everyone has their own unique views and needs when it comes to financial success if you'd like to leave your financial woes behind and live a life of Financial Freedom you've come to the right place Welcome To Die saving with Steve show hosted by Steve Sexton the show will help you with the ins and outs of money we talked about financial issues that could be costing you thousands of dollars and keeping you up at night we talked about money tax reduction saving more spending less 401K risk management retirement and everything under the sun that relates to you having a healthier happy relationship with money now your is your host of saving with Steve Steve Sexton hello everybody Welcome to
shaving with Steve said when we talked about the ins-and-outs of money pretty much everything of the sudden release of you having a happier or healthier relationship with money my name is Steve sex and I want to thank you for joining us more importantly I want to thank you for sharing this with your friends and family we just exceeded 600,000 listeners and we've expanded overseas so this is going up to 54 countries now so we're very excited and just want to thank you for sharing this with your friends and family know we have one heck of a show yes I'm going to continue my whole session on inflation and what to do cuz looks like inflation is not going away but one of the biggest things nowadays most of the people were listening to show our ages somewhere between 45 and 65 so they all have parents and helping those parents with their finances specifically things like Medicare and be overwhelming cuz you don't know what to say cuz. Consuming and we've got the right person here we have Stephanie Poe she doesn't exactly for a client she's been doing it for her
25 years in the Medicare industry she can see what can happen especially when somebody has the wrong plan and it's really interesting because I've been in the finance business for twenty years and I worked with people I've never done Medicare always push it off to somebody else like Stephanie really knows what's going on cuz you really need somebody's Highly Educated because people don't realize that they could have benefits if they knew about him I've seen people pay out their extraordinary amounts of money out of their pocket when they really didn't understand what they're getting into because they just didn't have so many really helped them get clear about it so Stephanie's here first of all let me tell you a little bit more about Stephanie and besides I say hello Stephanie
first of all besides being highly experienced Stephanie as a certified Medicare insurance planner she serves as a CEO and founder of the St Louis Insurance Group and is known for expertise and navigating and simplifying Medicare insurance plans she helps clients find the right Medicare plan a year after year through her confusion to Clarity which is always really cool with the great approach she believes Medicare doesn't have to be hard you just need so many quarter who can clearly explain it now that said the big question here that we want to start out with his why should we talk to her parents about Medicare insurance and what do we need to know how to have a successful conversation because my parents are involved in that why would I want to talk to him about that the reality is Medicare is complicated Medicare is confusing and anyone over 65 is being bombarded with advertisements you get
mailers and I'll bring a stack of mail and there's any of this important they're getting on 526 phone calls a day trying to get them to change plans and the TV commercial I don't know if you listen to the TV playing in the background the TV commercials are not sure they did some study recently I think it was Kaiser and on an average episode of Doctor's Building 88 Medicare Advantage of any one-hour episode so our seniors are being bombarded with us they don't know where to turn for help I actually totally agree with that because most people go from having a health insurance plan through their employer and quite frankly most people don't know what they have they just really know about the co-pays but when they move off onto their own and they're selecting something all too often people select the cheapest plan or the one that their company had without knowing what's really in the guts of that plan that could be detrimental so the big question
you just answer is really why should be involved how do we go about starting this conversation with mom and dad cuz my folks are 87 we have this conversation my dad just had a knee replacement and before that we had that conversation about hey houses can be covered what's going to happen with the therapy like are they going to be able to cover the therapy with the drugs all that with post and so on and he's got a wonderful plan and it's all covered but that's not the case for everybody and chances are if you ask him what's going to happen houses to be covered he probably didn't know because most people don't know how it works you know this is not about you as a child stepping in and taking over necessarily it's just about you both being educated on what will happen but it's making your parents feel more comfortable that you were also on board with the plan of the Hat you know what will happen that they needed it so I think one of the easiest way is to start the conversation is to say I heard something about Medicare the other day that sounds really complicated what are you going to open up the conversation
