Category: Blog

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Take the Time

Posted on by Seek First Financial in Blog, common questions, Contact, Health Insurance

As we turn the corner into the last month of Open Enrollment, many people find that the options offered to them through the state or federal exchanges just don’t fit them, their family, or their current situation. This could be due to the cost, the coverage, the timing their lives, OR some combination of those realities and others.

It would be a mistake to come to your Health Insurance planning with the understanding that a one size fits all approach is the best way to move through the process. This is just not true. The benefit of having an insurance professional walk out this journey with affords you the opportunity to see all of your options. This might be a traditional option through the typical exchanges, with the options that you are used too. However, many clients are opening up their eyes to the growing number of options and comfort that comes through designing a custom approach to their needs and the needs of their family,

If you are dissatisfied with the options provided to you this year, please take the time to learn about other options and opportunities that you most likely have access too. If you unhappy with price, deductible, out of pocket maximums and any other issue, please voice those things to your insurance professional and see what else is out there. Solutions are just around the corner for those who seek them.

We hope your 2024 health insurance planning has been fruitful and that you have put plans into place that actual serve you and your family. Remember, you are the customer! You should understand what your year is going to look like and what you’re signing up for. You should have support throughout the year, not just during enrollment. If you have any questions at all, reach out to your insurance professional and get answers. We would love to answer any of your questions here at Seek First Financial. Even if you don’t have coverage through us, please call us and get the comfort and support you need. If we don’ talk to you before Christmas, Merry Christmas!

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Know Your Agent

Posted on by Seek First Financial in About, Blog, common questions

I meet with many people for the first time almost every day. Introductions are made, problems are explained, and needs are assessed. We go from complete strangers to talking about intimate, personal, and sometimes difficult realities of their lives in minutes. This can be a positive thing and it also could be dangerous. As we know all too well there are many out there preying on strangers for their own gain. I want to share some simple steps to help you verify your agent and establish long lasting relationships that serve you and your family for years.

There are a few very effective ways to verify your agent or broker and I suggest you use them. The first method I will cover is not always available but in many states it is. This verification tool is simply using the states options to request an insurance agent. In my resident state of Kentucky, we work through the Kynect benefits portal for health insurance, and in this portal you can “Find an Insurance Agent” or request that one contact you. If you use this option and the Agent reaches back out in response to your request, they are likely a legitimate source of help and verified by both the state and carriers they work with.

Another option to verify an agent or broker is to ask them for their NPN. This number is like their “social security number” in the insurance world. You can take that number and their name and check them up and against the Department of Insurance or its equivalent in the state you reside. You will see if their license is current, their names match their NPN and even get other various bits of verifying information depending on the state site you’re using. Any agent or broker should be willing to give you this information and even answer verifying questions with understanding. As agents, we know all too well the risks facing consumers today and we strive to provide information and verification methods that show who we are and who we are accountable too.

Another verifying method that could be helpful is to do a quick internet search. While this is not completely foolproof, this step can help add peace of mind in connection with one or both of the steps listed above. You may be able to check reviews, see if they are listed or if they have any social media pages. These things could also be a helpful piece of the puzzle as you validate the person you are sharing so much of your personal information with.

I am writing this to inform you of your options, not to scare you. There are many other ways of verifying your agent, but the ones listed above, especially used together should weed out the bad apples from among the good. This is the time of year that you will be getting many phone calls regarding Medicare, ACA open enrollment and even options to apply for different life insurance plans. It’s good to be prepared and know how to navigate the system to best protect yourself. This is one of the reasons we developed the Verification page on our website. As more and more business is done over the phone, we wanted to put all the verification options out there for our clients to feel comfortable doing business with us. I suggest you check it out and you can even use the links on that page to verify the agent you’re working with. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us directly.

Joseph Doppe- Seek First Financial LLC

725-400-9136

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Medical Bill Sharing

Posted on by Seek First Financial in About, Blog, Health

As we begin to help many families design plans to protect their families from unexpected medical bills, we often do not get to talk about medical bill sharing. Medical bill sharing communities are groups of people who pay monthly contributions towards the medical bills of the people in the community. This type of community is not insurance, but it does offer the opportunity to have help paying your medical bills and often at a much lower monthly cost for many families.

