YOUR INSURANCE CONNECTION

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NB studios original program. The following is a paid program sponsored by your insurance connection. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

Donald Marquez 0:22
You Good morning. This is your insurance connection. I'm your host. Donald Marquez, on your insurance connection, we talk about saving money on auto insurance, homeowners insurance, yes, and we talk about life insurance. Welcome to the show you.

Donald Marquez 0:46
Good morning. My name is Don Marquez. This is your insurance connecting broadcasting right here at K, U, N, V, 91.5, jazz and more every Sunday morning, from 8am to 830 Welcome to my show. I'm a licensed insurance broker right here in Las Vegas, serving Las Vegas and all the surrounding communities. And also, I'm licensed in California to offer you insurance in California. My contact phone number is area code 702-236-2624, 702-236-2624. Yeah. Broadcasting right here at KU NV for the last now, a little over three years, and I do appreciate this amazing opportunity that I have to broadcast at KU NV to educate you on insurance. Again, a licensed insurance broker offering auto insurance, homeowners life insurance, boat motorcycle insurance. One of my main subjects I love to talk about is life insurance. I think that's one of the most misunderstood insurance products that the insurance industry offers. There's a lot a lot of moving parts, a lot of different programs people can find themselves in. And I call them programs, really, I do, because there are insurance products. But to me, like, if you in a term policy, that's a 30 year program or a 20 year program, if you have a term life insurance policy, you know the fact that you do have these policies, the term or the whole life or the universal life, you need to fully understand what you're paying for. And unfortunately, in 30 years in this business, most people do not understand the policies that they're purchasing, paying for every month, and what it does over time. You know, we shop for price, and that's good, however. It has to fit in your budget. I know that I have a budget. We all have a budget. And for whatever reason, people that are retired feel like their budget is a little bit more I don't know. I'm retired and I live on a tight budget. Yeah, well, we are. We all living on a tight budget these days, these these days, you know, everything's a little bit more expensive than it used to be, and it looked like we're not getting a break anytime soon. However, the fact is this, with life insurance, it's an instant savings account. We really need to be wise with our money now, more so than ever. I think you know, because the cost of everything is going up, including the funeral services. I have talked to people that own funeral homes or mortuaries, or whatever you like to call them, and they tell me, you know, they get the caskets out of China. Wow, I had no idea. I thought that the caskets were made here in the United States. I bring this conversation up to the table because people do not understand the debt that is accumulated when you lose a loved one, it is instant accumulation of passed on debt to family members and and the cost of the funerals today alone will cause many families to go into bankruptcy, many families to go into bankruptcy. And I've seen it over and over again in my in my 30 year career, $20,000 funeral today is not uncommon. 2015 to $20,000 easily, easily can come out as a result of losing a loved one. And you know the weirdest thing, and I shouldn't use that word, but I am the oddest thing that happens is it? Sometimes it happened in threes. You know, you can lose a loved one and all of a sudden, two more of your family members pass within a year or or a short period of time. Is it was, I remember 2011 it was five people that I knew that passed and, you know, four relatives, one friend. Let's just tell you how you know it works. And I've talked to many, many family members over and over my lifetime, I've witnessed that when one loved one passes, is not long after another loved one passes, and that's not necessarily when it comes to husband and wife and really. Is not because usually the wife will out live the husband by many years, sometimes even a decade and a half, depending on the age. You know, when it comes to life expectancy, there's no discrimination. People die young. Fentanyl is a bad thing right now. You know young people are dying from fentanyl overdoses. We you know, if you know someone and that's into that lifestyle, they need to stop because people are dying as a result of the fentanyl epidemic that's going on right now. You know it's really bad. However, you know, the same applies to a young person as it is to a mature person in life, they the family members have to pay for a service, a funeral service, and what, what are you going to do when you take your loved one to the funeral service or to the funeral home, and then you go over the line by line discussions on how much this is going to cost? It is mind boggling. It truly is $15,000 today to $20,000 