The Cambridge Agency Blog

We are teaming up next week with Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill in St. Petersburg, to continue our community outreach for the Metropolitan Ministries.

Ferg’s, right next door to the Tropicana Dome – home of Rays baseball, is having their 17th Annual Anniversary Bash on Wednesday November 25th. We will be there collecting (as we celebrate w/Ferg) non-perishable food donations. Metropolitan Ministries is in the thick of their holiday food drive and, in case you hadn’t figured it out yet, the 25th is the day before Thanksgiving.

Here’s the deal: You bring some food donations and Ferg will give you a free draft beer. So, there is no admission, food and drink specials galore AND you get a free draft for your kindness.

All of the particulars may be found here on Ferg’s website.

We look forward to seeing you at Ferg’s for this great annual event, an event that is even greater now for the good we will be doing for the community.

Me….. I’ll be the one with the big juicy Bender Burger in my hands!

What Do Insurance Agents Do… And Who Pays Them?

For most people, an agent is the first point of contact with an insurance company. But these days, you can go straight to a company website and apply right online. So is it still a good idea to work with an agent? Absolutely.

The internet has changed plenty about the way people shop for insurance. But working with an agent is still the best way to choose the right plan.

Why You Should Work With An Agent

Agents can provide a number of services. Many of them sell several different kinds of insurance, and can help with “bundling” some of your insurance. And some agents provide other financial services — so they can help you plan for retirement, or budget for your children’s education.

Most importantly, agents can offer you expert guidance through the insurance system. They know better than anyone what plans are available, and which of those plans will be a good fit for you. They can help you through the application process, to make sure that everything is filled out correctly so you qualify for the best possible rates.

And many insurance agents have professional relationships with insurance underwriters — the people who approve applications and set rates. That means that if there’s any question, they can quietly shop around for you, to make sure you qualify for a plan before you apply.

What Does It Cost To Work With An Insurance Agent?

The best part of working with an agent is the cost — it’s free.

Agents get paid by the carriers they represent, not by you. So you can turn to them for advice, without getting billed by the hour. It isn’t often that you can get free expert advice on something as complicated as buying insurance. So working with an agent isn’t just a good idea — it makes good financial sense, too.

Challenged by the current financial crisis and recessionary woes? While the world is watching Wall Street, many of us are struggling to preserve our own checkbook on Main Street.
There doesn’t appear to be a quick fix for the economy, but there are some things you can start doing today that will have a real impact on your personal finances as well as the health of the environment. We’ve found five easy changes that you can make which will save you $500 or more each month, all while helping to conserve energy and reduce waste.

1. Share a ride: Save $50.

Car-pooling can save a boatload of money, and you don’t have to own a new model hybrid to realize the savings either (although it would be a big plus).

Let’s say your current vehicle gets a fuel mileage that’s middle-of-the-road for today’s averages or about 23 miles per gallon. Let’s also assume that your daily two-way commute is 40 miles per day, five days per week.

At today’s gas prices, your average cost of solo driving is about $94 per month. However, if you share the task of driving to work with just one other person, you could save as much as $50 each month. Commute with three people and your savings will go up to more than $60 per month.

Here’s how:

Locate available commuters at work through the use of email lists and company bulletin boards.  Check with your neighbors and friends to see if you can coordinate scheduling.  In addition, see if your employer will allow you to work from home one day a week or stack your schedule to work 40 hours in four days instead of five.

2. Go with a lower flow: Save $48.

The average American household runs four, eight-minute showers per day, requiring about 20 gallons of heated water at the rate of 2.5 gallons going down the drain per minute per person. Instead of turning the main water valve off on your kids when eight minutes are up, you can reduce the water output from your showerhead to save on energy costs.

Here’s how:

Install a newer low-flow showerhead to reduce your hot water consumption to 1.59 gallons or less per minute per shower. If you’re concerned about sacrificing water pressure, don’t be. Today’s efficient low-flow showerheads preserve water and pressure by mixing air with the water flow. They’re also easy to install yourself, so there’s no need to hire a professional.

3. Brown bag your lunch: Save $60

Buying your lunch every day during the workweek can seriously dent your budget. Even when exercising frugality, the average cost of a meal and drink comes to at least $6 per day or $120 each month.

