Answers For Elders Radio Network

Finance expert David Phillips joins Suzanne to talk about how to anticipate the future by putting a finance plan in place to take advantage of factors that we can control, and account for risks such as longevity, running out of money, potential inflation, taxes, and the needs of long-term care.

David says, "Preparing for the unknown is probably the most delicate thing that we can do. There are some factors that we can actually control, we can actually prepare for it. For example, we know that the longer we live there's gonna be a market correction. The longer we live, things are going to change, and it's called the longevity risk. So the market will change somewhere along the line. So we have to prepare for that. So how do we do that? We pull some of our money off of the risks table and we put it into guaranteed sources of income or guaranteed investments. Another longevity risk is we live too long, we run out of money. So we want to set up plans where we can have guaranteed income.

"Our Social Security is getting taxed. I think everybody knows that they're surprised when it's taxed, because we pay taxes all along the way to get the Social Security, but it gets taxed as well. And then the more money we make, we have to pay Medicare, and the Medicare cost increases the more we make. And health care costs are going through the roof, and healthcare supplemental policies, and all kinds of things like that.

"We have no idea what long-term care is going to do to us. Is it going to be a little thing? Is it going to be a big thing? Is it going to be dementia? Is it going to be Alzheimer's? The longer we live, the risk increases that this is going to happen to us. Probably the number one thing that we get when people call us is,' oh my God, my spouse has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. How am I going to pay for my husband's care, and I'm gonna lose my house, I'm gonna lose everything." And there are ways in which you can plan now. You can't do the planning while you're in a nursing home, so we have to do the prior planning now. Prior planning prevents poor performance. And so let's plan now."

To get his books, call David's office at 888-892-1102, or visit his Estate Planning Specialists website at https://epmez.com/. Subscribe to the monthly Generational Wealth Strategies newsletter at https://www.generationalwealthnewsletter.com/. Answers for Elders listeners get a discount.

Learn more:
* Generational Wealth Strategies newsletter: https://www.generationalwealthnewsletter.com/
* David T. Phillips: https://epmez.com/our-team
* Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finance expert David Phillips joins Suzanne to talk about how a family owning a million-dollar home can downsize most effectively, maximizing their money for the future. He recommends investing some of the proceeds from the sale into an annuity with guaranteed income rider.

“Any time we sell something that we have gains, we're going to have to pay taxes, and right now, the capital gains tax rate is the lowest it's been in about 50 years. Depending on what state we live in. The most common idea right now is to take the money after the tax and secure guaranteed income for you for the rest of your life. Let's say we downsize and we end up with $100,000. A 65 year old could put in $100,000 and jointly create $6,000 a month in income for the rest of both lives. If we're just by ourselves, a male $7,300 a female $7,000 a month. It's called a fixed indexed annuity with guaranteed income. Call Todd here at my office and say, hey, I want to look at guaranteed income for the rest of my life, and then he'll show you the different options that are available.

Some Baby Boomers are downsizing to a continuing care retirement community, or CCRC. Suzanne asked, "Let's say you get a million dollars for your house and you end up having an entrance fee to a CCRC of 500,000. How does that work?" David explains, "You're just basically converting your cash into a place where you don't have to have income to satisfy expenses, because you're done. You still have your $400,000 that you can live off of plus your social security, which can actually pay your community fee, which is not much when you live in a CCRC."

"One of the things you can do to prepare is get a long term care policy right now, while you can. You have to look at all the options and that's one of the options. Take some of the money and turn it into – we call it leverage care solutions, or asset-based care plans. I wrote a book about that called "Leveraged Care Solutions," and they can get that through our website."

David mentions the newly-updated fourth edition of his book, "The Ten Most Common Estate Planning Mistakes And How to Avoid Them." 

To get his books, call David's office at 888-892-1102, or visit his Estate Planning Specialists website at https://epmez.com/. Subscribe to the monthly Generational Wealth Strategies newsletter at https://www.generationalwealthnewsletter.com/. Answers for Elders listeners get a discount.

Subscribe to the monthly Generational Wealth Strategies newsletter at https://www.generationalwealthnewsletter.com/. Answers for Elders listeners get a discount.

Call David's office at 888-892-1102, or visit his Estate Planning Specialists website at https://epmez.com/.

Learn more:
* Generational Wealth Strategies newsletter: https://www.generationalwealthnewsletter.com/
* David T. Phillips: https://epmez.com/our-team
* Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finance expert David Phillips joins Suzanne to talk about finances in the face of a new downsizing trend among Baby Boomers. It's estimated that 54% of Baby Boomers in the U.S. will downsize and simplify their finances between 2024 and 2026. By 2030, Boomers will make up 35-40% of the country's population. David talks about how his firm helps people make choices during this process.

