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Chris was shocked to find out that he was living with HIV. He had been careful, however at some point in the past it would seem he was exposed to the HIV virus. After the initial shock wore off, and he started treatment of Tivicay, he realized that life would go on. And then after a few months of taking his meds and feeling better than ever before, Chris found an issue looming over him like an ominous cloud: getting life insurance without exclusions or waiting periods for HIV+ individuals.

After scouring everything online about how to get life insurance as an HIV positive individual- supplementing what little information there is with friends who have gone through this process- Chris began emailing Susman Insurance Agency and quickly found options did exist for him to get coverage.

Annonymous

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The Exception to All Life Insurance Rules: Covid

When you think of life insurance, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Do you see a picture in your head of someone who has passed away and their family members are grieving? Or do you think about people who have health issues and need coverage before they get sick or hurt themselves? Either way, it’s unlikely that covid would be on your list. Covid is an exception to all the rules when it comes to life insurance. We’ll tell you why below!

We can get your life insurance even if you have had covid 19 or other medical conditions. Our programs are designed to accept covid and people with covid 19, diabetes, cancer and many other serious health issues. We will work with you so that we find the best coverage at a price that works for you! Get a quote now by clicking here for more information about how we can help protect your family’s financial future in case of something happening to you!

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Getting Insurance: Life and Disability for People Living with HIV

Did you know that HIV is the leading cause of death around the world? That’s right, even though this virus has been around for 30 years now, it still causes more deaths than any other disease. Although there are ways to prevent HIV transmission, many people living with HIV do not have access to life insurance policies. This blog post will explore how life and disability insurance can help keep your loved ones covered in case anything happens to you.

Life insurance is available for people living with HIV. Anyone living with HIV can apply to the majority of life insurance providers, even if you are on medication or have an undetectable viral load (meaning your virus count in your blood is so low it cannot be detected by lab tests). There are some specific companies that cater exclusively to this market segment because they understand how difficult it may be for someone who has been diagnosed with AIDS/HIV to get traditional coverage through another company. For many reasons beyond medical history, individuals dealing with this diagnosis find themselves having a very hard time getting accepted into regular plans offered by other companies. The stigma surrounding HIV still exists which makes marketing to these consumers quite challenging as well as making underwriting policies somewhat discriminatory.

We can get life insurance for you even if you have the HIV virus. Life is something that everyone should be insured against, so it doesn’t matter what your health status may or may not be in the present moment. As long as this has no bearing on your future health and wellness, we can find a policy to suit all of our client’s needs.

Let us get you insured today. Click here to get a quote now.

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Insurance Disaster Bill

SACRAMENTO — Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, introduced legislation today to streamline residential insurance claims for victims of disasters such as wildfires.

“When someone has lost their home or suffered serious damage in a disaster, they shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get coverage they are entitled to,” Sen. Dodd said. “Insurance companies must act swiftly to advance living expenses for temporary housing and other costs and they shouldn’t bury home owners in exhaustive inventory forms. People who pay their premiums deserve to be made whole without unnecessary delay.”

Senate Bill 872, sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, expands the definition of additional living expenses that must be paid to home owners for losses incurred in a state of emergency. Upon submission of a claim, it requires an advance payment of no less than four months for costs such as housing, furniture rental and transportation. Also, it requires an advance payment of no less than 25 percent of a policy limit for lost contents without submission of an inventory form.

The bill, coauthored by Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, requires insurers to give home owners a 60-day grace period for payment of residential premiums after an emergency. Also, insurance companies will be barred from deducting the land value from payouts for those who build on new lots.

“When a disaster occurs, residents need immediate help, not red tape and unnecessary paperwork that adds to their problems,” Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said. “I am proud to sponsor this crucial legislation, enforcing actions that I have urged insurers to take after wildfires to protect policyholders. This proposal will help ensure residents have all the resources and time available to them to help ease the financial and emotional toll of a disaster.”

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Insurance Fun Facts

We don’t always want to be serious and beat a dead horse about how much we want you to have the right insurance policies and always keep them updated!

We also like fun stuff – we promise!  Check-out these super silly insurance-related facts we found on the wonderful internet – some of them might be worth your time to explore further.  The stories that go along with the facts a quite interesting and entertaining!

The Padres have signed the same h andicapped ball player 20 years in row so he doesn’t lose his health insurance. San Diego has signed former left-h ander Matt LaChappa to a minor league deal each year since 1996, when LaChappa suffered a heart attack while warming up in the bullpen for a Class-A game.

Top and bottom. Ugly Betty star America Ferrera had had her teeth insured by her sponsor, Aquafresh, for $10,000,000 while Jennifer Lo has insured her butt for $27,000,000.

A French man, Max Herve-George, has an insurance policy that lets him trade stocks based on last week’s prices. It has been called the stupidest contract ever signed, and may end up with him owning the insurance company.

Dolly Parton first insured her famous 40DD breasts in the 1970’s for the then princely sum of $ 600,000.

The Apollo Astronauts, unable to qualify for life insurance and not insured by NASA, resorted to ‘insurance autographs’, signing just before launch in the expectation that the value would skyrocket in the event of their deaths.

Hiding behind teeth lies the tongue, and Gene Simmons, bassist for 70’s b and, Kiss, once insured his for $1,000,000.

Iran eliminated its kidney transplant waiting list by incentivizing unrelated donors with financial compensation and health insurance.

Coffee taster Gennaro Pelliccia has had his taste buds insured for $10 million by employer Costa Coffee.

Amish refuse to pay the premium or accept the benefits of social security.

No insurance company will underwrite Jackie Chan’s productions.

Hawaii has required employers to pay health insurance benefits to employees who work 20 hours or more per week since 1975.

“Lord of the Dance” Michael Flatley insured his legs for $40 million.

Japanese life insurance will pay, even if you commit suicide. One of many reasons for the high suicide rate in Japan.