According to the U.S. Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, bringing lunch to work costs about 45-50 percent less than buying it. That means you can pare down your work week lunch expense to less than $15 per week.

Here’s how:

Buy only what you’ll consume during the workweek to avoid wasting food by the weekend. In addition, select a variety of sandwich fixings, whole grain breads, and ready-to-go fresh fruit and vegetables to avoid boredom. Rinse and reuse sandwich bags to reduce waste and save even more. Alternately, tote your lunch in glass or reusable containers whenever possible. Use a cloth bag or a shopping bag that’s easy to reuse.

4. Wake up, smell the coffee: Save $98

Wake up, smell the coffee, and save almost $100. However, do it in your own kitchen. If you begin your daily grind by picking up your morning brew from a coffee shop, you’re spending about $2.45 per day for most foamy concoctions, more if you typically go for super-sized or signature varieties. The second cup to get you over the afternoon hump brings this spending figure up to $98 each month.

Making your coffee at home will run about $0.12-0.28 per cu — small beans compared to store-bought. Assuming the higher end of that estimate calculates to just $1.40 per week or $5.60 each month. For that sweet price, you can afford to take a refill to the office in a reusable travel mug ($11.20 per month) for a later pick-me-up.

Here’s how:

Invest in a no-frills coffeemaker ($15 and up), if you don’t already own one. Coffee prices vary, but even fair-trade, organic coffee can be found for less than $15 a pound. The cost of a splash of milk or flavored creamer is minimal. Keeping the disposable coffee cup out of landfill: priceless.

5. Stay home for dinner: Save $252

Stay home for dinner and save $252. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, American households spend an average of $3,034 a year on take-out food and dining at restaurants. Curbing this habit will not only save you money, but will also reduce the amount of plastic and Styrofoam containers being tossed into the trash.

Here’s how:

Plan meals ahead. You should know what’s for dinner before lunchtime rolls around, or you’ll be more likely to pull out the take-out menus. Also, take advantage of leftovers from home-cooked meals by freezing them for another night’s meal. However, you may be able to realize even greater savings.

For instance, if there is more than one person in your household taking coffee and a bagged lunch each day, or carpooling to work, then the additional contributors will increase your monthly savings.

You can also feel good about the fact that these simple strategies are good for the environment. For each money-saving action you commit to undertake, you’ll be helping to reduce energy and disposable waste every day. And, if you can save this much each month doing it, just imagine the effect your actions will have year after year.

If politicians can complicate an issue then they know our  attention will wander—As conscientious Americans we shouldn’t let this happen with HealthCare.

There are tax issues involved, state and federal regulations, and massive price distortions caused by programs like Medicare, & Medicaid. Often, the proposals for “reform” are tangled in jargon.

Hard-working taxpayers can’t possibly have the time and energy to understand it all. But we think the complexity can be simplified to two simple questions:

• For whom does your doctor work?
• Do you pay for your health insurance directly?
  

If your doctor tailors his or her care to the policies of your insurance company, or some government program, then you don’t really have a doctor who works for you, and health care hasn’t really been reformed.

You’ll know health care has really been reformed when the following things are true.

• You and your doctor deal with your health insurance provider as rarely as you currently do with your car insurance company
• Doctors post their prices, and compete with each other based on price and quality

It’s really that simple. As long as insurance policies and/or government programs fund most of your health care, doctors will work for them and not for you.

The same holds true for health insurance. As long as our health care coverage comes mostly from employer controlled insurance or the government, we won’t have a competitive health insurance market, and the cost of both insurance and health care will grow constantly.

When Americans care about the impact that their use of health care has on their insurance premiums in the same way that they care about the impact that speeding tickets and minor scrapes have on their car insurance, you’ll know that our health care system has really been reformed.

We must reach the point where Americans are paying close attention to the cost and quality of both their insurance and their medical care, and are constantly looking for better deals and better service. You’ll know health care has really been reformed when.

• Few Americans have insurance through their employers
  
• People have portable major medical policies that they pay for directly
  
• There are no government mandates on what insurance must cover and consumers can buy the kind of coverage they want
  
• Government aid to indigent patients is provided by the states or charities, with NO federal involvement
  
• Medicare is optional and means-tested
  
• Any government funding of health care that remains comes through vouchers rather than direct payments to doctors and hospitals

When you see these things happen you’ll know that health care has really been reformed, because you’ll start seeing the positive results. People will.