David says, "The biggest problem is what's called the longevity issues. How long are we gonna live? We don't know that, we don't have a crystal ball. So we have to kind of play both sides of the coin. We don't want to leave our family destitute. We don't want to live out our days in a long-term care facility, we'd rather stay at home if we could. And we also want to make sure that if we pass early that our spouse is taken care of, and our family. A lot of folks really want to not only leave a legacy, a personal legacy and memories and whatnot, but we also want to leave a financial legacy. I do, and I have 12 grandkids, and I wanna make sure that they're adequately taken care of."

He adds, "We ought to make sure that if we do leave stuff behind, that we don't leave confusion behind. And at a time when we want to create love and harmony with our family, if we don't plan, we leave confusion, and create the worst emotions in the human family."

To get his books, call David's office at 888-892-1102, or visit his Estate Planning Specialists website at https://epmez.com/. Subscribe to the monthly Generational Wealth Strategies newsletter at https://www.generationalwealthnewsletter.com/. Answers for Elders listeners get a discount.

Call David's office at 888-892-1102, or visit his Estate Planning Specialists website at https://epmez.com/.

Learn more:
* Generational Wealth Strategies newsletter: https://www.generationalwealthnewsletter.com/
* David T. Phillips: https://epmez.com/our-team
* Answers for Elders: https://answersforelders.com/welcome-to-answers-for-elders/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christian Care Ministry President and CEO Brandon Harvath joins Suzanne to describe the four foundational principles of the Medicare resource Medi-Share 65+.

Brandon says, "Our vision is all about transforming society through the Biblical model of sharing. There are probably four main things I'd highlight. The first is just giving market solutions for people to align their values with their spending. And it's true. We're in a culture war today. Christian consumers, we've got a responsibility to consider how those dollars we spend are used to further Kingdom causes.

"The second one I'd give you is really just around church and culture. And it's about today's church, really being intentional about having a practical and a significant impact on the culture war rather than just being angry boycotters. That's not what we're called to do. We really should be thinking deeply about how we influence and impact culture. Like our vision statement says, transforming society isn't an easy thing to do. But we believe that Biblical model of love, that Biblical model of sharing that we're taught about in the gospel is the way to go.

"The third one I'd share with you is the intersection of faith and sharing. And this one goes really deep... Medical bills are just an example, a pressure, a weight, something that crushes us. And today it's a need, right? It it is a moment of suffering that we are here to help with. But beyond that, there are so many other areas of life where faith and sharing can and should intersect... I don't know what it is that stops us from doing this, but how unwilling we are at times just to raise our hand and say we have a need, and by the way, on the other side, I can help.

"The fourth point, you know, I would just make for you today. This is about the early church's model of sharing that we see highlighted in the scripture. Knowing that our God owns a cattle on 1,000 hills, there isn't a resource issue in the church as I've shared...

"That model is what we follow.... We're here to connect those needs with resources, and we believe that those resources exist, and when people come together in communities like this, in a very powerful way, I think those needs get met, unlike you may have ever seen in or before."

Learn more:
* Brandon Harvath: https://www.medishare.com/blog/author/brandon-harvath
* Medi-Share 65+: https://www.medishare.com/programs/65
* Medi-Share 65+ Guidelines: https://www.medishare.com/sixty-five-guidelines
* Christian Care Ministry: https://mychristiancare.org/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Medi-Share President and CEO Brandon Harvath joins Suzanne to share success stories.

Brandon says, "I can't go beyond my family without finding stories. My wife spent a week in the hospital just over a year ago, an unexpected medical situation. It was one of the most petrifying moments of my life. We have seven children, 18 down to 3 years old, five boys and two girls. And the last thing you want to hear as a family at any point in time is that mom is in the hospital, right? Thankfully, doctors took good care of her. She came out, and was fine. Now everything is good, but we got hit with a $650,000 medical bill. Can anybody pay that? ... But here's the deal. The Medi-Share community came around my family and they negotiated that bill. They handled that situation, got it down to just over $200,000, by the way, which blows my mind to begin with, and took care of that. Just a few weeks later, prayers from members of the community started coming in for my wife, expressing how they were praying for her, for her healing, for her health. So it's not just the uniqueness of, hey, how are we gonna pay for that bill? It's the spiritual health, it's the physical health, it's the mental health. It's the entire gamut that this community really is about one another."

Learn more:
* Brandon Harvath: https://www.medishare.com/blog/author/brandon-harvath
* Medi-Share 65+: https://www.medishare.com/programs/65
* Medi-Share 65+ Guidelines: https://www.medishare.com/sixty-five-guidelines
* Christian Care Ministry: https://mychristiancare.org/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Answers for Elders starts 2024 to show how different opinions and concepts can come together to create something better. This hour, Suzanne is joined by Medi-Share President and CEO Brandon Harvath. Medi-Share 65+ is an option for Seniors 65 and older with Medicare Parts A & B. Medi-Share 65+ will share in any medical expenses that are covered by Medicare.

