6. Missy Santorum and Parrish Neville

January 24, 2020April 16, 2020 ~ Henrik de Gyor ~ Leave a comment

Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Missy Santorum and Parrish Neville of Palmetto Electric Cooperative about electrical service for any stage in life on the Aging in Place Podcast

(duration: 32 minutes 22 seconds)

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Takeaways

Keep your thermostat set at 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter and what a great way to save money. Set it and forget it.

Transcript

Debi Lynes: 00:03 Hi and welcome to Aging in Place for every stage in life. What if you could visit or have a home that would accommodate anyone at any age, any physical ability at any time? How cool would that be? That’s what we’re doing here at aging in place. Why me? Because I’m a doctor of psychology and I specialize in physical spaces and health wellness. Also, I love designing with intent at any age. Why now? Because we the baby boomers want to age in place gracefully and we want our families around us as much as we can. And why you the audience? Because we want you to experience what it’s like to have a home that’s safe, aesthetically pleasing, and that you can live in at any age with any ability at any time. I’d like to introduce you now to Aging in Place Podcast for every stage in life.

Debi Lynes: 01:05 Hi and welcome to the Aging in Place Podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Debi Lynes. I am here today with Parrish Neville and with Missy Santorum, director of marketing and public relations director from Palmetto Electric cooperative. Thank you both for joining us so much. I’m really excited to talk to you. This is like a panel discussion on energy. It’s everything good. You know Missy, when we were talking about doing the segment, I think I was really curious cause we are hearing Hilton Head, South Carolina, you are a cooperative and I would love to know a little bit about the history of Palmetto Electric cooperative.

Missy Santorum: 01:43 Well, I’ll tell you, in 2015, Palmetto Electric celebrated 75 years of service to the Low Country. So, I mean that was very exciting for us to celebrate that. Coops, we have 20 in the state of South Carolina. Our service area for Palmetto Electric is all the way down. Hilton Head Island. We serve the whole Island and then up through the 278 corridor into Jasper and Hampton County. So it’s about a 60 miles service area.

Debi Lynes: 02:11 Can I ask a broad spectrum question and Parrish if you want to go with this and that is what is a cooperative?

Parrish Neville: 02:18 A Electric Utility Cooperative is designed to serve the people that it serves. So we provide electric service for our members. So you’re not just a customer, you receive electric service from us, but our whole job is just to provide you that energy.

Missy Santorum: 02:36 Well, we’re not turning a profit, let’s put it that way. We’re not an investor on. So when you are a member of Palmetto Electric, you’re an owner. You’re part-owner of the company.

Debi Lynes: 02:47 What’s our history? Tell me how this evolved.

Missy Santorum: 02:49 So in 1940, President Roosevelt decided that rural America needed to be electrified. We, of course, the investor-owned will electrify the cities, the municipalities, but the rural areas of our country were not electrified. Well. Our service area, including Hilton Head Island, was very rural. No bridge to the Island. When I looked back at the minutes, there were about 83 petitions of people who lived here on Hilton Head Island who would like to have electricity. So the investor-owned decided it wasn’t worth [it]. They couldn’t turn that profit so they were not gonna come serve it. So the Palmetto Electric board back in the day got together, decided they would do it. They barged the poles over. And here’s a funny side note, they barged the poles over at low tide.

Debi Lynes: 03:34 Barged the poles at low tide?

Missy Santorum: 03:36 Low tide and put them on the side. Okay. Right back there near the Calibogue Sound. Went off to lunch. They came back high tide and the poles were floating in the Sound and they had to go out and retrieve the poles. We even got pictures of the barge with the poles. So it’s really unique and we’ve got a great history at Palmetto Electric. And that was in 1950 though when they came over here. Yes Ma’am! 1950 so, and then the forties we were serving Hampton County, Jasper County. And as you know, our counties are the bottom of South Carolina. The state is like an ice cream cone. So it’s the bottom of the cone.

Debi Lynes: 04:14 So now how many members do you have?

Missy Santorum: 04:16 We have about 75,000.

Debi Lynes: 04:19 Oh my gosh. Well, one of the things we’re excited about talking and Parrish, this is where you come in, some of the programs that you have, what’s you’re proud of. And then I’ve got just some generic basic questions that people have actually asked us to ask you. So I think that’s kind of fun. Let’s talk about some programs.

Parrish Neville: 04:36 Okay. Well, we have a lot of different programs we’ve developed over the years. But the main thing to remember is that we’re a distribution electric co-op. We don’t generate electric power.

Debi Lynes: 04:46 So what does that mean a distribution electric co-op?