• Watch what they eat, exercise, take their vitamins, and quit smoking, because their basic health care costs and health insurance premiums will be coming out of their own pockets
  
• Stay healthier longer, because they’ll be more focused on prevention
  
• Demand to see prices from doctors and hospitals so they can measure the impact on both their checking account and their insurance premiums
  
• Start shopping for the best deals, both in terms of price and quality

In addition.

• Doctors and hospitals will advertise their prices and the quality of their outcomes
  
• Insurance companies will compete on price and service just like car insurance companies do
  
• Consumers will rate doctors and hospitals on the Internet, the same way they rate books and products on Amazon
  
• The current surplus of specialists and the shortage of primary care physicians will correct itself, as real free market prices once again balance supply with demand
  
• The cost and quality of health care will constantly improve, just as it has with lasik eye surgery, which patients pay for directly

When you see these things happen you’ll know that health care has really been reformed.

Our representatives in Washington should be encouraged to achieve these results for all Americans.

The Cambridge Insurance Agency will be kicking off its 4th quarter fundraising drive for Metropolitan Ministries. The event will be held on Tuesday September 15^th from 10am – 6:00p.m at Cambridge’s offices on 6320 S. Dale Mabry Hwy in Tampa. The celebration, throughout the day, will include Ambassadors from Metropolitan Ministries as well as local dignitaries. Members of the community are invited to drop in and bring non-perishable food and supply donations for Metropolitan Ministries.

The Cambridge Insurance Agency, a Tampa-based company, is partnering with nonprofit Metropolitan Ministries to offer an opportunity for Bay-Area families to receive health insurance. Specifically, for every 50 policies that Cambridge signs with new customers (through the rest of the year), the company will award one-time $1,000 donations to Metropolitan Ministries. These donations, driven by community-activism, will be expressly used toward health insurance policies to qualified uninsured persons or families, based on individual circumstances and personal stories submitted to Metropolitan Ministries. Information on qualifications is available upon request.

To kick-off the campaign, starting Tuesday September 15th, Cambridge will be hosting a food drive for Metropolitan Ministries. Corporate product donations, non-perishable foods, canned foods, baby foods, and dried cereal can be dropped off at Cambridge’s office at 6320 South Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa 33611 during regular business hours.

Committed to giving back to the neighbors of their community, Cambridge principals Clayton Heitler and Howard Flamm chose Metropolitan Ministries because of their long-standing, and tireless work in reaching out to those in need. Also, they feel that “While the future of health care in America is being debated in Washington, people in our community are really struggling. We want to set the right tone and be of help here in our own backyard.” The principals hope that potential clients will see the benefit of helping some of their neighbors get back on their feet and get healthy. “The idea is to help save the community money and come together for one common goal.”

The Cambridge Insurance Agency will be hosting a ribbon cutting to celebrate its’ new membership with the Tampa Chamber of Commerce. The event will be held on Thursday September 10^th from 12:00- 2:00p.m at Cambridge’s offices on 6320 S. Dale Mabry Hwy in Tampa. The celebration will include local dignitaries, as well as officials from The Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

Members of the community are invited to attend and bring food and supply donations for Metropolitan Ministries. Parking is limited at The Cambridge Agency however there is plenty of parking on adjacent streets.

The Cambridge Insurance Agency was founded and is run by partners Clayton Heitler and Howard Flamm, both financial services veterans. Flamm and Heitler met as college roommates 20 years ago at the University of South Florida and have enjoyed successful careers in the Tampa-Area since then. Cambridge has developed partnerships with leading carriers to offer the best coverage and lowest prices on home, auto, business, health and life insurance.

With the souring economy and rising unemployment, the number of people losing job-related benefits is set to rise significantly.

What Exactly Is COBRA ? COBRA continuation of coverage is a program under Federal law that gives employees the right to continue their coverage of their employers’ group plans after they change or lose jobs.  However, COBRA plans are not always available and can often be the more expensive option.

 Short-Term Medical Insurance, Catastrophic Health Insurance, & an Individual or Family Plan are some alternatives ( to COBRA) that can be considered. Even with an Obama Plan that covers some of the cost for 9-months , COBRA might still be more expensive. Plus, COBRA will run out & is only a temporary solution.