Welcome to Fed Chat!!

Our guest today is Eric Jorgensen, Founder of True North Disability Planning.

Special Needs is a disability that requires a unique set of skills and education to maneuver the complex programs.

Eric will share why he is so passionate about helping families and share some very emotional, personal stories.

He further expresses the need to level the playing field when it comes to disability planning for ALL families so they can understand and benefit from these services.

We discussed how working with a team of professionals can enhance relationships when approaching disability planning versus going at it with only one advisor.

Finally, Eric details the extraordinary benefits federal employees should be taking advantage of and how their families could be in a better position than most non-feds.

Eric Jorgensen Bio

Eric Jorgensen is the Founder of True North Disability Planning, the go to resource for families who have children with intellectual/developmental disabilities and the professionals who serve them. He is the host of the “ABCs of Disability Planning” podcast, which introduces its listeners to organizations and resources they may have never heard of or weren’t sure how to use. And he is the author of Waypoints – a monthly deep dive into disability planning topics. 

Widowed in 2012, the same year he retired from the Navy, Eric knows first-hand how challenging it can be to navigate the maze of benefits, resources, and services available to those with an intellectual and/or developmental disability because his son has both. 

In the beginning, Eric looked for someone who would tell him what he had to do, when he had to have it done by, and how to get it done; but it didn’t seem like this person or company existed. So he did what many of you are doing, did his best to make it work with what was available to him. Beating cancer in 2020 was the last straw, pushing him to incorporate his business and change the disability planning landscape.

Episode Links

• Eric Jorgensen
• True North Disability Planning Website
• ABCs of Disability Planning podcast
• True North Disability Planning on YouTube
• First Maryland Disability Trust
•  So Good Farms

Learn More about Valor Wealth Partners

• Email: Ed@ValorWealthPartners.com
• Valor Wealth Partners website
• Financial Planning 4 Feds YouTube Channel
• Valor Wealth Partners Facebook Page
• Valor Wealth Partners LinkedIn Page
• Free-of-charge FedImpact Retirement Workshop

Welcome to Fed Chat!!

Our guest today is Melinda Caughill - Medicare Expert & Speaker and Co-founder at 65 Incorporated.

Melinda’s high-energy and fun personality made this episode entertaining as well as extremely educational.

As a Medicare expert she has presented to many professional organizations and consulted with some of the nation’s foremost corporations.

During our exciting conversation, Melinda shares how her unique approach has helped many people make sense of Medicare for the first time. We also discuss the benefits of her unbiased services and why she does not sell Medicare insurance.

Melinda also enlightens us on how federal employees can maximize FEHB and TRICARE when considering Medicare.

Melinda Caughill Bio

For Melinda Caughill, Medicare is more than just a job, it’s a family tradition. 

As the daughter a nationally-recognized Medicare expert and pioneer, Diane J. Omdahl, RN, MS, she basically grew up with Medicare being discussed nightly at the dinner table.

Today, as a Co-founder of 65 Incorporated and the revolutionary i65 Medicare guidance software, Melinda uses her expertise to provide today’s seniors, their families, and their professional advisors with unbiased, expert Medicare guidance.

With her extensive background in marketing in addition to Medicare, Melinda is skilled at taking the most confusing and complex aspects of Medicare and translating it into easy-to-understand visual concepts. In fact, she’s the designer behind the revolutionary “3 Parts and 2 Paths” redefinition of how Medicare works. According to many people, this unique interpretation was “the first time Medicare ever made sense.”

Melinda is also a high-energy and entertaining Medicare speaker, having presented to professional organization, like the AAII, CSA, and FPA, as well as for prominent companies, like Edward Jones, LPL, AIG and more. When given a choice on topic, Melinda most enjoys educating financial advisors on how to use Medicare as a very powerful marketing tool to grow their business while also better assisting clients. 

Over the last decade, Melinda has also consulted with some of the nation’s foremost corporations on Medicare, like PBS and Macmillan Publishing.

