All posts by Debbie Sears

Another Plate on the Table

March 25, 2019Community, UncategorizedDebbie Sears

With the statistics that have been published by Polk County by Hunger Free Polk County (the sourcing was Des Moines University) and the statistics from the Food Bank of Iowa, I decided to help the children in our State by sponsoring a fundraiser to benefit Food Bank of Iowa’s School Pantry and Backpack Programs.

View the fundraiser flyer

I learned a lot and I found the results appalling, heartbreaking and unacceptable. I feel like we are sitting in the richest country on the planet. We are in a top agricultural State and are home to the World Food Prize, yet we still have children going hungry.

In memory of my husband, Dan Sears, I decided to make my small attempt to help the situation. I cannot do this alone. You will notice that we have an unprecedented collaboration of five well-known restaurateurs plus Frances Graziano and the Italian American Cultural Center of Iowa providing a fabulous dinner to accompany our presentation for the event.

Here’s what I need and want from you. Please share this on every personal and professional level including your Facebook page, website, newsletters, blogs, fraternal organizations and your children’s/grandchildren’s schools. We need to fill seats at the event and we need cash donations.

This can all be done on Food Bank of Iowa’s website, either personally or your company and the tax letters will be sent from the Food Bank of Iowa directly do you. If I can knock this one out of the park, it is my intention to make this an annual event. Hunger and kids deserve our attention.

Through this Lenten Season, please keep these children in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you for your support.

Add Convenience With A Virtual Visit Benefit

March 18, 2019Healthcare updatesDebbie Sears

Business owners can give your busy employees 24/7 access to care at a lower overall cost.

This benefit is called Doctor+ on Demand. Everybody would benefit from the convenience and cost-effectiveness of virtual visits. It helps people with tight schedules and short lunch breaks, people that live in rural locations that may have limited access, busy adults with children or aging family members, people with high deductible health plans (HDHP) or for people that often travel for their job.

There are no costs involved, you pay only for the care you use, the claims are seamless with quarterly reporting and there’s plenty of employee communications support. With this benefit, you can connect face-to-face with a doctor from virtually anywhere using a smartphone, tablet or computer.

This might save you some expensive trips to the doctor or emergency room. Some of the most common conditions that they can help with include colds, flu, bronchitis and sinus infections, urinary tract infections, sore throats, allergies, fevers, headaches, mental health conditions, etc.

There are more than 1400 board certified physicians and 300 psychologists in all 50 states. They can also prescribe medication if needed. If you do not currently have this, please ask your employer to give us a call at Sears Insurance.

Urgent – Don’t Go On Spring Break Without Downloading the GoMobile App!

March 11, 2019Healthcare updatesDebbie Sears

Understanding your healthcare benefits has never been easier and more convenient.

I want you to go to mywellmark.com and set up your username and password. After you do that, you’re going to be able to manage your health plan on-the-go with a host of helpful tools. Some of those would be your mobile ID card.

So, you wind up at some destination on a spring break trip and someone is ill/injured. Where’s your ID card? When you need it, you need it right now. Pending the urgency of your medical situation. You can also look up wellness services, health topics and monitor your progress with health trackers.

Why is that important? You might want to read about your symptoms so you can be a better team member to the doctors that have never seen you before. This would also have all of your baseline information in it which is to your advantage and to your medical team members that do not know you in an effort to treat you most efficiently.

There is “ask a question” tool so that you can talk to a customer service rep. That customer service rep can locate the nearest medical facility for you, talk you through geting your diagnostic work done as it pertains to your deductibles, co-insurances and maximum out of pockets.

There are many things you can do with this app. Visit this website so you can take a look at this. If this doesn’t happen for you before you leave, you can go to searsinsurance.info and use the search bar to find “go mobile”. That will take you to a page that has the app on it.