Typically, there are multiple levels of membership that determine how much of a medical need you will be responsible for before the community begins to share the bill, either completely or up to a percentage. The higher your monthly membership fee, the less you will likely be responsible for before the community begins to share your medical bills. Now each community is set up a little different and they often have different requirements for being a member of that specific community. These communities are a great opportunity for many families, and we can help most people see if this is a right fit for them pretty quickly.

Medical bill sharing is a great option but like everything else, is not a one size fits all solution. Please reach out to us or the professional you trust to get more information and guidance as to which option best fits your family and situation.

Joseph Doppe- Seek First Financial

725-400-9136

Open Enrollment Season

Posted on by Seek First Financial in Blog, common questions

As we near the time of year when health coverage is fresh on the mind and many choices are being made for the future of your family, we wanted to sit down and share our thoughts on this topic. Health coverage can seem overwhelming and complicated at times. Because of those realities, it’s important to take your time making these decisions and get help and advice when needed.

Health coverage is very important to your financial stability and not having it can impact your future in some very difficult ways. There are many types of health coverage and options for people today and knowing your options in light of your typical annual health bills can help you choose which of your options is best. Now, while we cannot really plan for the unexpected; like cancer, injury, etc., we can look back at our past medical bills and see what is common and likely expected for the coming year. Making sure that your plan puts protections and coverage in place for these sorts of occurrences is wise and should be included in your plan. While we can’t plan for major unexpected medical issues, we can make sure that our medical coverage or plan puts protection in place for those as well.

We like to show people the options that protect them in the event of major issues and the everyday issues that we all face from year to year. Very often this means a combination of coverage is best for most people and this type of protection is normally affordable for most families. Many types of assistance are available to most families and being aware of what’s available to you could help you form an overall plan that really puts you and your family in the best possible place. We recommend using your insurance professional to help you ask the right questions and prepare properly for this year and this coming enrollment period. If you have any questions or don’t currently have an insurance professional helping you, feel free to reach out to us and we can help you at no cost to you. Happy Open Enrollment!

Joseph Doppe- Agent/Broker

725-400-9136

Why use an Insurance Broker?

Posted on by Seek First Financial in Blog, common questions, Contact, Home, Uncategorized

When it comes to putting coverage in place for yourself or for your family, you may be wondering why you would choose to work with a broker as opposed to a “captive agent.” A captive agent is an agent who specializes in and works exclusively with one company or insurance carrier. They offer all or most of the products that that one carrier offers, and they cannot offer you anything outside of that range of products. There are times and places when this makes sense and when it leads to the best deals for you or you and your family. For instance, there are sometimes products that carriers only allow their own captive agents to offer. They may have brokers they work with, but they do not allow these brokers to offer some of these exclusive products. If you would benefit from one of those products, then it would make sense for you to work with a captive agent that can meet that specific need. I have on multiple occasions, referred a client to work with a captive agent to get this sort of service when I could not offer them what they needed.

I am a broker and love being an insurance broker. That simply means that I am not a captive agent and I offer many different companies’ products, services, and plans. I think this serves people better in most cases because I can shop around for the client, after finding what their need is, and find something that meets that need and is the most affordable of all the options. I am also able to help clients with varying degrees of health for this same reason. While some of my options have more strict guidelines when it comes to health, I have other options for clients with companies that specialize in or simply offer products to higher risk clients. This helps more people get the coverage that they need. There are many more reasons I like to have options but what someone needs all depends on their specific situation. Make an APPOINTMENT today so that we can work through the needs and find the perfect fit for you and your family.

Joseph Doppe

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How Much Coverage is enough?

Posted on by Seek First Financial in Blog, common questions, Term Coverage, Whole Life

While some people come to us, and they know exactly what they are looking for and how much of it they want, most people need a little help and direction on what avenue is best for them. And in reality, many of those who “know exactly what they want”, don’t really understand what they need. Even my own understanding of how much coverage is enough has shifted greatly over the years.

In some cases, final expense coverage is pretty straight forward. Someone comes to me and wants their burial or cremation covered so that the bill does not fall on their loves ones after they are gone. This is an amazing starting place and should be the starting out point for those who currently have nothing in place. Final expenses do often reach well beyond burial and cremation. They include services, plots, monuments and even putting aside some funds to help with the travel expenses of those you would like to attend your services and celebration. People in this position may also want to consider any outstanding debts or loans. Do you want to leave your home to someone and how much is left on your mortgage? Do you want to leave your car? There are lots of ideas and our job is to help people sort through these ideas and put the proper amount of coverage in place to meet the need.

