Life Insurance and Retirement Planning with Expert, Fernanda Sanches

Transcript

Stephanie: Fernanda, thank you so much for joining me today. It is such a pleasure to have you and speak to you, even before our show. I knew we had synergy, so thank you for joining us. I just wanted to have you tell the viewers a little bit more about what you do, your extensive background, your expertise, and the like. Go ahead. Fernanda: Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me here today, Stephanie. It was great getting to know you earlier. And hello everyone, my name is Fernanda Sanches. I'm out of Orlando, Florida, and, my story didn't start here, right? I live here today, but my story did not start here. I was born in Brazil and I grew up in South Florida. And a lot of my childhood, you know, my parents come from very humble beginnings. My mom was a housekeeper. She was her own business owner, and my dad worked just regular jobs. Nothing crazy, and always just trying to get better and become better. And I knew that as I grew up, I needed to do something to make it worth their while for moving here. And so that's kind of where everything started for me because I wanted to learn about financial freedom. I wanted to learn about how everything like that works here in this country. So when I was growing up, I said, you know what? I'm gonna go to school and get good grades and do something with myself. I went to school. I went to Nova Southeastern University. I got my degree in biology, and I minored in business, and I dabbled in marketing as well. And I didn't do anything in that because I did wanna go to dental school. I worked in the dental field for about six years and I started shuffling papers, and then I did assisting. I did management. I wanted to learn how to run the business that way, if I did decide to go to dental school, that I would have extensive experience already. It was a tough decision, but I actually ended up not doing that. I didn't go that route because it wasn't a passion of mine anymore. And after working in the field for those six years, I realized, man. These dentists that I work for were dears they were very hardworking people, and they still struggled a little, but they still had, financial loans that they were paying off for their offices from school debt after 20, 25 years. And I said, You know what? Maybe this isn't it. even if it was a passion, I probably would've stuck it out. But it wasn't there for me anymore. So at my last year in college, I met my other half. We've been together now almost 12 years now. You just, I just gave away my age. Stephanie: That's impressive, it's impressive. It really is. Fernanda: So we got together, he had moved from South Florida to California. And he was in the financial world. He was in the insurance business, and he left that world to pursue DJing, go figure, Los Angeles, right? And so when I moved out there, I said, you know what? I'm not gonna do dentistry anymore, but I got, let's do this. I will help you, we'll build something together. And that's where our entrepreneurship journey began. And I went to YouTube University just to learn how to run a business. And that's what we did. I taught myself how to do Photoshop and web design and email marketing and design, all this stuff, right? And I built that part of the business. He did the music stuff, and we built a business together, right? So it took a lot of trials and tribulations. It was very up and down and sideways and backwards, as it is to build a business. And after some time and as I reached my late twenties, I realized, you know what? This is not, again, not the right fit for me. This isn't the long-term fit. I grew out of that industry. And just on that last year that I was in that music business, my brother-in-law who had been at this insurance firm for a decade almost. He said come with us on a family trip. All expense paid Italy, Greece, Croatia, and all I could say to Dean, my other half was, hurry up and hang up the phone before he changes his mind. We went and the best part of this was, it was a company trip. I got to meet everyone in the company. The leadership, the CEO, Patrick, O’David, who runs Valuetainment. I got to meet, Matt and Sheena Sappa. I got to meet everyone, and they were just very humble. Very, very humble. Quite the change from the music industry. So I said, you know what? Stephanie: Different, right? Fernanda: Oh gosh. I was like, this is amazing. And so when I came back, I got my insurance license. We moved to Orlando, Florida, where John Mason was running his office. And I said, you know what, he's one of the top guys in the firm, this is how I'm gonna learn everything. And we became brokers and equity partners of the firm. And here we are today. So right now, I'm educating families on what to do with their life insurance, their retirement planning and everything kind of that you do as well. You're on that legal side of it. And it's just really exciting. It's really exciting because I finally found that niche that I really love, that I'm gonna be in for a very longtime. Stephanie: That's awesome. And thank you for showing really the nitty-gritty about how you got to where you are. I think a lot of viewers and people in general, we kind of skim over the past where we were exploring what to do, what era we wanna land in, and there's just so much out there, so many paths you can take and the fact that you just said this is your passion, that's great because that's exactly why I'm in the area that I'm in as well because at the end of the day there is a need, regardless of income, regardless of background and beginnings of where you come from,there's always a need for this sort of thing. Thank you so much for sharing that, FernandA, really appreciate you going into detail, 'cause it's always nice to