so that's where start and then they're going to tell you either I don't know or I don't know here's my card and you can go from there is there's original Medicare
Mary carevantage yep supplements
this is a real big things a lot of people don't understand this and they don't understand how the supplements work some people who really do love the stopping Lance in the ability to do things we can do but they just don't have a clue cuz you kind of like break that down just a little bit for everybody else in this is the hardest part god I don't have to do anything else but original Medicare on it though this is part A and B is good but have gaps right so you have a part A covers anything in the hospital and there's usually this year it's a $1,600 deductible every time you go into the hospital
turn on your part B which is everything outpatient doctor visits outpatient surgeries chemo treatments all of that that I can repay 80% and you would be responsible for 20 and there's no limit on that so people that have Medicare only or really leaving themselves open to a lot of exposure that they don't like it so your options to go along with Medicare or either a Medicare Advantage plan or a Medicare supplement on the one hand with the Medicare supplement you're paying a premium each month that's in addition to what you're paying for Part B and then you shouldn't have any co-pays maybe a very small deductible that no other co-pays or medical expenses on that plan
it pays a 20% for you it pays the hospital deductibles you're paying a premium for them to pay everything else with the supplemental so you can go to any doctor any Hospital anyone who takes Medicare will take your measure supplement
but sometimes people don't like that plan because it can get very expensive and then everything separate it doesn't include your dental it doesn't include prescriptions everything is separate that is one other option is a Medicare Advantage plan
Medicare Advantage plans you're not paying any additional premium or it's very little each month instead you're going to pay co-pays and coinsurance up to a maximum and the maximum depends on the plan that you choose hey everybody sick with us we'll be right back with more shaving with Steve and Stephanie phone
more expert advice for having a happier relationship with money still to come on the saving with Steve show
don't let your financial woes keep you up at night and prevent you from living a life of Financial and personal freedom hi I'm Steve Sexton post of the saving with Steve show where to be talking about the ins-and-outs of money does Financial issues it could be costing me thousands of dollars causing stress keeping you up at night we're going to talk about money tax reduction saving more spending your investment risk management retirement and everything is so sweet with you having a healthier happy relationship with money soon as you've ever dreamed of living a life of Financial and personal freedom you owe it to yourself and your family to tune in to the saving with Steve show join me Steve sex and out of saving with Steve show as we talked about everything under the sun when it comes to money to learn more about the show visit saving with Steve. Us that's saving with Steve. Us saving with Steve. Us will see you soon
welcome back to the show that is here to help you achieve your financial goals it's the saving with Steve show now here's your host Steve Sexton hello welcome back to the saving Willis TV show where I truly want to thank you for tuning in appreciate you watching your show listening to her show all the replays are available here at saving with Steve. You as if you're enjoying the stories of helpful information and insight on saving with Steve I encourage you to strive to her YouTube channel so you can check out every single show and please check out our Affiliates at UK Health radio BBS radio talk radio in New York City 360tv Las Vegas TV networks all these networkers are dedicated to empowering you to solve problems uplift your spirit live a life of Financial Freedom now you can also check us out saving with Steve Sexton on her Facebook page if you want to go sign up for this evening let's do sex in club you can get behind the stuff behind the scenes and see how I mess up all the time which is a lot of fun and so
as we see a cat or a baby on the screen which is always fun as well with that we're going to bring back stuff when you tell him we're going to be talking about Medicare help again we're talking about original Medicare Stephanie Michelle has hey look if you have Medicare part A and B you're looking at on an 80/20 basis and then you're paying for regional in Medicare which is little more expensive some people might want not fun to pay for that but there's some benefits are that people might want to pay for it cuz you talked about being able to pick and choose your doctor be providing they accept Medicare and you typically have a co-pay you might have some coinsurance depending on how it's structured but let's delve into that just a little bit more because with original Medicare you can pretty much pick and choose your doctor write
okay Rachel Medicare you can and if you have a supplement you could end up paying just a copay or small coinsurance depending on how do you have to have the supplement structured
yes it's basic it's more like traditional insurance we are paying a premium each month and the insurance company pays whatever Medicare doesn't so is there some really important things to know about getting a supplement because don't you have to have it done within a certain time when you leave your employer otherwise you have to get under it and so does speaking
