Announcer:
It’s time now on KROS for Financial Focus, brought to you by NelsonCorp Wealth Management. The opinions voiced in this show are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Any indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. Registered representatives, securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a broker-dealer member, FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisor, representative Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a registered investment advisor, Cambridge and NelsonCorp Wealth Management are not affiliated. Cambridge does not offer tax advice. Now, here’s today’s financial focus program.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Good morning and welcome to this week’s Financial Focus brought to you each and every Wednesday morning right here on KROS. This is Nate Kreinbrink]. I have Mike Steigerwald with me. Third Wednesday in July.
Mike Steigerwald:
That’s right.
Nate Kreinbrink:
Actually, third.
Mike Steigerwald:
This summer’s flying.
Nate Kreinbrink:
It is flying by. It is hard to… It’s up to that point where summer can slow down now, because it is, you said a month from now there’s a lot of schools that will be really close to being back in session, and what do they call the dog days of summer right now?
Mike Steigerwald:
That’s what it is right now. It is going to be hot today.
Nate Kreinbrink:
It is. We’ve gotten a little rain to green things up again, but it looks like heat warnings. I think being in the feels like up above the triple digits. So welcome back, summer.
Mike Steigerwald:
Anytime it’s this warm, this early in the morning, we’re in for a long day.
Nate Kreinbrink:
It’s going to be a long day. So everybody, if you’re going to be outside or have to be outside, drink plenty of fluids and try to stay cool whenever, because just remember, those dog days of January, it’s a complete opposite.
Mike Steigerwald:
You’ll be begging for this.
Nate Kreinbrink:
But it is, the season’s winding down. Baseball season just hit the all-star break and is on the second half of their season now as they transition to there. But college football, some of those fall things are right around the corner. gear up a little bit. So for all those football fanatics, it’s not far away, training camp and all that. So we are getting close. Not that I want to push it along any faster, but there are some silver linings, I guess, to seeing it pass by.
Mike Steigerwald:
Oh, yeah.
Nate Kreinbrink:
So Mike always comes on and we use these, try to focus a little bit on Medicare during this segment. Had Andy Ferguson last week on talking taxes and some of the new tax bill that just was signed into effect on July 4th. But again, want to focus on Medicare a little bit. And again, with topics that always come up. Obviously, it’s a confusing territory for those that are entering the age of 65 are just going to be retiring and transitioning over to Medicare.
But again, it’s a confusing time and you get bombarded with all this information and it oftentimes leaves people confused. And as we’re heading into that open enrollment period, which is a couple months away, which runs from October 15 to December 7th every year, those that are going to be turning 65 have already gotten it. Even those that are currently on Medicare will be starting to get bombarded again in the mail with a lot of, I guess, you could call it junk.
Mike Steigerwald:
Certainly. Well, and the thing about it is the advertisements and mailings, these companies, the insurance companies, are pretty good. They know what they’re doing and they make it seem so official and make it seem like it’s mandatory that, “Oh, you’ve got to call this number if you’re on Medicare, changes to this or that.”
And all it is a way to get you on the phone and hoping to sell you their product as opposed to what you may already have. But Nate and I were chatting and Medicare is so highly individualized. So it’s really, really important to seek that guidance if you can’t find it on your own to say which plan works for me?
Because every one of the mailings and every one of the phone calls and everything else you get, we’ll make it sound like their plan is certainly the best. And there’s just really no way to know that unless you run an analysis of everything that you need and what plans are out there available to you.
Nate Kreinbrink:
And I think when you look at IT, it’s like when we warn people or when you read things about people getting scammed or anything like that, and not that the insurance companies are trying to scam you necessarily directly with that, but what they’re trying to do is they’re trying to create urgency. And they’re very good, as Mike said, as far as creating that letter that looks like it’s an official letter from the social security or from Medicare directly or from wherever, that, hey, there’s urgency that you need to take action and do this. And I’ve seen a lot of them with clients of mine or family members have brought them to me and said, “Hey, what do we need to do with this?” And you look through it and it looks like a legit official kind of letter from Social Security Administration or something that you need to do this or from your insurance company.
But if you look down at the very bottom of that, oftentimes there’s, in the very small print at the very bottom, it says that this is a paid advertisement from so-and-so or whatever. So again, it’s advertising that’s meant to look like something that you need to take action on. I compare it to, it used to be where all your junk mail was in these normal letters that was typed up and you know, could just rip it up. It’s going to do it.
Well, now some of those companies have gotten where they’ve got the font that looks like it’s handwritten on the front of the cover. So they’re like, “Oh, I’ve gotten a handwritten letter that’s coming in.” Well, you open it up and it’s still that same junk, but at least they got you to open it. They got past that stage as far as just ripping.
So again, they’re getting creative to try to get you to do action, but it’s important that you, again, look at what is actually being sent. And again, understanding what your plan is, what do you have coverage in and do you really need to change? Is your health situation changing? Then maybe we need to look at it. But again, as Mike said, seek guidance and be able to look at where you’re at with things.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yep, yep, man. It’s just the common theme that we talk about quite a bit on the show is just how important it is and how individualized this product is. Your health is going to be different than your spouse’s health. It’s going to be different than your neighbor’s, your cousins, your everybody else.