understand who you are. I'm really excited to talk about the topic today, even though I hope most of our views don't fall asleep on it. But it's really important because, we were just saying these topics are super dry, right? We know that estate planning and same with retirement planning. Life insurance can be quite, not as exciting, but we are going to explain everything in detail. Please have your questions below if you're interested in asking anything. This is the time and this is really relevant to what's going on. So life in general, right? In life insurance and retirement planning. It's part of the long-term goals for many people. Now we're trying to figure out what do we need to do so that our family and our legacy is safe. And, thank goodness many of us are refocusing ourselves and our goals, on short-term, long-term financial, planning. In your experience, are you finding this to be the same in your clients? 'cause I know for my clients, people are shifting their priorities. People care about wills, they care about powers of attorney, they care about trust and their assets and what it looks like. God forbid they're no longer here, or incapacitated. So are you seeing the same thing on your end? Fernanda: Absolutely. More than ever before now. We're seeing the same thing on our end. 2020 was crazy in all sorts of levels, but it was very busy for us to say the least. And more people are realizing today more than ever before how important life insurance is. And not only that, but how will my family financially survive if something happens to me? I'm sure that most people now were either affected or knows someone who knows someone that either passed away or got very ill. For example, one of our agents, and this was back mid-year last summer, his father ended up get getting covid, and he was elderly and he ended up passing away. Now as an insurance agent, he was brand new to the industry. His father hadn't set anything up yet. And so just to see it from his perspective now that he already knows what he could have done to help and what his father could have done for them to have that because when somebody passes away and the family gets together, the last thing you wanna think of is how are we splitting this up. Or is there anything to bury them, and is there enough money? So we're seeing it so much now, more than ever, that people are taking it more seriously, which is great. Because it is very important, and I think there's this weird, not stigma, but it's like this weird unknown thing. What is it and how does it work in both of our industries. Stephanie: I think, is it worth it is a big myth. If I do this, is it really gonna help me? Is it really gonna save me money, my family money in the long run, right? Fernanda: Yes. Absolutely. Stephanie: So in your opinion, and going back to this covid thing, 'cause it's the most obvious example of when things go wrong, no one's expecting it. In your opinion, Fernanda, do you think Coronavirus pandemic affected the way people should be looking in insurance and retirement planning more than before? 'cause it's clear that people have it on their radar but haven't got around to it. Do you think there's anything that changed because of the pandemic outside of more of a need? But are there things people should consider? Fernanda: That's a great question, actually. I think in addition to realizing, Hey, I need to make sure that if I pass away, my family's okay. But, what I've been seeing a lot of is the need for, okay, what if I get ill? What if I get ill or something chronic or critical happens to me today? Sometimes that could bankrupt the family even more instead of somebody passing away. And so a lot of the old term life insurance policies, because if you think of life insurance, the first thing generally that people think of is what? Protecting family. I have to pass away. I'm not gonna see that money. And so the newer types of life insurance out there, a lot of people still don't know about. And so that's what people are realizing today. Oh, I can use this while I'm still living? What? I had no idea. Stephanie: And that's a good point. That's a really solid point, Fernanda. I don't think, and maybe you can sort of exemplify an example of that. If you see someone that said, Hey, I thought it was only for this. Fernanda: Yeah, sure. For example, a lot of these policies that pay you actually while you're still living have something called living benefits in it. Now, if you're in the market for insurance and you're like, well, I don't know who to go to and where to go or what to even look for or ask for, make sure that it's somebody that has access to multiple carriers, so they have access to a variety of products, right? You wanna go to somebody like in Expedia that has access to many different airlines versus just going to one airline, right? And that's the advantage. So we have access to some of these carriers that we're partners with that they have those living benefits. They evolved and they said, This is not just for when you pass away. So if you get a heart attack, cancer, stroke, that's considered a critical illness or a chronic illness where if you can't perform two out of six activities of daily living, right? So if you can't bathe yourself or feed yourself or something like that, not long-term care, but long-term care like benefits, you can actually access the death benefit while you're still living. And a lot of people do not know about that. So the challenge is what happens if you don't have that set up, and you don't have all this extra money in the bank? What do people do? Stephanie: Now, can someone, let's say for some of our viewers, let's say, okay, a viewer is looking at us and saying, well, I have life insurance and I'm fine, but I really don't know if I have that sort of caveat in there. What