Brandon says, "There are other organizations that have connected into models like this in the recent decade, Go Fund Me or organizations like that. Way before that ever happened, we had a group of people here who saw a need of families who were being crushed under the weight of medical bills, going bankrupt over medical bills. And we saw that need 30 years ago. And we designed a program that said if we all contribute a share amount every single month and bring those bills in to the storehouse, if you will, we can meet those needs.

"You're not just signing up for membership in that program, we're actually connecting you to a bank account. That's yours. As that money comes in, we connect all of those bank accounts together and connect those needs as they come in with the resources. It's an amazing method, a lot of technology, a lot of patents over the years to build for our members...

"We try to make it as simple as possible. You can expect very similar tools and ways that you found insurance over the years to be easy. The ID card, and statements every month in the mail that [say] what your share amounts are, all of those basic things are there. It's easy to use. You can go to any doctor you want on 65+. If things are eligible in, Medicare A and B, it's eligible in our 65+ program. So it's pretty simple to understand, and all you're gonna do is take that EOB that you get after a bill goes to Medicare, and what's left over there, you send it in, and we're gonna cover the rest right now. We don't cover anything, the community literally funds those bills."

Learn more:
* Brandon Harvath: https://www.medishare.com/blog/author/brandon-harvath
* Medi-Share 65+: https://www.medishare.com/programs/65
* Medi-Share 65+ Guidelines: https://www.medishare.com/sixty-five-guidelines
* Christian Care Ministry: https://mychristiancare.org/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first Answers for Elders episodes of 2024 focus on Medi-Share 65+. This hour, Suzanne is joined by Christian Care Ministry President and CEO Brandon Harvath. Christian Care Ministry is the non-profit association of churches that manages Medi-Share. Navigating healthcare is a challenge for seniors, who are sometimes faced with overwhelming situating and confusing options. Christian Care Ministry is celebrating its 30th anniversary striving to connect people with resources.

Medi-Share 65+ is an option for Seniors 65 and older with Medicare Parts A & B. Medi-Share 65+ will share in any medical expenses that are covered by Medicare. With one low monthly cost, enjoy peace of mind from a supplemental alternative that supports your medical care and budget.

Learn more:
* Brandon Harvath: https://www.medishare.com/blog/author/brandon-harvath
* Medi-Share 65+: https://www.medishare.com/programs/65
* Medi-Share 65+ Guidelines: https://www.medishare.com/sixty-five-guidelines
* Christian Care Ministry: https://mychristiancare.org/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/
Check out our affiliate podcast Alzheimer’s Speaks: https://alzheimersspeaks.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brooke Kasten and Suzanne continue their conversation about the Skyline Seattle senior living community in the heart of downtown Seattle, Washington. Brooke Kasten is the community's Associate Executive Director. Skyline offers comprehensive care options including orthopedic and stroke rehabilitation, assisted living and memory support. From resort-quality amenities to jaw-dropping rooftop deck views to well-appointed apartment homes and gourmet dining venues, every element of the Seattle senior living community comes together to create an unforgettable retirement lifestyle. Skyline is located at 725 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104. Arrange a complimentary tour at (206) 207-0036.

Learn more:
* Skyline: https://skylineseattle.org/
* More senior living podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/category/discover-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brooke Kasten and Suzanne talk about the Skyline Seattle senior living community in the heart of downtown Seattle, Washington. Brooke Kasten is the community's Associate Executive Director. Skyline offers comprehensive care options including orthopedic and stroke rehabilitation, assisted living and memory support. From resort-quality amenities to jaw-dropping rooftop deck views to well-appointed apartment homes and gourmet dining venues, every element of the Seattle senior living community comes together to create an unforgettable retirement lifestyle. Skyline is located at 725 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104. Arrange a complimentary tour at (206) 207-0036.

Learn more:
* Skyline: https://skylineseattle.org/
* More senior living podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/category/discover-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the heart of downtown Seattle, Washington, Skyline's Associate Executive Director Brooke Kasten and Suzanne talk about the Skyline senior living community. Skyline offers comprehensive care options including orthopedic and stroke rehabilitation, assisted living and memory support. From resort-quality amenities to jaw-dropping rooftop deck views to well-appointed apartment homes and gourmet dining venues, every element of the Seattle senior living community comes together to create an unforgettable retirement lifestyle. Skyline is located at 725 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104. Arrange a complimentary tour at (206) 207-0036.

Learn more:
* Skyline: https://skylineseattle.org/
* More senior living podcasts: https://answersforelders.com/category/discover-senior-living/

Answers for Elders is part of the Senior Resource Network: https://www.seniorresource.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.