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Sources:

http://www.kickassfacts.com/25-interesting-facts-about-insurance/

http://trafalgar-intl.com/interesting-weird- and-quite-possibly-useless-insurance-facts/

 

 

 

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Your New Business

When you first announce that you are starting your own business, often the congratulatory well-wishes are quickly followed by unsolicited advice and opinions about…well, about everything.  From the name to logo to location to EVERYTHING – there will be someone there to tell you what you must have or need to do.   Guess what?  We are going to tell you what you need as well – at least in terms of insurance.  Having the right AND the right amount of insurance is crucial, critical, and m andatory for all new businesses.  Navigating the waters of insurance can sometimes be a rough and confusing experience.  That is where Susman Insurance Agency comes in and relieves you of confusion and provides answers to all your questions.

The insurance every start-up needs:

No matter what type of business you have, you need General Liability Insurance.  We speak about and you hear about liability insurance more often than you are aware of.  Not only does it protect against small calamities, but also cover any bodily injury or property damaged caused by you, your employees, or your product.  Nobody will do business with your new business without this type of insurance.  There is usually a st andard amount for any new start-up, but the amount of liability insurance you need will be specific to your business.

What if one of your employees injured themselves on the job or develops a disability that prevents them from continuing working all together? Your start-up needs Worker’s Compensation Insurance. Not only does it provide protection from any potential legal complications, but it is also required by every state.  Yes, you must have it.  It provides benefits to employees injured while working.  Once they choose to utilize the benefits, they will be unable to pursue legal action against you or the business.

If you own anything (yes, anything) that is part of your new business, you need Property Insurance.  Office equipment, personal property, tools, company cars, computers, buildings, etc.… If the loss of any of those would prevent you from continuing ‘business as usual,’ you need to protect every one of those items and more.  Along similar lines as property insurance, there is also Commercial Auto Insurance.  This insurance protects vehicles that are used for any/all business purposes and covers any damages caused by car accidents, theft, v andalism, and more.

Professional Liability Insurance is something your start-up cannot go without.  Also known as Errors and Omissions Insurance, it provides defense and damages for any of your products or services that cause financial loss.  You might be thinking that it sounds a lot like General Liability Insurance – and it does – however, the level and type of protection are very different.  That is why you need Susman Insurance Agency to clarify such details and make sur e your new business has proper coverage.

Worried about what might happen if one of your partners or board members makes a major mistake that causes financial damages to the business?  You need Directors and Officers Insurance to protect you and the business against their bad decisions and help cover any damages or legal fees.  While we are talking about the VIPs within the hierarchy of your business, you should also consider getting Key Person Insurance.  If one of these people should die, this policy pays put a lump sum to the business and allows you to continue running the business without financial burden associated with the loss of the key person.

Transitioning from having a policy that covers the death of a key person, you also need a policy that covers your own demise.  Life Insurance will pay your beneficiary an amount based upon the premiums you paid and relieve them from financial burden that happens after a loved one dies.  You should already have Life Insurance and if you don’t, GET IT!  You pay a premium in exchange for the payment of benefits to the beneficiary. This type of insurance is very important because it allows for peace of mind.

Plan on utilizing any type of technology for your start-up?  You need protection! For starters, consider a Data Breach policy.  Storing any type of personal information on your computer network puts you at major risk for hacking and cyber-attacks.  Data Breach protects your business against the loss of information.  Additional policies for more severe cyber-attacks are also available – and yes, we believe you need them!

Let’s pretend you already have all the insurance needed for your start-up, but then you worry that you don’t have enough.  You can get additional coverage on all polices with Personal Umbrella Insurance.  This options allows you to extend the level of coverage on your current polices.  Once your original policies have been used, personal umbrella insurance will cover the rest (based upon the amount you purchased).

An option to bundle numerous insurance policies for your start-up comes in the form a Business Owner’s Policy.  This tidy package often includes business interruption insurance, property insurance, vehicle coverage, liability insurance, and crime insurance.  Your business needs are evaluated so the best bundle can be created for your specific needs.

If you don’t think you need any of these insurance policies, you are wrong.  If you think you can get by with only one or two policies, you are wrong – again.  Your start-up is the newest member of your family.  You protect your family with such insurance as health, auto, home, and life.  Why wouldn’t you choose to protect your newest an investment just the same?

 

 

 

 

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Money and marriange

[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4927995/height/360/width/450/theme/st andard/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/” height=”360″ width=”450″]How do you talk with your spouse about money? Have you ever stopped to think about how money can have a negative, or positive, effect on your marriage? Join Karl Susman and guests this week a they discuss money and marriage. Transcript follows.

JADE: With 50% of marriages ending in divorce, we’ve all seen how difficult a breakup can be – especially when it comes to finance. We invited Tiana Ronstadt, owner of Power Women Investing, to talk about how you can stay on your feet financially whether you’re in a marriage or ending one.

JIM: Welcome, Tiana.

00:02

TIANA: Thanks, Jim. It’s great to be here today.

00:05

JIM: Just for the audience, I think we met maybe 20, 25 years ago. Does that sound about right?

00:10

TIANA: It does, it’s awful I think that I’m not that old.

00:14

JIM: Well, I know I’m not, but anyway, we were on a committee together, an advisory committee and Tiana, you’ve always impressed me. You’ve been very successful in your practice, and I know being a female advisor you’ve really focused to a lot of female issues, and I think me being a male I can’t always relate, so I thought it would be great to have you come on and share, and I know you’ve been featured in a lot of things nationally for some of the work that you’ve done, the speaking that you’ve done. You’re a real inspiration I think to a lot of women, and some of us guys too.

00:48

TIANA: Thank you, Jim.

00:51

JIM: At any rate, for today’s topic we are going to talk about some of the issues, especially with divorce and some of the pitfalls that come with divorce, so I know you’ve dealt with a lot of issues, especially with divorce and single women, and some of the things that face them, so what are some of the pitfalls of divorce that people should be thinking about if they’re going through that?

01:09

TIANA: One of the things that I find is obviously we know 50% of all marriages end in divorce, and we also, you know, we can all know the statistics but what I think is interesting is that all the information or pitfalls, Jim, that you have in divorce or contemplating of divorce, are the pitfalls in financial planning, and so I tell folks really the information is great for everyone, but when you are teeing up or looking at I might want to be separated, or this really isn’t working out, or I don’t really underst and what’s going on financially, some of the key pitfalls are important to really look at.

