking at Medicare,
but also how to defit into social security other kinds
of you know, retirement solutions.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
So when you look at you know, the retiring employee
or retire whatever it may be, you know, once they
hit that age and you know, they work all their
life and now they come into retirement, the're solos to
enjoy themselves. But there's a lot of constraints around a
lot of constraints, and financially they really affect them, you know,
whether it be their medicare, health insurance concerns.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
You know, the number one reason.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
For bankruptcy in this country is, unfortunately, is healthcare. So
with the spiral in court, it never goes up the court.
You never go into the hospital and you look at
the bill say wow, how comes so cheap? It's always wow,
look at this right, So we know that, right, So
is there ways to help with that solution? Answer is yes.
Now are there other people that can help people with this?
Of course there is. But that's what we started the
(04:21):
whole other aspect of what we do, because that's where
most agents stop. They stop at that medicare portion, right.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
But what about everything else?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Because social security and financial you know, that's that three
legged stool.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
And we came up with.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
That concept because if everything is not right on a
three legged stool, you're going to fall over. And what
that literally means is what are you doing retirement? How
is it going to work for you? So we take
this solistic approach, meaning that everything counts. It's not just
one thing. You know, how can you leave a retiree
or a senior just there and say I took care
of your medicare see it, that's not good because one
(04:55):
thing affects another thing. So we really took this approach
to look at what what does everything look like? How
do we make how do we cap their cause, how
do we reduce their exposure? How do we make sure
they have a wonderful retirement because most don't. You know,
the numbers out there show a lot of people aren't
doing very well in retirement anymore so because of the planning.
I'm like, there's that old phrase nobody plans have failed.
(05:17):
But if we failed the plan while you have a problem.
So we take this approach that we're here, right, we're
here to help you with every concern that.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
You have, and we're doing very well with that. Run.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Well, let's talk first about medicare. This confusing matrix that's
facing us and right now, of course, you know, there
are lots of uncertainty is going forward, but there's lots
of you know, probably you know, misinformation about it. So
let's just talk a little about what what should people expect?
What should they be doing now? I know you deal
with looking at their plan, looking at their potential, and
(05:48):
but you know whether medicare, you know advantage plan works
for them. So what should they be thinking about and
what what changes should they be looking for?
Speaker 1 (05:57):
What they're going to look for right now is they're
going to Probably a lot of people received letters saying
that their plan has been terminated, right unfortunately right, And
people say why why was a terminative? Well that's the
insurance company's decision, it's not ours. But there are solutions,
So we want everybody to know that, don't worry. There
was a solution at one time, and you have that plan,
there's a solution now you'll have another plan, right, So
(06:17):
you don't have to get frantic.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
We're going to find something for you.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
But the idea is, you know, insurance companies raise premiums,
they raise copays because they have to make sure they're
making money to cover their costs. Right, because healthcare is expensive,
not only for the senior but for the insurance company.
So because of that, they have to pass the long
Sensus somewhere and that's what happens.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
So now this person you know, goes on to Medicare,
they've been on for a few years now, they get
this letter that the plan changes.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Now we're in the open Roman season where they.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Can look for changes. But I'm going to tell you
someone a lot of people don't know. You know, we
speak to so many seniors to say I didn't get
that letter when they did, because it's the insurance company's
responsibility to make.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Sure they get it. And they did get it.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
So now they don't have coverage on January first, and
they just have regular Medicare.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
And that's a big no no.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
You don't want to do that because you subjected to
lots of copays deductibles when you're going to the hostel.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
The sky's the limit. That's no good.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
So there are other ways to cap the costs like
they first did. Right, So it's always important to review,
you know, the AP season is a season to review.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
But a lot of people don't.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
They feel comfortable because nothing happened. What you must look
at ron is that every year plans change, right, some
change for the better, some change for the worst. But
the idea is you need to look at how has
your plan changed because a retire your seniors, their health
may have changed, their medicine requirements may have changed.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Different things happen.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
So if you don't review, what you're doing is you're
leaving your health care up to a surprise. So when
you have to use it, you get surprises that how
could that be? And that's when people call into us
to say, how could this be?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Well, you didn't review.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
But there's not a lot of people out there trust
the resources.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
To do that for them.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
And that's the way this unbiased, trusted resource for the
senior population. So we do a great job of it
because you really take the seniors the best interest into
concern and we look at the carriers that are out
there to find that when the matches in e because
there's no one size fits all, you have to look
at the one that makes sense for you.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
So that's what that's that looks like. Right.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So some of the big changes right, so that there
are changes in the in party. Right, there are more
more drugs that are available through the medicare negotiated prices, right,
So that's one big change. Right.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
What you look at right now is this year, you
know used to have a party plans that are lower
is somewhere ten dollars, but now the one hundred dollars
because they went up a lot. You know, prescriptions they're
just very costly, and it's very important for a senior
to have that because if you don't want to pay
the premium for something because it feels too high, watch
what happens.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
When you have no part day.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
You're going to get a penalty anyway, not for having
the part day, but what's going to happen is how
do you go and shop around for retail on these medicines.
