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Meesha Bodman Earns Safeco Insurance® Award of Excellence for Superior Underwriting Skill

Meesha Luce Bodman, ACSR

Meesha Luce Bodman, ACSR

Meesha Bodman of Allen Insurance and Financial has earned the Safeco Insurance Award of Excellence, an honor recognizing superior underwriting skill that is achieved by a select group of agents across the country who sell Safeco Insurance.
“We are proud to say  that Meesha is again part of this elite group of insurance agents,” said Michael Pierce, president of Allen Insurance and Financial. “Meesha’s dedicated, professional service to our clients has earned her this award for the fourth consecutive year.”
The Safeco Award of Excellence honors outstanding agents who have developed a solid underwriting relationship with Safeco and whose agencies have qualified for the Safeco Insurance Premier Partner Award, the company’s top recognition program.
Bodman, a resident of Hope, joined Allen Insurance and Financial in 2006. In 2013 she earned her Accredited Customer Service Representative (ACSR) designation. She has been a member of the Maine Insurance Agents Association Young Agents Committee since 2013 and was named Maine’s Young Professional of the Year in 2017. She is based in the agency’s Rockland office.
Allen Insurance and Financial is a multi-year President’s Award and Premier Partner agency, recognition given only to the best independent insurance agencies that sell Safeco. Safeco is a Liberty Mutual Insurance company.

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Holly Shields Earns CPIA Designation

Holly Shields

Holly Shields

Holly Shields, a member of the personal insurance team at L.S. Robinson Co. insurance, recently earned the designation of Certified Professional Insurance Agent (CPIA), a professional designation conferred by the American Insurance Marketing and Sales Society (the AIMS Society).
The CPIA designation, received after completion of three in-depth seminars, stands for professionalism, commitment to sales training and results, and technical knowledge. The designation requires a bi-annual continuing education update.
Shields has been with L.S. Robinson since 2008. She also holds the Accredited Customer Service Representative in Personal Lines designation.
The AIMS Society is the only insurance organization dedicated solely to recognizing training and service quality among property and casualty insurance personnel. The mission of the AIMS Society is to improve the selling skills and insurance knowledge of its members by upgrading professionalism through information and education, which will result in providing better service to the insurance-buying public.
L.S. Robinson Co. is a division of Allen and Financial,operating in Southwest Harbor, Maine.

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Live Well, Work Well Newsletter – July 2018

We’re sharing the July 2018 Live Well, Work Well newsletter which our Insured Benefits Division sends to our clients. Here is a PDF.
This month’s topics:

  • A call by the World Health Organization for a ban on Artificially Produced Trans Fat.
  • Don’t use wet as an indicator for a successful workout.
  • Smarter snacking.
  • A recipe for Velvet Lemon Supreme.

If this is something you would like to receive in your inbox each month, email Sherree Craig with your request.

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Chris Richmond Earns CMIP Designation From International Institute for Marine Insurance Studies

Chris Richmond

Chris Richmond

Chris Richmond, a member of the marine insurance division at  Allen Insurance and Financial, recently earned the designation of Certified Marine Insurance Professional (CMIP) from the International Institute for Marine Insurance Studies.
CMIP is the premier practical training and designation program in marine and longshore insurance.
Richmond, a licensed mariner and former schooner captain, works with mariners and boat yard owners in Maine and around the U.S. and heads up a marine insurance program endorsed by Tall Ships America, working with the owners and crew of the nation’s most historic sailing vessels. Richmond also holds the Accredited Advisor in Insurance (AAI) designation from The Institutes Risk & Insurance Knowledge Group and is a member of the board of directors of the Maine Marine Trades Association.

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Travel and Trip Insurance to Protect Your Investment


Vacations can sometimes cost thousands of dollars so it is important to have the proper insurance protection in case the cruise or tour operator goes bankrupt or you need to cancel the trip due to illness or other unforeseen events.
There are four major types of travel insurance, although you can also purchase packages that offer several options, including Trip Cancellation, Lost Baggage, Medical, Dental, Emergency Evacuation, 24 Hour Traveler Assistance, Baggage Delay, Travel Delay, and Accidental Death Coverages. Some policies also have options for Collision/Damage coverage for rented cars.
Travel insurance can cover:
• Trip cancellation or disruption as the result of illness or death, a crisis at work, financial default on the part of a at your operator or other unexpected events
• Medical treatment not covered by your existing insurance
• Getting home after a medical emergency, earthquake, tsunami or other environmental event or political upheaval
Generally, there are three types of insurance plans to cover these events. They are:
• Standalone evacuation plans
• Standalone medical insurance plans (including evacuation)
• A more comprehensive plan including trip cancellation and interruption coverage and medical and evacuation coverage
Among the many factors to consider:
• The coverage level your health insurance plan provides, for both emergency and non-emergency care outside the U.S.
• The likelihood you would have to cancel your trip because of an illness (you, your travel companion or close relative)
• The level of non-refundable costs involved with your trip
Click for more information from III.org.
Get a travel or trip insurance quote from Allen Insurance.

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Record-Breaking U.S. Charitable Giving in 2017 Tops $400 Billion

By Sarah Ruef-Lindquist

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA

According to Giving USA 2018, for the first time in history annual US charitable giving exceeded $400 billion, with $410.02 billion in charitable gifts in 2017. The report is available at www.givingusa.org.
Their report, published annually by Giving USA Foundation, The Giving Institute and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, released June 12, 2018, heralded the unprecedented amount of charitable giving that represents an increase of almost $20 billion over 2016, which saw total giving of $390.05 billion.
Some of the factors cited in the report for the robust nature of philanthropy reflected in the 2017 data include:

  • Solid commitment to philanthropy;
  • People having more resources available, choosing to use them to make a difference; and
  • 2017 increases in the stock market, including 20% growth in the S&P 500.

