Hometown Senior Solutions

08/27/2026

Don't forget to keep voting!!! Vote for Hometown Senior Solutions for best insurance agency, and Hometown Tax & Bookkeeping for best Tax Preparer & Financial Advisor! You can vote every day 😀

The nominations are in! Stay tuned for voting starting Friday, August 14.

08/26/2026

Did you know?

Being married doesn’t automatically mean your spouse has unlimited legal authority to make decisions or handle everything on your behalf if you’re unable to do it yourself.

Depending on the situation, your spouse may need specific legal authority to manage certain financial matters, sign documents, access accounts, or act for you.

That’s where a Durable Financial Power of Attorney comes in.

A Power of Attorney allows you to choose someone you trust and give them the legal authority to handle specified matters on your behalf. And it’s something that’s much easier to put in place before you need it.

At Hometown Senior Solutions, we help seniors and families get important end-of-life and estate planning documents in place, including:

📄 Wills
📄 Durable Financial Powers of Attorney
📄 Advance Directives / Living Wills
📄 Medical Powers of Attorney

You don’t have to figure out all of this paperwork alone. We’ll sit down with you, explain what each document does, and help you get everything completed.

📍 Expert help, right here at home.

08/24/2026

Question of the Week: What is burial insurance, and how does it work?

It’s something most of us don’t exactly love thinking about, but planning ahead can make a difficult time a whole lot easier for the people we leave behind.

Burial insurance, often called final expense insurance, is a type of life insurance designed to help your family cover expenses after you pass away. The policy pays a death benefit to your beneficiary, who can use that money for things like:

⚰️ Funeral and burial or cremation costs
🏠 Remaining household expenses
💳 Medical bills or other debts
📄 Other final expenses your family may need to handle

Burial insurance policies typically have smaller coverage amounts than traditional life insurance policies, and depending on the policy, the application process may be simpler and may not require a medical exam.

So, how much burial insurance do you need? That depends on what you already have in place, the type of arrangements you want, your budget, and how much you want your family to have available when the time comes.

At Hometown Senior Solutions, we can sit down with you, talk through what you want to plan for, and help you compare burial and final expense insurance options. No pressure and no confusing insurance talk. Just real people helping you make a plan that makes sense.

Have a question you’d like us to answer for our next Question of the Week? Drop it in the comments or send us a message!

📍 Expert help, right here at home.

08/21/2026

A little piece of Franklin County history hangs on our office wall. ❤️

If you've visited our Wilton office, you may have noticed some pretty old Farmington Fair memorabilia hanging around.

And we mean old.

The Franklin County Agricultural Society was chartered by the Maine Legislature in 1840 to create an agricultural fair for Farmington and the surrounding communities. The first fair included a cattle show, and over the years it grew to include livestock competitions, crops, cooking, handiwork, farming equipment, horse racing and much more.

One of the pieces hanging in our office is a program from the 62nd Annual Exhibition in 1901. At that fair, people competed with everything from horses, cattle, sheep and poultry to apples, maple products, breads, quilts, rugs, plants and even farming tools and carriages.

Next to it is a premium list from the 87th Annual Exhibition in 1926, held at Franklin Park in Farmington on September 28, 29 and 30.

More than a century later, the Farmington Fair is still part of life here in Franklin County. That's one of the things we love about having these pieces on our walls. They're little reminders of just how much history surrounds us in the towns we call home.

Now we want to hear your Farmington Fair memories. 🎡

Did your family go every year? Did you show animals, enter something in the Exhibition Hall, work at the fair, or have one food you had to get every September?

What's the first thing you think of when you think of the Farmington Fair? Tell us in the comments. 👇

08/19/2026

You may qualify for help paying some of your Medicare costs and not even realize it.

There are government programs designed to help people with limited income and resources pay certain healthcare costs.

The Medicare Savings Program (MSP) may help eligible Medicare beneficiaries with costs such as Medicare Part A and/or Part B premiums and, depending on the program, deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments.

There’s also Extra Help, a federal program that helps people with limited income and resources pay Medicare Part D prescription drug costs.

The tricky part? Knowing what you qualify for and how to apply.

Income and resource limits can change, and eligibility depends on your individual circumstances. So even if you’ve looked into assistance before, it may be worth checking again.

At Hometown Senior Solutions, we help seniors navigate government benefit programs, understand what assistance may be available, and complete applications. It’s one more example of what we mean when we say we’re here to help with more than just insurance.

Think you or someone you love might qualify? Give us a call or stop into one of our offices. We’ll help you figure out where to start.

📍 Expert help, right here at home.

08/17/2026

Berlin Medicare Health Plan Clients: 2027 Medicare Annual Enrollment Period Update 📣

We have some good news heading into this year’s Annual Enrollment Period. For our clients in Coos County, we are not seeing any major changes in plan availability this year, and most current coverage options will continue to be available for 2027.
Over the next several weeks, our team will be calling current clients to invite them to one of our AEP Group Review Meetings at the Berlin Rec Center.

