Dealing Insurance with Tom Basey

Dealing Insurance with Tom Basey

[00:00:00] Ed Watters: When, when you get into a business, there's always advertisement. Uh, you're obviously on a podcast, great way to advertise.

[00:00:11] Tom Basey: Right, love this.

[00:00:12] Ed Watters: What, what are some of the other ways that you advertise and get the word out so people know that you're selling insurance products?

[00:00:20] Tom Basey: So, great question. So number one, there are both kind of innovative and new, and there's more expensive and less expensive, and there's a variety that all of them, again, it's up to you. And as an independent owner, then I continue to experiment with this and try to find the ways that either I like or reach the people that I wanna reach and are successful. But, so for example, one of the traditional ways is direct mail.

[00:00:40] Part of it, since I do Medicare, that's actually one that I do a lot. So I can buy a list of names, there's different ways to do that. But I can send out postcards to people and say, Hey, I'm an independent broker, would you like to talk about your option? I, you can even do that down to, cause my ideal client from a Medicare side is turning 65 later this year. That way, cause what I'll do is I'll help them understand Medicare part A and B from the government. And then once they understand it, cause I, I can't offer them a solution until they have it, once they have that, oh, then I can offer them one of my Medicare supplements or advantage plans. So I help them, they like that, you know, so I can do, work with them. But I can do social media, I can do, uh, print advertising,

[00:01:17] I can do digital marketing, I mean, search engine optimization, there's all different ways. Like I personally have a website and uh, I have social media presence on multiple platforms. I do mailing and then actually another thing I would wanna mention is also you mentioned podcasts, a great way to come out and just visit with people, share information.

[00:01:34] Then, uh, I do a lot of network, so I'm a member of two different chambers of commerce. So what's really just kind of getting out and meeting and greeting. Meeting people and sharing information, exchanging referrals with each other. So

[00:01:51] Ed Watters: To overcome, you must educate. Educate not only yourself, but educate anyone seeking to learn. We are all Dead America, we can all learn something. To learn, we must challenge what we already understand, the way we do that is through conversation. Sometimes we have conversations with others, however, some of the best conversations happen with ourself. Reach out and challenge yourself; let's dive in and learn something right now.

[00:02:42] Today we have a returning guest with us, Tom Basey, Tom is with Tom Basey Insurance. And we're going to speak about how you might want to include insurance sales into your life, either as a first or a second job. Tom, could you please introduce yourself, let people know just a little more about you, please?

[00:03:08] Tom Basey: Certainly. So number one, Ed, it's always a pleasure to talk to you, thanks for having me on again. Per your remarks, I'm Tom Basey with Basey Insurance. This is actually a second career for me and we can talk about that. So my first career, I was an engineer and a project manager in corporate America for many years. And now I made a complete transition and I'm four years into an independent insurance brokerage, so that's what I do. I'm actually based in Texas but you, one of the things we can talk about is potentially how I can work kind of anywhere in the U.S. That is, I have my state license and I get non-resident license in other states. I'm actually in eight different states currently in the US from uh, Washington, kind of down around over to Florida on the southern edge. And as I find the need to help someone, then I'll go and get a resident license, a non-resident license, rather than the state where they are. But that's a little bit about me, that's who I am.

[00:03:54] Ed Watters: So how did you get started in the insurance business, Tom?

[00:04:00] Tom Basey: Great question. So like, I, I suspect like many people, I was, worked in corporate America, I had insurance, didn't really understand it, didn't really even like it, okay. So once a year I'd have to make some selections. Okay, and that's fine, but, and I would actually, I'd often have my wife handle that portion. So she also is an employee, so we were, you know, we were divide and conquer. But some, one day somebody called me and talked to me about a cancer policy and they talked me through. So I, I started to understand how prevalent cancer diagnoses would be and how expensive it can be.

[00:04:28] And I kind of already knew that I had a deductible and copays, I knew that, you know, my health insurance doesn't cover everything. So I understood the value of a cancer specific policy. And so my point is I was actually a customer first, that's, so that's the real answer to that question is that I was a customer. Then flash forward a few years, I wanted a career change. I was tired of an hour commute one way each way. I was looking for a way, Hey, how can I dictate my time or when I work, when I don't work? Just have more control, wanted to be entrepreneurial. And so someone actually reached out to me as I was, as I was investigating career options. And so I had the opportunity to offer some cancer insurance and other policies that was just, so, it kind of fell into my lap. So I was a customer first, and then as I was looking for a second career alternative, someone explained to me some of the benefits as, as a second or even part-time, something you can, you can dip your toe in. And so that's kind of how that happened.