They're crazy the prices of prescriptions nowadays, so you need
to shop around with that party plan, you know a
lot of different things. People can choose it depending on
their requirements. Like what we do when a person comes
to us, we say to them, you know, what are
(09:14):
you looking for? What are you trying to accomplish? You know,
And it all boils down to money to run. They
want to make sure they can afford it, and we
always say to them, you want to have the most
comprehensive coverage. You want it to cost as little as possible.
And we understand that.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
We all want that.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
But the idea is sometimes it's not available, you know,
depending on your prescriptions that you take, depending on the
doctors that you're going to visit. We have to look
at those changes every year because things change, and when
things change, your plan will change how it's going to
cover you. So that's important. We have to take a
look at that and that's what we look for for them.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
I just want to mention too, you do have a
free report right how to avoid costing mistakes when choosing
a Medicare health plan.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, so what we have is we do this comparison report.
It's really cool because you look at what they have
compared to what is available to them, and it looks
all the different plans available in their particular area and
it'll show its side by side comparison.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
You know. For a person to do this on.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Their own, they have to call up each each insurance
company and go through the summary of benefits, which is
a very daunting task, and they have to look and
itemize every single thing. How much is the primary care
visit for this one, this one, and this one, and
then do the same for outpatient visit. There's a whole
summary of benefits for all different coverages. So it's a
real daunting task for us. You need to do it's
(10:28):
very difficult, but we make it simple and with our software,
just upload all the information. Doctor's Hostle medicine is a
very confidential way and it'll tell us everything what makes
sense to the person, so they'll know what they want
to do.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
You know, it's all about.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Choices, but if you don't know the choices exist, how
can you really use the choices?
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Right?
Speaker 3 (10:46):
So now blending medicare with uh, you know income retirement income,
we have solcial security and then there's astal wealth management,
So how do you talk about these two things? Everyone now,
of course, is all worried about social security. It looks
like you know that it's not going to disappear, but
it's in jeopardy because you know there's more money going
(11:08):
out than coming in. So exactly what is your thought
about social security in terms of social.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
City will be here.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
It's just amount and they change, whether it's bendpoint changes.
I don't get too technical right now, but the idea
is that they might raise certain premiums, that there's different
things they could do. It's not going away, you know,
statistics show is I think in twenty thirty three seventy
seven percent of the benefits will still be given out right, right,
But that's before they do changes.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
So they're going to do some kind of change. What
it's going to be, we don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And look, the population is agency of so many people
aging and not enough workers, so they can't pay the retirees.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
So that's what happens with SOID security.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
But what's really confusing with SOLI security around it has
over twenty seven hundred rules and regulations. So when a
person retires, the major thing they think about is, oh,
I'm sixty two, I can retire. Oh I'm sixty five,
I can retire, I'm sixty seven can retire?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Or do you wait TIERR seventy to retire.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
It's all about that optimization of your monthly benefit check
and that all depends on different things.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
We have to look at your working years. You know
what kind of income you have coming in now? Because
taxation comes into into play too. Are you going to
collect off your spouse. It's lots of different things to
look at. But what we do is we have what's
called the roadmap, and the roadmap actually takes us through
this journey and it gives us different scenarios. If you
retire sixty two, remember that's not your full retirement age.
(12:31):
You're not getting your full benefit right now, it's sixty
seven for most people. That's when you get your full retirement, right,
the full benefit. But if you stay, it's eight percent
every year up to age seventy. So do you want
to stay, Well, that might be a strategy if you
don't need the money, right, that's okay to do that.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
But what if you need the money?
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Now?
