Zentner & Associates Insurance

06/16/2026

Our HealthMarkets / Zentner Agency is proud to promote and introduce our newest Sales Leader, Brandon Burke. With 12 years of experience and management, Brandon will be a great addition to our growing leadership team. 👏 🥳

06/16/2026

Our HealthMarkets / Zentner Agency is proud to promote and introduce our newest Sales Leader, Lisa Nguyen. An experienced and proven leader, Lisa will be a great addition to our growing leadership team. 👏 🥳

06/15/2026

06/15/2026

Business Ownership while building compounding RESIDUAL income helping individuals and families save money with more comprehensive coverage. Maybe We Should Talk.

06/15/2026

When you leave your job, the same health plan can cost you $200 a month or $700 a month. The only thing that changes is who pays for it.

Most people leaving a job at 58, 60, 62, bridging the years until Medicare, default to COBRA because it is familiar. It keeps your exact plan, same doctors, same network.

That part is real.

Here is what nobody explains. COBRA is not a different plan. It is your old plan with the employer's share removed. While you worked, your employer quietly covered 70 to 80% of the premium. You only ever saw your slice, maybe $200 a month. COBRA hands you the entire bill plus a 2% admin fee. That $200 becomes $700 to $1,400 for coverage that did not change at all.

A Marketplace plan is different coverage, but the protections are nearly identical. Both cover pre-existing conditions. Both are regulated under the same federal law. Both cover the big stuff, cancer, heart attack, stroke, hospitalization. The difference is you are no longer paying the employer's hidden share, and depending on income you may qualify for a tax credit that drops the premium further.

For a lot of early retirees and business owners, that is the gap between $700 a month and something far closer to what you actually paid while working. Multiply by the years until 65 and it is real money.

One catch worth knowing. Losing job coverage opens a 60-day Special Enrollment window. Miss it and you may be stuck until open enrollment. And once you voluntarily drop COBRA midstream, you usually cannot switch until then either.

If you are leaving work before 65, compare both before you default to COBRA. The plan may be familiar, but the price tag rarely is.

05/31/2026

Claiming Social Security at 62 locks in a benefit about 30% below your full retirement amount, and it stays reduced for life.

That smaller base also shrinks every future cost-of-living adjustment, since each COLA is applied as a percentage.

Delaying instead adds about 8% for each year past full retirement age, up to 24% more at 70.

For married couples, the higher earner's choice sets the survivor benefit, so claiming early can permanently lower what the surviving spouse collects.

Early benefits can also stack on top of portfolio withdrawals and push more income into higher brackets, with up to 85% of your Social Security taxable.

Waiting opens a lower-income window for Roth conversions in the years before required minimum distributions begin at 73 or 75.

Claiming early is not a mistake for everyone, since it brings income during your most active years and leaves more of your portfolio invested to ride out an early downturn.

If you claim and change your mind, you can withdraw your application once within 12 months, repay what you received, and reset as if you never filed.

The right age turns on your health, your spouse's longevity, your tax picture, and your spending plans, which is why no single break-even age settles it.



*The content shared here is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not personalized investment, tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on your specific situation.*

05/29/2026

Was asked to write a short article about Medicare and Turning 65 for 5 Southern California newspapers.

05/28/2026

Our team is proud to welcome our newest agent, Duane Ruth.
He will be a great addition to our team! 🤝

👉 Here is what Duane would like to share:
I am excited to be joining HealthMarkets, Inc. and the John Zentner team. I bring more than 30 years of professional experience across law, business development, sales, finance, home improvement, mortgage lending, Solar Power, technology, and consulting. 💼

I began my career as a trial and appellate attorney, representing clients in state and federal courts throughout California. Since then, my professional journey has taken a few interesting turns, but much of it has centered around the home — helping people improve it, finance it, protect it, and make it more energy and water-efficient. ⚖️ 🏡

Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to build and train high-performing teams, develop new sales and marketing strategies, work with homeowners and business owners, and help people navigate important decisions involving their homes, finances, businesses, and families. I have always enjoyed finding creative ways to explain complicated topics in a way that makes sense and helps people feel more confident. 🤝

When I entered the insurance industry, I was excited to bring with me the experience, empathy, relationship-building skills, and problem-solving approach I have continued to develop
throughout my career. Joining HealthMarkets, Inc. now gives me the opportunity to build and grow alongside a team with a long and successful history of helping individuals and families better understand their options and protect what matters most. 🫂

Outside of work, my wife and I love to travel, and we have been fortunate enough to visit about 60 countries on every continent except Antarctica. My business travel has also taken me to every state in America, many of which I hope to become licensed in as I continue growing with HealthMarkets. I also enjoy writing, creative projects, classic Hollywood films from the Golden Age of Hollywood, classic television, and radio. I am just as likely to have a film noir playing in the background as someone else might have a ballgame on. 🎬 📻 ✈️

I am grateful for the opportunity to join the team and look forward to learning, contributing, and building something meaningful with HealthMarkets, Inc