yes so you get a chance to enroll in Medicare supplement when you're new to Part B of Medicare you get a guaranteed issue. If you real where they're not going to ask you any questions three months after you get your part B
you can choose any plan you want to all your pre-existing conditions are covered and there are no health questions
I like that is okay and then what are the typical cost for the Medicare supplements
so you're going to have to still pay for Part B of Medicare this year it's 164/92 paper that no matter what kind of plan you have with the supplement you're going to pay an additional premium and it really depends on what county what state you're in and if you're male and female date they take all that into account here in the Midwest you're looking at maybe two hundred a month extra for a Medicare supplement policy OK and sexy closer to about 350 out here in California so that's great now let's compare that to look so let's listen let's ask this question if I'm say you had a knee replacement didn't go well and maybe the doctor put in the wrong you know something just didn't go well do you have to go get an approval to get that redone
not with a soccer match there are no referral no prior authorization unless Medicare itself requires a prior authorization if you need to go to a different doctor or a traditional Indemnity plans that people used to have a long long long time ago that don't exist anymore but that that's wonderful now let's talk about Medicare Advantage okay so how does that work
so they are both are very different play neither one of us are only it's all about how you want to get your care and how you want to pay for your care so a Medicare Advantage plan you're paying very little premium depending on where you are in the country and it's a copay and coinsurance as you go there's usually a maximum out-of-pocket that you'll pay so there's a cap or a limit on your Exploder these are the plans for you do sometimes have to have referrals you stay in the network of doctors it's a little bit more restrictive managed care if it's Managed Care was it
so
if you have co-pays to go along with it already do you have an extra co-pay if you're going to the hospital and you have an extra copay if you're going to the doctor to the emergency room and things like that because you're not paying premiums they're charging you each time you go into the hospital or each time you have a surgery or she was basileus we've got all that but now let's talk about the big thing prescriptions depending on this prescription plan that can get quite expensive or you might be restricted to certain types of prescriptions that you might have to use the day or so on so how does how does that work
yes prescriptions are big deal comes up in the conversation all the time with the supplement you have to have a separate party plan and it's going to it you're going to pay a premium for that and then you don't pay co-pays for prescriptions the Medicare Advantage plan your party is added is included in a badass man you still pay co-pays one of the important things you want to make sure that you're on a plan first of all because formularies between companies are dramatically different you might be paying zero for a prescription on this plan and $100 a month for the same prescription on another plan plan something you can do is look at schupan recycler GoodRx you know if that's less expensive than your party plan you can use coupons like that another good one is Cost Plus drugs is that Mark Cuban company a lot of my clients find a lot of savings on that plan
it is outside of your party you're not necessarily paying extra for it but you might get a better cost on your prescription the other thing is called the other program it's a federal program called extra help Medicaid is a state program that pays for the medical side but extra help is a federal program that pays for prescription do they bring your co-pay down dramatically you do have to qualify based on income the income limits are higher than Medicaid will not more people qualify for it and they think they are expanding this program in 2024 was part of the insulation reduction act one of the things they did with expand the extra help program
what are some ways that you can come save on prescriptions so one of the things that a lot of people ask in our viewers have been asking is okay so one of the potential penalties and how do I avoid them cuz you never know there's a penalty and tell all the sudden it hit you yeah yeah so there are two big ones that I can think of one is a late enrollment penalty so if so you get MediCare at 65 years you don't have to enroll but if you are retiring and you do not have the pleasure of group coverage anymore you need to enroll in Medicare otherwise you'll pay a penalty
there will be certain times a year that you can sign out and that penalty that you get will last forever
and it's the same with your part D prescription plan if you don't sign out when you're first eligible or when he first retire you're going to pay a late enrollment penalty
did you say that you fail to enroll in time you're going to get a penalty and that penalty will last you forever and what is the typical penalty
is 10% of every year that you wait and because of the timing of when you can apply it's really easy to get stuff for me for a year about rolling Emerald Lakes so 10% a year