Speaker 2 (12:47):
What do you do? So that's different things to look at.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
And then there's another concept to look at, which a
lot of folks don't realize is you know, most people,
I think it's like forty five percent of the people
in social Security, that's like fifty percent of their.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Income coming in. Now, just think about one thing.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
If one of the spouses passes, right, well, you get
the highest the highest monthly benefit, but you lost that
other half. Right, So if you couldn't leave, if you're
at fifty percent, you're living on when one disappears, how
do you exist with that? Now? So a lot of
people don't plan, they don't even think of that concept.
But you must think about that concept. See medicare if
you don't plan right while you be subjected to high codepays, deductibles,
(13:29):
high aspiraling healthcare costs, if you don't optimize your SOI security.
You know, there's a figure out there of one hundred
and ten thousand dollars and what that is. That's the
actual money that's left on the table. That's according to
Social Security. That's the average money left on the table
from people who don't optimize their monthly benefits. So what
you have to look at is how long does it
take a retiree to save up one hundred thousand dollars?
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Right? A long time and now you're in retirement, what
do you really do?
Speaker 1 (13:56):
That becomes very difficult, right, So that's what this holistic approach,
which when a senior understands is they start saying it
makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
And it certainly does.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
So, yeah, so you've got to look at those rules
and regulations and optimize that. So the first step is
your Medicare health insurance to make sure you choose a
right plan. It's got to be right for you, whether
it's a Medicare advantage or a Medicare supplement plan with
a standalone part date. But again we look at that, right,
because different needs for different folks, and then optimizing your
social security is so very important, right, and again we
(14:25):
provide those roadmaps for them too, so that's something can
help them all.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
So yeah, so you optimize your social security, but in
many cases it's still not enough. You know, I mean
a lot of people. You know rely a tremendous man,
but especially in high cost areas like we are on
Long Island, you need to think about the third like,
which is uh, wealth management solutions. So let's talk about
how that works with social security.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
You know, this unfortunately is the most important aspect that
you have to look at because it's all about the money.
If you don't have money to take you through your
livelihood right when you retire, what are you going to
Because they look at you know, statistics will show it's
they could vary here and there. But let's say you're
going to live thirty years, right, and let's say the
optimal income for you to live is fifty thousand dollars
(15:10):
a year. So if you take the fifty thousand dollars
a year times that by thirty years, you need one
point five million dollars in savings.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
They don't have that right. We know it's so so
low the savings rate in this country.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Right, So what happened is now is and it's very
it's an odd kind of situation, but that's what's out there.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
You know, while a person is working, they're.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Accumulating their assets, right, you're working getting employee matches if
you have that way, So you're accumulating your.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
Assets, right.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
And then what happens is you start to retire and
maybe you're edging towards your time, maybe three years to retirement,
and now you start to hold back a little bit
on how aggressive you are with your investments, and rightfully so,
because you don't want to be, you know, playing Russian
roulette with your with your retirement. So the idea is,
so now you start hold them back, right, Okay, and
(15:56):
now you retire and hopefully you have your medicare on,
your social crurity is optimizes. Let's talk about that wealth.
Once you retire, you're in a decumulation phase. So you're
not earning no more, you're not investing no more.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Now you're taking money out.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Now we look at that fifty thousand dollars and times
up our thirties one point five million. The idea is
most people have two hundred thousand dollars in the bank,
so how do you live? And another thing is what's
really frightening is you know, if you work twenty five
years of your life, you know, right now, we know
that in the stock market it's very erratic, very fragile.
(16:34):
Things happen every single day. You know, people look, one day,
oh I'm up, next day, oh I'm down. So you
can't have that updown mentality in retirement. While you're in
the accumulation phase. Well, that's one thing, but when you're
in retirement, well that's something got to really consider now,
because what do you do? Think about this? Think about
all the people. Let's look at COVID right back in
(16:55):
twenty twenty. So let's say people work in twenty twenty
five years, they had hundreds of thousand dollars in a
four to one k and now they retire, right, and
they retire now when they retire in December, right, and
then in January, so December of twenty nineteen, and in
January twenty twenty we have COVID And now look what
(17:17):
happened to the market after that? It took many, many
years to rebound and not to get too financial technical,
but the idea is is something called sequence of returns,
and what happens is if your if your portfolio is
down in the beginning years, you're not going to recover.
It's not going to happen for you. So you don't
want to be subjected to that. So you know, everybody
(17:38):
has their financial advisors and they have a great place
what to helping the seniors, they really do, but unfortunately,
nothing is guaranteed. You know, with with Medicare, you have
Medicare health insurance to guarantee your health. Right with Social Security,
that provides a guaranteed foundational income in retirement. Right, So
(17:59):
that's a good thing that right, because you've got coolar
adjustments all that.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
That's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
But now you're in retirement, right, so you're four to
one k now becoming an IRA. What do you do
with the market during downturns because it's gonna happen, right.