Disability Income

March 4, 2019Disability IncomeDebbie Sears

As you set your 2019 goals, and we talk about the insurance segment of your home or your business plan, please do not overlook protecting your income.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebLR6sDbpo8

By doing so, it’s like standing on your own feeding tube. I have seen so many folks that are as disproportionately insured that they may have too much in one area and not enough in the next and in some areas none. This is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

If you depend on your income(s) on a daily basis, and something happens that you cannot perform your duties to the fullest extent or not at all, but you lived through it, you have a problem. And after the fact, there is no fixing it. To maintain your current lifestyle until such time you either get through whatever the problem might have been or modify your lifestyle, your income is essential. Don’t forget if this is the case, you will also be hitting your maximum out of pocket deductibles on your health insurance plan every calendar year on top of your regular household expenses. Disability income is based on several criteria including your income and the cost is less than a can of pop a day. Call me. My consultations and quotes are free.

IRS Announced 2019 Limits for HSAs & HDHPs

February 25, 2019Healthcare updatesDebbie Sears

Be sure that you take advantage of any deductions that you can regarding HSAs (health savings accounts) and HDHPs (high deductible health plan) deductible limits. This article in which the IRS is the source is a quick and easy reference.

Life Insurance

February 18, 2019life insuranceDebbie Sears

In my last blog post, I mentioned taking RMD (required minimum distributions) in excess of what you need for your monthly expenses and dropping that directly into a life insurance plan for your loved ones. What this does is maximize your returns for the benefit of your family. The RMD money is taxable income each year and you’re at the stage in life where your deductions are not as great as they once were.

We have 2 problems: we have excess funds lying in checking accounts and we have taxable events, so a way to replenish the family fund, is in your absence. This would accomplish two things, again, your tax money is recuperated, and your estate grows at a faster rate and a guaranteed rate than you would get in “of the market”. Please call me for a complimentary planning session to see if this makes sense for your family.

Estate Planning Tools

February 11, 2019life insuranceDebbie Sears

As I work with all ages and a wide variety of scenarios, like I’ve mentioned many times, it is easy to “cover all bases” with the necessary insurances” proportionate to the circumstances (age, health, budget, etc.) and accomplish a positive end result for you and your family.

Two tools that I use a lot for estate planning are the tax deferred annuities and life insurance. It’s not uncommon to see a retired person with way more income than is necessary because of the required minimum distributions from IRA money. One way to replenish the family pot rather than allow those funds to sit in a checking account is to fund life insurance. You may not enjoy the cash benefit/reward, but you will certainly smile on the inside knowing that it came back to your family many times over. Please call me for quotes. They are not as expensive as you might suspect.

Can you help?

February 4, 2019UncategorizedDebbie Sears

Last year, an employee of Shade Tree Auto was diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer. As a technician, Adam can fix anything, now he needs our help getting back on his own road to recovery. Join members of the community on February 7th at Pole Position Raceway Des Moines to help raise funds for Adam’s medical bills. Race, cheer, bring the family, and help spread the word by sharing the event. Thanks for helping support Adam!

Put Your Game Face On

January 28, 2019UncategorizedDebbie Sears

For 20 years, Wellmark has been mailing to its Wellmark members’ homes their quarterly publication known as “Blue”.

If for any reason, you have missed this, here’s a link to their Blue magazine as it is full of great information. It’s a quick and easy browse. There is a fun game called, “3-point play” that you may find fun. There are good recipes, making the right choices for pain relievers, workouts, mobile health, and my favorite article is called, “Put your game face on”. Jaime Pollard was so kind to share this article. Be sure to scroll down to what his video.

Individual Under 65 SEP (Special Enrollment Period)

January 21, 2019UncategorizedDebbie Sears

You are no longer able to enroll in the individual and family health insurance market until the next open enrollment period unless you have a life event that qualifies you for a special enrollment period (SEP).

Some of the common qualifying life events that would trigger a need for an SEP could be birth or adoption of a child, addition of foster child or step child, a dependent turning 26, marriage including common law, divorce/dissolution, termination of employment or reduction in hours and return from military service.

If this event has happened to you, you have 60 days from the date of the event to position yourself with new coverage. If you’re aware of this being an upcoming situation for yourself or if you’re currently in this position, please call me as soon as possible so we can explore all your options.