People ask what the multi-colored tree in the logo has to do with the business of selling health and life insurance. My immediate response is “I don’t sell health and life insurance, I help you Protect your Tomorrow.” If you think about it, your life is filled with one tomorrow after another. You dream of what tomorrow might bring and sometimes hope that tomorrow will be better than today. You plan to be there for every tomorrow, but sometimes life has a different plan for us. I help you get the products that make sure you are there for as many tomorrows as possible and there to protect the tomorrow of your family and loved ones when you can’t be there.

The tree has been used to symbolize both life, The Tree of Life, and family, The Family Tree.  Both of these symbols are great examples of the need for health and life insurance products. As for the colors, there is not any particular significance to the colors of the tree, but each portion does represent an area where I can help by “Protecting your Tomorrow.” “Protecting your Tomorrow” means helping you maintain your physical and financial health so you can provide for your family and loved ones.

I firmly believe in all the products I sell and the companies I represent. I only choose companies and products that I believe provide value to the problems of my clients. Problem-solving is the nature of my business. The problem may be immediate like not having health insurance, or it may be protecting against future problems, like securing a home mortgage for your family if you suddenly pass away or making sure you don’t outlive your retirement dollars.

We have all heard the saying, “If you don’t have your health, nothing else matters,” or some variation of it. We all get sick or have an accident from time to time. Health insurance allows us to get the care we need to regain our health so that we can continue with our tomorrows. Health insurance allows your family to get the care they need to keep them healthy. Health insurance should include dental and vision insurance. Keeping your teeth pearly white doesn’t just look good, but more and more research is showing that healthy teeth lead to overall good health and well-being. Eye exams can provide early detection of health issues like hypertension and diabetes. Health insurance is the first step in “Protecting your Tomorrow.” On the tree logo, the dark blue portion represents health insurance.

If you are nearing retirement or already enjoying your retirement, then an annuity may be something you should consider. An annuity protects your retirement savings and provides a reasonable rate of return.  An annuity also provides a guaranteed lifetime income making sure you don’t outlive your retirement dollars. An annuity should be a part of your retirement planning.  Even if you are just starting to save for retirement, an annuity is a great low-risk way to put away for retirement and guarantee a reasonable rate of return.  Annuities are another way I can help “Protecting your Tomorrow.” The orange portion of the tree represents retirement and financial planning.

While we are talking retirement, let’s talk Medicare. When you turn 65, you become eligible for Medicare. It is during these years that having good medical coverage becomes crucial. For most people, medical and prescription costs will take the largest chunks out of their budget. There is a range of products that can help minimize this impact and help you maintain the same or better level of care as you did in your younger years. Taking pills becomes an everyday part of our lives as most of us wind up on one preventative or another. Affordable prescription drug coverage is essential. You worked hard to get to this point, so ensuring medical bills don’t wipe out your retirement dollars is another way I am “Protecting your Tomorrow.” The light blue section of the tree represents this area.

7 in 10 of you reading this post will need long-term care at some point in your life. Without long-term care insurance, the cost of this care can quickly diminish any savings you may have and may cause an undue burden on your family. Buying long-term care insurance when you are younger can save you lots of money later.

If you were in a car accident tomorrow and unable to work for several months, how would you continue to pay your bills? Do you have enough savings?  Would you tap into your hard earned savings or worse, retirement account?  Disability insurance can be structured to handle these types of situations at a reasonable cost.

The last insurance in this group is critical illness insurance for things like cancer, heart attack or stroke. If anyone in your family has ever suffered a heart attack, cancer, or stroke, then you are at risk, and critical illness insurance is something you should consider. Sure your medical insurance will cover most, if not all of the bills, but what about the non-medical expenses. Critical illness payments are paid as cash directly to you. These payments can be used to cover deductibles and copays or travel for you or your family to and from doctors or hospitals. The money is for you to use as you see fit. Long-term care, disability, and critical illness insurance can be key elements in “Protecting your Tomorrow” by covering unexpected costs above and beyond your medical payments. The yellow portion of the tree represents these products.

You may have noticed I haven’t mentioned life insurance products. That’s because life insurance is the foundation of any family financial planning that supports all your hard work to provide and protect your family. All the products to this point assume you will be there to keep providing for your family. Life insurance is what steps in when you can’t be there. There are very few reasons why a final expense policy to cover burial expenses is not a top priority.   If the worst happens, then life insurance steps in to:

• make sure your family can keep their home
• make sure your children can still attend college
• make sure your family doesn’t struggle to provide for your burial
  can be used to supplement your retirement or pass a legacy on to your heirs
  Life insurance dollars pass to your beneficiary tax-free. For business owners, life insurance can be used to protect the key person and can provide valuable cash flow to continue business in case of the loss of a key person. Since life insurance is the foundation of financial planning, the trunk of the tree represents life insurance.

I got a little more winded that I originally intended too, but I hope this post has provided you some insight into my dedication to helping you protect no only your tomorrow, but the tomorrow of your family and loved ones. I also hope this post has given you some insight into products that may help you. Helping people is truly the most fulfilling part of this job. Sometimes people wait until they are about to pull out their hair trying to figure out these things on their own. After talking to them for just a few minutes, I can start to see the relief wash over them when they realize they have come to the right place for help. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “I wish I would have come see you sooner.”