📅 October 1 at 9:00 AM
📅 October 7 at 9:00 AM
📅 October 14 at 9:00 AM

At these meetings, we’ll go over any changes to your current coverage for the upcoming year, explain what you need to know, and answer questions.

If you happen to be enrolled in a plan that will no longer be offered in 2027, we will let you know in advance so we can make sure you have the opportunity to review your options with us.

We are asking everyone to RSVP so we can keep each group at a comfortable size and send reminders before the meeting.
Prefer to meet with us one-on-one? You absolutely still can. Individual appointments will continue to be available by phone or at our Berlin office.

These group meetings simply give clients who are comfortable reviewing their coverage together an easy way to get their annual update, while allowing our team more availability for those who need individual appointments.

If you’re one of our current Coos County clients, keep an eye out for a call from us soon! You can also contact our office to reserve your spot.

08/17/2026

Question of the Week: What’s the difference between Medicare Advantage and Medigap?

This is one of the most common questions we hear, and it’s easy to understand why. Medicare Advantage and Medigap are two very different ways of handling the costs and coverage that come with Original Medicare.

🔹 Medicare Advantage (Part C) is an alternative way to receive your Medicare Part A and Part B benefits through a private insurance company. Plans often use provider networks and may include prescription drug coverage and additional benefits, depending on the plan.

🔹 Medigap, also called Medicare Supplement Insurance, works alongside Original Medicare. It helps pay certain out-of-pocket costs that Original Medicare doesn’t cover, such as deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance, depending on the Medigap plan you choose. Prescription drug coverage is typically purchased separately through a Part D plan.

So, which one is better?

There isn’t one answer that works for everyone. Your doctors, prescriptions, travel habits, budget, health needs, and personal preferences can all make a difference.

At Hometown Senior Solutions, we help you compare your options, understand the fine print, and figure out what makes the most sense for you. No call center maze. Just local people you can actually sit down and talk to.

Have a question you’d like us to answer for next week’s Question of the Week? Leave it in the comments or send us a message!

📍 Expert help, right here at home.

08/14/2026

🎉 WE MADE THE FINALS! 🎉

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who nominated us for the 2026 Greater Franklin County Readers’ Choice Awards! 💙

Because of your nominations, Hometown Senior Solutions and Hometown Tax & Bookkeeping have made it into the voting round in THREE categories:

🏡 Hometown Senior Solutions
• Insurance Agency

📚 Hometown Tax & Bookkeeping
• Tax Preparation
• Financial Advisor/Services

Being nominated by the people in our own community means a lot to our entire team. We’re incredibly grateful for everyone who has trusted us, supported our local businesses, sent friends and family our way, or simply cheered us on.

Now we need your help one more time! 🗳️

Voting is officially OPEN through September 6. If you believe we’ve earned your vote, we would be so grateful for your support in each of our categories.

👇 Vote here:

https://www.sunjournal.com/2026/07/01/greater-franklin-county-readers-choice-2026/?fbclid=Iwb21leATr575jbGNrBOvnRXBkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEe0eymYfmG2cn3-c_ZOvRr8vwnc10SfGRImyJyWgkhthdqS-1O1GY8ixuG3IM_aem_CjZiMMtqAZbBO00sUmLvtw #/gallery?group=552518

Thank you, Franklin County, for supporting local. We’re proud to call this community home. ❤️

The nominations are in! Stay tuned for voting starting Friday, August 14.

08/14/2026

👞 A little piece of Wilton history...

Long before G.H. Bass became a name recognized around the country, its story started right here in Wilton, Maine.

In 1876, George Henry Bass began making shoes in Wilton, with a pretty straightforward philosophy: make footwear for the job it was actually meant to do.

Over the years, Bass made footwear for farmers, woodsmen, outdoorsmen and even explorers. The company introduced its first Bass moccasin in 1906, designed specifically for woodsmen, and later became famous for its Weejuns penny loafers, introduced in 1936.

But around here, Bass isn't just a shoe brand.

It's part of Wilton's story.

Generations of local families worked for Bass, and the company had a major presence in this community for decades. In fact, one of the historic Bass properties is now home to the Wilton Farm and Home Museum.

That's why we have this little piece of Bass history hanging on the wall in our Wilton office.

Now we want to hear YOUR Bass stories.

👞 Did you ever work at Bass?
👞 Did your parents or grandparents?
👞 Do you remember the factory or shopping for Bass shoes locally?
👞 Or do you still have an old pair tucked away somewhere?

Tell us in the comments. We have a feeling there are a LOT of Bass memories around here. ❤️

📍 Hometown Senior Solutions | Wilton, Maine