From First Home to Biz TV Spotlight: Real Estate, Growth & Community Impact

0:00 This program is designed to provide general information with regards to the subject matters covered. This information is given with the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial, legal, counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek the services. Of component professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas. Attention to individuals, families and caregivers. It's Medicare Hour and More with Peter right here on k for HD Radio. This is the podcast for all types of insurance solutions while specializing Medicare because we Medicare here's your host, Peter R.

0:49 Joseph. Hey, good morning, good morning, good morning. So glad to have you guys here on our show. This is episode eight and believe we've made it this far. Things are going well. We've had a lot of people watching us. We've had quite a bit of views. Remember we are live on quite a few places. We are on K four HD Radio. You can download that app. You can also watch us live on Facebook, on my personal as well as Joseph Insurance Broker, LLC and our YouTube channel. Medicare Minutes with Peter that is the channel. You can comment on there and we will respond back in live time, so please do. We've had some people in the past do that with us. So if you have any questions, comments of anything about insurance or anything we talk about in our show, feel free to ask away.

1:43 Beautiful morning. I just got back actually from a Medicureans twenty twenty six conference in Las Vegas. We had over six thousand agents, brokers, agencies fmos, which are marketing organizations and insurance carrier. It was nuts. I mean, this is probably the most people we've had at this conference ever. Is one of the largest medicare conferences in the world, and so we did glean a lot of information about the new final rule for CMS for this year for twenty twenty seven, some changes we will talk about in this show. Excited to share those thoughts with you, obviously, you know we're there to learn and apply that information to our clients that we better serve you guys. We're going to do something a little bit different today. After our interviews. I'm going to try to do a PowerPoint with you guys. I know you know we're on a podcast as well, so I'm going to try to explain everything on our slides as well, just so that you guys get a clear picture of that while you're listening and not really seeing the video side of things.

2:52 But I you know, we want to actually show. You what we do with our clients in terms of a Medicare one on one session, how we run through a Medicare one oh one educational piece. We do this at senior centers, assisted living facilities. We also do this through zoom and webinars through our website Joseph Insurance Broker dot com, so you can always sign up for Medicare one on one and we will. Do a presentation for you guys. There's so many confusing parts to Medicare and we want to make sure that everything is clear for you guys. So before we do that though, I've got some couple of exciting pieces here. You know, we do bring on some great guests on our show. Obviously, you know, not all our guests can come on live, and that's okay.

3:37 We're on Pacific time. We've got guests from all over the United States and so we do pre record our interviews with them. Our first guest is with Johnny Alagna. He is actually my personal realtor He is the reason our business has taken off here in Chino and Chino Hills. He helped us buy our first house here about almost four years ago now, and we put our roots down in Chino. Our family's excited, and our business has taken off ever since. He is one of the best realtors I've ever run across. He services here southern California, specifically San Berndino County. So if you ever need a realtor, you need to know answers to your questions about real estate investments, the real estate market. You know, obviously with the Iran War going on right now, house prices are just not looking that great. But he can help you navigate that whole process for you, guys, tell you when is a good time to buy, when is a good time to sell. So let's watch this interview with Johnny Alagna coming up by Johnny, Welcome to our show, medicare aaren wore with Peter. I appreciate you making the time for us today, of course, man, I appreciate you. Yeah, and this is going to hit close to home, becau is actually if you guys don't know, Johnny helped us find our first home here in Gino, and we put down roots and my business has taken off ever since,

5:08 just because you know, I've got relationships now all over the board over here at Gino Gino Hills. So Johnny, thank you so much for that. He of course, man, I'm happy to be here with you too. We couldn't deal with that, h Thank you man, thank you. So hey, what made you decide to go into real estate? What's your background on that? So here's the funniest part. Everybody asked me like, oh, like, what made you get into real estate? Well, I'll be honest with you. My wife told me to That's exactly what happened. And so I was a smart man and I listened to her little background on that whole transition. Though I worked just like you. I know you used to work at Costco at one point. I worked at Costco for sixteen years. You know, it's a great company.

5:50 But I knew that I could strive for more. You know, they pay you enough to keep you there, but not to like excel right, and I wanted to do more than that. You know, at the point in time, we were starting a family, and so yeah, the transition or real estate was just one of those things where my wife was like, hey, like you've always wanted to go into real estate, like you've always been in real estate, like once you do that, and so I was like okay, and so I started going into it. I had no clue like what I was doing. I had no clue about that I was actually starting a business, you know. And I think a lot of people think like, oh, I'm getting in a real estate I get to go show homes and it's like HGTV and blah blah blah. But it's not, you know, you're starting your own business.