Term coverage face-values all depend on the client. We consider things like how old the client is as well as many other factors. Are they married and do they have children? Do they have a business they are trying to protect? Are they trying to put aside some retirement income in conjunction with their life insurance coverage? The answers to these questions, and many more, could all inform the final amount of overall coverage. Some people need to put quite a bit coverage in place and many others just need enough to meet very specific needs. You can use term coverage to pay your home off if you get a very serious illness or injury and even replace the income lost during a long recovery from cancer. These options are very important to consider, and you may even decide to choose a coverage where you can get your money back if you don’t pass away or use the living benefits that pay for serious illness or injury. It’s these sorts of options that really make it profitable to use a licensed agent or broker during your fact-finding process. We know how to ask that right questions that often get overlooked. You should at least have the option to choose these amazing benefits. Many people don’t even know such options exist!

While there is no right answer to the question of “How much coverage is enough.” There is a right answer for you in your particular situation and stage of life. Set up an APPOINTMENT with us today and see what options are available to you. Don’t wait any longer and get that peace of mind today! Our goal is to help people make preparations that put their future in the best possible place.

What is Mortgage Protection?

Posted on by Seek First Financial in About, Blog, common questions, Term Coverage, Whole Life

Many people see the value of protecting their assets from the results of death, disease and disability. A growing number of people are putting coverage in place for these reasons, specifically in relation to their mortgage. While you can, and should, put coverage in place for all of your assets, especially assets with debt, your home is typically one of your largest assets and the landing place for a large part of your monthly/yearly income. If you were to die, get sick or disabled, what would happen to your home? Would your family be able to make the payments and stay in the home? Or would the bank quickly have to take possession leading to a loss of all the years of investment into your property? Even if your spouse or family could continue to make the payments, how would that affect their financial situation as whole? Who would you leave your home to and are they able to pay for it? What would happen if you got sick or hurt and couldn’t work? These questions and the many like them have led to a rise in coverage designed to protect the home in the event of death, disease and disability.

Mortgage Protection is simply a life insurance policy designed to protect your home and the equity stored up in your home. While everyone has a different situation and different desires, the foundation of Mortgage Protection is to first; protect all the money already invested into the property. Whether you are in your first year of payments or near the end of your mortgage term, Mortgage Protection can put a safeguard around all the money you have already invested into your home. Secondly, people don’t want their families taking on extra financial burden while dealing with a recent death, disability or sickness of a loved one. Death, disease, and disability most often results in a loss of income that paid for all or portions of the home and without that income many people would lose the home. Another reason people are increasingly putting this coverage in place are the Living Benefits included with many of the plans. These benefits also pay the insured (while they are living) for Terminal, Chronic, and Critical diagnosis as opposed to only paying their beneficiary in the event of death. This allows the insured to continue to make the mortgage payments while they are recovering from things like, heart, stroke, cancer, etc. because of the resulting loss of work and income in those cases.

These are just some of the benefits of Mortgage Protection and the reason many people are seeing the value in this type of coverage. Meet with a Mortgage Protection specialist and review your options today. Many of these plans have the possibility to get all or portions of your money back if you don’t use any of the death and living benefits. This simply means that if you don’t use the coverage the entire time you paid for it, you can get up to every dollar you put into the policy back tax free at the end of your term. Make an APPOINTMENT and learn more.

Joseph Doppe

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What is Whole Life?

Posted on by Seek First Financial in Blog, common questions, Whole Life

Many people often wonder what the difference is between “Whole Life” and “Term.” When it comes time for people to consider which direction they should go preparing for their future, it becomes very important to know the difference. In this case we will briefly focus on whole life and in doing so, you will also come to better understand both. Whole life is permanent life insurance that stays in force as long as you’re paying the premium. In some cases, you can “pay up” this coverage which would just mean that the coverage is in force, but you no longer need to pay the premium anymore. Term on the other hand would expire as soon as the term period runs out. This means that you no longer have to pay the premiums and you are also no longer under the protection of the coverage.