let's, let's, let's break that down and why it costs so much money. Now, when you go on to the funeral home and this, they offer you these different packages. They are and, you know, and a lot of family members don't want to be cremated, or they don't want to, they don't want to cremate their loved ones. Not to say that's a bargain. It's really not, because that's that can be quite expensive too, as well. But let's just talk about a traditional funeral. When you lay somebody to rest in the ground, you have to pay for the service up front. You pay for the service, and that includes all the fees for, you know, the embalming, the hairdress, the clothes. I mean, everything has to be all these, all these costs adds up flowers, the obituaries. You know, everything adds up now that service is a separate price from what they charge, from what they charge at the cemetery. You go to the cemetery, that's a whole nother fee that's not included in the package when you go to the funeral home, when you go to the mortuary, that's not in the cemetery is not included unless the mortuary has a cemetery at the mortuary, and a lot of them don't. Now, you know some of these mortuaries here in Vegas, in the surrounding Southern Nevada, do have a cemetery that's connected with the mortuary on site. And that's a few of them that's set up like that, but not many. So their packages probably will include the grounds. But if that's not the case, and you go to a separate facility. Everything is separate, even if it's included, it still costs a lot of money. Now you pay a certain dollar amount for the service, and then now you have to pay a certain dollar amount for the grounds. Now you put a casket. Today, it has to go in a vault, a container, or whatever you want to call it, it goes on in a container that costs extra. Today, the container is sealed, and the dirt goes around the container, the container, or vault, whatever you want to call it, and of course, now you have the headstone, and you know that costs extra, and it adds up. Now we're talking about just a funeral and the grounds, let's say that's gonna be around 15 to $20,000 like, and that's money that's needing to be paid like, immediately, right now. Now, if you don't have a means of paying for this with no life insurance, now's the time to start planning ahead. It truly is, waiting is not a good response. You know, I've talked to people that's in their 80s with no life insurance. I can't believe it. Now 85 years I can write a policy up to 85 years young. Now you 86 I cannot write a life insurance policy. 8580 year olds without life insurance. What are you waiting on? What are you doing? You waited long enough. 70 year olds, you waited long enough, it is time to start acting in behalf of your family's financial future. Your family's financial future is at risk, and that's a red alert. That should be a red flag. You know you need to do something. Would you want to leave this burden on your family members to absorb your very expensive funeral. And now there's other costs involved too. There's other costs involved. We have a home that has to be paid for. We have or rent has to be paid. Utility bills still come in, the mortgage, rent still comes in. If there's a surviving spouse or surviving children, or maybe even grandparents or adults family members, adult family members, you have to take care of parents, you may have to take care of you know this is need to be a thought out process where you sit down with your family members and you have a serious conversation about your family's financial future, especially. When it comes to filing expenses, I can write a life insurance policy, I'm happy to say up to $450,000

Donald Marquez 10:07
without a physical. Now, there is certain underwriting guidelines that are applied to that depending on the age, but every scenario is different. My name is Don Marquez, if you just tuning in for the first time, I'm a licensed insurance agent offering auto, home life insurance, boat motorcycle insurance, right here in Southern Nevada. And also I can offer insurance in California for life insurance. Now that 48 other states I can't offer home and auto, but in Southern Nevada, yeah, boat, motorcycle, homeowners insurance, life insurance, and today we're talking about the topic of life insurance. One of my favorite conversations to have, because I find so many of you need a life insurance review. You need a life insurance review again, if you just tuning in for the very first time, my contact phone number is 7022362624702 2624, 702-236-2624, located on the corner of Sahara Rancho. My office is right there on the corner of Saharan Rancho in the US Bank Center, located on the eighth floor. My business hours are Monday through Friday, from 10am to 5pm I work by appointment. 