All posts by Debbie Sears

A great store for unique, casual clothing located in Valley Junction

The Funky Zebras is a women’s clothing and accessory (purses, jewelry, hats, scarves) boutique offering a unique, neighborhood shopping experience. New visitors to the store often comment their WOW experience is due to the great selection, and reasonable pricing. Stop in often, as we update and add to inventory each week. We have two locations on in Ankeny and also Urbandale IA

Christopher’s Fine Jewelry

Christopher’s Fine Jewelry offers the finest crafted jewelry and highest quality diamonds in Des Moines.

Boesen the Florist

Boesen The Florist flower shop is a local florist located in Des Moines (IA) providing you with online flower delivery so you can send flowers, gift baskets and floral arrangements.

Doherty’s Flowers

Doherty’s Flowers is family owned and operated with locations serving the Des Moines area. They are committed to offering only the finest floral arrangements and gifts, backed by service that is friendly and prompt. Because all of their customers are important, their professional staff is dedicated to making your experience a pleasant one. That is why they always go the extra mile to make your floral gift perfect.

Seed

Seed aims to better the environment by creating greener spaces in urban areas, and have fun while doing so!

Zumi Collection

Here you will find a beautiful and diverse collection of African Art, Women’s ethnic wear and a wide variety of clothing accessories, home décor, gifts, and more from Africa, Asia, and South America. So, you can experience the artistry of many different cultures without leaving your home. Many of Zumi’s products come through companies or organizations that benefit the communities where they originate such as Ten Thousand Villages.

Sahars

Sahar’s Salon and Day Spa in West Des Moines, Iowa offers experienced skin, cosmetic, hair treatment and day spa center with makeovers and hair removal.

Life insurance is not for you. It’s for the ones you care about.

December 3, 2012life insurance, UncategorizedAsset Transfer, Business SuccessionDebbie Sears

Life insurance could be an asset transfer tool or a business succession planning tool.

As it refers to family, the way to minimize costs involved in transferring your accumulated net worth to whomever your beneficiaries may be will come with a price tag. This price tag comes in the way of the time delays of probate (during this time, taxes, insurances, utilities, maintenance, etc., still come due and payable), state tax, federal tax, inheritance tax, etc. erode what you may think the nest egg looks like. To have a life insurance policy in force, satisfies not just the immediate need for burial, but most importantly transferring these assets and having ready cash to keep things afloat and shore up the deficit as things move from Generation 1 to Generation 2.

Life insurance creates a bucket of money that a family can use to meet the demands necessary to get an estate completely transferred and closed. We work as a team with attorneys, CPAs and the family to accomplish your goals. If you have not started this process, we should start with a blank sheet of paper and figure it out, sooner, rather than later, as I do not see taxes, or the other costs associated with daily life, decreasing.

Business succession planning is vital. Life changes. We may want to retire. We may have health issues that cause us not to be able to continue. So, what do we do? Shut the door? And let the “blue sky” just evaporate?

Our recommendation is to have your business properly appraised and work with our team or yours to find a successor that can continue your legacy, creating an income for your retirement. This can be done through what might be called succession planning. For example, Boomer that I am, wants to see where I might want to be in 10 or 15 years. So, I recruit a successor. And with the help of our trusted team of other professionals, we consummate a buy/sell agreement. If we did not have life insurance on the person purchasing our business entity, and they pass away prior to the payout of the buy/sell agreement, we would receive no further payment. Leaving us with a business to go out and try to find a buyer for.

Medicare Advantage Plans – Do I or Don’t I?

November 26, 2012Advantage Plans, Bargain Insurance, Low Premiumno free lunch, part A, Part B, Part D, provider networks, you get what you pay forDebbie Sears

Beware of Medicare Advantage Plans being offered by many insurance companies. In a nutshell, you are tradiing your original Medicare and any Medicare Supplement of Prescription Drug Plan for a plan designed by an insurance company that includes all three components into one contract offered at a very low premium per month. These plans typically can go from zero premium to something much less than the traditional counterparts might look like. However, please don’t forget, you always get what you pay for and there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Most doctors (providers) are not treated very favorably by these plans. The doctors have the same cost for education, continuing education, malpractice insurance, office, access to equipment and labs necessary to do what is best for your health. An Advantage Plan reimburses the doctors at a comparably low rate. So if you want the best doctors for your care, you may face a situation where a provider does not agree to the terms and conditions of your “bargain insurance” and politely refer you or not.

Wellmark/Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa has made the decision to discontinue all of their Medicare Advantage Plans effective January 1, 2013.

Your Agent is Always Working For You

November 19, 2012federal compliance, Part D, RX drugbest choices, best quality, choices, new changes, options, testingDebbie Sears

Due to the federal compliance testing that is mandated to represent Medicare Part D prescription drug coverages, opportunities at Sears Insurance have increased, because current agents can’t pass the test.

The federal testing consists of a timed, two-hour test on specifically this topic and requires a minimum of a 90% passing grade to be federally compliant. This test has changed so much from one year to the next that even a career agent finds this to be a difficult task. There have been two agencies that have been long-standing colleagues/competitors of mine that have transferred their block of business to Sears Insurance for this exact reason.