6:32 So yeah, that was my transition was basically just my wife kind of putting that thought in my mind, like hey, you know you've always been interested in that topic, go pursue it. And I did. Now, how long have you been a real estate agent? I'm on my eighth year. I'm on my year. Yeah, And you know, I don't like follow the statistics, but they basically say like if you make it past like four years or three years or something like that, like you've you've passed the transition of like the people that kind of get in and get out. I ask that that stage where like most people fail. So I'll be honest with you, dude, I attribute my success to God. That's like one hundred percent.

7:13 It's like I don't even know sometimes, like how I've been so successful. But you know, of course it's hard work, right, you know for sure, for sure I know what you've put in. Yeah, But at the same time, I feel like it's it's you know, I've done my part and God kind of connected the rest and it's just naturally fell into place. Well, so just tell the audience because we've got both our clients and also agents. You know, obviously my agents like to partner up with real estate agents financial partners because obviously, you know, we work with the same kind of community. And so if someone's buying a home for the first time, what kind of things do they need to look for?

7:54 I honestly, you know what's funny is like a lot of people think, oh, the realtor is the first stop, but really it's a lender, right is you need to know you need to know that it fits your budget. And you know, I to go back to kind of like why why I think I've succeeded so well is because I'm the type of guy like when I go into a clothing store or anywhere to go shop. The first thing that I really hate is someone coming up to me like, hey, like, how can I help you? You know, like I don't like the salsy part of this job, Like that's not what I go towards. So with that being said, you know, I think the best first stop is a lender, to be honest with you. And the only reason I say that is because there's never like the right time to buy right. It's only right for your situation. Everybody's got a different situation financially, and the only way to know if it makes sense is to talk to a lender first. I mean, that's the truth. You need to know what your budget is and then work off your budget to see if it makes sense to move forward and go go ahead with a purchase.

8:52 And then what real estate companies do you work for? So I'm with exp Realty, that's the brokerage. I've been with them for about three and a half years now, and you know, as far as the brokerage goes, I mean, I don't know if it's the same for how you guys operate, but I think at the end of the day, like I'm the business, Yeah, you're you're Peter Joseph, like you're the business, like you're the you know, you have that umbrella of a brokerage over you. But but yeah that you know, I am with the XP real team. And then where you living currently and what areas you cover currently? Yeah, so I'm in Canyon Lake. I cover majority of riverside in San Bernardino Counties and actually even parts of San Diego to be honest, but the majority of my business has been like Corona, Riverside, San Bernardino, all those.

9:39 Areas awesome, awesome. And then what advice would you give homeowners that feel overwhelmed, whether they're a first time buyer or they're you know, they're selling their home and buying a second home. You know, obviously the market right now is crazy. I know, interest rates are they're starting to creep down a little bit, right. They they went back. Yeah, like I mean right when we started to see like a reprieve and like rates kind of getting back into an area where like people like, oh, like it's time to go. Of course, you know, the political stuff going on and geopolitical, so yeah, I ran war is kind of thrown a wrench into that. So we're seeing them kind of creep up. But with that being said, like they have gotten better. If you want to get nerdy about it, you can follow the ten year Treasury bond and then that that rate that's trading that there's a spread between that and mortgage rates.

10:34 That spread has actually gotten smaller, So if. You go back like two years, we'd probably be seeing like seven percent interest rates, But because that spread got tighter, we're in the sixes, which is a good thing. So, I mean, things have gotten better. I think it's a short term bad thing that's going on right now, but I think overall it'll get a little bit better. But for those looking for like four percent, like I don't see that happening. Yeah, you know, if you get in the fives, like you're doing a good job. I mean, I know, got in right. I think ours is like five point two percent, which is great. I mean that's crazy and they're. Solid, dude, I know, I know. We don't want it to like refinance and it's just not going to happen. So that's fine, that's fine. Yeah, yeah yeah.

11:14 So is inventory is inventory tight right now or does it seem like there's houses for sale? I mean, what's going on in the market. Right now. So yeah, so like inventory is beginning to creep up a little bit. But like if you're going to compare it to what it was prior to the pandemic, which I think a lot of people go back to, because that was kind of like when there was no wrenches thrown in the bit, right it was kind of just a normal market back then. Then COVID happened and things got crazy. There was no inventory, millions of people buying because rates were low. But I would say, right now, inventory has been creeping up, and at the same time, sales volume is down because the rates are so high, a lot of people are not looking to trade, you know, those two or three per interest rates that they have on their house. When a lot of people rEFInd during that time, it's hard to like be like, yeah, I want to sell now, and then I'm getting a six percent interest rate.