Episode Links 

• Melinda A. Caughill
• 65 Incorporated website
• i65 Medicare Optimization Software website
• T3 Technology Survey

Learn More about Valor Wealth Partners

• Email: Ed@ValorWealthPartners.com
• Valor Wealth Partners website
• Financial Planning 4 Feds YouTube Channel
• Valor Wealth Partners Facebook Page
• Valor Wealth Partners LinkedIn Page
• Free-of-charge FedImpact Retirement Workshop

Welcome to Fed Chat!!

Mark is the President and CEO of LLIS. LLIS is an insurance company that provides insurance solutions to fee-only financial advisors and their clients.

During our conversation Mark explains how their unique approach to serving fee-only advisors is not only saving people money, but changing how people buy insurance as the industry tries to move away from commissionable products.

Finally, we look at how the salaried team at LLIS is helping federal employees maximize their benefits before recommending products that may cost them more money.

Mark Mauer Bio

Have you sat in on one of Mark's webinars, conference lunch & learns, or LLIS Insurance Academy presentations? Chances are, you came back and saw him do it again.

Mark assumed the reigns of LLIS in 2012 after nine years learning the family business. He's built upon the foundation Judith established by adding more talented staff members and new technology. So that in addition to our proprietary client/advisor database and AIM messages that keep both client and advisor informed throughout the application process, we now offer APE emails (Advance Premium Email, alerting clients to upcoming premiums due), NOTE emails (Notification of Term Expiration, advising clients of term insurance conversion privileges coming soon), and a streamlined quote-to-application process on our new website, saving clients time and further protecting their confidential information.

His other family business involves his wife Leah, who joined TeamLLIS a few years ago; his two teenagers, Jay, who's into soccer and any book on sports; and Marie, who loves ballet with our own "Miss Ashley" and art.

What most people don't see him do is work out. Mark's at the YMCA at the crack of dawn before the sun is even up, when most normal people are still sleeping!

Words to Live By: “What ever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it they will want to come back and see you do it again.”- Walt Disney

Episode Links

• Mark Maurer
• LLIS website
• T3 Technology Survey

Learn More about Valor Wealth Partners

• Email: Ed@ValorWealthPartners.com
• Valor Wealth Partners Website
• Financial Planning 4 Feds YouTube Channel
• Valor Wealth Partners Facebook Page
• Valor Wealth Partners LinkedIn Page
• Free-of-charge FedImpact Retirement Workshop

Welcome to our 1st episode of Fed Chat!!

For our inaugural guest, I have the honor to interview the most recognized expert among financial professionals serving federal employees.

Throughout our interview with Chris Kowalik the Founder of ProFeds you will feel the passion she has for serving others, especially federal employees.

She shares how her training with the Marines honed her ability to simplify complex topics.

Chris explains how her amazing team connects federal benefits training with financial planning to help people navigate the complex maze of federal retirement benefits.

Chris Kowalik Bio

Chris Kowalik is the founder of ProFeds, a nationally recognized federal retirement expert, and a frequent speaker to federal employee groups  throughout the country. In her highly-acclaimed Federal Retirement Impact Workshops, she and her team empower employees to make confident decisions as they plan for the days when they no longer have to work. 

As the developer of dozens of highly-regarded retirement planning materials for federal employees and the creator of the FedImpact Webinar and the FedImpact Podcast, Chris has also analyzed the challenging retirement scenarios for thousands of federal employees – helping them to avoid costly mistakes, and highlighting opportunities for them to gain greater financial security in their retirement years. Chris’ candid and straightforward nature allows employees to get the answers they need, and to understand the impact these decisions have on their retirement.  

Chris is a former active duty U.S. Marine and served as an Arabic Linguist and Signals Intelligence Analyst prior to starting ProFeds. She and her husband have three children and live in the Chicago, IL area.

Episode Links

• Chris Kowalik
• FedImpact website
• FedImpact Webinar
• FedImpact Podcast
• ProFeds website
• Sign Up for a FedImpact Workshop

Learn More about Valor Wealth Partners

• Email: Ed@ValorWealthPartners.com
• Valor Wealth Partners Website
• Financial Planning 4 Feds YouTube Channel
• Valor Wealth Partners Facebook Page
• Valor Wealth Partners LinkedIn Page
• Free-of-charge FedImpact Retirement Workshop