Problem – My Medicare Advantage client called to tell me that she has being billed for services that she had already paid for. Her copay was $350 for the outpatient surgery but the facility billing department kept billing her for over $2000 which she ignored but now she was being threatened with collections.  

Action – Before I could get involved I told her she will need to call the insurance companies customer service and explain what is happening. Customer Service told her the office was wrong and she needed to call the billing department. She called the billing department, and they told her the insurance company was wrong, she needed to pay and then she called me.

Result – Now that we had everyone on the record. I called my direct broker manager to explain what was going on with documentation. She put a case manager on the job and within two weeks the debt was removed. Her initial copay was all she paid. She was relieved, the stress was removed and thankful for my assistance. Now she is my advocate in referring me to her friends.   

P: Robert called to say that he hadn't gotten any referrals for the past four months.
Previous to that he's been receiving two or three a month. He said that, ironically,
he'd been giving more than ever over the past four months - two or three a week!

A: I asked what he'd been talking about at coffee appointments recently,
and he said 
"Oh, I don't do coffee any more; everyone knows what I do."

R: The following week Robert invited a Member for coffee,
the next week a Member invited him,
and the week after that he got two referrals.

Go to coffee, talk about business, switch on referrals.

Problem: Shelly called me because she was ready to take control of her money so she could retire within three years

Action: I helped her create a good, proactive budget, focused on trimming expenses so she could focus on paying off her consumer debts

Result: Shelly is crushing it! We've been working together for almost three months, and she has already eliminated 6 credit cards; she feels so much more confident in her financial choices, and she can see a real vision of her retirement in no more than three years.

A prospect called me off of my Google reviews which was pretty cool. He actually had a real estate question about tax exemption and how that works in Texas because he is looking to move there and wanted to know the details.

I do not specialize in real estate or taxes in that matter, but because of PowerCore, I was able to refer and connect him to Steve Payment, who is versed in that area. He was able to find out the answer for my potential client and I was able to get them connected for further conversation and potential business for Steve.

He is very happy and said that my Google reviews told the truth, I was friendly, knowledgable and had the ability to guide him in the right direction through my network of professionals that I personally refer.

It is not always about getting a sale, helping people have confidence in life and retirement regardless of us personally doing business together is important to me.

Problem: In our last meeting, Kevin said, "I am a big long-term planner. Julie handles all the day-to-day stuff, and she's excellent at that. I "stink" at it." And he felt like he didn't have a plan.

Action: I built him an actual roadmap. I showed him that right now, while he's the only one on Medicare, is his window to do Roth conversions with minimal tax exposure. And that Roth dollars pass to his daughters completely income tax-free, even under today's inheritance rules. 

Kevin looked up from taking notes and said, "I didn't even think about that. I appreciate you bringing that up."

Result: Even though my work can take years for the benefits to be truly felt, he's now got a long-term plan. We are going to do Roth conversions to the top of his current tax bracket now before Julie is also on Medicare. This means there's only one IRMAA surcharge penalty. He will have a greater ability to adjust his taxable income and standard of living in the future. Best of all, the inheritance he bestows his daughters will be less of a tax bomb for them, too.

That's the job. Not just managing money, but seeing around corners for the people counting on me.

Problem: A homeowner left a pot of lima beans cooking while she ran a quick errand. The water boiled completely out, filling the home with a terrible burned odor that traveled all the way into the attic. There wasn’t a traditional house fire, but the smell had affected the entire home.

Action: I helped identify just how far that odor had traveled, then guided her through what needed to be addressed to remove it from the affected areas rather than simply trying to cover up the smell.

Result: She was able to get her home back to smelling like her home again, without that burned odor lingering in the living space or attic. What started with a pot of lima beans became a whole-house odor issue, but it didn’t have to stay that way.

Problem: About six months ago, a former client called me. I had helped him find warehouse space about three years earlier, but his business had changed and he no longer needed the space. He still had nine months left on his lease — about $90,000 that he was contractually obligated to pay.

Action: I told him I could market the space for sublease. I explained that he would still be responsible under his lease, but if we found a new tenant, they would take over the rent. I knew it would be a difficult space to sublease, so I marketed it aggressively and reached out to my broker network.

Result: Two months later, we found a new tenant and saved my client approximately $70,000. Needless to say, he was very happy — and able to move on to his next venture.

So if you know a business owner who has space they no longer need, give me a call. I may be able to find a solution.

Problem: Recently I had a prospect who received a letter from the State of CA with a bill for taxes, interest and penalties for 2021 when she worked as a traveling nurse in California. Her employer never withheld any taxes from her paycheck for California. She did not file a tax return for CA although she filed a Federal one

Action: I used the already filed Federal tax return and prepared a CA return for 2021. 

Result: I was able to reduce the amount of taxes assessed by CA due to being able to remove the heath insurance assessment from the amount due being a non resident, she was not required to purchase health insurance. I was able to reduce the amount due by $2,000

My client reached out because he was nearly out of wood pellets and had family coming in for a holiday. I was more than happy he texted me so that I could refill his stock. His message was very clear - "2 bags of supreme, pronto!". The tone was acceptable because he is also a buddy and we rib each other on occasion. Anyway, I gathered the supplies he needed and delivered them by hand to his house. From there, he stored them. Later that day he actually put them to good use making what I was assured were the best ribs known to man.

P. Jack was trying to sell his house. He had many facia and soffit boards that needed to be replaced. Not to mention painting all the trim.

A. We met and discussed what needed to be tackeld first. He ultimitly approved the estimate and we got his house "Sell ready."

R. With us doing the work he needed, it added thousands to the sale of his new home. 

P: An office manager called me because her company’s team page had become an embarrassment. Three years of hiring meant three years of mismatched headshots: different backgrounds, different lighting, some clearly older than others, sitting next to each other on the same page.

A: I shot the whole team fresh, on-site, in a single half day, and built a documented lighting and crop standard so every session after that one would match it exactly.

R: Today the office manager keeps a checklist and flags a new hire's photo before their first day. The team page practically updates itself, correctly, without her checking it twice. What used to embarrass her now just works.

An AV installer came to me in crisis mode. His team had filmed a huge mansion they were working in, but they barely had any dialogue and the footage was pretty disorganized. He needed someone to take what they had and turn it into a YouTube Short people would actually want to watch.

I came up with the idea to make it feel more like an HGTV-style house tour. I broke it into three parts, sped up some of the B-roll as they walked through the house, found upbeat music that fit the vibe, and added a “Coming up…” teaser at the beginning to preview what was ahead.

The finished Short became their most engaging piece of content on YouTube. It showed them they could still get something great even when they did not have much time to film, and it is actually what led to them hiring me as a client.