We know that the past is not indicative of the future,
but we do know history repeats itself at times. And
the idea is we know that you know what you're
gonna get these bear markets and bear markets are really
(18:24):
you have to watch them because you know, you have
the the upticks in the market, right, and they last
for years and years and years, but suddenly you have
these downturns, these bear markets. These bear markets can last
twelve to fifteen months, but they drop sharply. And again,
if those sharp declines are happening the sequence of returns
in the beginning of retirement, that could be devastating for
(18:45):
your portfolio. So you're never gonna achieve the money that
you need. So what we look at are their things
right that can really help ensure your portfolio. And like
I always say to people, ryn it is that you
know there is no one product that's good for everything, right.
A person needs to be diversified. That's the bottom line, right.
So there is a place of financial advisors to be
(19:06):
helping them and counseling them and find them the right
one is very very important. One that's going to answer
their phone, one that's going to console you and guide
you in downturns to know what's going on. But what
we look at it there are ways to guarantee a portion,
meaning that you're not subjected to any downturns. If the
market drops down to zero, your portfolio still stays where
(19:29):
it was. And there's something incredible out there called fixed
indexinuities that are really incredible. Billions of dollars of assets
go into that every single year, and what makes them
so unique.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Is they guarantee your investment. It can never go down.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
When the market goes up, you participate in the portion
of the upside, but if the market ever goes down,
you never lose a dime.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And they guaranteed by the insurance.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Companies, right, So you're not just putting money in an
insurance company and hoping they're going to be around. They're
guaranteed and those funds are in reserves for you. Right.
They're regulated by states too, so there very regulated insurance products, right,
they're not investment products. So what we look at is
how do we take this holistic approach. Now, so you
have financial advisors out there that are doing a great job,
(20:13):
but they're not helping them with Social Security and medicare, right,
So what we look at is how can we put
everything together?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And that's who we came up with the three legged approach.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
So in terms of you know, sequencing of this, it
seems to me so so medicare obviously you can't you know,
take that until you're sixty five, So that's not that's
not really the first step, but it's it's but it's
part of the thinking of the first step. So I
don't think people first of all, as they look head
towards Medicare, it's like understanding what the costs are. So
first of all, they don't understand that Medicare covers eighty
(20:46):
percent of your cost so there are going to be
health care costs and sort of so first thinking you're like,
what are my health care costs going to be? You know,
what is Medicare going to cover and what they're not
going to cover. But then you know before you're well,
before you're sixty five. Here to me, you're saying somebody
should be talked to you about they should look at
their SOB security, how much is that going to cover?
What's the strategy there, and then how does that need
(21:08):
to work with your other retirement options, you know, investment
options and insurance options.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, that's exactly right, that's exactly it right, and you
have to look at if you you can't leave. Most
people they are not taught about this. No one's when
they're working and their HR staff, they're not edging. In fact,
what we do educate a lot of HR directors across
the country because this topic is so important because you
know a lot of people either they're not working because
they're married and they stay at home, whatever it may be.
(21:37):
But what about the workforce that's out there now once
they retire, Well, they've been working with HR directors all
their life for all the benefits they go to them,
but the HR director is they don't know that that's
not their thing, right. So what we really have built
relationships with many HR companies HR staff across the country
to help position those retirees. They have like a phone
(21:58):
home of people to call to help them with that,
because you know, if the HR folks are not educated
on this, when the retiree comes up to them and says, hey,
what do I do concerning my medicare my social curery,
thing is said, I don't know, bull up Medicare, call
Social Security, go on Google, go look for somebody, and that.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Could be devastating.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
You know, you make the wrong choice in the beginning,
that could be very devastating. So we really put together
a very easy, stress free kind of situation and whenever
we talk to people, we don't have there's no obligation
come and talk with us.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
No, we have our office. They stop buy, we sit
down and have.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Coffee and donuts whatever it is, and just chat and
whatever they're comfortable with. But we're really primarily focused on
education because that's very important.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
If you educate people, well that's good because we need
to spread the word.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
So we educate somebody, as seenior, they tell another friend,
another friend, and that's how we will we will make
it together.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Yeah, I know, it's your your philosophy. It's educate first, cell.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Later things like that. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, you have to
do that. It's very important.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
So talking about this education, I know that one of
the things that you're renowned for it, Joe, is also
you know, a training of your staff and recruitment your staff.