should they do? Should people be asking their insurance agent? I know for us, I have people contact me if you have any questions about your trust or something is not clear, come back to us. Are you having people come back to you? Should people go back to their agents or should they consider if there's better policies out there? Fernanda: Yeah, it depends on the person. If you have an agent that you have a relationship, 100%. Go ahead and ask them, Hey, what is this, and how can I get my hands on it? Or, feel free to reach out. You're gonna get our information here today. Feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to take a look at it and look over it to see if there's something that we can do and see what best fits your needs, the needs for your family, 'cause the chances are as if you already don't have it, there's a chance that company just didn't offer it. They don't have the capability of getting it. Stephanie: So I know a lot of our viewers have questions regarding retirements and savings and options that they have available to them. Because again, maybe people don't feel like they have a relationship with their agents, so of course they're gonna have questions for some of the stuff that we're discussing. We do have a couple of questions that have come in, so we're gonna go ahead and address those, just to see if we can help answer those questions to make sure that everyone is more knowledgeable when they leave, and click out of our Facebook Live. That is the goal today. So I think we talked about the difference in insurances and the policies, but what is the difference, Fernanda, in your opinion, between a regular life insurance and annuity? Fernanda: So in the most simplest form, right? Life insurance protects your life, right? It protects your loved ones, and annuities protect your money. And here's what a lot of people focus so much on, okay, I need to make sure that I have enough money in my 401k and my IRAs, mutual funds. Okay, now I'm saving, saving, saving, saving, and then investing, investing. And then I hit retirement and it's like, oh, now what? So annuities is a contract with the insurance company and there's some fantastic annuities out there that protect your money. Where your principal is protected and some of them even offer guaranteed lifetime income, so you can set up your own personal pension. Stephanie: Great. So when you say create your own pension, does that go for anyone across the board? I mean, does it matter if, like for me, I'm self-employed, maybe some of our viewers are self-employed, or they work for someone else and they say, oh, my company has something like that. Can someone still qualify no matter your career? Fernanda: Yes, absolutely. It's not like health insurance where you have to qualify for and you have to be healthy. Obviously, there's suitability involved, and we have to make sure that it's okay to be in that specific annuity. But for the most part, there are some really fantastic products out there with annuities that will protect your money. You'll still be able to get the ups of the market with no downside losses. So you still have that growth potential. And some of them even have long-term care riders where, if you turn on, let's say you're getting an income from that annuity, like a social security, right? That's an annuity. Or when you win the lotto. If you ever won the lotto and you pick payments for the rest of my life, that's an annuity. So it's that, but you can set it up for yourself, especially entrepreneurs and business owners because we have to figure stuff out on our own. But you can do that in addition to whatever your job is doing, so that way you have your own thing. 'cause a lot of people, if you're switching 3, 4, 5 jobs in your lifetime and starting over and this and that, this is something that you can have for yourself. Stephanie: Great. Great. Well, that's good to know. I was just asking because I wasn't sure if it only is for certain people. 'cause I think that's one of the common misconceptions you and I were talking about, how with estate planning, with life insurance, you have to have a certain amount of asset or money, and that's really not what it's about. It's more for yourself regardless of what your income is, so thank you for addressing that. Okay, we have another question from one of the audience members. Should I start putting money into my Roth IRA in addition to my 401k? Fernanda: Ooh. Okay. All right. So let's dive into that. All right, let's see. How much time do I have here, okay? Stephanie: Maybe we can start, 'cause we have to remember some of our viewers, they may or may not have this, so why don't we explain maybe what is a Roth and how it's different and your thoughts on them? Fernanda: Sure. So that question you have to look at, okay, what's the difference between the two? Why are they asking 401K versus Roth? And it's basically a tax question, right? Because a 401K is tax-deferred stocks and mutual funds deferred AKA later, right? You put your money away, it's gonna grow, and then when you're ready to take it out, when you're 59 and a half or retired, right? You can start taking that money out, in which case you'll pay ordinary income tax. But on the other hand, the Roth IRA, those contributions you're putting in with after-tax dollars. So when you're ready to take that money out, it's tax-free. So one is tax-free, one is tax-later. And the challenge if you're this or that, you know, I'm not a advisor, or a tax specialist, a CPA, I'm a life insurance agent, but what I can say is this. What a lot of people don't know is if you're looking for that tax-free bucket, 'cause a lot of people have that tax-deferred, right? You have the 401ks, 403 Bs 457, all those. They're tax deferred, they're tax codes. If you look 'em up, they're in the IRS