[00:05:17] Ed Watters: So, why don't you talk to us a little bit about the pros and the cons of being a broker agent in the insurance field.

[00:05:27] Tom Basey: And, and so do your, and just like everything, right, there are pros and cons. And you, that's the thing, as a broker, the good, the good thing about that is I get appointed with multiple different carriers, and so that's good. And so I like the fact that I can offer somebody potentially multiple different solutions. So I call it tailoring, I can find something that fits just exactly your needs. Maybe one carrier doesn't have it in your state, but another carrier does. So I, I can do that and there's a freedom with that, that. So I have no boss really, I'm an independent broker. Uh, they want me to do well and so they support me.

[00:06:00] Sometimes the different brokers support me even financially as far as, for one thing, you get compensated no matter, when you enroll someone in an insurance policy, typically there's a commission. You're gonna get compensated that way. Then often as the agent of record on that policy, every year that they renew, then you're going to get a, a renewal fee on that. So it's aditum. Having said that, if you're a captive agent, cause you can do that, you can go to work for some company. They do more about providing you the prospects, that is potentially, either people are calling into those or they buy, there's a variety of different ways that come, whereas the independent agent, I have to do more of that on my own.

[00:06:32] So I have to seek out potential new clients. So, so there's, so the pro is I've more freedom, and I can tell you the solution, and I can just define my time and all kinds of, the concepts, I have to own more of the, of the process, so I have to find people. You can be a captive agent, I have a cousin who's a captive agent. In fact, she's done both, she's gone back and forth. She was captive for a while, went independent and went back to captive. She likes the full featured functionality that being a captive person is, and, and candidly in her state, I think their particular company really rules the roost on the product offering she has. For example, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna talk about Medicare.

[00:07:06] I think that particular carrier in that particular state, they're, you're hard pressed to compete against them. So I think she found it better for her to, to be captive. Or conversely, in my state there are multiple, uh, carriers, they're all very good. You know, you think of all the, you think of the names of the big health insurance, they all offer Medicare for example, and they're all in my state and they all do a good job. I'd rather kind of be able to use whichever one worked for somebody. So that's a little bit about the differences, I would say.

[00:07:34] Ed Watters: Yeah. So what does it take to actually become an independent agent?

[00:07:41] Tom Basey: Great question, great question.

[00:07:43] Ed Watters: What type of schooling? How long?

[00:07:46] Tom Basey: Great question. So that's, that's the thing, so I actually, my undergraduate is in engineering and then I have a master's in business and that benefited me a lot in corporate America. And I was, I'm glad for the education, I learned a lot from it. I continue to use that in certain ways and it helped me in corporate America. However, one of the things they will say in the insurance industry, and the, the accuracy of this is like any broad generalization, maybe it's not a hundred percent. They, they'll say like, it's the only thing where you don't have to do an undergraduate degree and you can still be very, very successful. And that's the thing, so to your point, really, you, you must pass a, a, a state insurance license exam. And so you've gotta get, you've gotta study for that exam and pass that exam, and so that's kind of step one. And typically what happens is, you are sponsored by one or more people, maybe an agency or a F M O, a Field marketing Organization, an agency of people. If they're independent or maybe it's a captive, but, but one way or another, typically they're gonna sponsor you. That potentially, that'll mean they will pay for your, uh, your preparation coursework and or potentially pay for the exam. That kind of varies individually, but somebody's gotta pay for that. Uh, and then once you take that exam, now that I've got a license, the state recognizes and says, okay, we know that guy, we've got his name. Maybe do some background checks cause typically there's a couple, number one, typically you're gonna need to not have bankruptcy, at least in, for X number of years.