The benefits of whole life insurance are very clear. First off, whole life insurance will be there when you pass away. As long as you’re paying for it OR as long as its paid up, this coverage will be there for you when you pass away. In many cases people will die after their term insurance has already expired. I am very often putting whole life coverage in place for people who just had their term coverage expire. This is not always a bad thing, but just something to consider as you’re setting up life insurance. Secondly, whole life insurance gains cash value, which can be used by you at any time for any reason. The cash value is considered your money and you can take out loans from it without stringent approval process. If you choose not too OR cannot pay the loan back, your face value is simply reduced the amount of the loan. The third reason I think whole life is beneficial is that it is far easier to qualify for. As age and health conditions become a factor people can nearly always qualify for some sort of whole life coverage.

The drawbacks of whole life come into play when someone qualifies for term coverage that meets additional needs above and beyond death benefit (payment the beneficiary receives when the insured dies.) Term coverage is often much cheaper than whole life coverage dollar for dollar, while also opening the door to much higher face amounts. This becomes a great advantage for people preparing income for their family in case they pass away young and leave behind spouse, children, assets and other debts above and beyond final expenses. Term coverage also comes with greater ‘living benefits’ which pay portions or all of the face value to the insured while they are still alive if they get a terminal, chronic, or critical illness. This benefit is so valuable that more and more people opt for this type of coverage as long as they qualify. There are also term options that would pay you back all or portions of the premiums you paid into the plan as long as you don’t receive any of the death or living benefits during the term. While whole life plans do have some living benefits, they are not often so wholistic and none of them offer return of premium in the same manner at the low prices term plans offer. While there are instances that whole life would be a better choice for some people at younger ages, all of these factors should be considered with your broker before you move forward so you know that you are putting yourself and your family in the best possible position.

There are many other pros and cons in regard to whole life protection and which direction you should go largely depends on your situation. When looked at properly, all forms of life insurance and various life insurance products are simply tools fit for different kinds of jobs. We love helping people navigate these tools and applying them to their lives fit for the job at hand. Set up an APPOINTMENT with us and we will help guide you through the process with ease.

Joseph Doppe

The Heart of Life Insurance

Posted on by Seek First Financial in About, Blog, Home

When you read the “About” section of our website, you will begin to understand the heart of why this field of work is so important to me. Before I ever put any value on being a life insurance broker and field underwriter, this sort of coverage already had great value in my life. This is the motivation and drive for me and my family to be in this field, even when its hard and heartbreaking. My desire and the desire of most of the people I work alongside in this field is this; that people find peace through putting themselves and their families in a good position in the event of the unforeseen. This is what I experienced so many years ago when my wife and I put some coverage and planning in place for our growing family through our first life insurance policy.

It had come up during a conversation with one of my wife’s friends and business partners that she and her husband had just put some life insurance coverage in place for their children in case something happened to one or both of them. This conversation exposed a weak spot in my provision for my family. I was simply younger and had never thought about the possibility of something happening to my wife or I, and we had never considered the outcome of that scenario for our children or for each other.

We contacted a mutual friend to help us with this problem and we began the process of putting our first policy in place. We had some difficult conversations about what life could look like without the other person, and what kind of position we wanted to leave each other in if one of us were to die. We had the difficult conversation of what kind of position we wanted to leave our three children in if we were to both die at the same time. During that part of the process, we had to decide who we wanted them to live with and then we had to contact that family and speak with them, making some very important plans with them so we could all be on the same page. These conversations were difficult and at times I didn’t even want to consider them. The policy was fully underwritten, so we had to give blood and do our medicals. My wife does not do well with giving blood and when she was white in the face and lightheaded, I guarantee she was not having a good time. But in the end, we were approved and made our first premium payment and our protection was placed. We felt a great sense of peace and realized the importance of what we just did for each other and our children. We continue to seek better ways to protect our growing family and plan for our future through the many options offered. All this took place before I ever imagined I would work in this field.

So, years down the road, I got the opportunity to pursue helping people in the same way our friend helped us so many years ago. I really love giving people the same opportunity at getting that same sense of peace my wife and I received back then. We love helping people explore their needs and we love having so many options for them to be able to meet their needs. I loved the idea of being a broker, with many carriers, so I could shop for people and offer them the lowest prices for their particular situations. I am grateful to be able to help people in this way and my family and I saw the value in this way before we every began to make it our work. Our heart is to serve and keep people first and I am grateful to share a little bit of my heart with you today.

Joseph Doppe