So you know, I think that's important for people when
they select people to work with, they have to trust them,
and one way to trust them is to really see
how they treat their people. So talk just you know,
in the left segment here, just talk a little bit
(23:17):
about how you work with people, how you recruit people,
and this philosophy of training through trust.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
So what we do is we have meetings and we
just reach out to insurance agents across the country because
there's a fact that's out there around it. There's not
enough agents to handle a demand. You know, with eleven
thousand plus seniors a day turning sixty five becoming eldph medicare,
there are not enough agents to handle a demand. And
in the coming years, eighty million people, twenty percent of
(23:44):
the population United States, will be on medicare. So there's
not enough agents to handle that demand. So you know,
we reach out to agents and we just share with
them this this opportunity that's there. But it's not just
an opportunity what it is. It's very rewarding on what
we do round because you know, we as an agency ourself,
we help out tens of thousands people every single year.
So it's incredible the number we look at. But we
(24:06):
help them out and we show agents that there's so
many people that need to be helped, right, and we
put them to training courses and stuff like that. We
really make sure that first of all, you've got to
be compassionate, you have to be empathetic, You got to
make sure you're taking care of the seniors first, because
that's what it's all about. And they do that, and
we monitor what they do too, so we make sure
that they're you know, they have cutting edge software, that
(24:29):
we have the technology that we give to our agents
to make sure they have what it takes to help
out that senior who needs solutions. It's all about solutions driven.
And then what we also do is our staff. What
we do is to reach out to our insurance agents
and make sure they're helping people the right way. But
our staff is very agent centric and also custom eccentric.
(24:51):
So what we really do is we make sure that
our phones. Somebody's always answering the phone. You know, one thing,
I hate ron and nowadays nobody answers their phone. But
if you should happen to text them, they'll text you back.
How could that be right? So the idea is we
make sure our phones are answered all the time. And
I'm the CEO of my company. I tell people you
can call me up from eight o'clock in the morning
to eight o'clock at night. I answer my phone no
(25:12):
matter where I am in the world, I answer my
phone because it's important to me. So whether it's my
staff or whether it's a retire just as a question
an HR director, whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
We're there to help the people, not sometimes but all
the time.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
So the last couple of questions I have for you is,
first of all, any surprises or things you've learned along
the way that you didn't expect.
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Wow, surprises along the way. Let's think about that for
a minute.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
So I don't know if I was ever surprised with things,
because I'm the type of person that you know, when
something comes, if it's adversity, well I find it's like
a challenge for me, and I find the solution to
make that work. You know, if it's something that was
it just doesn't make sense anymore for some reason because
it's some regulatory issue or something like that. You know,
of course we don't go down that road anymore, but
(25:59):
we're always looking for things. So I don't think if
anything ever, you know, got me rattled and stuff like that,
because you know, we're in a space right now that
people need help, and if you're given unbiased help to people,
you never have to worry about a thing. So I
don't think I'm ever surprised with things. You have to
at times reinvent yourself to help people better depending on
certain economic climates and things. Yeah, of course, but the
(26:22):
idea is we always move forward and it always works
for us.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
So looking forward from the consumer's perspective, anything they just
be thinking about going forward. I mean you've mentioned you
know a few things, but you know any changes in
the landscape that we should be prepared for.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Well, you look at every year as far as medicare,
every there's always costs being changed, always right, So it's
very important. And you know, seniors retirees are very skeptical
about change, right because they don't want to change, and
I get it. But the idea is you have to
look at what you're changing from. You know, if something
makes sense. And as many times, you know, we talk
to people and we tell them, you know what, you're
(27:02):
on the right plan, You're on the right plan, run,
stay where you are. It is nothing you need to
do right, But most of the time they're not on
the right plan, so we help them with that.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
So, whether it's Medicare or social security or just the
retirement planning, right strategies to help people with it's always there.
So you know, surprises only happen if you're not prepared,
and the ideas were always prepared. We always prepare that
retiree for what could happen, and we share with them
if this should happen to you, well, this is what
your cost are going to be. So if you should
(27:32):
happen to go in a hospital with this particular Medicare plan,
this is what you're subjected to. Are you okay with that?
You know it's not that do we just tell them?