Parrish Neville: 04:48 We buy power from power suppliers and then distribute it to all of our members.

Debi Lynes: 04:53 So what kind of power are we buying?

Parrish Neville: 04:57 Well, it’s a whole mix, the whole gamut. Traditionally, power is generated by coal. A lot of it’s generated by gas and oil and hydro and nuclear. So there’s, there’s solar is of course now is in the mix too. So all different types of power.

Debi Lynes: 05:16 It’s fun to talk to you about it because you take that for granted as you’re listing off six sources of power. That, and I consider myself a fairly educated consumer. I had no idea. So solar, hydro, coal, gas, nuclear, gas, and what did I forget? Where they’re six! No..I think I got them all actually. Oil. Okay. Yeah. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. From the peanut gallery. We love that too.

Parrish Neville: 05:47 Yeah. So there’s, there’s lots of different ways that power producers create power, but then it’s just transported to us through transmission lines and then we distributed out through the smaller lines, through the neighborhoods and the businesses. So that the important thing there is how much it costs to all of us? That’s always the bottom line is how much it costs. So the costs are determined primarily by one hour each month. So, it’s that peak hour. The hour that we use the most, and during that hour, if we can encourage our members to use less, it saves all of us money.

Debi Lynes: 06:30 All right. Missy explained that. What does that mean “The peak hour” and “Beat the Peak”? Is that what you were saying?

Missy Santorum: 06:36 Right. We have a program Beat the Peak, so it varies. It’s all weather-driven. It’s dependent on like for the winter, Palmetto Electric actually is a winter peaking co-op, believe it or not, because of our heat pumps are very efficient in the hot, humid weather and we have a lot of glass. The way we built our homes here, so it really depends. So in the winter, the peak might be in the morning, in, in the summer it’s going to be in the hot afternoon.

Debi Lynes: 07:02 Okay, so when you’re talking about peak, that’s when the most energy is used and what you’re asking us to do Parrish is?

Parrish Neville: 07:10 Turn that hour we are anticipating a peak to reduce your usage some. You know, not totally stop using energy, but maybe you can avoid doing some things, put them off to other hours. Maybe, you can reduce or change your temperature on your thermostat a couple of degrees. That all can help towards reducing the demand for us.

Debi Lynes: 07:32 Can I ask a very naive question? What are some of the things… Is that include my dishwasher? What are some of the things that I wouldn’t even think about?

Parrish Neville: 07:41 clothes washing, dishwashing, maybe not using some hot water, showering later. Showering later and now. So all those things can add up. Your air conditioning is probably the big one. So, adjusting the temperature just two or three degrees can help us out.

Debi Lynes: 08:00 Is there a temperature range that is pretty much ideal for you all and for the health and wellness of a family, whether they’re seniors or young kids or middle age like me?

Parrish Neville: 08:15 Well, for the health and wellness, I wouldn’t know exactly what that number is, but generally speaking around 75 degrees is adequate for most people. For energy purposes, we recommend in the summertime that you keep your thermostat on 78 and in the winter on 68.

Debi Lynes: 08:34 Oh it’s okay. 78 and 68. My husband and I talk all the time because I tend to be a thermostat [changer]. and he said [no]. Set it… He keeps telling me “set it and forget it.” Or I think you might’ve told me that Missy.

Missy Santorum: 08:48 No, I think that sounds good.

Debi Lynes: 08:50 Why is that so important?

Parrish Neville: 08:52 Well, one reason why in our we use electric heat pumps okay, and in the winter when the heat is running, the heat pump can provide heat two ways from the heat pump, which is very efficient. It’s just the reverse of an air conditioner. So it’s very efficient. But it can also provide heat through auxiliary strip heaters, the auxiliary heaters or backup to the heat pump in extreme weather. But if you adjust the temperature more than two or three degrees at a time, you may artificially cause the strip heat to cycle on and then you’re going to use about three times as much energy as you want.

Missy Santorum: 09:30 Think about your meter running double time.

Debi Lynes: 09:33 Oh my goodness! I didn’t realize it was that significant. See this is why we need to talk to you guys. because I think you know, you don’t know what you don’t know. And I think this is really educational and that’s sort of the point of the whole podcast is to get some of this information out and disseminate it. It really is. We’re going to take a quick break. We’re going to come back and talk about a lot more programs that you all have. Stay with us here on Aging in Place Podcast.

Debi Lynes: 09:55 Hi, I’m Dr. Debi Lynes. Design elements are psychologically and physically supportive and conducive to health and wellness. To learn more about what Lynes on Design can do for you, for more information, certified aging in place and facilitative and supportive design, look for us at LynesonDesign.com. That’s L-Y-N-E-S on design.com.