handbook, right? Section 401k of the IRS handbook. If you only have your money in that tax later bucket, then what happens? We don't know what taxes are gonna be like in the future, but what happens if they were to go up? Then you have to look, okay, then that means I'm gonna have to pay higher tax on more money. Okay, well I might have some deductions, but will you though because now you're gonna be in retirement age, your house might be paid off. You can't write that off. Your kids are out of the house. One of our brokers was talking to me about this the other day. He's like, my parents are in this right now. Their social security's getting taxed right now because they don't have any write-offs. Stephanie: It's crazy. That's a crazy scenario. And the more that you say that there is a good amount of people that I know that do have these things paid off and probably fall in this bucket. Fernanda: Exactly, but there's nothing wrong with that, right? It's just because a lot of companies, that's what they offer right now. So when somebody's looking at a Roth, okay, that's tax-free bucket. I'm not gonna have to pay tax later on. So when I'm taking that withdrawal later on, it's gonna balance out my income. So I'm not paying as much in tax. Now, here's where it gets really good in my role, the life insurance side that a lot of people don't know about. Life insurance is what holds everything together if something happens to you. Life insurance, and a lot of people think of insurance, we're trained to think of insurance as another expense. Oh, another bill. Oh, I have my renter's insurance, my mortgage insurance, my car insurance. Yes, my cell phone insurance, but I don't have life insurance. Right ? I have it on my iPhone, okay. So we're trained, it's just another bill, but there are insurance policies. There's different types of insurances out there. Did you know that insurance is one of the best ways to invest in and get tax-free cash down the road? You can literally save like 30% in taxes by investing in a permanent life insurance policy. Stephanie: That's insane. Let me ask you this, and this is just outta my curiosity before I go to the next questions. If you are a person of my age or a person that's double my age, does it matter what life insurance I get versus someone else? Do you usually advise clients depending on where they're at in their life? Fernanda: it depends 100% on each person. 1000%. I have, see there's different types of life insurance. You have the term kind where everyone knows of, right? It's like car insurance. If you crash, it pays. If not, it just doesn't pay... There's other policies where it's like, if you crash your car, it's gonna, and then if you don't crash, you get your money back. So there's like a mortgage protection where you can actually take out on yourself. So if something happens to you, your family is protected. If nothing happens to you, let's say after 30 years, you get your money back. Stephanie: Gotcha. Fernanda: Okay. But then there's that permanent policy where it covers all the bells and whistles, right? You have the death benefit that is permanent. So the money that you're passing on, this is your world, is that legacy money. That's money going on to the family and tax-free. Now you also have the living benefits. So if you fall ill with a chronic or critical terminal illness, you can access the death benefit while you're still living, and that's important why? Because we're go, I mean, come on. This is gonna be around, these policies can be up to 120 years old, designed, right? So you'll have that in your seventies, eighties, nineties. Over 71% of people need some sort of long-term-care-like benefit or adult daycare, right? And health insurance doesn't cover. So what do we do? So these life insurance policies come clutch for the death benefit that's permanent for the living benefits and also for that tax-free cash growth. Stephanie: So basically it's like that last one that you talked about. It seems to be the one where you have the benefit while you're living, which I think is a big takeaway of today because that is something that all viewers may not know, and quite frankly might confuse them. And I think maybe sometimes, depending on who they're working with, they may not even know that's an option. So thank you for sharing that, and thank you to the viewer that asked that question. It kind of provoked some thought for us. I have another question here, more directed towards me, but if there's a chance that I'm gonna get divorced, what do I do to protect my retirement savings? That's a great question and as much as I wanna say run for the hills, that is not the answer. It's interesting because divorce, I always call this a life event. I always talk about this in my show because life events really do trigger the way we think about our savings, our retirement, our legacy. And so something like a divorce, yes, you should definitely revisit the beneficiary information you have on those retirement accounts. I can't tell you how many times I've had clients come in, and we talk about their estate plan, and I broached the topic of let's talk about your beneficiary information you have on file. And, who's on file, and they'll say, oh, I don't remember. And they may or may not have gotten divorced in the last couple years. And there have been instances where I've seen an ex-husband, an ex-wife, a ex-spouse, a friend that they don't really care for anymore on that policy. So the beneficiary information's really important and that is the best way to protect your retirement savings upfront. 