12:10 So connecting the two, I would say, like, yeah, most of the people moving right now are doing it out of necessity or they really want to just because that's a big want. But if it was, like, I don't think there's anything pushing anybody from trying to like do a lot of things unless it's like necessary, right now. Okay, okay. So as as a business owner, you know, obviously we're an entrepreneur. You're an entrepreneur. What's been your biggest struggle over your eight years? I mean, what's been the biggest challenge you've faced. Mindset? I would say it's always mindset, right, you know, prior to getting into real estate, going back to the beginning, I think I thought like I was being I thought it was good to be like realistic, right, But realistic is negative, you know, like you look at a lot of the negative stuff like, oh, well, I'm just being realistic.

13:02 But the reality is like having a positive mindset really does push your ability to move forward because at the end of the day, like you're starting every day fresh, right, Like even you like you're looking for new clients, right as soon as you close a client, Like you're unemployed, you're looking for the next person to help out and move forward. So as a business owner and especially as real estate like I'm waking up every day unemployed looking for business, and you go into that mindset of being negative, like that's going to really haunt you, right, and it's going to stop you from being the best person that you can be. When you're on the phone or talking to people. So I would say mindset is probably the biggest thing for sure.

13:43 Okay, awesome, awesome. Do you want to do you mind sharing your story that you had on Facebook? Because I yeah, I love that. Yeah yeah yeah. So so my uh, I guess it would be like my second year in real estate. I got presented with the opportunity from my broker at the time. They had went to this this university called Rapport International and they're out of Vegas, and I had no clue what it was. I honestly thought it was like business development. You know, They're like, oh, yeah, you got to go. It's going to change your business like mindset, Like it's going to be awesome. You learn how to talk to people, have like, you know, just personal skills, and so I was like, okay, cool. So I signed up for it, and there was a cost to it, but my Brokera's was like nice enough to front the cost to it, and then as I made sales, I paid them back.

14:33 So I went there and I you know, like I said in the beginning, it started out as me thinking this is all business, but as I quickly found out, it was one hundred percent about personal development and my family. Right, Like people ask you like, what's your why? When I went there, my why was like, oh, I just want to build a business. Like I didn't know what my why was. But after going through these sessions, I realize, like, man, it's it's being present with my family, being present for the people that I'm interacting with on a daily basis, and also being able to just step outside of my comfort zone because I mean as a business owner, like that's what you're doing on a daily basis.

15:15 Right. And when we went. There, like the first opening like introduction to this was basically like people coming out like they were drill sergeants, Like they're yelling at us, and I'm like, dude, what did I sign up for? You know? And the first thing they had us do was this public speaking thing, and we had no preparation. We just had to like figure it out. But the thing that I posted on Facebook was probably the second day in they wanted us to do what was called like a breakthrough session, and they wanted us to write down like what are what we wanted to break through as we were going through this weekend, And for me, it was fear of rejection because I had this, you know, back to the mindset thing. I'm thinking, like you know what, like I'm I'm going to be talking to new people all the time. And I really did fear rejection. I feared not being able to connect with people, not being able to do the things that were necessary for my business to grow. And so they actually had us right Like that was where I wrote on their fear of rejection.

16:16 And on the backside of it, I had things like being able to connect with clients, to have more closings, to provide for my family. And so by breaking through this block and like we literally did karate chop of block. Wow. And so that was like the real thing and we broke through that. And on the other side was being able to find those things that we wanted that was like blocking us, this rejection blocking me from being able to reach that goal of providing for my family. So yeah, that was like one of the things. And so yeah, I kind of the funny thing that was cleaning out the garage, and of course I came across that. I was like, man, and it. Brought back all the memories of going through that weekend and how I went there with one idea of what the this weekend would be and came out on the other side like just a new person, you know. And the cool thing is, like I have the opportunity to send my kids there because they do have it for kids.

17:10 Oh wow, I'm sending my kids there one hundred percent, like I want them to experience what I did. And for anybody that's out there that like might be having this situation where they're afraid to step out of their comfort zone, like I would highly recommend going to this. It's like a three day retreat. And I mean honestly, even for you man, like if you ever had an idea of doing it, Like. It was life changing for me. It really was. And my wife noticed it, like when I came home, She's like, yeah, like you are different. Wow wow. So yeah, it's it was a really good life. Where does it take place. It's up in Vegas. It's up in Vegas. So you know, we drove into Vegas for this.

