Transcript

Money Monday · Chuck Douglas

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Speaker 1: Greetings, salutations, and welcome, my friends, to another edition of
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Speaker 1: the Power Hour on 610 WTVN. I'm Chuck Douglas. You
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Speaker 1: know who you are, and we take it from there.
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Speaker 1: We get one hour together, which means I talk really fast,
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Speaker 1: and you must listen even faster. My number's 821-9886-821-WTVN. Lots
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Speaker 1: of stuff to cover, but first... We're in the money.
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Speaker 2: We're in the money. We've got a lot of what
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Speaker 2: it takes to get along.
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Speaker 1: Money takes... It is the first Monday of the month.
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Speaker 1: I can't believe it's October already. The first Monday of
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Speaker 1: October 2026, which of course makes it a Money Monday
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Speaker 1: with Pathways Financial Credit Union and Greg Kidwell. El Presidente
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Speaker 1: is in the studio. Greetings, salutations, welcome.
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Speaker 2: Thank you, Chuck. Great to be here again, and I'm
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Speaker 2: like you. Where does the time go?
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Speaker 1: Yeah, the older you get, the faster it goes, they say.
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Speaker 1: And at this point, the second hand on my watch
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Speaker 1: is a fan. So, yeah, it's... It is moving quickly,
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Speaker 1: and one of the things I love about October, first
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Speaker 1: Monday in October, the movie with Walter Matthau about the
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Speaker 1: Supreme Court, love that. When October Goes by Barry Manilow,
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Speaker 1: love that. October is my power month. I've been saying
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Speaker 1: this for 35, 40 years. Things just have a tendency
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Speaker 1: to go well for me in the month of October,
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Speaker 1: so I love it. I really do. I just can't
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Speaker 1: believe we're there already. One of the very significant things
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Speaker 1: that happens in the month of October is is that
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Speaker 1: term open enrollment starts getting thrown around all the time.
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Speaker 1: We talked about this last year. I want to talk
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Speaker 1: about it again because it's Pathways Financial Credit Union. Because
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Speaker 1: as I have been telling you for over a year now,
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Speaker 1: the personal human service that you get at Pathways is
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Speaker 1: something you will appreciate if you are looking at Medicare,
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Speaker 1: what they call the Medicare Advantage, the Part C's, the
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Speaker 1: things that pay for the prescriptions and so forth. Look
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Speaker 1: at your television, and I know you're old people like me,
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Speaker 1: you watch old people TV. Every other commercial is about
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Speaker 1: either adult diapers or Medicare supplement coverage. There wouldn't be
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Speaker 1: that many commercials if these 1-800 numbers were not making
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Speaker 1: a fortune getting your information and then taking your data
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Speaker 1: to whatever company and getting kickbacks for getting you to
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Speaker 1: those companies. That is is not the way to plan
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Speaker 1: something this important, this vital. You need a human being
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Speaker 1: that actually gives a good doggone about you to sit
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Speaker 1: down and help you figure it out. That's where Pathways
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Speaker 1: comes in, and that's why I'm glad Greg is here
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Speaker 1: to talk about it this time around because you only have, what,
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Speaker 1: six weeks? Is it six weeks you have?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it goes fast. It's like from October 15th through
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Speaker 2: December 7th. I mean, it moves really, really quickly.
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Speaker 1: So you've got about a week until it starts.
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Speaker 2: Yeah.
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Speaker 1: Is it okay to preliminary people who have the time
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Speaker 1: to do it ahead of the 15th of October before
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Speaker 1: the rush begins? Can they come in this week and
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Speaker 1: sit down with somebody?
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Speaker 2: They can, but we can't really do anything for them
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Speaker 2: until the actual open enrollment date starts on October 15th.
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Speaker 2: So I think that's important to know is that, you know,
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Speaker 2: there are restrictions in terms of actions that can be
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Speaker 2: taken or anything of that nature.
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Speaker 1: How many parts... are there to Medicare? I mean, I've
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Speaker 1: heard of C. I'm pretty sure I've heard of D.
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Speaker 1: We've got a whole alphabet to go, and it's the government.
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Speaker 2: I was going to say, Chuck, how many letters are
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Speaker 2: in the alphabet?
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Speaker 1: Okay, that's what I wanted to know. What are the
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Speaker 1: other considerations? Aside from C for your prescription coverage, what
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Speaker 1: else do you need to think about?
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Speaker 2: Well, actually, you know, it is truly, as you said,
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Speaker 2: it is alphabet soup. So Medicare Advantage is Part C, right?
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Speaker 2: And it's an alternative way to receive your Medicare benefits
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Speaker 2: through a private insurance company that's been approved by Medicare.
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Speaker 2: And Medicare Advantage Part C can include Medicare Part A,
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Speaker 2: which is hospital insurance, Medicare Part B, which is the
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Speaker 2: medical insurance, and then as you just mentioned, usually, not always,
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Speaker 2: Medicare Part D, which is prescription drug coverage. And then
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Speaker 2: also in Medicare Advantage, you can have a lot of
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Speaker 2: extra benefits, such as dental, vision, hearing, even fitness memberships,
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Speaker 2: over-the-counter drug allowances, or transportation benefits for those that need them. Generally,
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Speaker 2: with Medicare Advantage, members are using a network of doctors
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Speaker 2: or hospitals. Members pay co-pays and coinsurance as they receive services.
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Speaker 2: And then those plans also have an out-of-pocket annual maximum
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Speaker 2: that limits a member's total spending. for covered medical services.
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Speaker 1: Is there a government funding source or something for those?
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Speaker 1: You mentioned the spending for other, I guess, medically related,
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Speaker 1: health related things. Is there a government fund that does
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Speaker 1: that for the private companies as well? Because I know
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Speaker 1: two people, family members, that have actually these insurance company
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Speaker 1: debit cards now where they can go out and spend
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Speaker 1: a few hundred dollars a month on You know, NyQuil, vitamins,
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Speaker 1: stuff like that.
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Speaker 2: Those are your over-the-counter allowances.
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Speaker 1: Where does that money come from? Why not just lower
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Speaker 1: premiums if you're a private insurer?
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Speaker 2: I don't get that. Well, there is a contract. Medicare
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Speaker 2: is a government program, and there's typically a contract between
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Speaker 2: the government and Medicare. those insurance companies that are approved
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Speaker 2: to offer Medicare Advantage plans.
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Speaker 1: So if you're leaving private insurance and you're used to
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Speaker 1: having that little benefit, the good news is even though
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Speaker 1: you've gotten older and you're looking at Medicare now, there's
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Speaker 1: actually something within the Medicare system that does the same thing.
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Speaker 2: Right.
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Speaker 1: That's great.
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Speaker 2: And, you know, you might ask, you know, how does
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Speaker 2: a credit union offer this? Well, we have a wholly
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Speaker 2: owned subsidiary called CU Medicare Advisors. And we have a
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Speaker 2: gentleman by the name of Max Bennett, who's a licensed
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Speaker 2: insurance agent here in the state of Ohio. And, you know,
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Speaker 2: everything kind of flows through him. Well, the good news
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Speaker 2: is about that, when you call us and want to
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Speaker 2: talk to somebody about, you know, Medicare Advantage, you're going
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Speaker 2: to be talking to either Max or one of our
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Speaker 2: other licensed insurance associates that can help, you know, kind
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Speaker 2: of sketch out where you're at now. And see where
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Speaker 2: you want to go with it. And then see what
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Speaker 2: kind of plan you're in. Compare it to what we
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Speaker 2: have out there. And the first thing we're going to
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Speaker 2: tell you is whether we can help you or whether
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Speaker 2: you're in a good plan already. If you're in a
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Speaker 2: good place, you know, Chuck, we're a credit union. You
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Speaker 2: know us very well. If you're in a good place,
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Speaker 2: we're not going to try to sell you an inferior product.
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Speaker 2: We're going to tell you you're in a good place.
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Speaker 2: And we're going to give you that reassurance. But if
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Speaker 2: we can help you, we'll give you some alternatives and
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Speaker 2: then let you decide and answer any questions that you
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Speaker 2: might have in terms of figuring out what's best for you.
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Speaker 1: And there's no hammer involved, which is– that's a big
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Speaker 1: deal to me. A couple of weeks ago, I don't
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Speaker 1: know if you heard or not, I was grousing so
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Speaker 1: loud and so hard because I made the mistake of
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Speaker 1: going to one of those online services looking at my
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Speaker 1: auto insurance rates. Yes. I– was relentlessly, relentlessly texted, emailed,
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Speaker 1: called from every insurance company in America. Because I filled
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Speaker 1: out one form. I thought I was actually filling it
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Speaker 1: out for one company because it had that company's logo
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Speaker 1: on it. No, it wouldn't. It's just some farm-out search
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Speaker 1: engine thing. And that is very annoying. Another reason why
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Speaker 1: choosing some place like Pathways... it's not a high-pressure, hey,
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Speaker 1: you're going to sign this? Hey, you're going to get this?
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Speaker 1: Here's what you have. Here's what we think would benefit you.
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Speaker 1: Make your decision or not. It's on you at that point,
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Speaker 1: but you have the guidance that you need to make
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Speaker 1: a solid decision. And that's going to get more business
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Speaker 1: from somebody like me than calling me every day.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the credit union way, Chuck. We don't believe
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Speaker 2: in pressuring our members, pressuring potential members. you know, we
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Speaker 2: want to educate you and inform you. And if you've
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Speaker 2: got a good plan now, we want you to keep
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Speaker 2: that plan. And if we feel like we can improve
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Speaker 2: on your current plan, then that's what we're going to
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Speaker 2: try to do is to help you improve on your
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Speaker 2: current plan.
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Speaker 1: Now, is the website updated yet or is that going
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Speaker 1: to come on the 15th?
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Speaker 2: Yeah, everything will come on the 15th. There's general information
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Speaker 2: out there right now, but The 15th is when the
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Speaker 2: starting gun goes off.
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Speaker 1: I'm quite sure the government kind of embargoes what you
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Speaker 1: can put out there regarding Medicare until the actual time.
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Speaker 2: Right. Yeah, exactly. We're not going to like if we
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Speaker 2: get contacted. Between now and October 15th, we will certainly
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Speaker 2: call you back and talk to you, but we're going
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Speaker 2: to wait until October 15th to make that call.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. Got to play in the guidelines, otherwise they don't
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Speaker 1: let you play anymore. Right. The website I was talking about, what? Pathwayscu.com. Pathwayscu.com.
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Speaker 1: So you, it's credit union. Come on, catch up. Which
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Speaker 1: not only will be your access point for the Medicare
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Speaker 1: Advantage stuff, but for everything else Pathways Financial Credit Union does,
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Speaker 1: which is quite a bit. I mean, I can't even
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Speaker 1: say you're small anymore. Have you seen the growth statistics lately?
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Speaker 1: I mean, six months ago, it was phenomenal. You were
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Speaker 1: doing really, really well. Have you reviewed them since then?
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Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
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Speaker 1: Is it continuing?
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Speaker 2: We look at it all the time, and we're proud
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Speaker 2: of our growth. and we're proud of the fact that
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Speaker 2: in the 14 years since we formed Pathways through a
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Speaker 2: strategic merger with three other central Ohio credit unions, we've
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Speaker 2: consistently been in the top 10 in terms of percentage
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Speaker 2: growth year over year. for credit unions nationwide.
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Speaker 1: And I'm telling you that it's because of the personal service,
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Speaker 1: and it's because of the personal stuff like this that
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Speaker 1: you do. You know, this isn't some generic commercial from
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Speaker 1: some generic voice with some generic 800 number. This is
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Speaker 1: Chuck talking to Greg, to the people of Central Ohio,
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Speaker 1: about Pathways Financial Credit Union. It doesn't get any more
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Speaker 1: legitimately real than what we do on these Mondays.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yeah, I think that, you know, you being a
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Speaker 2: member of Pathways... nobody can tell our story better than
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Speaker 2: you can because you live it firsthand.
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Speaker 1: I was singing your praises with Mark last week, and
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Speaker 1: you told me, I guess this is standard procedure now.
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Speaker 1: I lost my debit card. I don't do that. I
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Speaker 1: don't lose stuff. Well, a sock occasionally in the dryer,
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Speaker 1: but I just don't lose important stuff. Somehow I've managed
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Speaker 1: to misplace my debit card, probably in a sofa cushion,
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Speaker 1: quite honestly. But anyway, I needed it because I had
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Speaker 1: to do some stuff in stores. I went to my
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Speaker 1: Pathways branch over on my beloved west side. They filled
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Speaker 1: out the form online there. Chad was typing very quickly.
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Speaker 1: They updated my ID because I had a birthday and
11:31
Speaker 1: had a new driver's license. He said, hang on, I'll
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Speaker 1: be right back. He comes back in and puts my
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Speaker 1: debit card down. Not a generic filler. No, with my
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Speaker 1: name and account number, right? Boom. I'm like, how you
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Speaker 1: did a debit card on site that quickly? Man, again,
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Speaker 1: that's another one of those little moments where I go,
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Speaker 1: I am so proud of this place, Pathways Financial Credit Union.
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Speaker 1: I've never had that happen. I've always had to wait.
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Speaker 1: You know, it'll be four to seven days that I'll
12:02
Speaker 1: arrive in the mail. Two minutes, he brings it and
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Speaker 1: sits it on the desk in front of me. That's great.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, we want to obviously serve our members as best
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Speaker 2: we possibly can, and that's one of the ways we
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Speaker 2: do it, by being able to issue... Instantly issue debit
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Speaker 2: and credit cards, especially in cases where you have a
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Speaker 2: lost or stolen card involved.
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Speaker 1: I've been completely amazed with the whole ball of wax. Honestly,
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Speaker 1: I've called customer service maybe maybe half a dozen times
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Speaker 1: since I became a member. I have never, ever, ever
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Speaker 1: sat for five minutes on hold listening to bad music.
12:39
Speaker 1: I maybe 30 seconds at some point before I had
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Speaker 1: somebody on the phone helping me out.
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Speaker 2: Well, nobody knows bad music. Better than you, Chuck, right?
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Speaker 1: That's true.
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Speaker 2: That's true. I own a lot of it, actually.
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Speaker 1: Oh, my gosh, my John Travolta album. Anyway, yeah, I mean,
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Speaker 1: the service is not only good, it's fast, it's efficient,
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Speaker 1: it's complete, and it's something to be proud of. So
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Speaker 1: I'm like a cheerleader for you. I'm constantly rooting for
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Speaker 1: you and watching you grow and get bigger and better.
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Speaker 2: Well, we certainly appreciate your support. We appreciate your membership.
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Speaker 2: And we appreciate the opportunity to be able to talk
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Speaker 2: to the people of Central Ohio.
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Speaker 1: All right. Those crew MasterCards, by the way, you still
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Speaker 1: got time, right?
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Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
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Speaker 1: Okay.
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Speaker 2: Absolutely. We rolled it out with a fixed 9.96% APR,
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Speaker 2: annual percentage rate. And rates are going up a little bit.
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Speaker 2: It's still 9.96%.
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Speaker 1: That's just phenomenal. My mailbox the last month or so
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Speaker 1: has just been loaded with credit card pre-approval stuff. But
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Speaker 1: if you read the fine print, which you all should,
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Speaker 1: it's a good rate. But it's variable. It's for a
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Speaker 1: limited time. And then it adjusts to this, that, and
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Speaker 1: the other. This is a fixed rate card under 10%.
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Speaker 2: That's correct. Wow.
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Speaker 1: America is so wonderful. Pathways Financial Credit Union, Greg Kidwell,
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Speaker 1: thank you very much for another Money Monday. Enjoy October.
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Speaker 1: I hope this is as wonderful for you as I
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Speaker 1: expect it to be for me.
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Speaker 2: Thanks for having me, Chuck. I really appreciate it.
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Speaker 1: All right, sir. I appreciate Pathways Financial Credit Union. That
14:14
Speaker 1: is my credit union. Time now for a check of
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