'cause it's an easy thing. You do go in and you fix the forms internally with wherever your retirement accounts are. Of course, too, I talked about the trusts. Trusts are a great way to protect your assets as well, because similar to that policy you talked about Fernanda, the trust, you can actually, if you're talking about living trust is great because you could use it while you're living. And Basically, you could name who's gonna be in charge of your affairs and in charge of everything that you own and where you want it to go, including some of this retirement account thing in the event of your death. But also if you become incapacitated, the living trust does that job too. So a lot of people think that estate planning is only for when you pass away. That's only half of it. The other half is that the trust is really valuable because it's while you're living, you transfer everything into the trust, and it really does protect your assets, including your retirement accounts upon your death. So just something to consider with that, I know divorce is a great way to check in with your finances and check in with what you have in as an estate plan. So please, consider that if you are going through a divorce. So that's a great question. And going off of that, 'cause there's another question that came in very similar is, what is the best way to handle my life insurance before and after divorce? Now, I talked about the beneficiary forms a little bit, making sure you know who the beneficiary is of your life insurance policy. Fernanda, do you ever have any sort of clients that say, Hey, I just got divorced, can you please change my information on it? Fernanda: Yes. And a lot of these companies have made it very simple to do that. We have some companies that we work with that you can just do it online but yes, I mean there's people that switch it right after the policy gets approved and issued. So it's something that, oh, I changed my mind kind of thing. I've seen it all. Stephanie: That's funny. I'm glad you mentioned that. I think that goes to our next point. I mean, the life insurance always has beneficiaries. At least you hope it does and that's where I always encourage people to check, constantly check the stuff everyone, because especially if you are with someone, maybe they're a life partner, maybe they're a spouse and something changes in that sense, you definitely wanna go back to revise that. And quite frankly, you should make an appointment with your attorney because that is something we wanna reassess altogether. Because again, I have plenty of clients that come and see me for their living trusts when they're married, right? So we create one sort of trust that way. But then there's also other ways to do that, when you're on your own and no longer married. So you wanna definitely revise that. I mentioned this before, another Facebook live series, but I do offer free consultations for anyone that's interested from the safety of your own home. Just like Fernanda all the way in Florida, we can do this wherever you are. Had plenty of clients go outta state, and they are free. So please feel free to reach out to us. You could text the number, which is 7 7 3 3 7 3 9 5 9 2. If you wanna set up a consultation, it's at the screen below. You can also call that number. So that's a good way for us to segue into kind of big picture of life events and divorces. The other question I'm getting, which is actually making me laugh because for all the pet lovers out there, there's a pet lover here that's asked a question that says, is it true that I can set aside money to care for my pets? Yes, it is true. It is true. It's called a pet trust, for Fido or, whoever, your pet. Yes, there's a way to set up a trust. I've always joked around with my clients saying that if you do have somebody that you wanna leave the dog to, you wanna make sure the dog is taken care of, or the cat or whatever, we can create a special trust for your pet. So all the pet owners out there are probably like, wow, that sounds like a good idea. And also I didn't know that was an option. So yes. And actually, the people that do sign up for those, it's really people that long term maybe are grappling with the idea of whether or not they will outlive the pet, to be frank with everyone. So it is something we offer and yes, you can put money. For your baby. Fur baby. So do you have pets, Fernanda? I don't know if you have pets. Fernanda: I do. She is a half chihuahua mix, half human mix. I don't know exactly the human how much percentage she is, but I swear she thinks she's a person. But yeah, her name is Cookie, and she's 10 years old now. We rescued her in LA. We took her off the streets, and she went from the streets to the sheets as well. Stephanie: She sleeps with you. I mean, we're all guilty of that. I have two dogs myself and I definitely know that. That's great. But yeah, great question. Okay, so I have another question here that someone that just popped in. Are there any gotchas when it comes to life insurance where the policy would not pay outas expected? So maybe this goes to the fine prints of some of these policies, which is a great question. Fernanda: Yes. That's a really great question. Something that you always wanna ask your agent. But, as far as gotcha's, there's typically a two year contestability on your policy, which means thatwithin those first two years, if something were to happen to you and the insurance companies sees something where they have to investigate, right? Just to verify some information. If that information they find is false, then that's something that they would not pay out. So if you are dishonest on your application or there's always a suicide clause on there as well where if you commit suicide in that time period. So it's certain things like that. Other than that, these companies are very, I mean, there's some companies that have been around for over a hundred years, 150, 160 years. So these companies are good for their word. They're A-rated, as long as you're with an A-rated, A+ rated