After successfully passes the federal compliance test, it is mandatory to take a product test with each carrier that you want to represent for the specific product. After due diligence, we have come to the consensus that Wellmark/Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa has the most comprehensive prescription drug plan. If the purpose of insurance is to protect your finances and keep YOU out of any kind of federal penalty for not carrying insurance, then it is our job to safeguard your decision.

Sears Insurance continues to be a good resource for all of your insurance needs.

November is Long Term Care Awareness Month

November 12, 2012Long Term Careavoid mistakes, long term care, reducing your costs, riskDebbie Sears

We have planned all of our lives in one way or the other – from planning meals to planning vacations, to planning for our children in many and all ways. It is also very selfish and irresponsible not to plan for ourselves. We need to sit down with our spouse and discuss what the balance of our time line should look like.

Our social security, pensions, savings, real estate (our home(s)), our appropriate legal work (wills, trusts, durable POAs, POAs, etc.), our insurances (health, long term care, life insurance), where we want to retire and how, our final resting place (funeral arrangements). This mentality that our kids will take care of us or that the subliminal or unspoken “honor thy father and thy mother” will translate to relieving you of the responsibility of doing your own planning is very selfish. Having said that…I respect that your parents may have been raised in a different time and the elders became part of the household…but that just isn‘t that rosy. The emotional and financial burdens just don’t have to be. Please say you do not know, you do not understand, I have no plan….we can help families create a plan that will work for all members of the family unit. The priority here is safety and appropriate medical and mental care. It’s all about the money…how can we possibly pay for that!

We have ways to help you understand the risks, avoid common mistakes, reduce your costs, reduce the financial impact and the burdens that go with “no plan”. I will refer you to a video produced by Kiplinger that is not bias towards an insurance carrier. Here are a few documents from Kiplinger to get the conversation started. Just a conversation to help you better understand the unknown.

Document One

Document Two

HIPIOWA

November 5, 2012Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Healthcare updatesrejected, uninsuredDebbie Sears

I was recently appointed by Governor Branstad to the Board of HIPIOWA (ICHA) in an effort to better serve the residents of Iowa. We are working hard to be the best to our residents.

Iowa Comprehensive Health Association (HIPIOWA) was created by the Iowa State Legislature to provide access to health insurance coverage to all residents of the State who are unable to obtain individual health insurance. We offer individual health insurance coverage to state residents rejected for coverage due to medical reasons.

HealthCare Reform for Individuals and Businesses [VIDEO]

October 29, 2012Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Healthcare updatesReform, Small business, Tax CreditsDebbie Sears

As we continue to muddle our way through the huge healthcare reform process, sometimes we have to ask ourselves, “just where do I stand on some of these issues”. This video has been made available to all of us by Wellmark, the largest insurance carrier in the State of Iowa. This is a quick and and easy way to get a grasp on the importance of this issue. Get your running shoes on and let us at Sears Insurance review your position and inform you of your choices. This could represent many, many dollars of impact on all of us.

The Importance of Income Protection

October 15, 2012UncategorizedDebbie Sears

Bruce Hentschel had group long-term disability insurance coverage at work and didn’t think he needed additional income protection. Luckily, his wife convinced him that he did. In this video, Bruce shares how his Principal Life Insurance Company Individual Disability Income (DI) insurance policy made a difference. You can also read his written testimonial.

Are you similar to Bruce and his family?

Employer Trends

October 1, 2012Healthcare updateshealthcare updatesDebbie Sears

If you are following my posts and e-newsletters on my site, you will see that I have a timeline of the Healthcare Reform for your reference. I want to continually make thoughts available to you.

I would like to mention that as I work with employers to position themselves in the market place best suited for their industry and their employees, I have always been a believer of high deductible plans paired with an HMO choice. This allows for the lowest to the highest compensated employee, as well as the healthiest and the greatest diagnosed employee to have affordable choices. This will allow the employee to choose a plan that best suits their personal needs from the financial aspect as well as the utilization of health care services.

This has proven to be a win-win for both the employer and the employees.

I’m your health care advocate

September 24, 2012Dental health, Estate planning, Group Health Insurance, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Healthcare updates, Medicaid, Medicare, premium increases, RX drug, tax advantages, Universal Life Insurancedental health, Healthcare Reform, healthcare updates, healthiest state, long term care, mandates, Medicaid, WellmarkDebbie Sears

I was invited to a meeting with Representative Kraig Paulsen, Speaker of the House, Iowa House of Representatives, to discuss your future health care costs and how to develop a strategy to try to contain the ever-rising premium increases.

I’m not only working with the carriers in your best interest, but also with the leadership in the State of Iowa to combat the increasing health care costs we’re all confronted with. After a meeting a few weeks ago with Representative Kraig Paulsen,we are trying to develop strategies that would be a win-win for individuals and families, employers and insurance carriers, while at the same time, aligning ourselves with the visions Governor Branstad has asked us to focus on: the Healthiest State Initiative and the Wellmark Blue Zones Project.

As the nuts and bolts of this attempt become realities, you will be informed accordingly. In the meantime, please know that I am your go-to resource for anything to do with health, life, disability, long-term care and estate planning issues.