We rattle off what the benefits are. Are you comfortable
with that? That's what we have to tell them, whether
it's social Security, you know, did you optimize it? Did
you navigate all those rules and regulations to find that
what makes sense for you? Are you leaving money on
(27:53):
the table that.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
You can't get back. You made your choice, You made
your choice. You can't get that back. So we got
to make sure that's right.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
And then as far as you know your retirement, the money,
you know, everything is about the money, unfortunately, and is
it about you know, we have so many horror stories
about people just existing out there right. They can't do
certain things, they don't go out, they don't travel. Retirement
is supposed to be a happy time, but we find
out a lot of times is not. Statistics will show
us that, you know, one in ten people. One in
(28:21):
twelve people will never retire, right, So that's kind of
ten percent of the population is never going to retire.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
That's pitiful. How many people are part time workers?
Speaker 1 (28:30):
That's a lot there, Thirty to forty percent are part
time workers. So the idea is when does it stop?
Is there something that could be done? And that's what
the planning in advance. So what I really tell people
RON is that don't be scared. You have to find
a resource that's out to help you. And what we
always tell people, we're not here to sell you anything.
We're going to educate you on what this is all about.
(28:53):
We're going to look at it holistically, and if you
feel that this is going to help you right, then
we're here for you. We can help you roll those
We're out here to help you. So it's very relaxed
to what we do RON, So we're very proud of that.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Yeah, you know, my motto is planned but don't predict.
That's right, that's uh. But people are reluctant to plan.
It's like they'll do anything plan.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
They wait till tomorrow, right, and tomorrow's year. What do
I do now? I should have done it? Right?
Speaker 1 (29:19):
How many I should have as doing here from people
all the time. Some times now do it, especially with medicare.
Now is the season, so you should be looking at that.
You know, in different parts of the countries, a lot
of plans of determinator.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
Now what do they do?
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Hundreds of thousands of people losing coverage across the country.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Are you one of them? Well, did you get that letter?
I don't know. Did you call up your insurance coming
to find out? Did you get your new ID card?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Well you need to do that, and that's what we're
there for and what we do run is we don't
charge anything to have a conversation with us.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
Whether you call us on the phone or you come
to our office, there's no charge. We here to help you.
That's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
So last thing is contact information, So how people reach
you tell us about your website and to.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Our website is Senior Services of North America dot com.
Senior Services of North America dot com. You could also
call us toll free at eight eight eight two three
zero two one nine nine or my personal lumber five
one six eight eight four two two three eight And
again if you call, we can show you the comparison
at Merit, the medicare comparison different plans, how yours stacks.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Up to others out there.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
And if you can save money with your prescriptions, money
on your co pays at doctor's nosciles, that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
We can help you there.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Social security if you're just retiring now and you want
to optimize it, we could provide that roadmap for you
to show you which scenario makes sense for you. And
then finally just guaranteeing guaranteeing your investments, right, so we
have to take a look at that too. So everything's
a holistic approach. But if you take everything and dissect
it and put this plan together like you talking about ron,
(30:51):
it works.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
That's the bottom line.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
And I think that once you think about doing it,
before you think you need to do it, you know
that that's well, that's why that my I was forty
five forward. People say well, you know the second half
of life, and I say well, and they say well
life forty five and I say, well, there are two reasons.
One think about things before you hit the fifty yard line,
because you know it's important to get ahead of that.
And the other aspect of it, you know, I use
(31:15):
this sports analogy which is, you know, if you want
to throw a football the farthest distance, what's the angle
forty five? So so throw So start thinking about this,
these things a little ahead of what. Don't wait till
your fifty five or sixty five, start talking to Joe
a little earlier, and then when you get to medicare,
then you can make that decision.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Bully Ryan, Absolutely, it's all good.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
But you know, hopefully today we provided some solutions for folks,
and we're here for you.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
That's the bottom line. Absolutely, but it's all good, all good, run.
Speaker 3 (31:42):
So thanks Joe. I really appreciate you talking with me today,
very valuable in form of conversation. And if once again
so you would you prefer emails as well or just
you know.
Speaker 2 (31:56):
Yeah, just give me a call. It's all ok, yeah,
it's ally good.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
Absolutely, okay, right, okay, So once again, folks, this has
been forty five Forward. If you want to see a
full archive of my shows, go to forty five forward
dot org. And if you want to send me comments
or questions or ask me anything about provide suggestions, you
could also subscribe to my monthly newsletter. So until then
(32:20):
our next episode, folks, keep moving forward. Forty five forward,
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