17:53 You could fly in obviously, but they it's it's kind of crazy because you go to their main office which is in Vegas. But then they put you on a bus and they basically like you step into this circle and they tell you when you leave the circle. You're stepping out of your comfort zone and you're going onto this bus and they bust you off to this location that they don't really disclose. Oh wow, so it's like you're literally going to a boot camp. But it was beautiful. It was on a beautiful ground, like total private, little ranch area. It was really awesome. Man, it was very cool. Yeah, that's very cool. Well, hey, what what sets you apart from other real estate agents because obviously there's so many out there, you know, just like myself, there's so many betacare brokers.

18:34 So what sets you. Part I would say it's it's honestly my personality, dude, Like, okay, I just you know what, I connect with people that I jive with, and you know, not everybody's going to be a customer to me. I'll be honest with you, Like, I like to connect with people that are like minded. I guess that's a good thing about running your own business. You can choose who you work with, and same thing with a consumer, right, they get to choose who they work with when they go to do you know, one of the largest transactions of their life. Right. So for me, I've always based everything on data and just doing what's right for them, Like I'm never going to push somebody to buy a house just because I want to make money, Like that's not why I'm in this business. Like, yes, I'm in this business to make money for my family, but that's not what is driving me to close the deal. What's driving me to close the deal is making sure that you know, when we finished the transaction, I'm still going to be friends with these people, you know, like I want to keep that connection.

19:33 Like the deal closed and it's like, okay, see you like I made my money. I'm out right, that's not how I operate. I want people to be happy after we've done the deal, so that you know, cause honestly, a majority of my business is from referrals. It's from past clients. And I'm sure it might be the same thing for you too. You know, you do a really. Good job presenting someone with medicare and how it fits their needs. And then they're going to say, hey, like Peter did a great job for me, like you got to talk to him. I operate my business on the same same front. Awesome, awesome, Well that's very cool, I know working with you, like you're so patient, I mean, I don't know how many homes we looked at and you never was You're you're never pushy. Johnny's like probably the friendliest person you could never work with. He really strives to want to know what, you know, the person wants in a home.

20:23 And so I appreciated that because I know I've worked with other real estate agents who've been really pushy and they're like, well, this is this is all that there is and there's no there's no other options, right, So I appreciate everything you've done for us. I really do. Yeah, I love that you say that. It's it's funny because you're not you know, you're not the first. I just literally I got a review yesterday and that's exactly what they said. They're like, he was so patient. Yeah, he's so patient. I've had other people honestly like they I worked with them and then we took a pause, and then for whatever reason, they went out and like found another agent, right, and they went with them, and then they were like, damn, we made a mistake. And they came back to me and they straight up told me, They're like, dude, we had to block their number because the lady was just like pestering us like to get a sell to buy and I'm like no, Like I was like, yeah, that's why I don't do that, Like you have to do this on your own accord. It has to make sense.

21:18 Like that's that's the whole point of all of this is just you know, moving forward and making sense. For sure, for sure. So how do people find you, Johnny? Like, do you have a website? Do you have a newsletter? Yep, I have a website. It's John Olanya dot com. Actually, if you just do a search for John Alanya Realtor, I come up very easily. I'm on Google, I'm on Instagram. All of my handles are basically Johnny Cells SoCal for Facebook, Instagram. Maybe on TikTok. I don't know. I don't really do TikTok as much, but I'm yeah I don't either. I don't know. Yeah, that one I think is still like ahead of like I'm aging myself, like I'm in my forties, Like TikTok is just something I haven't like gravitated towards yet for sure. But anyways, yeah, John Alanya dot And if you simply search my name I am on there, you'll find me.

22:04 Awesome, awesome, all right, So we're going to end this segment with kind of a rapid fire, kind of a fun segment to get to know you. So there's no right or wrong answer. You just tell me what you know what your answer is, and we'll go from there. So the biggest deal breaker you see when showing homes. Biggest deal breaker, Uh, probably high property taxes. Okay, yeah there high property taxes. I knows is one of those. Yeah yeah, that. And like a super high solar Like actually, I'll tell you straight up, like yesterday we went. I went to show homes yesterday and one of them we canceled on before showing it was like five hundred dollars payment for solar, Like, yeah, that doesn't make. It, Hue, that could be one of them. Yeah yeah, yeah, all right. Dream home feature you wish every house had.

22:50 Oh, dream home feature. I would say it's between two. A view and pool. But I'm going to tell you from personal experience, this is one that no one looks for. Storage. Oh storage, Yeah, that's actually a really good one. Yeah that's gonna be. That's gonna be the one. Like I think the first two I said are very obvious. I would say that not obvious one is storage. I'm gonna see I like that. I like that. Yeah, all right. So what's the first thing you noticed when you walk into a home? The kitchen? Okay, I would say the kitchen to openness. Yeah, openness in kitchen. That's what sold us to our house. I mean, yeah, yeah, you're beautiful. Yeah, I think kitchens do sell homes. I'll be honest to.

