CASTELL INSURANCE NEWSLETTER
A local agency providing GREAT local service!
March 2014

Phil 
Castell

Sharon
Castell

Joh
n
Coulson

James
Castell

Christy
Francis
ChristyFrancis

Julie
Speelman
Julie Speelman 

Stephany
Shackelford
In This Issue
Featured Article
Show Us Your Green!
Monthly Drawing
Finance
Health & Medicare
Home & Auto
ACA Deadlines

Quick Links
 
 
 
Phone:
 360-683-9284

Email:
SHRED EVENT!!!

Don't miss our 
Annual  
Customer Appreciation Shred Event on
 
Saturday, March 15th  
10am - 12pm

Identity theft is a thriving criminal business right now and shredding is a great way to safely and securely dispose of documents containing sensitive information.  Please come early because once the truck is full, the event  
is over!
 
to go to the website of
LeMay Mobile Shredding  view a shredding video. 
SHOW US YOUR GREEN!!!
 


Come by on Monday, March 17th wearing green and receive a FREE Castell Insurance reusable grocery bag!
 
Monthly Drawing!
This month's drawing features John Coulson's juggling skills with a coffee mug and gift certificate for
The Cracked Bean Coffee Company!

Congratulations to our winner,
Karen Noble!!!

 

to watch the drawing on our Facebook page!
Boris Is Loved!

Boris' best girl, Marilyn, comes to share some love and of course, a biscuit with her favorite boy!
Quote of the Month
winter-gift-holding.jpg

Generosity is not  

giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me  

that which you need more than I do.  

 

~Khalil Gibran   

In Closing...

As always, we hope our newsletter provides you with information, entertainment and maybe even a bit of wisdom.  Happy Spring and remember, the coffee is always on!

March ushers in the first day of Spring and the return of flora and fauna!  It also brings that much needed breath of fresh spring air that makes us crave a little spring cleaning.  If you have documents to shred, don't miss our Customer Appreciation Shred Event on Saturday, March 15th from 10am - 12pm.

March also holds many important deadlines for enrollment in the government mandated health insurance.  Be sure to find these dates in our newsletter!
Finance
Phil

5 years is a long time...Right?

I am 53 years old and even for me at my tender age, 5 years seem to pass in a flash.  


For example it is coming up on 4 years since we moved from the lovely little home office on Spruce St to our current location on Washington St. What a tremendous decision that has proved to be!


But back to my ramblings about time and 5 year periods, there is a point and I shall get to is shortly.  When I first started offering annuities to clients the interest rates were around 8% or so, and those contracts even had a guaranteed minimum of 4%.  I still have clients who enjoy that 4% guaranteed rate and I recently saw a client whose policy provided over 14% interest for the first year.  Heady interest rates when compared with the rates of today.

  

Interest rates on CD's are at or very close to historical lows.

I see people everyday who have had CD's and when they mature they have just been rolling them over year after year without even comparing the rates at other local banks. Generally these CD's are for terms of between 9 to 18 months.  

 

When I question folks about why they do not purchase longer length CD's, one of the most common reasons I hear is that they don't want to be locked into a long term account in case interest rates climb.

 

Folks, let me tell you if interest rates suddenly increase that greatly, you can always pay a small penalty and get those funds from the CD.

 

But now to the point of this article.

 

At Castell Insurance we offer CD style fixed annuities where even today we can offer you a 3% interest rate on a 5 year deposit.  A fixed annuity is a contract with an insurance company where they state both what the interest is that you will earn and also the length of time they will guarantee that rate.  

 

Yes, 5 years sounds like a long time, but look at your situation if you have been rolling CD's over and over and over these past years.

 

At the end of the 5 year period you can take all your money and interest elsewhere if you choose without any problems.  However, if you rely upon the interest you can have the interest paid to you whenever you choose, even monthly.

 

So, if you have a CD maturing in the next few months and are disappointed at the interest rate offered by your bank upon renewal, please feel free to contact me and let's sit down and have a chat.


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Health & Medicare

The "family glitch".  This is not having the crazy uncle no one wants to claim and no one knows where he came from; or the sibling that is 16 years younger than the rest of the kids.  This glitch is when health insurance is provided to spouses of employees who have employer coverage.  It has become a financial burden for families looking for coverage through the health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.