702-236-2624, I know a few of you have popped up unannounced, which I do appreciate, but there's times I'm in the field, I may or may not be in the office, and I like the personal touch where you know we do face to face, or I could do a lot. I can write a policy over the phone. I do a lot of business over the telephone because of the convenience. You know, I can write a life insurance policy with a phone home and auto definitely over the phone. You don't necessarily have to come in. You know, there's ways where we can make arrangements, where you can email me your declaration pays for auto insurance, your homeowners insurance policy. A lot of companies are bailing out of Nevada. A lot of life insurance, not life insurance, excuse me, auto insurance companies, homeowners, especially the homeowners. What I see is a lot of a lot of companies are just not offering the homeowners product in Nevada, or they're leaving Nevada altogether. And why is that? Because of the claims insurance companies, like every company out there, like to work on a profit margin. If they're taking in money and spending more money that they're taking in, they're losing money. They work on a certain profit margin. Like all companies do, when you go to the grocery store, they operate on a profit margin. Take your clothes to the cleaners, they operate on a profit margin, even when you buy clothes, cars, everything operates on a profit margin. But the insurance companies, they do also operate on a profit margin, and if they're not making enough money, or their profit margin is we're spending more than we're taking in, then they'll file to leave the state of Nevada. They have every right to do so. And I bring this up because I have quite a few people contacting me and said, Well, you know, I was with this certain company, I received a letter said they're non renewing my policy. And one of the first things I want to know if you have filed claims. Now, if you do file a claim, make sure it's a significant claim. Now, if you have a while, you know a homeowner's policy, and you file a, you know, a small claim, you know that can hinder you in the long run, or on your auto insurance, you filing these little, small, petty claims that can hinder you in the long run. It really can. And the companies that pay out claims, they pay out claims, they find themselves in a negative financially, and this is why they leave in the state of Nevada. What that does is create this, this, this atmosphere of insurance companies that there are only a handful of companies left, and they can easily compete along side by side with each other, because they they dictate the market. They control the market. And I'm saying, if you have to file a claim, file a claim. But you know, you know, you know, you've heard these slogans, you know, get a wreck, get a check, you know. And sometimes, you know you could do this yourself, not to say what they're doing is wrong or anything like that. Because, you know, repping you need representation. There are times when you really do need representation. I have to say that, depending on who hit you, it was it your fault or not your fault. But you know, the laws are, what they are, the legal fees or what they are. I mean, these, these fees. Legal fees are 40% 50% in some cases, that's a lot of money for a settlement. And you know, sometimes, you know, you can just work with your insurance company to help reduce the cost of the load the insurance companies have to pay out. I mean, this is a fact. I'm not making this up. I've been in car accidents where this was not my fault, and I've been in car accidents that were my fault. And, you know, fortunately, I had enough insurance to cover the losses. Now, carrying the state minimum requirements, which is only $25,000 per person, $50,000 each accident, is really not not a lot of coverage. Yeah, it covers the base basics. What needs to be covered. But to think about it, if that liability is over and above your policy limits of liability, you could be liable. You could be liable for those damages. You know, it's better to have it and not need it and then needed and not have it. And how do you correct that? You correct it by increasing your liability on your auto insurance policy, and it's gonna cost me more money. I know, I know, I know. But you know what? I'd rather pay a few extra dollars each month and be well protected in case something happens. No one wakes up. You know, it's good day to have a car accident. No, we don't do that. It just happens. And it happens, you know, more frequently because we're on a cell phone, texting, you know, texting people while we're driving. And I've seen people on the expressways texting at, you know, 70 plus miles an hour, and they're texting and not looking at the road, that's not a good idea. That's not a good idea because it creates rear and collisions, and now here come the claim process. You know, there, you know, you never see a you never see an insurance commercial on television, say, or on the radio says, you know when you know our Express claim service is available 24 hours, seven days a week, and if you need to call in legal representation, that's okay with us. Now they just let you know you know their claim service is available to walk you through the process. Now you can always negotiate with your insurance company. Your insurance company have claim adjusters. You can, you can, you can negotiate yourself what you need to