So there may be people that say, “Oh, this is a great plan and this is what I have.” Well, that may not be the best plan for you. The only way to know that is to really dive a little bit deeper and make sure you’re getting the coverage that you need.
Nate Kreinbrink:
And I think when you look at it too, I mean, we talk all the time as far as enrolling in Medicare. The most common thing is when you turn 65 or when you retire and transitioning from a company plan over to Medicare once you hit that age. But there are some other times when you need to look at some other plans too and know what else is out there, whether it’s if you have a disability or you have special needs, there’s some other plans that, again, you need to be able to look at and say, “How do these fit my thing?” And know that there are options out there for you.
Mike Steigerwald:
Yeah, I think that’s another thing, Nate, that people don’t really know about. And that is that there are plans in place specifically for managing certain health conditions. So if you have a chronic issue, heart issue, diabetes, things like that, there are plans out there specifically designed for you to manage care through what you got going on.
And it helps with cost savings. There are certain things, medications may be cheaper on those plans. There’s a lot of things that go into it. But again, if you don’t really know about it and you don’t seek more guidance than just listening to anybody and everybody or responding to a mailing, you may not be in the product that’s best for you.
Nate Kreinbrink:
So I mean, again, it’s understanding your options and trying to get help if you need it to understand and help navigate through all these waters. It’s a very confusing, it is not the most efficient or smooth running process when you start talking about part A, part B, part D, and then plan A, plan B, plan C, Advantage, supplement networks, non-networks. It’s just copays, non-copays, what’s covered. It’s confusing.
Mike Steigerwald:
It’s a lot.
Nate Kreinbrink:
It’s a lot. And then again, when you start thinking about, oh, well my cousin or whatever that lives in a different state has this plan, well, you know what? But in this county, it’s totally different because that’s how a lot of these run is. It is priced by your county.
And again, understanding that just because someone lives here, someone lives right across the river in Illinois with that same plan, it’s totally different. There’s different parts, there’s different plans, there’s different whatever based off the county that and where you live at, so networks change. So networks with one advantage plan to another one are different.
So it’s understanding that, deciphering that, and understanding that the different companies, although it may be a plan G with this company, a plan G with this company, a plan G with this company, again, what is the pricing for that? How do they price, what do they look at? And it’s tough. It is tough. You need help.
Mike Steigerwald:
And for those folks that are already on Medicare, October, so again, we’re not terribly far away, a few months from now, we’ll have info. The info gets released usually the first week of October on what plans look like for 2026. So if you’ve had changes in medications, if you’ve had change in your health and maybe need some additional care or coverage, we’ll know details of the plans that will be available to you in 2026 in October. So prior to the annual enrollment or open enrollment period, we will know what those plans look like. So that month of October is a great time to really dive in and do some research and say, “This is what I need as opposed to what I had last year.”
Nate Kreinbrink:
And the new premiums come out as well for your Part B that you have as far as they usually set those out with, again, usually sometime mid to early October, the annual cost of living adjustment for social security is released. That goes into effect January 1st and then usually a week or two after that, they release the Part B premium. That would be for the following year as well.
So those that are not subject to [inaudible 00:10:50] and are in that first year for Medicare, you’ve paid $185, everybody has, and that first year for your Part B premium throughout this year. That does usually go up coincidingly with what the cost of living adjustment is every year. So that will also be released in October. So we’ll start planning a little bit.
That’s usually the amount that’s debited right from your Social security benefit if you are on social security already. So again, a lot of changes coming through the way, but again, as we always say, if you have questions, reach out. It’s too important to try to go through it blindly.
Mike Steigerwald:
Certainly. Yep, I totally agree with you, Nate.
Nate Kreinbrink:
You got questions, give us a call. We’d be happy to help answer whenever we can and take that complicated issues and make it as simple as we can, and again, get you in the plan that’s best for you for your individual needs with it.
So I did want to mention before we do run out of time here that every Friday, Nelson Corp Wealth Management is wearing jeans for charity. Money raised in the month of July, will donated to the Project people program here in Clinton. Again, this is Nate and Mike bringing you this week’s program. Mike, appreciate you joining me today.
Mike Steigerwald:
Of course. Thanks, Nate.
Nate Kreinbrink:
As always, if you’ve got any questions, give us a call. And this is Nate and Mike, bringing you this week’s financial focus. Thanks for tuning in and have a great rest of your week.
Announcer:
Financial Focus is a production of NelsonCorp Wealth Management in Clinton and Davenport. The opinions voiced in the show are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Any indices mentioned are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. Registered representative, securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a broker-dealer, member FINRA, SPC, investment advisor representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a registered investment advisor. Cambridge and NelsonCorp Wealth Management are not affiliated. Cambridge does not offer tax advice. For more information, visit our website www.nelsoncorp.com.