 

The "family glitch" basically says that if your employer offers you insurance at a cost of less than 9.5% of your income, and they also offer it to your spouse REGARDLESS of cost to your spouse and dependents, then the spouse/dependents are not eligible to go onto the exchange and receive subsidies for the premiums.

 

What can you do about this?  If you are one of the people that are affected, you can contact your employer during the annual election period for your group program and alert them to the situation.   

 

Many employers are not aware of this problem and if you alert them, they may be willing to drop the offering of spousal benefits.  This was done by UPS many months ago so there is a precedent.  It has also been implemented by other companies that are trying to control costs for their health insurance and allow employees' spouses to get premium subsidies.

 

It may sound draconian to drop the spousal benefit option, but the new plans are guarantee issue and there is no waiting periods for pre-existing conditions.  Having the ability to buy health insurance on the individual market and get premium subsidies to help pay for that insurance can actually be a benefit to the employee as well as a cost savings for the employer.

 

I hate to say that our hands are tied, but in this situation we cannot do anything.  Unfortunately your choices are limited.   

  1. You can go without insurance and risk a penalty.  Although if the cost of insurance either in the group plan or the bronze program that is available in your area is greater than 9.5% of the family income, you will not get the penalty.  
  2. You can pay the higher premium and buy it on or off the exchange
  3. You can pay the highest premium and buy the group insurance.

I am not aware of any legislation to change this particular glitch in the system so it will be up to the employers and employees to create change in the marketplace. In the meantime if you have any questions please feel free to call us at Castell Insurance, and tell your friends about us too!  

 
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Home & Auto

The Super Bowl has come and gone and Vegas is feeling good!  The Nevada Gaming Control Board announced that sport books won nearly $19.7 million in wagers on the big game.  A record $119.4 million was legally wagered in Nevada's sports books.  Think about the amount of side betting in your neighborhood that was occurring on top of those numbers!  Yikes!  

 

It's obvious that as a culture, we like to gamble.  That must be why so many of us are gambling with our homes.

Just about everyone you know carries homeowners insurance.  It's mandated by banks if you have a loan.  If you have worked diligently enough to own your home without a loan, you still understand the importance of protecting your asset.  That's why I was shocked today when researching Earthquake Insurance statistics for this article.   

 

KOMO News recently reported nearly 88% of Washington homeowners are without Earthquake coverage.  Considering our proximity to some of the major fault lines and the probability of our region experiencing a severe earthquake, that seems like a staggering number of uninsured homeowners.  We work with several companies that will insure your home with added earthquake coverage. We also have a specialty carrier that will write you a stand-alone earthquake policy with lower deductibles than most standard carriers.

 

Needless to say, there is a lot to talk about when it comes to protecting what is likely your most valuable asset.  So whether you're the riverboat gambler or captain conservative, ask yourself how you would hope to be protected in case we have the "Big One" hit our lovely part of the country any time soon. 

 

Email questions and comments to:
Affordable Care Act

The End of Open Enrollment for ACA

 

The end of open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is closing in. The last day for open enrollment is March 31st.  This first open enrollment period has been a crazy wild adventure for us all. Phil, John, James and I have spent countless hours learning the ins and outs of the website, www.wahealthplanfinder.org  

 

Washington State saved us numerous headaches by creating their own website and I have said thank you for that every night as I watched the national news.

 

If you have allowed us to help you sign up, thank you.  If you haven't signed up for a plan yet or are stuck due to an error with the Washington Health Plan Finder, we still have time to help you.  If you know of someone who could benefit from our help, please let them know assistance is available and complimentary.

 

Once open enrollment ends, new policies will not be available until January 1, 2015, unless you qualify for a special enrollment period.   If you miss the open enrollment period (Deadline March 31st), you will have a penalty applied to your 2014 taxes when you file them in 2015.  The penalty is 1% of your adjusted gross income or $95.00, whichever is greater for 2014.  The penalty increases every year after 2014.

 

So until next month a few dates to remember:

-March 23rd:

Last day to sign up for coverage beginning April 1st

-March 31st:

End of Open Enrollment for 2014

-October 15  - December 7th:

Open Enrollment for 2015 *proposed dates*

-Continuous Open Enrollment:

Washington Apple Health/Washington Apple Health for Kids 

  

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