One I would say, really one of the biggest is not enough cash, and don’t we find that even in our own clients, when the difference between a net worth statement and actually what we call cash flow or how you’re actually able to pay for things, and so to have a real good grasp on how are things paid for now in your house, and if you were to separate and now there are two households, is there really enough cash flow to support two households.

02:12

JIM: That’s a great point, and one thing I think is just exasperated, usually we see one spouse or the other is usually the one that takes care of paying the bills.

02:22

TIANA: Exactly.

02:23

JIM: Yes, so for the one that isn’t doing, especially if they’re instigating the divorce and maybe they’re doing it out of total emotion and haven’t prepared themselves, and I think that’s another thing that people need to really prepare themselves for, my hope is after people listen to this and maybe work on a little bit more, maybe they can save that marriage, but I know finance is usually right up there as one of the top reasons, if not the top reason that people are get divorced, and we’ve had another guest on that’s been on several times and she talks about spouses have the money talk, and I find in my practice, I almost make it obligatory to have both spouses involved in the planning meetings.

One can take care of all the stuff after we get it all done, but it really is important that both spouses have their input in the planning and feel part of that, and at least have a general underst anding of where things are at because whether it’s divorce or death or disability, if you get thrown into this without having the time to prepare when the emotions aren’t running high, it’s just that much harder to get on top of things when you’re not thinking clearly.

03:25

TIANA: I couldn’t agree more, and I talk a lot about that there isn’t a national financial planning day or a national day that you have to actually sit down and talk about this, because it is the conversation that most couples do not want to have, and so I help folks, one, I think that they at least should have a money conversation on their anniversary, see where you’ve been, where you want to go, and then have it on each of your birthdays, so now I’m up to three times, Jim, that they’re going to talk about it, and lastly try and only talk about one topic.

I will say, and again gender bias, that as females I feel like, you know, sometimes we have a big agenda and then we might go on and on, and our male counterpart husb ands traditionally will kind of check out, and there’s not negative, it’s just fact, and so I try and encourage women to say, okay, if you’re not familiar with what the life insurance coverage is, make that a topic and say, you know, what we’re just going to talk about this one thing. I’m not going to try and underst and everything else, because it is an overwhelming task and I do agree with you that one person traditionally does the budgeting and pays the bills, and the other one traditionally does the long term planning, but everyone needs to know the basics.

That whole philosophy of ignorance is bliss really is not true anymore. You at least need to have an idea of what the plan is and have input in the plan so that you’re empowered to help save, first of all, and to underst and where that money is going for your long term goals, so that is definitely true.

The other thing I just want to piggyback too that you mentioned was emotion. One of the big jokes I have is that it’s a lot cheaper to cry in my office than it is at the attorney’s, and so one thing that I really try and do is talk about can you afford to get divorced. Is that really what it’s about, and if you can’t afford it and it’s just, you just really don’t like each other right now, maybe let’s try and work that out. It’s been very successful in allowing folks just to be in my office and for the first time they’re really just talking about money, trying to work that out, because it is a tough topic. We come with all our history, you know, and how we were raised, and all those values and all of the sudden we marry someone that potentially has completely different values and different way that they were raised around money, and that causes a lot of anxiety.

05:40

JIM: I see that all the time, and it’s not been since my last client meeting where I’ve seen some of that anxiety, because you’ve got one spouse that has taken care of this check or that income source or made this decision on an investment. I’ve got some spouses, they keep their own social security checks and that’s their money, and you’ve got all this kind of hiding from each other, and one spouse might buy a bunch of stuff and not really discuss it, and it could be big ticket items, and you just see the stress that creates on the relationship because they’ve gotten so used to doing things their way when it comes to money and not being as a team, and that can really stress out a marriage.

06:18

TIANA: Absolutely. I use the word interdependent, that it’s fine that you want to have some independence in some of this, and definitely we don’t want someone in the relationship that’s dependent, so we’re striving for an interdependent relationship in finances, because you’re two independent people and my goal is that you’re going to both contribute to the pot and we want to have that be interdependent.

When we talk about pitfalls too, specifically in divorce, one of the things I also find is traditionally one of the partners will also take the lead on the tax planning, and actually filing the taxes, and the other person just signs, and so I always say that if you’re kind of like, where is everything, the tax return, Jim, is one of your greatest assets that you can find that and you can uncover assets in that tax return.

It also tells a great story, doesn’t it, you know, what’s going on in the house, if you will, so I find that a lot of folks, they don’t underst and tax returns, they’ve never dealt with it, they’ve only signed it, and yet it’s really kind of the go-to thing, and when you’re really again starting to contemplate, I want to see if I want to leave this relationship.

07:25

JIM: So what are some of the other pitfalls that you see, Tiana? Because we’ve been talking about a lot of the issues while someone is married and kind of transitioning to a divorce, so let’s say divorce is inevitable. What are some of the other considerations that someone is going to want to think about to make sure that they come out of it as best they can?

07:43

TIANA: I would say, and it kind of goes, it’s going to have some three steps, if you will, but not getting professional advice, and when we say professional advice that’s in the legal community, the financial community, as well as the tax planning community, and really a couple of key things are, I find a lot of folks might fight for, they’ll be arguing over alimony, Jim, and the thing to remember is that if you’re the one paying the alimony, that’s a deduction for you on your side, and the person receiving the alimony, it’s taxable to you, so we want to make sure we are fighting for the right things at the right time.

The same with retirement plans. If I’m looking at all the assets and you say, well I want half your retirement plan, and then your spouse ends up with the equity in the home, that might not be equitable because again from a tax st andpoint, so it’s just really important, I find a lot of folks gets exhausted in the process and yet don’t end up with what’s rightfully theirs because of taxes, so that’s a huge thing to just, I think to remember that, wait a minute, I want to make sure I’m always asking about taxes, and how it’s going to affect me today as well as how potentially it could affect me down the road.