Debi Lynes: 10:20 We are back here on the Aging in Place Podcast. We’re talking with Palmetto Electric Cooperative. We have Parrish Neville, we have Missy Santorum. Again, it’s super interesting. Who knew this would be so interesting and educational and practical. I think that’s the best part of the whole discussion. You’ve got a couple of programs that you want to make sure we talk about, but before we do, you actually came to my house about a year ago and it was really exciting and you did what’s called a…

Parrish Neville: 10:46 Energy audit.

Debi Lynes: 10:47 What is an energy audit?

Parrish Neville: 10:50 Well, it was an evaluation of your home to see if we could find ways to help you save energy or maybe change some of your operational practices that could improve.

Debi Lynes: 11:00 Which is code for check and see how well were you doing with your efficiency. It was amazing. Can other people ask for this or request it?

Missy Santorum: 11:09 Absolutely! And this is a great way to hold down the cost on your bill and you can’t believe it. I mean you can insulate, you know, you can use foam, you can, you can change out your windows. What were things you found Parrish that Debi needed?

Parrish Neville: 11:23 At your house, we found some installation issues up in your attic. I think we also found some problems with your ductwork going on in that front closet there. Some duct issues there where you were leaking air.

Debi Lynes: 11:37 So what are you looking for when you take a walk, what areas do you go to on when your looking for these specific areas?

Parrish Neville: 11:43 Well, the heating and cooling is usually more than 50% of your costs. So that’s things that relate to the heating and cooling are what we’re looking for primarily. Then we at other things like water heating. Things that maybe have pumps or motors that are running continuous swimming pools or if you’ve got lots of lighting or some other special equipment that might have pumps or motors. Some really big houses might have a wine cellar or something like that with refrigeration, a lot of extra refrigeration.

Debi Lynes: 12:14 I actually remember you were looking at my thermostat and said we probably need to change this from 1958. We are not really… I do remember this one…I’m not sure it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.

Parrish Neville: 12:25 You actually got a new one.

Debi Lynes: 12:25 I did! I’m very proud of myself, but when you were talking about a new thermostat program.

Missy Santorum: 12:29 We have a Smart Thermostat Program, which is really exciting and I know Parrish is working a lot with the HVAC, you know, all of the contractors out here to come in and talk to our members about this and tell them a little bit about what the incentives in the program.

Parrish Neville: 12:45 Sure! Our program is really, again, designed to help us lower our demand during that peak hour. And so, in order to do that, we won’t lower the temperature a little bit during those peak hours. So we have a program design with smart thermostats, so when it’s installed, we’ll be able to adjust that thermostat. With your permission, we can adjust it for you during the peak time.

Debi Lynes: 13:08 You can do that? Because if I’m working…

Parrish Neville: 13:11 Or the manufacturer.

Debi Lynes: 13:14 Well, that’s amazing!

Missy Santorum: 13:16 But you do something else to make it a little more comfortable before you do that.

Parrish Neville: 13:18 Yeah! So, you know, part of our incentive includes the thermostat and the installation.

Debi Lynes: 13:24 Oh, we should have waited a year!

Parrish Neville: 13:29 We’ll give you a monthly incentive of $5, and but you have an option to participate or not participate. You can opt-out of the program if you need to.

Missy Santorum: 13:39 Oh my gosh!

Parrish Neville: 13:40 We hope you won’t!

Missy Santorum: 13:40 Yeah! For instance, if you had company come over and it was a time to control and it was just a little warm, you could, you could opt-out at that moment and change it back to what you need. So you could be comfortable. But Parrish, there is a time where you, like for instance, if it’s the summer you’re going to cool it.

Parrish Neville: 13:57 Oh.. That’s right! We’re going to before we go into one of these peak periods, so in the summer we’re going to pre-cool your house a little bit so that you don’t notice that we’re adjusting the temperature down so ahead of time. We’ll cool the house off a couple of degrees and then when we go into control we’ll reduce it a little bit.

Debi Lynes: 14:16 You know, because we’re talking about aging in place at any stage in life, I think that that would be such a godsend for a lot of people where they just wouldn’t have to deal with it. You know? And I know my dad’s 91 if he just knew someone again where you all were going to set it and forget it, it would be a whole lot easier. I know. Do you have a water heater program? Talk to me if you will a little bit about that.