[00:09:04] And typically you're not gonna be able to have a criminal record. So they kind of want people to be, uh, uh, they want some, there's some limited things besides that, besides those qualifications. Then you pass that exam and you, you understand what a deductible is, you understand, uh, what a copay is, co-insurance, and then now you've got that license. Then you have to get appointed with one or more carriers, you're gonna sell one life insurance policy. Well, the license alone doesn't do it one company has to appoint you. And so then you've gotta get an appointer with them and typically, similarly, they need you to have some level of training so that you understand their products in particular. And often there's a, there's some example, there's some compliance in, they want you to understand, everybody basically requires, for example, Anti-money laundering. And so it's, it's the industry, it's, it's interesting. It is pretty regulated, that's the thing. What I, there're pros and cons to that, right? Regulation makes things challenging, now there's, but it also, it's safeguard. So like every year I've gotta take Anti- money laundering training just to make sure that I'm up on the latest trends. Cause what they don't want, literally [00:10:00] people can come in, bad actors can come with some kind of funds and they can potentially use insurance policies to kind of launder the money.

[00:10:06] So it's important to understand that and follow procedures to make like, one of the obvious things is called know your customer, as you need to know a little bit about that person. Can they present a, an i, an identification? Are they living in the state where you're supposed to, all this kind of stuff. So there's some regulation, but, but having said all that, the simple answer is, eh, just get an insurance license and get appointed with one carrier and then you can sell somebody some kind of insurance solution.

[00:10:29] Ed Watters: And then, uh, also you need a business license and all that?

[00:10:35] Tom Basey: Well, potentially you don't necessarily have to, that's a great point, so that's, that kind of goes back to the captive. So I personally, I went, I went ahead and I did want to establish, like there are different ways to, to form your business. I personally have an LLC, a Limited Liability Company, but they're different. So you can incorporate, you can be a sole proprietorship. But interestingly, all, all I'm saying is you don't necessarily have to, in other words, if you're a captive agent, you're still kind of an employee of those people. So there's a, there's some flexibility in that. But I guess I kind of like that, that's another thing that I like. So in other words, I might use the word flexibility, even freedom. That is an industry allows you to kind of do things different ways depending on what you want. And personally, I've been appointed with a lot of different carriers.

[00:11:14] Some carriers, I stick with them, some carriers I don't. Just kind of depending on either the level of support I get or how easy it is to use their system, whatever it is. But no, you really don't have to do that necessarily, but, but I did. I think it's a, I think it's a good idea. And so since you said that, what I would offer is, so, uh, limited liability. So it's, it's convenient to separate things, for one thing. Oh, I guess to your, so here's the thing, an example of, if these carriers, they'll want you to get, to have some E and O, Errors and Omissions insurance. And so in addition to getting, so having my license, I've got this thing that makes certain that for, what if I make a mistake, right? Errors and Omissions, if I make a mistake on the form, be it electronic or paper, if, if something goes wrong that allow, I don't wanna screw that up, right? In other words, what if I got somebody's birthdate wrong? Someone's 67 and I wrote it down that they were 37 years old and they, you know. So, bottom line is you do have to have some insurance in place, that's not terribly expensive though. But, um, your question, so, but the other thing is, so I have an LLC so that in theory then somebody couldn't come back and sue me and take my house or something cause things went, so I've got, I've got E and O insurance protecting me and I've got an LLC to protect that.

[00:12:18] Ed Watters: So that, that's pretty interesting. Uh, talk to us about what it takes for you to do business, like a home office, or do you walk the streets? Do you have to have a location somehow?

[00:12:39] Tom Basey: So let's talk about that, that's the thing I'm telling you. This is, number one, there's flexibility and number two, uh, in this new post Covid world, things got turned on their heads a little bit, right? So actually you can be completely virtual. When I say completely virtual, then you will not service some subset of populations that're not receptive to that, you know, because they want you to physically come and sit at the coffee table, some people still do. But my point is, you can do that, you can have a physical presence.

[00:13:02] Uh, I personally have been, I, I ha, you can do coworking. So I personally have a coworking space so if I need to be somewhere with somebody, then I can do that. I do run largely virtual these days, but I'm considering going ahead and investing in some small plot real estate. These days, another thing I like about the insurance business is my inventory. I don't have supply chain issues, you know what I mean? My inventory, my inventory, at the end of the day, the solutions I provide someone are a policy and it's, and a policy by the way, since I'm at this point in the conversation, it's a contract between the insured and a big insurance carrier. So the good, so I, so there's a lot of different things I like about that.

[00:13:36] I can get that policy instantaneously, it's customized to the person. They can get electronic or paper, however they want it. The custom, the, the, the big insurer's got it so it's the, the inventory is simply not an issue for the most part. I really like that aspect of it and it allows me to make, be this flexible. That's the thing, I have laptop computers. Largely, I go, if I go to someone's house, I'm largely taking that along. And if I wanna show them something, if I wanna run an illustration, or if, uh, or if I want to get them the detailed explanation of benefits, a booklet of their standard insurance policy, I can get that all kind of real time.

[00:14:08] So you can be as rich as you want. Having said that, like I say, I'm considering making a purchase because number one, if I buy, purchase, then uh, I'll get drive by traffic potentially if I did it. Ideally, I can have my on a, own signage and then I have a physical place to store certain things. And then actually I, I've got a couple of people that kind of work with me, that's another thing. You can, if you wanna have full-time employees you can provide them a place to sit in front of PCs, so there's, it's flexible. So you can, you can, that's, I'm, I'm telling you that's a recurring theme, so you can kind of do it however you want. There, there, there are pros and cons to any of these theories. But you can be virtual, you can be at home, you can do coworking space, you can, uh, keep, uh, you can keep, uh, employees, you can let, you can allow them to be hybrid, bring them in periodically to have, uh, team meetings, or they can be all virtual, it's, it's flexible.

[00:14:53] Ed Watters: So, say somebody wants to make this a full-time gig and they, they want to make a good living. What dedication does it take and how much business do you have to bring in each month to maintain a level for your livelihood?

[00:15:16] Tom Basey: Well, okay, well let's talk about that. So number one, if you go captive, you can have some base salary sometimes, right? They will pay you something, but even then, typically insurance does tend to be commission driven. So I'm completely commission driven, I don't get, I'm not an employee. So that's the thing, again, the pros and cons, there's a freedom with this, okay. Um, but, but to, to your remark, over time as you accumulate a book of business. So in other words, the first time I enrolled someone and provided them some solution, whatever policy it was, I dunno if it was a cancer policy, a life policy, I'm not sure. My very first one, uh, uh, yeah, I don't, whatever that was four years ago, I start piling those up and it's called a book of business. And when I have that, one, those people trust me,

[00:15:59] I can offer them other things. Uh, if they have a problem with the carrier and they, that's the thing, I like to use big reputable carriers so typically I don't have much trouble with existing customer service. Typically, the big companies take good care of them, but so those are mine. Over time, as I accumulate that every year that those people renew their policies, I get paid a renewal. So depending on what, here's the, here's the challenge of me answering you conclusively, depending on what those type of policies are, what, some people only do life insurance. Personally, I do Medicare, I do life, I do some of these supplemental things like cancer, and then I do long-term care so I have a variety of different solutions.

[00:16:35] The, how those pay varies slightly on how much upfront monies you get and sometimes you can actually even dial it. You can say, give me more of my commission now and, and then there's the, the, the annual renewals that they pay. But at the end of the day, for me personally, rather than looking at that, someone could look at that and try to optimize that. I prefer to look at the people that I'm talking with and figure out what solution they need and enroll them in that. So some, so someone could, in other words, like here's, here's, here's some other examples, Medicare commissions, I can't split those with somebody. If somebody, somebody says, Hey, I got my mom on it, even if they, even if their insurer guy, I partner with other insurance,

[00:17:08] like, I partner with property and casualty people all the time, okay. That, potentially they could actually offer some of the solutions I offer. I don't go the other way though and they don't want to. They want to concentrate on bundling your car and your homeowner, but don't, my point is they can, if they told me a Medicare person, I can't split that commission. Medicare is, is built that way, it's a relatively small commission that would last you longer maybe, maybe not. But my point is, but if it was a life insurance policy, and again, they can write some of those as well, we can actually split that. If they know someone and I have a solution that either gets them more face value for a lesser premium, then they will actually partner with me and I can split the commission with them if they're licensed and appointed with the same carrier.

[00:17:45] Now that's the trick, sometimes they're not. In other words, if they're one of the big people that have TV advertisements that wanna protect your cars, and uh, uh, homes, and that kind of stuff, those, they, they have some life insurance policies. But those are not typically the ones I have. I have other independent carriers, the ones that, uh, won't get, that's the thing, I like to, I like to be agnostic. But, uh, ones that have co, co commercials about big, pretty, uh, scenic, they, they ten, they tend to not, they, they don't talk about the car and the home. There's other carriers that offer life insurance and other solutions, long-term care, some of them do all of that too. But I guess my point is, if you and I are two different insurance agents and we're both appointed with the same carrier, then we can refer one or the other and we can even split the commission. Where you can't do that necessarily in Medicare. So my point is, there's even flexibility there.

[00:18:30] So that's the thing, if you wanna specialize in one or more of these, then you get both the benefits and the challenges with each one of those markets, you know. Uh, Medicare is

[00:18:39] Ed Watters: Interesting.

[00:18:39] Tom Basey: I, I really, I can't cold call, I can't just reach out, I, and get them. I can't buy a list of 65 year olds and call them, not allowed to, they're protected. Even though it happens all the time, they're protected. I'm not supposed to reach out to someone on Medicare, uh, out of the blue without a permission to contact. We're conversely, and if I want to, I can, I can approach anybody about life insurance, for example, there's no restriction on that. So there's just differences.

[00:18:59] Ed Watters: Right. So, so there are restrictions on the Medicare end of it, how you approach and,

[00:19:08] Tom Basey: Yeah.

[00:19:08] Ed Watters: uh, that, that's very interesting also.

[00:19:12] Tom Basey: And it makes it more challenging, but I like it. So not only do I have to have your permission if you're over 65 to approach you about it, every time we sit down, I've really gotta document and make, like they don't want me to do a bait and switch. I personally don't have burial plots to sell, but they wanna make certain that I don't somehow use a Medicare dialogue to then talk to you about some other products. There's a scope I'm quoting from where I have to mark and say if I'm, if I'm talking Medicare, yeah, we're talking about Medicare supplements, advantage plans, prescription plans, maybe hospital indemnity. But that's thing, it doesn't say anything about burial plots and so I can't talk about that in there and, when I do that, right? Let's, uh,

[00:19:46] Ed Watters: Okay, so when, when you get into a business, there's always advertisement. Uh, you're obviously on a podcast, great way to [00:20:00] advertise,

[00:20:00] Tom Basey: Right, love this.

[00:20:02] Ed Watters: what, what are some of the other ways that you advertise and get the word out so people know that you're selling insurance products?

[00:20:10] Tom Basey: So, great question. So number one, there are both kind of innovative and new, and there's more expensive and less expensive, and there's a variety that all of them, again, it's up to you. And as an independent owner, then I continue to experiment with this and try to find the ways that either I like or reach the people that I wanna reach and are successful. But, so for example, one of the traditional ways is direct mail. Part of it, since I do Medicare, that's actually one that I do a lot and so, so I can buy a list of names, there's different ways to do that, but I can send out postcards to people and say, Hey, I'm an independent broker would you like to talk about your options?

[00:20:41] I, you can even do that down to, cause my ideal client from a Medicare side is turning 65 later this year. That way, cause what I'll do is I'll help them understand Medicare part A and B from the government. And then once they understand it, cause I, I can't offer them a solution until they have it. Once they have that, oh, then I can offer them one of my Medicare supplements or advantage plans. So I help them, they like that, you know, so I can do, work with them. But I can do social media, I can do, uh, print advertising, I can do digital marketing, I mean search engine optimization, there's all different ways. Like I personally have a website, and, uh, I have social media presence on multiple platforms, I do mailing. And then actually another thing I would wanna mention is, also you mentioned podcasts, a great way to come out and just visit with people, share information. Then, uh, I do a lot of network, so I'm a member of two different chambers of commerce. So it's really just kind of getting out and meeting and greeting. Meeting people and sharing information, exchanging referrals with each other. So there's a, any, any way that businesses do advertising, that's an option as well.

[00:21:40] Although I would like to say Medicare's a little bit more, uh, uh, limited. But you can't, uh, and or cold call them, literally I can't. Or I can pay somebody to pick up the phone and dial people, uh, to say, sir, Madam, do you have a, you have a mortgage? Yes, I do. Well, do you wanna leave your family, uh, with that? What if you were to unfortunately pass away, God forbid, next week? Would your family have the funds available to pay off the mortgage and, or are they gonna be able to replace your income? So that's one of the things that life insurance offers. So, you can do that, you, you can cold, you, you can walk door to door. Actually, I've done that some for small business cause I've offered some solutions for small businesses. I've gone door to door in an industrial park too. So there's, there's, it's all,

[00:22:19] Ed Watters: Interesting. Yeah. So is there anything important that we did not cover about getting into the insurance field?

[00:22:28] Tom Basey: I don't know that it's, we haven't, I think we've done a decent job of talking about getting in initially. I think really the more interesting thing is the long term. So I'd like to spend a little bit more time remarking about that. And so like I say, for, I, I wanna speak generically because it'll vary across different solutions. But if you're going to enroll someone in a solution, like I, I enrolled my son in a life insurance policy recently. I'm, I'm quoting, uh, this week with a cousin of mine, a long-term care policy. I, I have long-term care policy on myself as well. But I guess my point is, whichever, whichever one you enroll, your compensation will vary. For example, a life insurance policy, the size of it, that is how, what is the face value and how much you're, how much the person is gonna pay for that,

[00:23:10] that will vary. And that alone if we, I'll just talk about that. And so my son is very young, he's in his twenties. And the policy, there was a good size, it was like almost 500 K. Guess what? That didn't cost very much for him. That's because he is younger, the older they are, the more expensive it's gonna be. But my point is, the compensation that the company, that particular carrier paid for me, is gonna be a function of, one of the ways to estimate it is the annual premium. So take whatever number my son is paying per month, multiply that by 12, that's what the first year premium is. Well, they'll give me some percentage of that.

[00:23:41] Let's just say 30%, 50%, whatever that number is. That's the commission, boom, there. Now every year, and my son, he's in his twenties, I, and he's got a 30 year mortgage. I enrolled him in a 30 year term life insurance policy. He has the option to renew that, it'll be much higher rate then, cause it'll be 30 years older. But my point is, every year that he keeps that, then it'll give me some smaller percentage. Maybe it's 6%, but they'll give me that each year. But my message is, one of the, when, from a pure financial standpoint, one of the things I like about this, so the number one thing I like is the flexibility. The second thing I like about it is the way that, and it's a, it's a, it's a mindset shift.

[00:24:18] Most people, be it hour, hourly or salaried, you're accustomed, you're doing some work and you get compensated for that. You do some work and you get compensated for that. Even if you're a, a, a, a, cardiac surgeon, they go in there and they make big bucks, I don't know, 300, 500 K a year, I don't know. And they're in there and it's high, it's high pressure. Few people know how to do it, and, and it's, it's dangerous and very important work, so they get super compensated. But I think right after the surgery's over, then they're not getting paid anymore. And so if they, the year they stop, I think they stop generating income. Where these things, where an insurance policy, if you build this book of business over time, you're helping people.

[00:24:50] You're accumulating this book of business and it will continue to pay you. So in theory, if you have, uh, 1000 policies that you've accumulated over X years, you've enrolled, and that's saying you can have more than one policy with one person. But, but if you did, uh, 500 people then, two policies, so you have a thousand policies and if each one of those things just pays you, uh, a hundred dollars or $200 a year, well that's $200,000. So it can be, so over time, it can be, and it's gonna continue to pay that. Now of course, people will pass away, people will decide not to pay. There's reason, there's reasons why the attrition will fall, that's why you keep working to, to build your book of business and to retain it. But my point is, I, I like that and it's, it's a fascinating, I'm four years in, it's fascinating how I'm working now and the payment that I get is really from stuff that I've already done. And so it's an interesting, but there's a freedom associated with that too. Now I can kind of do whatever I want cause I'm getting paid anyway for stuff I already did and, or I, I, because I understand and know that I'm working now for getting paid in the future.

[00:25:49] Ed Watters: So, so do they catalog and ledger who, you know, you get this book of business. As you say, people die or they give up their policies, how do they notify you of all of these changes all the time?

[00:26:06] Tom Basey: Well, they won't necessarily notify me. They, it, I, these days I can log in, and so that's the thing, I'm appointed with a lot of different carriers, okay. And, and can't, and so what I do is, so I have it at an aggregate database where I keep track of myself, so any person that I enroll. So one thing if I'm talking to somebody, I keep them over here on this list. Once I enroll them in a policy, they move to this here, they're my client's list and I mark down what solutions they have. Now, admittedly to your point, that system will let me know, not necessarily will the carrier know, kind of depending on what it is.

[00:26:34] Maybe if they, if they pass away, then actually I think I do get a notification on that carrier to carrier. But what if they just decide and switch, then I won't necessarily know. So I, you could argue what I would need to do is do a kind of reconciliation each year. But I don't necessarily do that because candidly, once I enroll someone, like, I like to send out end of the year presence, you know, one, appreciation for the people, two, will keep me in mind for referrals. It's just a good business policy and so I'll send those things out. I like to check in on people, Hey, how are you doing? Sometimes I just shoot them a note. But I guess my point is, I don't worry about that too much if someone, but if someone wanted to know, if you needed to know that, then you'd do a reconciliation, uh, each year to make certain. And I, and I'm telling you, I know sometimes somebody has left me, but I'll still go ahead and send them something at least a year or two just to, I'm grateful they had that and just keep me in mind.

[00:27:22] Ed Watters: Yeah. Interesting. So, so it's real true entrepreneurship here.

[00:27:27] Tom Basey: Yeah.

[00:27:28] Ed Watters: You don't really know what your paycheck's gonna be until you get it.

[00:27:32] Tom Basey: Uh, that's correct, that's a great point. And so that's the thing, in my, so I have this business bank, I have my personal stuff and my business bank account. These different carriers pay me stuff. Anytime I enroll someone, then I get paid something that, that's the way it works. And then periodically, yes, I get the renewals as well. So, yeah. So you, one of your original questions, this level, well, you just have to work long enough so that, that level's high enough that you don't care, right? In other words, what, if you need,

[00:27:56] Ed Watters: Right.

[00:27:56] Tom Basey: If you need $4,000 a month, will you just work until you're getting at least that on average from the different things. And if you keep working it'll continue to grow, but at least you're above that and it doesn't matter anymore.

[00:28:05] Ed Watters: Yeah. Of, of course, once you get a stack of clients and that residual income, that's pretty nice, I'm sure. So Tom, uh, that's basically all the questions I have for you. Uh, do you have a call to action for people?

[00:28:25] Tom Basey: My request is, if this is, is something you're interested in, reach out to me. I, for one thing, I, that's the thing in my business, to be your point. I'm very entrepreneurial. I just like to meet and connect to people and we never know how we're gonna help each other. So I might be able to help somebody with a life insurance policy, I might be able to help them make the same transition I did. They can leave the job that they're at and do this. So really the call to action is to connect with me through, uh, social media, whichever platform they want, I'm probably out there. You either find me Tom Basey or you can find Basey Insurance.

[00:28:52] Connect with us and let's further the conversation. So I am, to your point, I am endorsing this as a career change. In other words, there's this great resignation going on. If you're leaving your work for whatever reason, either because you can't afford to pay the gas, or if you don't want, you want more time, or you're burnt out. I mean, there's, right, we, we don't, we don't have, we, we don't, you couldn't do a whole podcast on just that alone, there's so many reasons why. But this is one to consider and I would love to have the dialogue with somebody just to think about it further. So the call to action is, reach out to me, let's connect and let's talk about, let's, let's talk about more, each person's individual situation.

[00:29:25] Ed Watters: And could you let people know exactly where to find you, please?

[00:29:29] Tom Basey: So Tom Basey, B, A, S, E, Y. So they can find me, find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Alignable, Nextdoor, all those things. I'm pretty much there, uh, Basey Insurance as well. I do have, if, if we've, if they've got video, I've got the QR code here that will take you to basey-insurance.com. So I, I'm telling you, if you, if you search on a social, uh, on a, a web, uh, a search engine, you'll find me as well, Tom Basey, they'll find me.

[00:29:55] Ed Watters: And, and for the listeners that are [00:30:00] not with us, you can go to YouTube or the Dead America website, find our episode of Tom Basey, and you will be able to just click on the QR code on the video portion of this podcast. Tom, I wanna say thank you for joining us again, you're an awesome guest and you're always welcome to join us again, sir.

[00:30:24] Tom Basey: All right, wonderful. I always enjoying my time here, so thanks very much for hosting. You have a good rest of your day.

[00:30:32] Ed Watters: Thank you for joining us today. If you found this podcast enlightening, entertaining, educational, in any way, please share, like, subscribe, and join us right back here next week for another great episode of Dead America Podcast. I'm Ed Watters your host, enjoy your afternoon wherever you may be.

Links

Tom Basey

More Tom Basey Episodes

Understanding Medicare

Long-Term Care