08:56

JIM: I think that’s a great point. I’ve got a friend of mine in the business and what he does when he shows people their IRAs, he takes out an estimated tax amount to show them what it’s really worth, so for example if someone’s got $450,000 in their retirement accounts, if they’re Traditional retirement accounts that will be taxed later, and let’s say that couple has been in, between state and federal they’re in a 30% tax bracket, well that’s basically a third is going to be to Uncle Sam, so if you’ve got $450 it’s really only worth $300 when you take taxes out, but people like you said will look at that $450 and say that’s what it’s worth.

The other thing is too that I see, when you look at the cost of liquidating an asset, you’re looking at a home, if you’ve got to liquidate a home there’s a whole bunch of issues with that, might be paying realtors, attorneys, all these other costs that might be involved in selling a home, and is that included versus the stock portfolio that you can do a transaction fairly inexpensively today, so as you said all assets are not equal.

09:58

TIANA: Right, right, very true, and under covering those assets too, because we know that everything obviously isn’t on the tax return.

I think the other thing that I find is that a lot of folks knee-jerk into it and then they’re in it, and it’s a long process. I don’t care who you are and how much assets you have, it’s a long process, and it’s going to be effect every aspect of your life, and we don’t recognize that. Unless you’ve been through it, you really don’t recognize how everything changes, everything, and so be prepared for that and make sure that you have, I always say your closest network, those one or two or three people that really you can lean on and cry.

I kind of meant that literally because crying in front of the judge and crying in front of the attorney and crying in front of the accountant, in other words we’ve got to, once we’re in the process, we’ve got to hold it together at the moments that you’re on the clock. I had a divorce attorney recently say to me, my goal is when I see the total assets, I get a third and each of the spouses get a third, and I said, well that is an interesting philosophy, because what that’s telling me is his or her goal as a divorce attorney in this case is not really to quickly make it work out. It’s really to complicate it more, and so I say the more that the spouses can be calm, and yes, you might not like that person but bringing all that emotion forward blurs your vision and blurs the decision making power for your best interest.

11:32

JIM: Yes, I’ve seen it already too, with spouses that are fighting and each of their attorneys, oh, yeah, we’re going to stick it to them, we’re going to stick it to them, and they just feed on those emotions and at the end of the day the attorneys stuck it to them.

At any rate, let’s take a short break. When we come back let’s talk about someone’s gone through the divorce and what things they need to prioritize to get back on their feet, so please stay tuned.

[BREAK]

11:57

JIM: Welcome back as we continue to visit with Tiana Ronstadt, and Tiana has had a lot of experience with her practice dealing with folks going through a divorce and then also dealing with women and women’s issues as a female advisor. She’s well respected in the industry, and she’s come up with a lot of different life experiences which she’s able to help a lot of people with.

Tiana, before the break we were talking about all the pitfalls of a divorce, and I think we both can agree, if there’s any way to save the marriage that’s usually the best way to go about it, right?

12:28

TIANA: Agreed.

12:29

JIM: But let’s say they can’t work it out, they got the irreconcilable differences, and they’ve gone through the divorce and now they’ve settled on what they’re coming out of that marriage with, what are the priorities that you’re looking at for people as they go forward?

12:45

TIANA: I love that question, Jim, because it’s exactly what I talk about, and the first that I always say is family first, meaning, okay so how are you going to now function in this new you, whether there’s children involved and joint custody, I mean, how are you going to function? Because the more you can focus and feel some control on your new schedule and your new life, that then can lead us to the next two, so really there are three things.

One, family first. The second thing is looking at your budget, looking at what you do have, what your expenses are, what your old habits, possibly you might have to break some of those. You might have to, you know, leave some things, and/or you might have to get a job. If you don’t already have a career, and then that’s really number three, how do you figure out what you can do, what are your talents, what are you good at, what would you like to do, what do you have to offer, and it might not be, Jim, a lot of times that they need to work but they want to work. They want to do something else that’s outside of themselves, so those are really my three.

Family first, look at how does this new you, this new role and new schedule work. Two, look at the budget, look at how is the cash flow now in your household, and then three, finding a career or a job to help sustain your living or just sustain yourself.

14:08

JIM: I find a lot of people who have gone through a divorce, it really has a devastating impact on their finances, and it’s really a step back for people, and you see a lot of divorces and I’ve talked to a lot of couples and they’re under a lot of stress. They raise the kids and they’re busy raising the kids, and the last one leaves for college and all the sudden they look at each other and it’s like, okay now what, and you see a lot of people getting divorced at a later stage of life, so how does that impact their retirement planning?

14:37

TIANA: Recently I just read an article about the graying divorce, talking about that it’s devastating, and it’s devastating to the fixed income, it’s devastating to the lifestyle that you thought you were planning for, so I always say you want to plan for the worst and hope for the best, and so I’m telling clients now, I try and work in when we’re talking about retirement planning and what you’re saving for, what does that actually look like? What are you going to be doing? What are things that you like doing together now? Because you are right, Jim, there’s a lot of folks that they’re in the same house and they’re focused on those kids and the kids is the primary thing that they’re interested in, if you will. It’s the one thing they enjoy doing together, and when that’s gone, what now? What do we enjoy doing together? And it is, it’s devastating.

15:26

JIM: I have come across a lot of widows, widowers, divorcees, and they don’t know that they may be eligible for an ex-spouse’s or deceased spouse’s social security, so I’ve seen a lot of them get into social security age and let’s say it’s the female that decided to be a stay-at-home mom, she doesn’t have a lot of credit towards social security, and she’s trying to live on maybe $1000 a month where she may be eligible to go on the ex-spouse’s social security, get half of it if they’re still alive, or potentially get all of it if they’re deceased, because if they’ve been married for 10 years or more they may be eligible for that spouse’s social security check.

Do you find the same thing when you’re counseling clients, that they’re really not aware of some of these resources available to them?

16:12

TIANA: I do, Jim, all the time, and I also in counseling, if I’ve got somebody that’s been married nine years or nine and a half, you know, I encourage them to stick it out. I mean, I really do because that is a benefit that is not well known, and I think depending upon when you got divorced too, you might have forgotten. I have a client that was in recently. She lost her first husb and. They were married over 10 years, but he also passed. She’s now lost her third husb and and so she’s been married three times, never divorced, but widowed. I mean, it’s devastating, and she didn’t even know that she would be eligible. I’m like, it’s amazing to me, so, you know, it’s something that I do think that this independent idea, be strong, and those are all great, but do know that you have some valuable resources that are out there that, no, I don’t think folks know.

Now with the great web site that SSA has done as well as you can set appointments at the local one all over, it’s becoming more and more known that at least you can have a conversation with Social Security.

17:16

JIM: The other thing that I would mention too that I don’t think people are aware of, because I see this all the time with widows and widowers, we do a lot of legacy planning for the surviving spouse. Well, you could also say the surviving spouse from the st andpoint of someone who just got divorced, and when you’re filing jointly, a lot of people, your deductions, your exemptions are twice as high as a married couple. Your brackets, you could make twice as much before you get into the higher brackets, and a lot of people, they become single and all the sudden they don’t realize how much more their income taxes will be as a single person, especially if they got divorced right after the kids moved out and all those deductions and exemptions moved out, they’re used to all these years of paying very little in tax and all the sudden they might have been getting big refunds, now they’ve gone from big refunds to owing big checks, and they’re barely getting by. Do you see people getting shocked by that too?

18:09

TIANA: Oh, absolutely. We do know that the statistics tell us that the female traditionally, the wife’s st andard of livingly drop by 27% whereas the male st andard of living will actually go up by 10% in the divorce, and that’s for the taxes is one, the actual spending of potentially the spouse that’s factored in there as well, and more importantly all those extras that we’ve talked about.

One of the things that I tell folks during divorce negotiations is who’s going to pay for the kids’ extracurricular activities, the sporting events, all the sporting equipment. I find that that’s not really talked about a lot, and then all of the sudden you need new soccer shoes and that really wasn’t in your budget, and yet your spouse doesn’t have to pay for that, so all those things, Jim, that, yes, are going to factor in to how am I going to be an independent woman, and is that really what I want, or can we try and just talk about this financial piece going back to the beginning.

I always say, money gets the bad break. Everyone blames money for the reason that they’re fighting and the reason, when really I think it’s that we’re just not having better conversations around money because there’s fear, there’s anxiety, there’s all those, why would I want to jump in a conversation about that, so try and find somebody that can talk with you and help guide that conversation just so you’re able to communicate.

19:32

JIM: Tiana, this has been great, and my piece of advice out there, if you decide you’re going to go it alone, don’t go it alone.

19:40

TIANA: That’s right.

19:41

JIM: So if you’re getting divorced, make sure you have a team of advisors, it’s well thought out, because nobody comes out of a divorce a winner. At least not financially, and if you’re contemplating that there are so many issues you want to be prepared for, I think the point that you made, someone getting divorced nine and a half years into a marriage, I mean if you live somewhere separately and stay married to get to that tenth year, financially that might be a really good decision.

Tiana, thanks a lot.

20:07

TIANA: Thank you, Jim.

Posted on

What is your story?

[podcast src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/4927997/height/360/width/450/theme/st andard/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/” height=”360″ width=”450″]Transcript to follow

JIM: I’ve really been looking forward to today’s guest for a long time, and that is Bo Eason, and many of you might recognize that name because he was a former NFL st andout, has played many years very successfully and I think maybe I’d like to hear your story, Bo, and our listeners would like to hear your story because you were a pretty unlikely NFL player, and what really impressed me about it all is we hear the stories of a lot of professional athletes that once their time runs out, shortly afterwards they don’t know what to do with themselves and they’re broke, but you had a successful transition from retiring from football to your next phase in life, and I think this is going to be helpful for our listeners because with all of transition in the world today it’s good to always come out on top when change happens, and I think you do a great job of coaching people on how to do that, so with that welcome, Bo.

00:58

BO EASON: Thank you, Jim, thanks for having me, and yeah you’re right. I saw something on, I don’t know if it was on the news or a study the other day that was saying that our parents’ generation got a job when they were 18 and they retired when they were 65, one job, and if you think back of your parents that’s how you remember them and then they say the generations now, even us, we’re going to have, and the kids coming up are going to have five to eight jobs, different occupations in their lifetime rather than one.

01:26

JIM: It’s just amazing, and it’s such a fast paced world today it’s easy to get left behind, but you teach people on how to stay on top. I think a lot of the myths that are out there are the NFL players or the NBA players or Major League players, they all were walking around with a silver spoon, they just had this natural ability and they just walked into it, but I think you came from a much different background. Can you share that story with our listeners?

01:52

BO EASON: Yes, I sure will. As ESPN would have you believe or the media in general will have you believe that elite athletes were always elite, and that is the biggest myth. If you can think of the best athlete that you’ve seen lately or in the past, whether it’s Michael Jordan or Stef Curry or whatever it is, these guys have all had to struggle, and ESPN will not tell you that because they don’t want to give any credit to hard work. They want to give credit to like hey they’re gifted, I’m not; hey, they’re gifted, you’re not. That is a myth, that is a lie.

My story is really similar, Jim, to every other elite athlete that I’ve ever met, and it is, when I was 9 years old I drew up a 20-year plan. It was a dream that I had to be the best safety in the NFL, and I drew up the plan with school paper and cray, and I still have that plan. It’s 45 years old, and I followed that plan for years.

Now look, the whole 20 years leading up to that day it never looked like it was going to happen because no college ever recruited me, I didn’t get a scholarship to college, and by the way neither did my brother. We went to high school together and grammar school together. We didn’t get scholarships. We both had these dreams of playing pro football. He went to a junior college. I went to a division two college called UC Davis in northern California that doesn’t give any football scholarships, basically football is played there for fun, and cut to two four years later my brother is a first round pick to the New Engl and Patriots and I’m a second around pick to the Houston Oilers.

There are bumps in the road the whole time. The whole time people are saying you’re no good, you can’t do it, you can’t achieve it, but if you stay true to your dream and stay loyal to your plan instead of what other people are saying, then it works out. It works out every time. Jim, if we thought of like who’s the greatest football players of all time, like Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Earl Campbell, and those are just three that I mentioned, but those are three of the best to ever play the game, and by the way all three of those guys were teammates of mine. Those guys all have the same exact story as me and my brother have. The only reason you don’t know about it is because ESPN and those sports media shows, they won’t tell you that. They will not say it. If you talk to Joe Montana or Jerry Rice, they would tell you.

04:15

JIM: I just found it fascinating how you broke on to your division two team, because you were pretty much warming the bench. How did you break through that the coach noticed you?

04:25

BO EASON: I snuck on to the field. I talked the equipment managers into giving me a jersey so that I could at least run on the field and wave to my mom and dad who drove three ours to come see me play, and I wasn’t, I practiced with the team, they let me practice kind of like as a joke because they thought I was funny and they thought I was a freshman that was little and kind of like a little mascot for them, and so I practiced and then it came game time and I talked the equipment managers into giving me a game uniform so that I could get out on that field. Well, as fate would have it they gave me the same jersey, the same jersey number as our best player, the captain of our team, so he wore number two and they gave me a duplicate of the best player on our team’s number, number two, so they told me to sit on the bench and don’t get in the way of the coaches and stay out of the way of the real players, and I did, the whole game, until about a minute 20 left in the game, and we’re kicking this team’s butt, we were just beating them like 34 to nothing, and I keep looking up at the clock as it’s ticking down. I keep looking up at my parents in the gr andst ands who are sitting there wondering why they came all this way to watch their boy sit on the bench, and I said this is my chance right now, and Darrell Goss who was the best player on our team, the captain, number two was on the field and I talked him in to letting me step on the field for him and he stepped off, so he stepped off, I stepped on, and I ran down on a kick-off team and I made the tackle on a kick-off team and the crowd went crazy, right, when I made this big tackle on the kick-off team.

Well, right as I tackled him I put my arms up in the air and I’m cheering with the crowd. I hear over the loud speaker this, tackle made by number two, Darrell Goss, and so I dropped my h ands Jim and I ran off the field as fast as I could trying to be investible because the part that I haven’t told you yet is Darrell Goss is a 250-pound black dude on our team, the best player on our team. I at this time weigh 145 pounds and I’m a white guy, so that’s how I broke through. I thought I was going to get kicked off the team after I did that, and lo and behold that wasn’t the case. They kept me on the team. They kept me forever and I ended up being probably the first or second best player to ever come out of that college.

06:42

JIM: You know, even before that point you were kind of kicked off the team because you certainly didn’t make the team, but your perseverance, you just kept showing up and they let you stay and practice.

06:54

BO EASON: That’s the thing I found out, Jim, the one ability that I have that takes no talent at all, by the way. I just have one ability, and I always teach my kids this. I go, look, I’m not going away, that’s my only, that’s the only talent I have. I am not leaving. If you cut me from Little League which happened when I was in Little League, I just came back to practice the next day, and they cut me again. I said, no, no, I’m just going to practice, and then eventually I just keep showing up to Little League or showing up to college, to UC Davis, eventually they go, hey you know what, I guess this guy is not going to go away, let’s just give him a uniform, let him just be out there, and eventually they let me be out there and eventually I got into the games, and just imagine every listener on this podcast right now. If you had one ability and that ability was you weren’t going away, just think how successful you’d be.

07:44

JIM: It’s unbelievable. I think Winston Churchill said it best when he said, never, never, never, never, never give up, right.

07:53

BO EASON: Boy, it is so true, and you know what’s attractive about it, Jim, is that people respond to that kind of person. That kind of person who just is like no, I want to play, and they’re going no, you’re actually not on the team, and you go no, no, I just think I’ll stick around and just practice, and they’re like you want to practice? Yes, I want to practice. They never even heard of anybody wanting to practice.

08:17

JIM: Well, that’s fantastic. Hey, we’ve got to take a short break. When we come back, let’s transition that now to how you’ve transitioned from football. We’ll spend a couple minutes talking about your NFL career, but how you transitioned from that NFL career being very successful and had something to retire to. Please stay tuned.

[BREAK]

09:34

JIM: Welcome back as we continue to visit with Bo Eason. Many of you will know him as an NFL player but I know him as a very motivational coach and speaker and presenter and author. I was just enamored by your presentation several months ago that I just had to get you here to share. It was such an inspiring story to me because there are so many people out there that they just give up, you know, I’m not good enough for this, I’m not good enough for that, and you are a walking living example of how staying the course can produce big results.

Before the break you talked about how you just stayed there and you made the college team, so how did you go from somebody who was invited not to participate on the team to someone who was a second around draft pick?

10:20

BO EASON: Yes, well, once they allowed me to play I started to excel. I had been training myself for many, many years before that and my body just want mature, you know, it never, like I didn’t have to shave in college. I don’t even think I had hair under my arms when I went to college, and so I grew kind of late, so I developed in college and got bigger and stronger and faster, and so all that work ethic of being a mutt so to speak, all of that work ethic that I put in because I got cut and stayed home finally caught up to my body by the time I was a senior in college, you know, I was best safety in the country and those dreams that I had way back when I was a kid and that plan that I followed came true.

What I’ve learned, Jim, is I’ve just done that same thing, talk about transition, I’ve done that same thing over and over and over again, so whatever occupation I’m any want to be the best in the world at that occupation, that’s my, that’s how I operate, and then I switch occupations and take the same principles that made me the best safety and channel it right over into being the best playwright or stage performer. It’s the same exact principles. It doesn’t matter.

The problem is most elite athletes don’t do that. Most elite athletes, they end their career in pro sports at the very top and then they don’t want to start over at the bottom again. They don’t want to apply those same principles that made them the best at their sport, so it never works out for them. You have to be willing to start at the bottom of the next mountain and work your way up, but if you apply the same principles that got you to the top in the first place, your journey is much shorter.

12:01

JIM: So let’s fast forward, you’re an NFL player. You know your days are numbered as you get older and the injuries crop up, what was your plan as you were winding down your NFL career? What steps did you take to have a successful transition that you’ve had?

12:16

BO EASON: Yes, I did exactly what I did when I was 9, so now I was 29, right, so at first I drew up the plan when I was 9 and then 20 years later I’m 29 and I created a new 20-year plan when I was 29. The only thing I had in my head when I was a little kid was I want to be the best safety in the world, so I just took that same wording and I changed the word safety and I exchanged it for this. I want to be the best stage performer in the world, and that was it, Jim. I mean, that’s how simple it is.

I drew up that plan, I moved to New York City and I started getting my feet and my butt on a stage and taking every class that I possibly could and learn how to be the best in the world at being on stage, so this is what I did. I went to every kid that was? My classes, and I was 29, already had a career. These kids were like 18 years old. I went to all those classmates of mine in all the theater classes and acting classes and improv classes and writing classes, I went to those kids and I say, hey, who’s the best stage performer of our time, who is that, and at that time this was about 1990, they all said oh, that’s Al Pacino, and I said cool, where he is? Where is this Al Pacino guy, and they all said well, he’s a movie star, he’s probably on a movie set or he’s in his mansion offer whatever. I said, okay, I got to talk to him because if he’s the best then he’s the only one who can tell me how to take that mantle because what I’ve learned is that people who are mediocre and people who are second best, for one they don’t have the information to help you, and two, they won’t share the information to help you. You’ve got to go to the top dog.

I had my agent from football, Jim, I called him up, I said man, can you get me a meeting with this guy Al Pacino, he’s in the Godfather, he’s in Goodfellas, you know, Serpico. After about three or four days, Jim, my agent got me a meeting at Al Pacino’s house, and I went to Al Pacino’s house and there was snow all over the ground, because it was Thanksgiving and it was in New York, and he knew why I was there and he said Bo come on back, I have a room back here where I play pool, and he had a room back there with his cool pool table, and I’m back there with Al Pacino, and he goes I underst and why you’re here, and I said yeah, man, I’d really like to be the best and everyone tells me you’re the best, and he’s a very humble guy. He said, well if you want me to break that down for you I can do that. You can tell you exactly how to do that, but it will probably take you 12, 15 years to get there, and I said that’s great because I work well in those kind of time lines.

Basically, Jim, for three hours he answered every question. He told me who to work with, how to work with them, basically if you took what Al Pacino said and you narrow it down to a sentence, he basically told me that if I wanted to be the best stage performer of my time then I was going to have to have my feet on a stage more than anyone else has their foot on a stage for the next 12, 15 years, and if I do that then no one will be able to keep up with me, and he said your ability to put your feet and your butt on a stage, that’s up to you, that’s in your control. You can’t control your height or how you look or your talent level, but you can control how much effort you’re going to put by being on a stage more than anyone else and I said, I got it, I know what to do.

I followed that plan for about 15 years, and I did everything he told me to do. I worked with the teachers he told me to work with. I put my butt on a stage more than any other human being on the planet, and because that was up to my control, and I did it. Listen, during those 15 years Jim I never saw Al Pacino again except on movies and stuff. I never like visited with him. I spent three hours with the guy, he told me exactly what to do and I did it, 15 years later, Jim, I’m back stage on Broadway, New York City, opening night of a play that I wrote that I’m the only guy in, and I’m back stage about to die because I’m so nervous to face the New York critics and the New York audience, and I run out there and I begin the play, and I begin to do it and I am nervous. I mean, you know, I’m having like an out of body experience, but about five minutes, 10 minutes into the play I make eye contact with a guy sitting in about row 5 right on the aisle and it’s Al Pacino, sitting in the audience. We make eye contact, and he nods his head at me, and that was it.

17:07

JIM: Wow.

17:08

BO EASON: Now, I never saw Al Pacino again after that. All I know is I did what he said and he gave me the head nod, and so I did that performance, Jim, 1300 times, one performance 1300 times, and when you do something that many times you get to be pretty good at h andling audiences and dealing with mal functions and, imagine that play, I had done that play for 17 years, imagine what has happened in those audiences while 17 years goes by. People having heart attacks in the audience, people leaving, people throwing stuff, people loving it, people hating it, you know what I mean.

Once you go through that kind of gauntlet, people started to come to me, owners of businesses started to come to me. They came to the play to see a play. They would come to me back stage and they would say hey, Bo, can you bring this to my company, can you come talk to my company, and I go, I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is a play, I don’t go to companies. I didn’t even know there was a speaking world out there at this time, and they kept asking and they kept asking, and finally one guy says to me, Bo, can you bring what you do to my company, and I said no, and then, Jim, he told me oh, that’s too bad that you don’t do that because we’d love to bring your whole family to Hawaii and you do this, and I go, well maybe I do do this, so that’s how the whole speaking world then began, how I started to speak to companies and to audiences.

We didn’t know why people were attracted to this play and to my speaking. We started asking them, and what we found is people want to be able to learn to do what I do, and that is be able to speak their dreams in front of other people and tell their story in front of would-be business associates or customers or audience members. If they have the ability to share themselves in front of an audience, in front of people whether it’s one on one or one to a thous and, then you have the ability to build something, to share something, and to break down this barrier of trust that has been demolished as you can see in our country and in our world. There’s such an erosion of trust. Just turn on the news, turn on politics, turn on Hollywood. There is no trust anymore. The people who have the ability to share themselves in front of other people, tell their story, they break down those trust barriers so fast because story connects you to other human beings. This is what we found out what other people wanted to do to learn from me to build their business and that’s why we started speaking in front of them, and then training them to do exactly what I do.

20:06

JIM: Let’s just exp and on that just a little bit, because I think this is the best part of everything that you talk about. So many people are so full of here’s all my credentials, I spoke here, I wrote these books, I’m wonderful, I’m wonderful, I’m wonderful, I’m wonderful, and they’re really missing the connection. You do a coaching program where you’re teaching people how to make these connections. In today’s world whether you’re transitioning to a new job, you’re applying to get into a college, you’re looking to start a business, you’re looking to gain a customer, it’s all about being connected in today’s world. Your connections got you to Al Pacino to get to this point, but it’s all about being connected and the quicker you can make those connections the better you’re going to be. Talk about that personal story and where you put it.

20:50

BO EASON: Yes, we have some people in the finance world on this podcast and then a lot of people that own their own businesses or entrepreneurs or solopreneurs. It doesn’t matter your occupation. What matters is your personal story. Your personal story is the key to the kingdom for you because people cannot follow a vision that talks about a resume, so if I got on this podcast this morning, Jim, and I say hey everybody, I went to Harvard which I didn’t but say somebody says that, I want to Harvard University, I got straight A’s and blah blah blah and I start listing all my accomplishments, people don’t care. There’s nothing to connect to. All that is is information.

If I tell them that when I was 9 years old I had a dream and as soon as I made that dream I got cut from the Little League team, that is a personal story that people connect to immediately, so now every listener, every audience member, every person you ever run into, if they hear your personal story, something simple like I just said, the couple of sentences like that, they now are connected to you as a human being and they will help you build whatever vision you have for your company, but they can’t help you build if you tell them a resume. They don’t know how to help you. They do know how to help you if you have human connection, which is a lost art in our world as you can see. This restoration of trust is huge right now.

Gallop started doing a study, a survey in 19 I think 72 was the first year they did it, and they asked people, do you trust your neighbor, and one-third of the people surveyed, one-third said no, one-third, so now that’s 1972, so now today Gallop still does the same survey. Now it’s two-thirds of the people do not trust their own neighbor. The trust has never fallen since they’ve been doing the survey. They’ve never fallen this low. You can see if, if you turn on the news tonight you see it, you go oh, they’re lying. You see a politician you go, oh, I don’t trust them. You see, you know, somebody on TV trying to be an advertiser or a speaker speaking on stage you’re going like this, wow, you’re really not trusting them unless they authentically tell you their story, and I’m not talking about the story of the greatest moment of their life, I’m talking about the story of the darkest moment of their life. That’s what we’re interested in as human beings. That’s what we connect to.

I’ll give you another example just to people can get their heads around this. Let’s say all of us on this podcast today are going to make a movie about climbing Mt. Everest, conquering Mt. Everest, just think right now if we’re going to start that movie, what is the first frame of film we are going to show that audience? What is the first thing we’re going to show the audience to get this movie started? How are we get to get our audience to connect with the characters in the movie? Do we start them on the top of Mt. Everest, putting the flag in the mountain and waving and being happy? No, that does not connect you to your audience.

I’ll tell you what connects you to your audience. You start your characters at the bottom of the mountain looking up two miles into the ski going, how in the heck, how are we ever going to conquer that? There’s no way, it’s impossible. That is what the audience connects to. They connect to the climb, to the against all odds. They do not connect to success. They connect to what it takes to be successful, the climb, always, so all start your story, always start your meetings or your date or your presentations with a personal story, one that shows you starting at the bottom and busting your butt to get to the top. That’s what people connect to.

Now, once you do that, Jim, now you’re in a whole different place than every other competitor out there, because what’s every other competitor going to do? They’re going to talk about oh, I’m so smart, I’m so great, I’m going to make you 20% on your money. People don’t even underst and what that even means, only thing they can underst and is this, I got dumped at the senior prom, I got cut from Little League. I entered a dance contest and I was the first one to be kicked off. That’s what people connect to, that’s what people love. If you’re not doing that, I want all, everybody to start doing that and then you watch your business grow. You watch people start to build your business for you because they’re involved with you and they help you. That’s what I want everybody to do.

25:35

JIM: You need a big room to bring Bo in because he’s going to be bouncing off the walls with excitement, and he’s passionate and it’s fantastic. I just have to test, because after hearing your speech I went back and changed some things. I do professional speaking. I was told awhile ago I’m kind of modest, I don’t like bragging about myself or any of that stuff, and you’re told you’ve got to put your credentials up there and all that, and I started incorporating the stories and I get a lot more people coming up to me afterwards and they’re not asking about the tax section that you talked about. They’re saying, hey, you know, I did the same thing when I was younger and I had the same issues, and those connections are unbelievable, how much easier they are when you’re willing to be a little bit vulnerable. You open yourself up and you let people know, hey, I’m real.

26:22

BO EASON: Yes, story begets story, so once I tell my story everything else is thinking about their upbringing and their life, and then they start to share. That is the human connection that is missing in business, and it’s so simple that it’s almost silly to even talk about, but if you think about the people like the generation before us that were so successful, I guarantee you think about your gr andpa right now or your gr andma who was really successful, the reason they were is they knew how to tell stories. These generations coming up, they don’t know how to tell stories because they’re stuck on electronics all the time, so they don’t have that human element, that human connection, but it’s what we all crave the most. It’s what we are missing the most in this world.

If you can be the solution to that problem, then you are going to build your business and people are going to follow you and they’re going to help you.

27:16

JIM: If people want to get more information, Bo, I know you’ve got a web site, you do training programs. How do people connect with you to go through this process?

27:25

BO EASON: Yes, the best way to do that everyone is go to BoEason.com and my first name is Bo, B-o, and my last name is Eason, E-a-s-o-n, dot com. If you go there there’s a lot of training that we offer. The three-day event that we do, we do it twice a year in La Jolla, California, which is done in San Diego in a beautiful state of the art theater and we teach entrepreneurs, we teach business owners, we teach financial advisors, elite athletes. You know what else, who we teach a lot, it’s funny, elite military, like Green Berets, Navy SEALs, a lot of them because they’re coming out of the military and they want to be able to speak and share their story so they can be a civilian and work on the outside of the military. It’s a really great three days. What I do is I bring in the people who trained me for 15 years.

The number one thing that people get from this, Jim, is they physically embody, because that’s how I was trained to physically embody your story so that your story is walking around with you all day every day, and it makes you so that people cannot dismiss you. They have to deal with you.

28:36

JIM: Again that web site is?

28:39

BO EASON: The web site is BoEason.com.

28:43

JIM: All right. I really appreciate this, and I trust that we have inspired some people there to make some changes and take advantage of being the best they can be. Hopefully a few of them will go through your training program. I know I picked up a lot from the session that I was at and it was fantastic. It’s such an inspirational story, Bo, I appreciate you sharing.

29:01

BO EASON: Yes, thank you, Jim. It was great you having me, and it was great to catch up again.