Included in the report was mention of two gifts of at least $1 billion in 2017, quoting the dean of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Amir Pasic, Ph.D., as saying “This tells us that some of our most fortunate citizens are using their wealth to make some significant contributions to the common good.”
Included in those figures were gifts by bequest of $35.7 billion, an increase of 2.3% over 2016.
As usual, gifts from living individuals made up the largest donor sector, representing 70% of the total. Foundations gave 16%, bequests 9% and corporations 5%. Giving to religion was the largest recipient area, at 31%, education next at 14%, followed by human services at 12%.
There is some speculation that with tax reform at year-end providing less of an incentive for itemization of deductions on tax returns starting in 2018, some may have accelerated giving into 2017, to take advantage of income tax treatment available. Likely we will have no way of seeing whether there has been any negative impact in 2018 of 2017 tax reform until a year from now when the 2018 figures are released.

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Planning Giving Seminar for Area Non-Profits

Abraham Dugal

Abraham Dugal

Allen Financial of Camden advisors and wealth managers Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA, and Abraham Dugal were the featured speakers at an event attended by a number of Maine non-profit organizations, held at and hosted by the Island Institute in Rockland.
Dugal and Ruef-Lindquist presented the program “The Ultimate Equation: Donor Passion + Thoughtful Planning = Planned Gifts Is your organization prepared?” Learn how to build strong policy foundations to support planned gifts and endowments.
Among those organizations participating were the Schoodic Institute, Farnsworth Art Museum, Midcoast Recreation Center, Mildred Stevens Williams Memorial Library, Harbor House, Island Institute and Georges River Land Trust.

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA

Dugal and Ruef-Lindquist spoke about the policy foundations and recognition practices they view as necessary to have fiscally-sound and successful planned giving programs and endowment funds.
Dugal’s background at Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and Cambridge Associates in Boston position him as a seasoned advisor in the area of endowment management. He reviewed the detailed aspects of sound fiscal policies that boards include in order to fulfill their fiduciary duties related to both investment and spending.
Given the unprecedented intergenerational transfer of wealth taking place in the United States, and the projections for gifts to non-profit organizations during the next 30 to 40 years in the trillions of dollars, organizations would be well-served to pay greater attention to this area of resource development to build their long-term financial sustainability, Ruef-Lindquist said.

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Anna Moorman Recognized for Medicare Sales Production

Anna Moorman

Anna Moorman

Anna Moorman of Allen Insurance and Financial has been recognized as a top Medicare producer in Maine. Moorman is one of two agents at the company who specialize in the complex market of Medicare insurance, working with a number of insurance carries to give customers a range of choices to suit their needs.
Moorman and her colleague Jo-Ann Neal are based in the company’s Chestnut Street offices in Camden.
“Medicare is very complex and both Anna and Jo-Ann enjoy helping clients navigate the Medicare maze by simplifying the process,” said Michael Pierce, company president. “At Allen Insurance and Financial, our goal is to provide dedicated, one-on-one attention to our Medicare customers, assessing each person’s needs and finding options that will align with their budget and healthcare goals.”
At a recent luncheon in Bangor, Anthem recognized Moorman for her work in the Medicare market, where she received an award for being the second highest performing broker for Anthem Medicare Supplement sales in 2017 for the State of Maine. She also received a second award for overall production of Anthem Medicare policies written in 2017, coming in fourth in a field of more than 200 brokers.

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Sarah Ruef-Lindquist Featured Speaker at May meeting of the MDI Nonprofit Alliance

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA of Allen Financial was the featured speaker at the May meeting of the MDI Nonprofit Alliance (MDINA) held recently at the Acadia National Park Headquarters offices.
MDINA is a collaborative group of nonprofits in the Mount Desert Island area who share event planning, development and other resources, including educational programming, to support their respective missions. Some of the participant groups who were represented at the meeting include the Criterion Theatre, Camp Beechcliff, Jackson Laboratories, Jesup Library, Schoodic Institute, MDI Nursing Association, Island Connections, YWCA, Bar Harbor Food Pantry, Southwest Harbor Library, Friends of Acadia, Wendell Gilley Musuem, Healthy Acadia and Island Housing Trust and host, Acadia National Park.
Ruef-Lindquist spoke about the policy foundations and recognition practices she views as necessary to have fiscally-sound and successful planned giving programs. Her background as an attorney, financial and philanthropic advisor, trust officer and board member contribute to her unique perspective as an advisor and fiduciary and how they approach potential gifts through clients’ estate and financial planning. She was invited to present as a long-time member of the board of the Maine Planned Giving Council, an association of non-profit board and staff as well as professional advisors involved in the industry of gift planning.
Given the unprecedented intergenerational transfer of wealth taking place in the United States, and the projections for gifts to non-profit organizations during the next 30 to 40 years in the trillions of dollars, organizations would be well-served to pay greater attention to this area of resource development to build their long-term financial sustainability, Ruef-Lindquist said. She is no stranger to Hancock County, having worked as a Senior Administrative Trust officer for Union Trust until a merger in 2008 with Camden National, and as a past board member and development chair for the Abbe Museum.

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