Tracy (00:08):
Welcome to the Feeling is Mutual podcast. I'm your host Tracy Ecker, vice President of Marketing at First Federal Savings Bank. We are a community bank with a mutual charter. If you thought banking was boring, the feeling is mutual. But we're here to take the boring out of banking. In this podcast, we will bring our listeners real life stories and education on financial topics and it's all going to be delivered in a quick, fun, and interesting format

(00:45):
Today. We are so excited. We have another experienced and very long-term employee with us. Many of you may not know, but this month is Long-Term Care Awareness month. So we have with us today Ann Ganze and we are so honored because Ann is a complete expert in her field Ann, welcome!

Ann (01:13):
Thank you for having me. <laugh>. It's a pleasure to be here.

Tracy (01:16):
We're so excited to have you and we can't wait to hear what kind of advice and knowledge you're going to bestow on us today. So just for our listeners, Ann I'm gonna have you introduce yourself.

Ann (01:27):
I'm Anne Ganze. I've been with First Federal since 1983 and I started on Valentine's Day, February 14th.

Tracy (01:36):
Is that why you're wearing pink today?

Ann (01:38):
It is not. It just happened to be the thing poking out at my closet

Tracy (01:41):
<laugh>. It was a calling <laugh>.

Ann (01:42):
It was. But I did start in the insurance agency as a part-time agent in 1987 and became full-time in 1989 and have learned throughout many years the different steps available for customers to grow their wealth, to be able to provide for the future and to discuss long-term care and long-term care has been one of the pivotal products that we have to help people protect things for the future.

Tracy (02:11):
Well, I know you are very, very well-liked with our customers. Oh, thank you. Um, I know they ask for you by name and again, you're so credentialed in this and you're also, is it a certified senior...?

Ann (02:23):
Certified Senior Advisor.

Tracy (02:25):
Okay.

Ann (02:26):
It's a fancy title. Just saying that I've, <laugh> got some background in senior citizens and things that they need and do.

Tracy (02:33):
Well, I think it's more than a fancy title <laugh>. You've earned that title and it is absolutely recognized by your customers and by the banks. So thank you. So we appreciate all you do and you have so much knowledge and we're so grateful and lucky that you're here to be with us today. 'cause I know you are usually jam packed with appointments,

Ann (02:54):
Busy life

Tracy (02:55):
Yes it is. But I can see you're so passionate about it.

Ann (02:58):
I am. That's a very key point in protection for customers. Yes. You know, family members have been through things, so it definitely brings stories to the forefront.

Tracy (03:07):
Right. Well again, thank you so much. So Ann, I know long-term care and long-term care insurance are two separate things. And just to kind of break it down for people to have a better understanding, I thought the best place to start is boil it down. You know, for dummies here, <laugh> for me <laugh>, and let's just break it down by the five Ws and the one H I'm gonna start with what exactly is long-term care?

Ann (03:34):
A lot of us know short-term care. That's what we are doing in our daily lives. As we live, we fall and we break an arm, we break a leg, we know we're gonna recover. It's generally a short-term event. And your major medical can usually cover that type of event. But when you become older or perhaps you've had an accident, maybe somebody's had a stroke, there's a longer term recovery time. And when that event occurs, you're looking at your major medical covering all of that care. It stops at some point. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>, some people think their Medicare supplements will pick up that kind of care. And it's not there for long term. It's there for short term. You know, you have a hip replacement, you have shoulder injuries, you go in for therapy, you get better, you go home. So long-term care is for those events that keep us needing care for a longer period of time

Tracy (04:25):
And a longer period of time. Can be any from,

Ann (04:29):
Could be long time, 15 years, could be five weeks, could be, you know, many years. Mm-hmm. Three years.

Tracy (04:35):
Mm-Hmm. So, you know, there's short-term care and there's long-term care, which I think that's right. You know, boiling it down like that. And you may have addressed this a little bit in your definition prior, but why exactly would I need long-term care?

Ann (04:48):
Well, some people look at their family history and maybe they have a disease in their family that isn't there to necessarily make their life shortened, but it may make their life more difficult. So people with Alzheimer's dementia, they're mainly concerned, you know, is this hereditary? Am I going to get it? So they do look at long-term care as helping achieve a place where they can have care, whether it's in their home, nursing home or an assisted living center. But you're in a position where the circumstances surrounding the type of care you need determine whether or not it's mainly not even hereditary. Maybe it's something that you've caused yourself, whether it's environmental, Parkinson's disease is becoming more and more prevalent. People with strokes, people in their thirties that have had strokes that are in a nursing home. So, you know, it all depends on the circumstances surrounding the actual need for care.

Tracy (05:43):
I'm sure you have a lot of stories and experiences that

Ann (05:46):
I do. It's one of the things that we do talk about when we talk about long-term care. It's the familiarity with what's going on in the world. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, somebody knows somebody that's had some need for care.

Tracy (05:58):
Right? This is one thing we hear all the time. They feel so comfortable talking with you.

Ann (06:02):
Well they think I make it simple for them and I try my best because it is a difficult topic. It's a very strong, you know, emotional topic because people get depressed thinking about needing long-term care. But they have a very good feeling once they purchase a plan that they're protecting what their choice of care is going to be. So it makes a big difference.

Tracy (06:22):
Well I'm sure they feel a sense of being in good hands with you.

Ann (06:25):
Well, I hope so. <laugh>.

Tracy (06:27):
Okay. So I'm gonna move on to a couple of my next W's. Who needs to consider long-term care insurance? <laugh>.

Ann (06:36):
Very good question because long-term care insurance is not for everybody. You know, I have customers that come in and first and foremost, health-wise, you already know they would not qualify. So you have to be healthy. You can't be coming in on a walker or a cane with an oxygen mask. You know, you can't have just fallen out of your bed two weeks before and now you're in a nursing home. There are some steps that you can take to help prepare that person in the event they get out of the nursing home and go home and they're feeling better. I'm not saying it's a definite no, but it's definitely not something at that time. And there's also the fact of your finances. So you have a premium to pay, just like if you had any other bill, it's going to be due. And unless you pay in a single premium in a lump sum, you have to realize that premium is going to have to be a part of your budget. And not everybody can afford to have long-term care insurance, but there are policies that are Cadillac policies and there's policies that are very basic and standard. So a lot of times we can fit that particular cost into a budget depending on the circumstances. So it's individual to every individual person,

Tracy (07:45):
You know, and you raise a lot of good points. And it's just like home owners or auto insurance, you know, with anything you have a premium, it's protecting when it happens. Correct. Not necessarily what's going on right now.

Ann (07:58):
Exactly. Good point.

Tracy (08:00):
So, mm-Hmm <affirmative>, I think that's really important to, you know, maybe we can give up those four lattes that week and exactly. Think about our protection. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> later on when and if something does come up. So,

Ann (08:14):
And there are so many different forms of long-term care insurance. The rider that I mentioned on the 1891 financial policy, that rider says if you have death benefit occurring, you know it's definitely there to pay for a funeral. But if you are in a position where you have a critical illness, a terminal illness, or have activities of daily living that you need help with, that's a prepayment of a rider. So you can have some benefits in that manner. Long-term care insurance as its own right is specifically for long-term care. So you have different policies that might have different benefits, but long-term care insurance could be the Cadillac policy that if you don't need it, it's gonna pay for your beneficiaries in a form of a life insurance benefit. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, if you do need it, it's gonna prepay that death benefit. And then the rider that you can attach is optional, but it can pay you for the rest of your life. Whereas other policies that are there, like your house insurance and your car insurance, if you never need to use it, it's been there for the peace of mind. And that's the kind of policy I have <laugh>, I have a lot of peace of mind knowing

Tracy (09:17):
That <laugh> I bet you're very well with peace of mind. <laugh>.

Ann (09:21):
 I am. My family is too

Tracy (09:24):
<laugh>. I can imagine. When we're all through with this conversation, I am going to circle back to your accolades. My next question is when when should people consider long-term care insurance?

Ann (09:36):
You know, there's always time for education. I want my customers to know that I'm not there for them to come in and expect to buy that day. I think I can count on one hand how many customers had actually done their own homework and then came to me and purchased that day. But it's a learning process for them. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So I'm there to educate. It's fine tuning it so that it can fit their budget, their needs and what they want it to have for benefits. And sometimes it's just not timing for them. They know they wanna look at it, they know they need it. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. But something else is happening. College is there for kids and they wanna wait until college education is processed. Maybe a family is already needing care and they're so devoted to taking care of that family member, but they don't want that to happen to their family taking care of them.

(10:24):
Then it gets the, the ball rolling. They know that they should be doing something. But I have a favorite line that my attorney told me years ago when we talked about estate planning and he always said plan as if you died yesterday. So is this the estate plan you would want to have? Because we don't know when that day's gonna occur. So I use that same line similar to that for long-term care. What if you needed care yesterday? And some of my customers will come and say I have a plan. And I'm like, oh, what company are you with? It's not a company. They have a plan and their plan is this account goes first, this account goes second, this account goes last. My son knows what I'm going to do.

Tracy (11:04):
They have a will <laugh>.

Ann (11:06):
Well and they, they know their finances so they know that they are planning on using that money for that purpose. But there are ways to help maximize the dollars. You can use the income from those assets and purchase a plan and those assets are still, still be there. So I'm a long-winded talker. So <laugh>,

Tracy (11:25):
No, I love it. Keep going on. Keep. I love it. But that is very thought provoking. The what was it? plan?

Ann (11:33):
 Plan is if you died yesterday. Yesterday. So there are people that don't have

Tracy (11:36):
As I'm already getting stressed out like oh wow, after this I need to <laugh>. And that's,

Ann (11:42):
That's

Tracy (11:42):
A to us I heard come and see you. Yeah, definitely very thought provoking and it's obviously something that stuck with you and it makes people think.

Ann (11:50):
Definitely.

Tracy (11:51):
I like that. I might steal that <laugh>. So I guess moving into my last W where do I begin to go looking for this information is seeking this information,

Ann (12:03):
I can answer that easily. How many branches do we have?

Tracy (12:06):
We have 12 branches. <laugh>,

Ann (12:08):
I meet with customers in every branch and I do ask for them to bring me some information so that at least we're not starting from scratch. And sometimes we have a pre underwriting notice that we send to the company so it's not wasting their time because some people come in and they say, I'll never qualify for this. And I've had customers that have been pleasantly surprised that they have been able to qualify and they have plans. So the where is simply where it's convenient for the customer. Okay. Because we have so many locations, it's easy to meet with them in the place where it's easier for them to get to.

Tracy (12:42):
And, and you talked about, you asked some homework of them before they come and meet with you. Anything specific?

Ann (12:48):
Well I do like to know if they have any preexisting conditions and what their diagnosis are because that helps me determine what kind of rating they might be in. Because I don't wanna go in and say here's what your price is gonna be if these are your benefits. Without knowing that, oh by the way, you know I had cancer 15 years ago. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> that may not even be an issue, but if it was two years ago it could be. So we all look at that. Diabetes used to be a a no directly and it's not anymore. So there's a lot of things that have changed over the time.

Tracy (13:20):
 Is that because it's more common and

Ann (13:22):
It's because people are taking better care of themselves. Okay. And the insurance industry as a whole is realizing that if they have a doctor's appointment and they're not going and they're not monitoring their sugar, they're the risk. You know, somebody with a C-P-A-P need but isn't using a C-P-A-P machine, they're a risk. But if they have those things and they're monitoring them and they're being watched by a doctor, then that's not a no.

Tracy (13:45):
Gosh, great information. My goodness. I feel like I just graduated four years.

Ann (13:51):
When should we schedule your appointment? <laugh>

Tracy (13:53):
<laugh>. Well which leads me to my last, how do I set up an appointment with you and how do our listeners get a hold of you?

Ann (14:01):
We have a couple of different avenues. I have a direct line and an extension and for those listeners that wanna call <laugh>, it's +1 800-443-8780 and the extension is two eight three zero. You can call our main office. Rita is at the desk most times and she can schedule appointments 8 1 5 4 3 4 2 6 9 9 or any of our branches. You know, you call up and you say I wanna talk to Ann. They can either transfer you or if they can help you schedule an appointment, they're more than happy to do that.

Tracy (14:34):
Okay. And for those of you who didn't have a pen ready <laugh>, we will repeat all of this valuable information at the end and also have it on our website and um, other ways, ways to get ahold of Ann to make it simple, easy and convenient for you. But Ann, before close, I do wanna take a minute and have you do a little bragging rights. Ann was recently featured in a very national publication. It's 1891 Financial Life. And Ann, I am going to have you take a minute to brag about why you were featured in this publication.

Ann (15:12):
Well every year the insurance company has summits and they get to invite people to come in to talk to us, give us some insight into different parts of our careers, different parts of the industry. And I was invited and found out when I went up that I was also the lead producer for the annuity contracts through 1891 Financial. They're the company that I was telling you has the rider on the end of the life policy. And that rider is not long-term care insurance, but it is the opportunity for you to be able to draw from that death benefit early in the event there's a critical illness in the event that there's a terminal illness. So you're pulling from the death benefit. It can help with long-term care in a lump sum so that you have it to be able to take care of yourself where you wanna be cared for. So there's a lot of opportunity in a rider too.

Tracy (16:01):
Wow. But you did just leave something out.

Ann (16:04):
Oh what was that?

Tracy (16:05):
<laugh>? You were invited to the summit and what I think you might've left out was that you were the top producer and you left it off at that <laugh>. But what's the rest of the sentence, <laugh>?

Ann (16:18):
Um,

Tracy (16:19):
 top producer in the,

Ann (16:21):
in the annuity field.

Tracy (16:22):
In the country.

Ann (16:23):
Oh, in the country. Yes.

Tracy (16:24):
<laugh>. Yeah. For those of you that did not catch that top producer in the country. So again, we are so honored and we are so thrilled that you received this award.

Ann (16:34):
It's a very good company. A lot of good benefits. Well very happy to work with them.

Tracy (16:38):
Well we recognize that and we wanna say thank you and again, I hope all of our listeners felt your passion when talking about this subject and I can see why our customers think so highly of you.

Ann (16:51):
Well I do appreciate them. They're definitely worthwhile coming to work every day. <laugh>, they keep me on my toes <laugh>

Tracy (16:58):
And I'm sure they appreciate you as well. So, and again, thank you so much. Or do you have any other parting comments or thoughts before we close?

Ann (17:08):
I just am truly passionate about long-term care. It touches a lot of lives and a lot of people don't even know that there is an insurance policy that can help cover expenses. So it is something that gives you quality of care, choice of care and where you wanna have your care. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>.

Tracy (17:25):
So, well thank you again. Thank you very much

Ann (17:28):
 You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

Tracy (17:30):
 And thank you to all our listeners for another wonderful episode of The Feeling is Mutual. Look for us on our website or where you listen to your favorite podcast. We will have all of our information up on our website, go down to community and events and you will find all of the listings and recordings of our podcast. And I can guarantee you this is not one you're going to wanna miss. So. Well, thank you very much. Well, we appreciate it and, and again, closing out for the feeling is mutual and we will listen with you next time.