23:31 God, do all right, one habit that's helped you succeed in real estate. Honestly, Okay, I like that. I like that. Now, if you weren't a realtor, what would you be doing? I would be working on cars, Yes, cars all day long. Yep. I love I love fabricating. I do weld. I don't know if a lot of people know that, but I used to race off roads. So like welding, working on cars, that's honestly like one of my passions for sure. That's very cool, all right. And then the best advice you would give every client. To stay within your means, To stay within your means. Yeah that I think that's the biggest one. And that goes back to, like I said, data, running numbers, making sure it makes sense.

24:17 All right. So Johnny closing question. If someone's listening today thinking about buying or selling the helm, what's the first step they should take. I think you already said it, but. Well I'm gonna I'm gonna deviate and just say just call it to do. There you go. I got, you know what, I got trusted lenders that I can send people to. I'll give them options, they can choose who they jive with better. And but yeah, I mean eventually, yeah, it's going to be landing with a lender to see where the numbers lie and then we move forward from there. Awesome, awesome, Well, during our interview process when this airs, we're going to have your information scrolling on the bottom, so we'll have your website, your name, your phone number, the best contact information for you so people can read out to you and follow you. We do reach out our audiences southern California, so hopefully we can get you some business that Hey, here at Joseph Insurance Broker, we really tend to want to support our local professionals, especially once we've worked with in the past. We trust you inherently, Johnny, and so that's why we wanted you on our show, and we appreciate your time today.

25:20 Man. Thanks man, I appreciate you taking the time to do this. Yeah, no problem, no problem. Well, thank you for coming on our Medicare hour more with Peter. You have a great afternoon and we'll see you next time. Take care, take care. Bye. Awesome. So I hope you guys enjoyed that interview. We did that last week with Johnny. Again, you can find his information just going to his website John Alanya A L A g n A dot com. He's your guy if you are really serious about looking for a house right now, or you're just looking to sell your house and upgrading or downgrading, he's your guy. He's very Like I said, we want to bring professionals on here that we've actually done work with and we inherently trust.

26:08 That's the most important thing. That's why we bring on these local businesses. It's not just all about learning about medicare and insurance products, but it's also learning about resources out there that we all need and use on a daily basis. And you know, Johnny helped us find our first home. We are ecstatic and happy ever since that transaction happened. So again, reach out to him if he need some help with the real estate department. All right, so we are going to kind of transition here again, just want to recap what we've shared over the last few weeks. Obviously, we've talked about enrollment periods with Medicare, how to actually sign up for Medicare Part A and B with Social Security. We've also talked about Part C, the Medicare Advantage Plan and what that entails and what it encompasses. We are going to, you know, start sharing a little bit more about what Medicare supplements are and the differences between the supplement and the advantage side coming up. And then you know, obviously you know, we are here as an educational piece for all of you. We want to make sure that you understand the ins and outs of Medicare and it's not confusing for you all. So you know, we our audience is made up of clients, prospects, families under sixty five because we do all things insurance, so it's not just Medicare.

27:38 We have our seniors as a community. We also have agents who are looking for a new home, and so that's part of our audience as well. So we welcome all of you guys, and you can always reach out to me if you have any questions, all right, So the next thing is we're going to show a clip of our insurance brokerage was interviewed by a platform called biz TV Los Angeles. This is when we first started out as a business. They wanted to see why we were so successful and what set us apart, and so we actually showed some clips here and there in the past few weeks, but this is the whole ten minute interview, so please enjoy.

28:34 Here on a land. We're always pleased when we're able to bring guests into studio who they're chosen profession regards to something. That we're all going to need someday. And let me tell you, every day that I live one day longer, I get one day closer to realizing just how important this is. We're talking Medicare today here on all In with Brian Weatherford with a professional Medicare insurance broker. The name of the company is Joseph Insurance and we have Peter R. Joseph himself our guest on all End with Brian Wetherford. Peter, how are you, sir? Very nice to see you. Good. How are you doing. I'm doing great, Thank you. I'm really looking forward to this and like I said, it's the type of thing that we're all going to be involved with someday, Good Lord willing. And every day that I wake up, I'm one day closer to needing to call you. So I might be surprised to know that I don't need to wait until I'm old enough to call you. But we'll get into that here in just a second. First of all, I know you're in the medicure game, and you obviously have experience in insurance.

29:28 But let's back it up a little bit, because not all. Of your experiences in the insurance world, what else have you been doing here in your professional life. Well, honestly, I was in the nonprofit industry for about twenty two years, and so that was my life, my career, and because of certain church politics, unfortunately, our family took a step back and decided to go into the field of insurance. It actually is pretty similar to the nonprofit sector. Believe it or not. We are helping people. We want to make sure they're getting their needs met. And I felt like it fit my skill set, and so I went into the life insurance business and then decided to specialize in medicare this last year.

30:17 Well, it sounds to me just in that brief description, you're one of these guys that's always had a servant's heart, if you will, and taking care of people. And we certainly admire guys and galas like you who had those abilities because we certainly all need them. But what I'm curious about it, I totally get it. You moved from Visions, wanted to try something to got into life assurance life insurance, and decided to start your own business. How did you switch to Medicare when you decided to get into business for yourself. Well, I realized that there's a lot of our seniors out there who just stilln't understand the Medicare process and it can get kind of confusing, and so I just felt like I could play a role in that in their lives, to educate them, to help them process and navigate that journey, and to decipher what each term means and how to actually start that process. I want to make sure our seniors are insured to the max and that they're not being taken advantage of. And because of my servant's part, that's why I got into this business.

31:21 Well, you brought up the term not being taken advantage of again, very admirable. Appreciate that of you because frankly, obviously not you, But there are people, sadly within your industry who aren't let's just say, as dependable and trustworthy as others. Exactly why is that so important to make sure that when you're working with someone that you do get someone who is trustworthy and dependable to tell us some of the horror stories. If they're not. Well, you definitely want an agent who is knowledgeable in medicare to be in your corner. There have been situations I've heard of from colleagues to they just try to sell plan so that they can get their commission and then they basically don't contact them ever again after that point.

32:08 And with my clients, they are my clients for life. I care mentally about them. I'm always checking in with them, making sure they're doing okay and they're happy with what they've got and if not, then we can switch them over. But there are four stories of people pretending to be medicare agents getting seniors information and then unfortunately seniors are paying out money that they shouldn't be paying out. So I definitely want to protect them from that. Well, good for you, we need someone like you in a variety of businesses. We can talk off the year. Okay, the next thing. The next thing I wanted to ask you is that I was talking about on intro for your segment today, is the fact that Medicare doesn't kick INNDLE sixty five.

32:52 But I probably don't want to wait until I'm sixty. Five to learn about it. Let me know when people should contact you. Just start talking, to start preparing, to make sure they're doing everything properly. Well, Brian, I've got some prospects that are sixty three years old and they're working with me now, and so it's important to navigate. There's so much out there, is so much information, and you don't want to wait till last minute. With Medicare, you do have to contact Social Security Office ninety days prior to your birthdate when you turn sixty five. And I recommend my clients to get on the page when they're sixty three, honestly, so that they can understand what's out there. They can start comparing plans and get ready for whatever is coming next, whether it's the retirement age or there are some of my clients who are still working and are eligible for Medicare, and they don't realize that they can save money by switching over to medicare and still working. So that's an important concept for people to realize.

33:57 Well, it's a very important content. And you're exactly right. I know plenty of people older than sixty five that I certainly hope they were smart enough to get a hold obviously of you or someone like you to make sure that they're getting the benefits that they're absolutely entitled to and been working for their entire life. That's a good thing to know, you know. I hear the term Medicare supplements from time to time. Is that something you're into as well or not? Yes, So there are options for people with larger budgets if they really want to be covered from head to toe and they want to make sure that they've got the coverage they need, and I do offer supplements. It's important for those people who travel a lot to have supplements because that's coverage for doctors outside of network. And so if you have a supplement and you travel a lot, then you're definitely covered.

34:51 Yeah, absolutely. I mean you don't want to think you're covered and then go on the road and goodness, crisis something happens, then all of a sudden, it could be way more ensus than you ever envisioned. So good for you. Good for you to get the word out to people on that you know, you're just a good guys we talked about before you got into this business, and the fact that even while you're in this business, not just from a professional standpoint, but from a personal standpoint, you're very active within the community a basketball coach, among other things. If I read the notes properly, why is this so important for you personally and maybe professionally to get involved within the community. I want to be considered a trusted individual in the small business realm, and so I think it's important to get back to the community. I've got two little kids of my own, a five year old and a ten year old, and so I think it's important for them to see a father figure out there coaching and sports secervities that they're involved with, and so I get back.

35:51 You know, obviously I don't get paid for those positions, but I love just spending time and building trust and relationships within our community, and so that's why I do what I do. I coach soccer, I coach basketball. We do community cleanups when we see those in our community. It's important for a family to give back. Well, it's important for everybody to get back, quite frankly, Peter, but a lot of people don't. So I hope, hope people watching this today realize. You know what I always like to tell people, is this going back to your nonprofit world. You know there's way better than I do. All nonprofits need to raise money, of course, of course they do, but you know what, they also need time. They need people to volunteer their time to go in and if it's just to blow a whistle at a kid's basketball.

36:37 Game or something, I mean everything helps. Everything adds up, and I applaud you for your community efforts helping people out as well. Curious, we know that you're a Medicare broker. Do you work with other types of insurance as well or not? I do. I actually just got contracted with Covered California. I do run into individuals who have spouses that aren't sixty five yet, and I want to give them an option to fill the gap and sol they turn sixty five and then are eligible for Medicare. So I do help with healthcare needs and I do a life insurance on the site. But honestly, Brian, I'd say ninety percent of my business's medicare. Well, you know, I like a guy who realizes the importance of let's just say, put all your eggs in one basket and watch that basket, because the Lord knows something is confused in a medicare. Every day you wake up, you might learn something new about medicare, and you're certainly going to know more than the people looking to get into medicare. But to give with a professional like you who dedicates everything to medicare and all the ins and outs and nuances that that is that is so important for people, and the fact that you are trustworthy, independentble is just icing on the cake because it's such.

37:48 A complicated thing. But as I mentioned before, medicare is the type of deal that we all need to be aware of and we can't do it on our own. We need people like you to assist us. Hey, man, I appreciate it. It's a good time today. Sharing your story. I like the backstory. I like what you're doing now, and I'm just guessing you'll continue to tell people for some time because Yeah, that's servant ark we've talked about. Thanks Peter, appreciating. You take care of Sey here bye boy. Ooh that takes me back. That was quite a bit of time ago. Of course, my kids are older now, my daughter is fifteen and my son is eleven, so but that was when I was first started out. Again, you know, I don't look the same obviously, I've lost one hundred and forty pounds since then, and so I just wanted to kind of reiterate what our insurance brokerage is all about.

38:43 You know, at the time said we do ninety percent Medicare. It's actually gone down. We do all things insurance. Now, I would say about sixty percent of my businesses on Medicare. But we do life insurance, small business group benefits, liability, business insurance, travel insurance, earthquake co owners, auto insurance. We do it all. So we want to be a one stop shop for all our clients. Obviously Medicare is our specialty, but just want to make. You aware of that. But again, we are not a transactional business. We love to build that relationship with our clients and continue to have that conversation with our clients year and the year out, so it's not a one and done deal. So just keep that in mind as you're working with us. Obviously, you can find all our information on josephinsurancebroker dot com.

39:35 Before we continue, I do want to mention some of our sponsors. You know, I sometimes forget, but these are the sponsors that give us the reason of why we're here today everything. Senior Insurance is one of them. They are a marketing organization out in Utah. Lead Heroes is another organization. We are also sponsored by I Shop. It's a mystery shop company. If you're ever interested in that, just go back to one of our episodes where we interviewed Mercedes and find out more information on that. And we also are sponsored by Gray's Craze, a shiputery catering company out here in Ontario and Corona, so definitely look up that information as well. We did interview the owners a couple of weeks ago as well. All right, so I'm going to try to share here. Let's see this in the first time I'm doing this, So let's see if I can do this right?

40:35 All right? No, no, no, no, no, no. Okay, perfect, Okay. So the file I'm going to share, it's a PowerPoint of our medicare one. Oh one if I can find it here. We'll find it here real quick, all right. Give me one second. Definitely want to get the right file here. I've got quite a few power points. So here we go. All right, So we do this Medicare one on one with assisted living facilities as well as senior centers. Okay, there it is all right. I just want to make sure I have the right one. Okay, so this will be a lot faster next time because I'll know what I'm doing here. All right, perfect, here we go. All right, it's just processing the file again.

41:58 This will show you the difference is that we show between Medicare and Medicare supplements and Medicare advantage and how to sign up. It will also talk about. The the rates that everyone pays every month. For this year, it is two hundred and two dollars a month for most folks. There is a chart that shows us if you're making a certain amount of money, then it actually is more. All right, So here we go. Awesome, Okay, so I know we only have about six minutes, so we're not going to go through this whole slide today.

42:41 We'll finish it off the next show. But just a little bit of information. So you know, we share this, like I said, with different clients on our webinars, talks about my business and who I am and. What I've done. And so we're going to quickly go over what Medicare is first of all. So Medicare is a federal health insurance program. It's run by CMS, which is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid part of the US Department of Health and Human Services. Obviously, when you do sign up for Medicare and you're not collecting Social Security, you're going to get a bill from CMS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

43:28 You get billed three months at a time, and that is for your Medicare Part B. And we all pay into Medicare. So if you look at your paycheck, if you're a W two, even if you're self employed, money goes to both Social Security and Medicare. Medicare is not free. That is a myth that people I come across all the time think Medicare is free. It is not. We actually do pay a little bit, not much, but we do have to pay some when we do become eligible for Medicare. So important terms for you guys to know is premium is the price you pay, typically on a monthly basis. Deductible's amount you pay prior to plan coverage.

44:12 The copay is a fixed amount you pay at the time of service, and co insurances amount you pay for a service, typically expressed in the percentage. So most HMO Medicare advantage plans out here, though premium is going to be zero dollars all most of those plans deductible. There is not really a typical deductible. It's actually called maximum out of pocket expense. And then out here in California, it's so competitive that the maximum out of pocket expense is usually about two hundred to eight hundred dollars at the most that you'll pay. So original Medicare covers many, but not all, healthcare related services, and we've talked about this on the show over and over again. You know, long term care is not covered by Medicare, and so you want to make sure that when you're around age fifty that you talk with a specialist like myself to get onto a long term care policy because the older you get, the more expensive it's going to be, and you want to make sure you're covered. You don't want to be a burden on your family members, and you want to make sure you're covered for in home support or or if.

45:13 You're an assisted living facility. Those policies are not that expensive when you're younger, but they do get pretty pricey when you get older. So Part A hospital insurance that covers your inpatient hospital stays, your skilled nursing facility care, your hospice care. Yes, Medicare does cover hospice and home healthcare. And again for most people, there is no premium. For those who don't qualify for no premiums, you may be able to actually buy into Medicare. For those who are residents aliens here in the US, or haven't actually worked enough hours or years in the United States, you would actually buy into Medicare. And that is for A and B. It is pretty expensive, but we can talk about that. But remember you have to work ten years here in the United States to qualify for Part A and Part B. And then Part B covers your doctor visits, outpatient care, home healthcare, durable medical equipment, and some preventive services such as certain vaccines and cancer screenings.

46:21 What's the cost, Well, the cost is based on income, and we'll look at that chart. So the standard Part B premium for last year was one eighty five. Again this year it's actually two two, so that has been updated, and that premium does tend to go up every year, so just keep that in mind as well. So as you can see, it went up seventeen dollars from last year, and that year's your Part B premium. And then qualifications for Medicare Part A and B determined by the federal government. You have to be. Obviously sixty five or older. If you're under sixty five, you have to have certain disabilities. So if you're full disabled for two years, you actually qualify for Medicare. Have end stage renal disease or have als in the first month of diagnosis. Plus you have to be a citizen of the US or a legal resident for at least five five consecutive years, so keep that in mind. Otherwise you have to buy into Part A and Part B.

47:22 All right, So we got a couple of minutes left here. I'm going to just probably pause in just a second and then we'll continue to slideshow next time we meet. But as you can see here, to apply for Medicare, you go to your local Social Security offices. That's what we've talked about before. You can actually create an account on SSA dot gov, which is what I would recommend if you're tech savvy, do not call Social Security that you're going to be on hours upon hours of wait time. So I would say go with option one or option two to be safe, all right. And then our last slide that we're going to talk about is initial enrollment period.

48:09 So this is the. Seven month window that allows you to apply for and enroll in Medicare. Three months prior to your sixty fifth month of your sixty fifth and three months following your sixty fifth birthday. That is your initial enrollment period. Now we'll talk about what happens if you're working and are getting insurance through your employer. Obviously that's a different situation, but this is if you are going to be turning sixty five and you want to get onto Medicare right when you turn sixty five. All right, So I'm going to stop there with our slide show, and what we're going to do is actually finish up this slide show this next week. I hope you enjoyed our interview clips with both Johnny as well as bis TV with Brian Redford.

48:59 I appreciate you guys making the time to watch our show every week. And I want to just do one little shout out. I'm a big Lakers fan. They've got a big game on Wednesday. Hopefully they close out that series with Houston. So all my Laker fans out there, let's hope and pray that they win Wednesday night and go on to the next round. All right, you guys, well, thank you so much. Josepha Churchbroker cares about individual businesses here locally, and we bring them on our show for that reason. We care about you immensely. And remember we are not transactional. We build relationships because we Medicare.

49:41 Thanks for listening. Tune into Medicare Hour and More with Peter every Tuesday at nine am Pacific time right here on KFOHD Radio at afourhd dot com for more real. Life stories from experts. Medicare about you and protecting your health, your finances, and your future. See you next week.