Once you are ready to sit down with a Voluntary Benefits agent you need to understand the types of policies that may be available and how they might fit your needs. Disability – This is the easiest Voluntary Benefits policy for most people to understand. Disability pays the policyholder if they are unable to work due to an accident or illness. Most financial planners recommend that their clients protect their most important asset; their ability to earn an income.  Accident – The most popular Voluntary Benefits policy for many insurance companies is their accident plan. These programs usually cover everything from cuts that need stitches to major accidents needing an air ambulance, and everything in between. The benefits are tied directly to the seriousness of the accident. Critical Illness – These policies are very customizable based upon the client’s needs. The customer can purchase a policy that covers just one type of critical illness such as cancer. There are also critical illness policies that cover multiple serious issues such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, paralysis and other conditions. Life Insurance – LIMRA, which is a worldwide research organization that for 102 years has kept a pulse on the Life Insurance market, published a   Read more…

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and pressure on private health insurance plans has driven unprecedented change in the health care industry. Deductibles, co-pays and co-insurance are skyrocketing almost as fast as the rates are. Many parts of the country have seen an increase of 50% or more for major medical premiums. A 2015 Harvard study found that the leading cause for bankruptcies (just over 60%) was due to medical expenses. The surprising finding of this study was a majority of the people that claimed medical bankruptcy had medical insurance. The reality is that most families don’t have the savings necessary to withstand the financial chaos that can accompany serious medical conditions. Often there is a double loss of income as a healthy spouse stays at home to care for the injured or ill spouse. When children are involved, the family comes to a standstill, but the rent, electric bill and car payments keep coming. The financial strain can also lead to emotional damage. This is why many insurance agents talk about the triple threat of serious health conditions. The disease damages the body, the finances, and the emotions. A good insurance policy can’t fix all of the emotional damage, but   Read more…

Doherty will explain why you can’t always trust that the information you receive from Social Security employees is correct. A recent internal audit found that Social Security underpaid widows and widowers to the tune of $140 million. It turns out widows and widowers are in one of the best positions to maximize their benefits. They can switch between two benefits, either the Survivor Benefit or their own regular benefit.  They can even claim the smaller benefit first and then switch to the bigger benefit later. Social Security failed to inform these widows and widowers about all their options, and it ended up costing them a combined total of $140 million in lost income. Brian will show you exactly how that happened and why you need to be aware of it so it doesn’t happen to you, your family members or your friends. It is not just widows and widowers who are given misinformation; Doherty will share with you his real life experiences of people he advised who received misinformation from the Social Security Administration. That misinformation could have ended up costing them up to $50,000 in lost income had they taken the SSA at its word. Most people think Social   Read more…

Even though the number of people claiming their benefits at age 62 has fallen to the lowest percentage in 30 years, it is still the most popular age for people to claim. Brian reveals three of the most popular reasons people claim their Social Security benefits early: 1) Fear that the Social Security system will collapse. 2) Concern that they may die before they receive any payments. 3) An expectation that they may not live to the crossover year when benefits become equal to each other. He will address each reason individually and use math and sound logic to show why each of those reasons are misguided and are poor justification for claiming early. Brian debunks all three concerns with historical data proving his points. In general, people justify claiming early because they believe the risk is too high and they are going against the odds if they delay. Doherty will clearly illustrate that the risks are much higher, and people are really going against the odds when they claim early. He will also demonstrate why the Social Security claiming decision for most people will be one of the most important financial decisions in their lifetime. For anybody doing a   Read more…

Even though the number of people claiming their benefits at age 62 has fallen to the lowest percentage in 30 years, it is still the most popular age for people to claim. Brian reveals three of the most popular reasons people claim their Social Security benefits early: 1) Fear that the Social Security system will collapse. 2) Concern that they may die before they receive any payments. 3) An expectation that they may not live to the crossover year when benefits become equal to each other. He will address each reason individually and use math and sound logic to show why each of those reasons are misguided and are poor justification for claiming early. Brian debunks all three concerns with historical data proving his points. In general, people justify claiming early because they believe the risk is too high and they are going against the odds if they delay. Doherty will clearly illustrate that the risks are much higher, and people are really going against the odds when they claim early. He will also demonstrate why the Social Security claiming decision for most people will be one of the most important financial decisions in their lifetime. For anybody doing a   Read more…

There are approximately 1.5 – 2.5 million people who are still qualified to use an incredible Social Security claiming strategy. They don’t know they can use it, and that could cost them up to $70,000 in lost Social Security income before their 70th birthday. Most people think that when the government changed the rules in November of 2015 and eliminated the use of the “File & Suspend” claiming strategy, they also eliminated the use of all the creative and unique claiming strategies. But that was not the case, the “Restricted Application” claiming strategy is still available to people qualified to use it. Using this strategy could pay a qualified married couple or divorced spouse an additional $25,000 – $70,000 in Social Security income before they reach their 70th birthday. The majority of the people who are qualified to use the strategy are unaware that they can use it, and that could end up costing them a lot of money. Brian reveals the qualifications required to use the strategy and will clearly illustrate in simple detail exactly how the strategy works. If it turns out you are qualified to use the Restricted Application claiming strategy, and it will pay you an   Read more…

Doherty explains why Social Security is not a Ponzi Scheme. He will compare it to the scheme originally perpetrated by Charles Ponzi.  He will clearly show that Social Security has little to nothing in common with a Ponzi scheme and why it is a huge disservice to continue to make that analogy. Doherty will also go on to address the fear that Social Security has an insurmountable long-term funding issue. The majority of people in this country are worried that Social Security will run out of money and they use that as a reason or excuse to claim their benefits early. Doherty will explain why those fears and worries are unfounded and goes on to make the case that Social Security will be around for the next 75 – 100 years, even if the government doesn’t do anything to fix it’s long-term funding issue. Next he will address the simple things that can be done to resolve those funding issues with no benefit cuts for the next 75 – 100 years. In order to come up with a plan to fix the system, Doherty worked with an ex- Social Security actuary, who was also a Head Actuary of a major   Read more…