while so that means if it's 160 for 90 you're actually going to have to pay an extra $16 16 or $17 just because your leg okay so and what other penalties should people be aware of
the other big one is, it's an income related Medicare just when I'm out so it it's basically a penalty for making too much money if you have a higher income you could pay more than 16490 a month people don't realize that and because it's based on your income from two years ago based on your taxes from 2 years ago you know if you're retiring now and you're on a lower Social Security amount not working anymore you could get hit with that penalty and not you know I know what to do with it and not be ample they sell house one year and they've got a capital gain that exceeds Irma
some things you can appeal for instance if you quit working and your income is lower but if you is based on your adjusted gross income so if you did sell rental property if you sold a house if you have capital gains you're going to have to pay the penalty for a year until it resets the following year okay it's really very very important that people find the right agent so how do we how do how do people go about doing that it is and one of the things you want to be involved in their next annual review all insurance agent should be doing an annual review with you but a lot of people are just trying to figure it out on their own and they don't have it either and so if that's the case you do really good agents out there I would suggest looking for someone who hasn't experienced who specializes in Medicare
you know we all sell health and life and all the all the things that you really want someone who specializes in Medicare
and then find someone you trust and who will sit down with you and answer all of your questions no matter how many times you ask do matter you know how many times you called whatever it is you are Healthcare your money have you and your parents need to be confident in the plan that you're getting so just the one that they will answer all the questions for you here's another thing
people are you saying what about people who just specialize with one carrier like there with the HealthNet or UnitedHealthcare should have do you have somebody that has multiple different carriers as opposed to being pigeonholed into one yes that's so important thank you for for mentioning that if you're working with a broker who is only working with one company that they are going to try to fit you into the plans that they offer you want to work with an agent who offers multiple companies and multiple plans and then that way they can really Taylor it was important to you but that's their benefits are important you know what doctors you want to use and what prescriptions you take that's perfect Stephanie I want to thank you for joining us today this is been wonderful if our listeners would like to get ahold of you or reach out you check out your website how did they go about doing that
yes I only say about the insurance group and we have multiple agents across the country but if you'd like to talk to me specifically you can go to my website at Stephanie pogo.com Pogue is how you spell my last name. Or 636-778-2999 is my office thank you so much for joining us today writings with wonderful information I'm just very thankful and I know they are too because all the questions are all the things that you said over the questions thank you again and I wish you well and I know you're going to get really busy as soon because the whole season's just getting started up there thank you so much have a wonderful day and we'll look forward to seeing you next to stick with this will be right back with more shaving with Steve
more expert advice for having a happier relationship with money still to come on the saving with Steve show
don't let your financial woes keep you up at night and prevent you from living a life of Financial and personal freedom hi I'm Steve Sexton post of the saving with Steve show where did he talk about the ins-and-outs of money those financial issues that could be costing me thousands of dollars causing stress keeping you up at night we're going to talk about money tax reduction saving more spending on your investment risk management retirement and everything is so sweet with you having a healthier happy relationship with money soon as you've ever dreamed of living a life of Financial and personal freedom you owe it to yourself and your family to tune in to the saving with Steve show join me Steve section of the saving with Steve show as we talked about everything under the sun when it comes to money to learn more about the show visit saving with
Steve. Us that's saving with Steve. Us saving with Steve. Us will see you soon
welcome back to the show that is here to help you achieve your financial goals it's the saving with Steve show now here's your host Steve Sexton
back to saving with Steve we just had Stephanie Poe she was a wonderful wonderful Medicare specialist she's a founder of the St Louis Insurance Group if you want to get information they've got agents all over the country that can help you more importantly if you're looking for an agent you want to make sure you have somebody who can represent multiple plans to find the best one for you understand the cost what's going to be if you get a prescription what it's going to be if you have a procedure so you can understand what truly happens with you and you know what they can and if she help you understand the engine out especially if it's your folks okay now with that one of the things that you're seeing here is things are still going up but it needs inflation is still Rising you saw the most recent report from the Consumer Price Index. It went from 3.3 to 3.7 and you're seeing things going higher cuz you're paying more at the pump you're paying more at the shopping center you're paying more on Amazon you're paying more all over
