Saving With Steve with Steve Sexton Year-End Money Moves, Savings Benchmarks and Life Insurance Basics with Peter Colis Steve Sexton talks with Peter Colis, CEO and co-founder of Ethos, about year-end holiday spending, savings benchmarks and how term and permanent life insurance differ, before closing with a solo segment on Social Security timing and bond risk for retirees. Welcoming Peter Colis For Year-End Planning Steve Sexton opens the episode by thanking his listeners and turning to the year-end planning season, which he says arrives quickly. He asks what families should be doing before the holidays to protect one another, and introduces his guest, Peter Colis, CEO and co-founder of Ethos, a life insurance technology company. Sexton describes Ethos as replacing the traditional week-long, medical-heavy application process with a faster online one, and notes that Colis is also a member of the Forbes Financial Council. Colis explains that his interest comes from a belief that family financial security depends on life insurance, which he calls a cornerstone of a family's plan. He says his team saw a chance to make buying coverage simpler and more approachable. Sexton recalls his own experience of a medical exam at his home, with blood work and a long list of questions, and says a simpler process would be welcome. Colis replies that the company has spent about ten years automating the process and says it has protected more than 800,000 families so far. Silent Costs Behind the Holiday Budget Colis tells Sexton that the holiday season tends to expose spending that people never planned for, and he urges listeners to set a strict total limit before the promotions begin. Spending often creeps up in December even when budgets were careful through October, so anchoring to a number early matters. He lists the silent costs that catch families off guard: hosting, peak-season flights, gas for road trips, airport parking, groceries for big dinners, party outfits, wrapping paper, greeting cards and postage, and year-end tipping for the people who help run daily life. Sexton adds that a holiday meal for ten or twelve people can reach several hundred dollars, and that hotels become necessary when relatives' homes are full. He recalls a viewer named Veronica in Texas, who said she never realized how much she spent. Colis also points to timing, noting that shopping now clusters in October and November around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and that waiting too long can mean missing inventory. Q4 Savings Checks and Debt Payoff Targets Colis suggests treating the fourth quarter as a checkpoint, a time to ask whether the family is saving according to its plan and whether expenses fit that plan, especially before New Year's resolutions take shape. He advises reviewing what a financial advisor recommended during the year and checking the hidden fees inside investments, such as high-fee, loaded mutual funds. On debt, he recommends listing every balance with its interest rate, considering a lower-cost promotional card or refinancing, and setting a fourth-quarter payoff target for the most expensive balances. He shares savings benchmarks he attributes to published Fidelity guidelines based on gross salary: one times by age 30 to 35, two times by 35 to 40, three times by 40, six times by 50, eight times by 60 and ten times by 67. He describes the order of priorities as an emergency fund of three to six months of spending in a liquid account, capturing the full employer 401(k) match, and then paying down debt with rates above about 7 percent before expanding discretionary savings. Employer Coverage and Choosing Term Life Open enrollment, Colis says, is a good moment to review whether the family's health plan still fits, including changes such as a new child or a new health need, and to look at dental and vision coverage. He turns to employer-provided life insurance, which he says typically covers less than one times salary, commonly $25,000 or $50,000. He urges people to ask what their family would face without their income, noting costs such as the mortgage or rent, college tuition and debt, and suggests a common guideline of about ten times annual income. Colis explains that employer policies usually end when someone leaves the job, and he separates individual coverage into two main categories. He describes term life as covering a fixed period, typically 10 to 30 years, which he says fits the years when children depend on a household income and debts remain. Permanent coverage such as whole or universal life lasts a lifetime, costs significantly more, and builds a cash component. He says term fits about 95 percent of people. Applying Online and Becoming an Agent Colis describes the buying process as an online application that asks about personal life and health, followed by an instant approved offer that can be checked out and put in force, taking about ten minutes on average. Sexton compares that with his own experience of a month of paperwork, exams and doctor records. Colis says most buyers complete the process on a phone without speaking to anyone, that term length should match the years of need, and that a 35-year-old might choose a 30-year term while a 50-year-old might choose a 10-year term. He also says the company offers products for people with pre-existing conditions or debt, and that it approves more than 90 percent of applicants for some coverage. Later, Colis turns to careers, explaining that becoming a life insurance agent requires a state license after roughly 15 to 20 hours of online study and a one-hour exam, with a licensing cost near $200. He says agents can be appointed and paid commissions quickly, and that 15,000 agents sold the company's products last year. Solo Segment on Retirees and Bond Risk After thanking Colis, Sexton turns to a solo segment for listeners over 65 and anyone helping an aging relative manage money. He points to Social Security payment dates that are staggered by birthday, with payments arriving on the 9th for birthdays from the 1st to the 10th and the 16th for birthdays from the 11th to the 20th, and he warns that automated bills timed after those deposits can create overdraft problems. He notes that the Social Security Administration has phased out paper checks, so bank details should be current. He describes grocery and household inflation as a pressure on fixed incomes, with some older adults leaning on credit cards for necessities, and suggests auditing subscriptions and food budgets before fall utility costs rise. He also points to early Medicare plan data, advising listeners to organize their medication list before using the official Medicare Plan Finder. He closes by describing the bond portion of a portfolio as an airbag and urging listeners to ask what happens if inflation stays at 4 percent.