do. Because let's think about it, if you in a car accident, you're the one going to physical therapy, right? Okay, you're the one going to the doctors, okay, you're the one taking the medication, right? And so what the legal services do is provide their legal service by way of filing a claim for you, which you could easily do that. You got to do that yourself in the beginning anyway. And if you are in a accident, right? You are in an accident, you have to call an insurance company, that person's insurance company that hit you, you know, to file to get the claim process started. Now you don't necessarily need to call your insurance company. I've been hit and I and a lady got out of the car and she hit me. I was at the stoplight waiting for her to change, and she hit me. She was not paying attention. She probably was texting and driving. Just give you an example, right? So she hit me, caused me to hyper extend. I had, I still have back problems today, and that was that was over 10 years ago, but she asked me for my insurance information, and I had to remind her that you hit me. You're in collided with me. He was not paying attention. I was at a full stop. There was no reason for you to hit me. I need your insurance information. That's why I took a picture of her insurance information, and she was trying to argue with me, I need to your No, I said. And I told her, I'm a licensed insurance agent. What? Why do I need to give you my information? Now, if you want to do that, that's fine, because they're going to take statements from yourself and the person that hit you. They're going to take a recorded we're talking about the claim adjusters will take a recorded statement from both of you to create the claim process. I bring all this to your attention because you do have an opportunity to, you know, keep what the insurance costs in check, because people want to know why my insurance costs so much money because we filed too many claims. And that's just the bottom line, because these insurance companies have to work at a, not a big profit margin. It's only, you know, it's probably less than 20% all right, they probably love to see a 20% annual profit, but you know this, they have to operate at cost, because I have to pay, you know, to play the employees. They have to pay, you know, advertising. It's a lot of costs involved. I'm here to help you better navigate through the scenarios. I've had people call me

Donald Marquez 19:48
and they want to file a $200 claim. I'm like, No, don't do that. You know, that's not worth it, especially if you only have, like, a $250 deductible. Why would you know? Why would you want to you? File a claim that smile, well, you know, I was, well, I pay for insurance. Well, no, don't do that, because on your auto insurance, it also on your homeowners insurance. You know, they do an insurance review every time your policy renews, is reviewed by the underwriters to see where your rate will be on the renewal and if they see consistency claims, like when you go to the car wash, for an example. And every time you go to the car wash, you know you're getting these little dings fixed on your on your windshield, that's, here's a good one. You get all these little dings fixed on your windshield, and they tell you, don't worry about your insurance company will take care of it. And sometimes they even have the audacity to say, we're not going to file a claim. Yes, they do. Yes they do, because I've had it done to me. Pulled into the car wash, I had a little ding, you know, and he said, Oh, we can repair that for you to get a new windshield. I said, but now I think it's going to spread. He said, Well, we can put the glue in there and see what happens. I said, Okay. He said, we're not going to file a claim against your insurance policy. I said, Wait a minute. Hold up. Just a moment, you will file a claim. That's the only way you're gonna get paid. He said, No, no, no, we want I said, Listen, I am a licensed insurance agent. I know exactly how this worked. Danny, you got quiet, because when you go to the car wash and you and you know, they would make these little, small repairs on your windshield that does add up on your claim report. We call it the clue report. And on when your policy renews, and they say you went through, they see that you have went through the car wash and you filed three or four of these little Dean claims on your windshield, when your actuality you really need a new windshield. You probably need a new windshield. It's better to get the new windshield, because a lot of times too on your auto insurance policy, you have glass coverage. You have to check with your policy coverages for more information. My name is Don Marquez. Let me walk you through the process, step by step. My contact phone number is 702-236-2624 702 02236, 2624 My office is located Sahara Rancho in the US Bank Center, located on the eighth floor. I can help you go through the process. It's simple. It's not that difficult, and I work by appointment. 