the reason being is the cost of goods being shipped used for oil gas and so on his continued increase if that's the big thing that shifting cuz if we go back to July those things were down anywhere from 18 to 36 per cent and you know what with the reduction of oil production by the OPEC Russia being cut by 2.5 million barrels a day and then just another million barrels a day we're going to feel it at the pump and other places for a while so how do we go about reworking our budget to make sure
that we can keep maintaining Our Lives now so this is very very important this is the time you want to start looking at all the cell phone bills the phone bill you know what there's many carriers out there on the 5G stuff you you can find ones that have lower costs that don't have the connections we have to be there for two or three years so you know what go look at the MIT mobiles go look at all those different companies and see what could be lower cost for you when it comes to your cable bill you know what kind of down to the things that you need if you got multiple streaming sites and in your paint at 5:10 7:12 dollars a month subscription to keep going up and up so cut it down to the ones that you want as opposed to having cable there's nothing wrong with having the live TV which is a nap along with your cable as opposed to having the cable channel by doing so you could save as much as $100 or more per month next looking
utilities how do we lower the cost of utilities by reducing the amount of Neo that heat that's on her house Turn It Go from 72 from 75 if your water is supposed to water in once or twice a day just water once a day for a longer. Of time every other day you're still going to be in a good spot there next and want to look at how do we go about reducing our jet have a plan to pay off your your interest job at the interest the account you have in your credit card today or start working in transferring balances two cars that have less interest rates or even consolidating your dad to an interest rate that slower than what you have is just going to make sure you got the spinning issues taken care of when it comes to driving we're seeing gas prices go higher and higher so how do we deal with that when we deal with that it's important to take a look at hey what car we driving are you
driving a big old truck that gets 8 9 10 12 miles to the gallon and your wife's driving the Prius but she's driving at 10 miles a day and you're going 60 switch him out reduce those costs there's a person that we know that just got one of those new Toyota Corollas but it's a hybrid they're getting 52 miles to gallon
husband wife switch cars wife tries to big car that gets 10 miles 10 miles a day while you know what the husband's driving
the hybrid and he's driving a 100 so it cost him two gallons of gas to go to and from work
as opposed to 5 that's a big savings next when you're looking at the store pre-packaged items are expensive so how can you buy the salad that the head of lettuce the dressing be the crazy idiot in the nuts and all that separately and make the salads is supposed to buy a $5 per package salad every single day you could say forty $50 extra month but every little bit counts when it comes to going out there's nothing wrong with hanging out with your friends with maybe doing it apart or having with call The Gourmet group or everybody brings one piece and you can have a nice meal with your friends at a lower cost so there's a lot of ways to reduce or eliminate your expenses so you can keep up with inflation the other thing that's most important with keeping up with inflation is this just making sure you're getting a reasonable rate of return on your investment for example if you got money just sitting in a savings account or checking account that's a lot of money and it's earning next to nothing and you can
money market account for almost 45% right now ICD at 5.6% and inflation is at 3.7 at least it's keeping up with inflation cuz if you're not making at least three point seven
you're in you're in a situation where purchasing power is eating away at your your ass at and you never want to have that happen because that reduces your ability to spend and someone so with that I want to thank you all for joining us here was saving this device hope you gave you some insights that useful and beneficial and I know you love Stephanie cuz she was outstanding with all our viewers and yours at saving Steve. Us you can always email in there's a hey I want to hear about this in a lot of you did when we put that out there and I want to thank you for that went that be safe be healthy we'll see you next time right here on seeing to see my buy thank you for joining us for the saving with Steve show hosted by Steve Sexton to learn more about the show and how to become a guest or sponsor visit saving with Steve. Us that saving with Steve. Us join us again next time as we continue to talk about everything under the sun that relates to you having a healthier happier relationship with money this
has been the saving with Steve show hosted by Steve Sexton