company where that's their claims-paying ability, that's something that you wanna take a look at. But the companies are great today because think about it, they can't not be great or else they're gonna go out of business. Stephanie: Yeah, absolutely. And this is a good question because I think a lot of people, going back to like common misconceptions, people really do think you know what, if I get this policy but it's cheap, and maybe it doesn't cover me and this and that. And it's good to know that. I know that there is a usually you can dispute this sort of thing. And I know for attorneys we usually get busy doing that so I know we can usually step in to do that sort of work. But yes, you could definitely, for the viewer that asked that, you could definitely challenge it. But like Fernanda said, you wanna check because it's just important to know your policy. And I think not everyone knows the terms. A lot of it's, it might as well be in another language because it doesn't really always make sense to everybody. So that's great. Okay, we have another question. If somebody gets asking, how much should I plan to spend per month on life insurance? Fernanda: Okay. It depends on a person-to-person basis, it really does. in that question is, how much should I spend is still looking at as an expense, right? Because if you're looking at the permanent policy as an investment vehicle that you're still going to be able to get the growth of the market with no downside losses. That tax-free money that we were talking about earlier, right? Those policies you wanna put in as much as possible, right? Because the more that you put in, the more tax-free money is gonna grow in those policies. But if you're looking at a term policy or another type of policy where you're not doing it for the investment and you're just like, okay, how much should I spend? It depends on how much insurance do you need. So you wanna look at different, how much debt do I have? If something were to happen to me today, am I gonna be leaving behind debt to the family? And if so, how much would that be? If I were to pay everything off today, what would that be? And then you wanna look at income. If you have young children, right? How many, and they rely on your income, right? So how many years do you want them to be able to live off of your current income today? So if it's 10 years, you take your income times 10. You wanna look at mortgage, how much do I have left on the mortgage? So that way the family doesn't lose that home if something happens to me. And then education costs, it goes up every year. Stephanie: There's really no cap on that. Fernanda: Right, that's true. We also have the legacy part. And that's how much do I, that's my legacy. These are permanent policies that I wanna create generational wealth. How do I do it? And that's when you would get with somebody with you and say, you know what, put it into a trust. And some of it goes towards the family, some goes into more life insurance investment, and you just keep doing that over generations, and boom, you've created wealth. Stephanie: Yeah, definitely. I'm really glad that we're talking about creating wealth because even though we've called this Women Who Wow, and we are very knowledgeable women, it is very nice to hear, big picture of, 'cause I think sometimes when people think life insurance, it's like you said, it's an expense, and it has to do with my life when I'm no longer here. But it's actually, like you said, building wealth is always a topic of conversation, especially as we get older. Each year that goes by, I keep hearing more and more people talk about their investments, and oh, I have a portfolio here, and I have a portfolio there. And then I have, but rarely do you ever hear people discuss life insurance is another way to build wealth. So I'm loving your answers with that, Fernanda, because it opens the door to another conversation or maybe even thoughts of some of the viewers that have been provoked of what you're saying because they do need a little bit of education on this stuff. So thank you for that. Fernanda: Absolutely. Stephanie: Another question we have here that has popped in is, when is the right time to buy insurance? And I think we maybe broached this, but this person specifically said, I am not married, and I don't have any kids. Fernanda: Yesterday. So the best time is when you're young and healthy, that's it. Because you do have to qualify. You can't get insurance, imagine trying to get auto insurance after you've crashed your car. The best time is when you're young and healthy, and a lot of the agents that know about these policies in our firm, they say, you know what? As soon as my baby gets that social security number, we're applying for a policy because God forbid something happens, there's the living benefits 'cause you know that if something were to ever happen to your child, that you would do whatever it takes. So why not have a check from the insurance company to help you out? Hey, now I don't have to even go into work. I'm gonna take care of my child. So number one, they are protected, and yet they have that permanent life insurance policy, but two, they're gonna have that tax-free growth over years. There's the, you can have them by the time they're 65. Imagine that. You start off a very minimal amount monthly and over the course of their lifespan, it's the best gift you can give them for the future. They can have hundreds of thousands and even millions in tax-free money down the road. And that's important because we really don't know what's gonna happen that the economy you've seen in this past year has been so crazy. And insurance is really that thing that keeps everything together. If something happens to you, it helps. We're on the defense side, right? We're not on that offense, Hey, how