702-236-2624, so licensed insurance agent for the last 30 years. I mean, it's, I don't know where the time went. It just hit. It a day gone today. I mean, it's 30 years in this business. Is this been incredible. I love, absolutely love what I do. I was meant to be an insurance agent because I've helped so many people along the way. I've helped. I've helped so many families along the way, just to better understand their insurance coverages. I had a young lady contact me just recently, and she lost a loved one, you know, and she thanked me, and she said, Thank you so much. Because my dad was stubborn, he didn't want to buy any life insurance, but he something about you he liked and you convinced him to buy life insurance. Well, she lost her dad, she lost her dad, but you know, she had enough life insurance on her father to pay for the filing expenses and other expenses too, because there will be other expenses, not only this, the service, the burial, that that's that's a large expense that has to be paid immediately, right now, and that may have to that means you may have to go to your savings account, your 401, K without a life insurance policy. And if you have an accidental only life insurance policy, it's not going to pay for for passing of natural causes. If you pass from natural causes, your family members will quickly realize how you know that accidental only policy will not pay. And not only the accidental only, but your family members will quickly realize how bad you took care of your finances, how you know how you did not take care of them. Looking forward in the future. You know, I mean, it's like, it's like buying a car, and you want to warranty, right? You're gonna Okay, and the dealerships will guarantee the car. If something happens to the car, we'll take care of the car. After so many months, right? So many months, we'll take care of that guy. So we got 36 months, 60 months, whatever that warranty is. You know, buying a life insurance policy is a warranty that your family won't have to go on financial debt. It's like a warranty. You know, it is similar to a warranty your family members don't have to go on financial debt, even, even if you just cover the cost of the funeral, which is $20,000 but let's say we add on a car that has a balance of $20,000 plus on it, right? You have credit cards, 15, $20,000 in credit cards, and you're the surviving spouse. You may inherit all that debt. And in the United States, 60 to $70,000 is a debt ratio people are in when they pass one of the leading causes of. Bankruptcy is when you lose a loved one, or you live a spouse, or, you know, you and your spouse didn't want to talk about life insurance, you know, and things come up. I mean, they come up unexpected. Nobody can plan when that day is going to come. You just wake up every day. Every day is another opportunity to do something better than you did the day before, it is it's a new opportunity to do something different than you did the day before. Time is valuable. Time is an asset. Life insurance is an asset. You know, getting a life insurance policy is like putting money in your bank day one, day one you're you, you putting money in your savings account. You know, you're making that possible for your family members to grieve in peace. You know, giving them time to grieve. You know, who wants to pass. And all of a sudden, your family members gotta, oh, God, I'm gonna pay for this, or your spouse. How am I gonna pay for this? You know, that's a lot of stress. Just imagine all that stress. And don't say that. I don't care. They can do whatever they want to my body. They can throw it in the lathe, put it in the dumpster. That's illegal. They're not gonna do that. You know, life insurance is affordable. We can find an insurance policy that will fit in your budget. Filing expense, life insurance, I offer Term, Whole Life, Universal Life. We'll find a policy that will fit in your budget. Keep in mind, I can write a policy up to $450,000 a day is no physical and if you are a smoker, we do have the small quit smoking Advantage Program. And what that does for you is, you know, for the first 36 months, you have to, you have to stop smoking within 36 months, we will rate you when we initiate the policy as a non smoker. In other words, you get the non smokers rate for the first 36 months. You have to be tobacco free for the first 12 months. And for my listening audience, if you smoke hookah, that is tobacco. I've had a situation where a young man, I don't smoke cigarettes at all. I don't smoke any tobacco products. Find out he smoked hookah. He didn't realize he was smoking tobacco. He came back as a smoker. For more information, my contact phone number 702-236-2624, 702-236-2624, my name is Don Marquez. This is your insurance connection. Go outside. Take a walk. It's a beautiful day out today, and it's sunny Las Vegas, Nevada. It's starting to cool down. I'm so happy because this summer was we had a mild summer, but now we're starting to go into the fall, and I absolutely love it. I hope your teams win today. We'll do this again next week, from 8am to 830 until then, just keep it crispy. Thank you for listening.

SFX 27:42
You.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai