Two very different and very fast things have shown up here at the barn in the past few months. One of them is negative and the other is very positive for some of you.
First, you’ve probably heard that Central Pennsylva-nia is being overrun with the spotted lanternfly. Accord-ing to the PA Department of Agriculture, we should kill as many lanternflies as we can to reduce their spread and save grapevines, maples, black walnuts, and other trees and crops. If not contained, the spotted lanternfly potentially could drain Pennsylvania’s economy of at least $324 million annually, according to a study carried out by economists at Penn State.
Last year a few showed up at our office property, but not many. This year, they’re showing up in droves, and we’ve been stomping on hundreds. Or, attempting to stomp on hundreds.
Those of you who have joined me in trying to stomp the little buggers have discovered that they are lightning fast at taking off and flittering a few feet away. I would guess that my stomp to miss ratio would have me sent to the mi-nor leagues if I were playing baseball. One thing I have discovered is that while the lanternflies are extremely quick on their first jump, they can’t get it going nearly as quickly after they land. So, make sure and give it a second stomp and your average will improve greatly.
The second recent lightning fast thing that has arrived at our office is Erie’s new ExpressLife product. Erie is offer-ing both term and whole life coverage to their car insurance customers without any exam, lab work, or physician state-ments. You can get as little as $10,000 of coverage and all the way up to $500,000. A quote is automatically generated every time a car change or new car insurance quote is done, but we can also generate a quote anytime you would want to consider it.
The entire purchase process from quote to final policy takes around 10 minutes, and you get a discount on your car insurance to boot. It’s ideal for those who are too busy to take an exam, don’t like getting blood work done, want to social distance during Covid, or just want great coverage in a hurry.
Maybe we could combine these two events: If you do enough stomping of the quick spotted lanternflies, the exercise could help you get a better rate on a new life insurance policy. Or, keep stomping just for the fun of it.
Steven L. Faus, CIC, CLU
President
The open enrollment period for Medicare-related coverage begins on Thursday, October 15 and ends on Monday, December 7, 2020. Take advantage of this time to adjust your senior health insurance needs. Many recent enrollees are choosing Erie’s Medicare Supplement or a Medicare Advantage plan to round out their coverage. Ask us for details and make an appointment.
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