much can you make? It's more, how much can you keep? And that's insurance. And that's what we teach people, Hey, there's other things out there. There's other ways to protect your family so that way you don't need to use GoFundMe or do a car wash at the church or a food drive or whatever it is. And there are really affordable insurance policies. As little as a dollar a day, depending on age and whatnot, that can still protect your family. Stephanie: It reminds me of what I always preach about is wills. Having a basic will is a good idea regardless of income, regardless of background, regardless of your assets. And it just makes for a smoother transition for your family, and also really does save you money in the long run to avoid any sort of issues like probate where it's a whole ‘nother topic in itself, but it's very consuming and for money and time for families. And consider that what we're talking about that's synonymous of what we're saying. This is a funny question that just came in that’s similar. Should I have a living will or a trust if I'm not married and don't have kids? So very similar answer. I will say it really depends on the person and what they're worth. And when I say that, what they're worth, it's really their net worth. There are reasons why everyone should consider a basic will at the very minimum. And just because you don't have kids does not mean you should not consider a living will or a living trust. Because when you think about these things, there is always a way to protect your legacy and your children. For people that don't have kids, they might think, why would I need a will? It definitely helps with leaving instructions to your family. It helps the person who is the executor to oversee your affairs. And a trust does help, especially if you own a home. That is a great reason to think about having a trust. Even if you say, oh, my home is not worth much. We have to discuss 'cause it really depends on the person. So having kids or not having kids really is irrelevant to me when I do consultations with clients because, to me, I wanna know what you were saying, Fernanda, what is their legacy that they're trying to protect? What are their client's goals? Is the goal so that mom doesn't pass away and all the kids are fighting? There are so many reasons why a living trust and a will are so important for each individual, depending on, again, their net worth and what they're trying to do with their assets, but having kids and not being married, would say is not a reason to cancel yourself out from estate planning, even though that's a great question 'cause I get it all the time. So thank you for whoever asked that. Talking about this in general too, Fernanda, what are your thoughts on life insurance when it comes to explaining it to people that maybe are not, maybe they have a stigma and they're saying, I just don't think I need it. I have a house and they can sell that. And I have, maybe a car or maybe I have something of an asset because there are schools of thought we're gonna say that life insurance maybe isn't needed if I have assets in X amount that they can distribute, if you will. Do you ever have that? Fernanda: I hear that more when it's more of a tax issue. I hear more with the wealthy clients, right? Where they're like, I don't need life insurance. I have all this money and all this land and this and that, but you always need a vehicle to help with those taxes that they're gonna deal with later on, and that's done through life insurance. But then also you have clients that say, oh, I don't even wanna talk about it because I just, it's bad. It's bad luck to talk about life insurance. And I've gotten that too. I've gotten that too. And, if they say, Hey, I already have this, and this, great. What do you have that's going to protect the money that you worked your whole life for? What do you have to protect you in case you fall ill and something like a critical chronic illness? In Florida, on the low end, you're looking at $5,000 a month. And health insurance doesn't cover, and that's for part-time help. Stephanie: Wow. That's crazy. Fernanda: So we have to protect the money that you worked your life for. And so insurance, and that's the people that say, you know what? And that's when I say, you know what? Did you know the new types of life insurance? Just it's not that anymore. And that's the conversation that I have. And then you just find their needs and what's important to them and see if you can help, best help them. And here's the stigma, right? This, I'm gonna go back to this because I know it's crazy, but I know all of the viewers you're probably thinking, there's so many life insurance out there, but I'm here to tell you, we have a shortage, right? There's not enough of us out there. When kids, when you're growing up, you're like, I wanna be a firefighter or a police officer, not a life insurance agent, right? A lawyer before they're their life insurance agent. And so I do a lot of training and development for agents as well. To get into the business because there's not enough of us talking to the communities out there to let them know, Hey, this is what else is out there? A lot of people still don't know. They just rely on that one thing that their HR department offers them, or even their group life policy. Those don't have living benefits. And are you staying there the rest of your life? You're gonna end up leaving that job. So then what? Now you're gonna be older. So we do, we have Travis Sapp who is our agent. He's opening up an office in the Fort Worth, Dallas area, but we're all over the place. We're licensed in all 50 states. The insurance industry is not what it was back in the day, and it's definitely changing. Stephanie: Yeah, no, I appreciate that because I think that's also one of the things that, and again, we're talking different generations, right? Because what we think we know in our generation is very different than what things were for our parents or our grandparents when it comes to insurance and where it comes for estate planning and that really has changed over time. So I'm happy that you brought that up and explained, because I'm sure the wealthier clients, I hope there's wealthy clients looking so you can get some knowledge share from Fernanda. But the idea being that it seems like there's a message, and it's intertwined throughout all of our discussion today is that you really should consider what's customizable to what you need and also don't overlook what you already have. So that's great. And that's what I was trying to delve into because I know that you offered services and yes, there's a good amount of agents, but you come from a pretty reputable industry and company. And, how long has your company been in business? I think you told me, but I can't remember. Fernanda: Over a decade, over 11 years now. And our CEO and founder Patrick O'David, he's one of the top entrepreneurs in the world right now. He has his channel on YouTube. A lot of people know him from there, it's called Valuetainment, So definitely check that out. He's just a phenomenal human being. I'm blessed to know him and his family and, I want you guys to keep this in mind 'cause I know we got really technical today and talking about the important things that you should know. But keep in mind and just to go backwards a little, we had an agent, and I think this is important to share because one of the agents that got started with our company, and this is why I love our company so much 'cause we do meet a lot of people and I get to help families from all walks of life. But we had an agent. She got started, she was in the midst of studying for her life insurance license, right? And she ended up having to have, she had some medical issues, took a pause in the business, had some surgeries, which she was fine, back thing. And by the time she was healed and ready to get back into the swing of things before she had that life insurance policy for her and her family in place, her husband got diagnosed with a brain tumor that was cancerous. And this is somebody that has done very well in their life. They have 401ks, they have IRAs. She's made millions in her life. She's managed large teams and has managed territories for a specific company. And no life insurance. So now they're living from that money that she worked her whole life for. And from that IRA, she's like, it's almost half gone. And so life insurance, if the proper life insurance is in place, you guys can protect yourselves from being in that position. And that's how, that's what we do for families. That's really the core of what we do. And obviously, the more agents that we have and part of our agency, the more families we can reach. So that's, yeah, that's the key. Stephanie: Thank you for sharing that story, Fernanda. I think it really hits home to a lot of viewers. People have been going through unprecedented times. In my office just today, I heard someone say that they lost a family member, overnight. I think it was covid related, but also some other underlying issues. So this is very relevant to the world that we're in and the climate. We can't deny the fact that things are changing rapidly, and we are always here to educate the viewers, I know they're on Facebook, looking at what's going on. Make sure to pop in here to learn something because this is invaluable information. So thank you, Fernanda, so much for joining us today. I do wanna wrap up here 'cause we are getting close to time, but I do wanna thank all of our viewers for your questions and your concerns that you have out there. We really appreciate that because it really allows us to better serve the community. Your questions mean a lot to us, but also to many viewers that are gonna be viewing this after the fact. So it's great for us to have the viewers join Pink Mike Legal Confessions, where we are getting more and more in depth into new topics that are relevant to you, and we hope to family members and friends that might need our services. We both cherish the opportunity to really earn your trust in the work that we do and to prepare for your legacy and secure it long-term for your family. So, like anything in life, it's really worth it to do some financial planning. Reach out to Fernanda for your life insurance. She is licensed in Illinois for those of you that are watching, so please, know that. And we also encourage you to take the time to start a discussion with your family. There's no better time than the present. And don't be shy to pick up the phone and make a call to my office, to Fernanda, if you do need more guidance or you just wanna know the next steps, or what is something that might be relevant to you in the arena of estate planning or life insurance. You can always text or call the number below. So, like we said before, make sure you consider anything new this year. Being part of that is your estate plan and any life insurance if you haven't looked at that in a while. So thank you again, Fernanda, for all your wonderful information. It's been so wonderful to get to know you and meet you today, and I know I learned a lot. I hope the viewers did too. And I invite everyone here who is watching us today to join us again next week for Pink Mic legal Confessions, same time, same place, and always invite your friends, invite your family, share the recordings, and with your family members. Please stay safe during this time. And again, really hope to see you next week. And thank you again, Fernanda. Hope everyone's doing well, stay well. Fernanda: Bye everyone. Thanks for having me. Stephanie: Anytime. Thanks, everyone. Have a great week.