Parrish Neville: 14:37 Well, the water heater program has been around a long time and it was our first program that really involved reducing demand during those peak hours. Water heater is like a battery. We can heat the water in there and then turn the water heater off and if you still have hot water for hours later. Matter of fact, sometimes if your water heaters a newer model that is well-insulated. It might stay hot for a couple of days if you don’t use it.

Debi Lynes: 15:01 Oh! I didn’t know that.

Parrish Neville: 15:03 And so when we have a big demand for energy, we just cycle your heater off. We’ve got a large tank of water ready to use. You’ll still have hot, adequate hot water, but it comes off of our peak time and saves all of us money.

Debi Lynes: 15:17 Okay, so here’s my question. I am an older adult or I’m a first-time homeowner and I need a water heater. Do you actually provide the water heaters? How does all this work with my contractor or my architect?

Parrish Neville: 15:32 Well, we can do it two ways. We have a program where we can give you an incentive, a rebate to get the right size water heater in or we’ll do everything for you. We’ll provide the heater, get somebody to install it, and then we spread the cost out for you over five years so it doesn’t cost that much upfront.

Debi Lynes: 15:53 Oh. Once again! I mean, talk about easy ways to save.

Missy Santorum: 15:57 Very easy and it just goes right on the bill.

Debi Lynes: 15:59 I mean, that makes so much sense to me. Another program. This is fun. We could talk about these all day. I want to know what a Champ program is. Missy is like mouthing over here. There is a Champ program.

Parrish Neville: 16:10 Well the Champ is not one of the load control programs. It’s a service program. We are started off many years ago and it’s just been updated recently. The Champ program is appliance repair service at a reasonable, affordable cost. You pay a small amount added to your bill each month and then we cover appliances and other utilities in your home.

Debi Lynes: 16:35 Okay. Help me understand what that means.

Parrish Neville: 16:37 So if your refrigerator stopped working, you just have one phone number to call. There’d be a small, trip charge and then the cost of repairing the item would be covered.

Debi Lynes: 16:49 How do I get to be a champ or part of the program?

Parrish Neville: 16:55 You just have to sign for this.

Missy Santorum: 16:55 You just give us a call. We’ll sign you right up.

Debi Lynes: 16:57 Do people take advantage of these?

Missy Santorum: 16:59 They do. We do? Yes.

Debi Lynes: 17:01 Oh, I tell you, it’s like you need your own show.

Missy Santorum: 17:06 We’re just so happy to be here with you, Debi and get the word out.

Debi Lynes: 17:09 because there’s so much.

Missy Santorum: 17:11 A lot of times if you’re a new homeowner and you’ve got new appliances and all, you’re not going to need it. What about five years down the road. And that happens before you know it, all of a sudden it’s like, oops, okay, now this is out and the ice maker is out. You know, something’s got to be tweaked or not working. And it is so easy to make that one call.

Debi Lynes: 17:29 I’m so impressed. So all I really need to do… what were you going to say?

Parrish Neville: 17:33 I was just gonna say, in addition to the appliances, our new plans have coverage for the electric lines inside your house. So the switches and the breakers as well as the water faucets and water lines in the house water breakage in the line.

Debi Lynes: 17:52 Well, I’m kind of a keep it simple girl. And again, as I get older it is much more difficult for me, to be honest with you, to keep track of everything and to know that I had one call to be able to manage all of that, it would be priceless quite frankly.

Missy Santorum: 18:10 And it’s appliance is in HVAC. Yeah.

Debi Lynes: 18:13 Now say that again.

Missy Santorum: 18:13 Your appliances, like your range, you know your dishwasher, refrigerator, washer, dryer.

Debi Lynes: 18:22 your heating and air system, your water heater, all those can be covered under the champ plan.

Debi Lynes: 18:27 So let’s assume that you come in and my, which is true, my speed queen, it can take up to 10 grandchildren’s beach towels… Dies after seven years. So then what happens then? Can you help me repurchase or…?

Parrish Neville: 18:47 Well, yeah, if you’re under the plan and your item fails and can’t be repaired, there’s a claim… Well, there’s a claim at least. I mean there’s a limit to how much claims you may have made during that year and if you hadn’t exceeded that you can actually get a nice size check to help you go purchase one.

Missy Santorum: 19:06 The residual to help you purchase.

Debi Lynes: 19:08 Because I’m paying attention, I’m saving energy and I’m working for the good of the whole community.

Missy Santorum: 19:14 It’s part of the program.

Debi Lynes: 19:16 Pretty amazing! We’re going to take another quick break, although I don’t really want to because we’re kind of on a roll here and we’re going to come back and we’re going to talk about some other programs. I’d like to ask about re renewable energy. Talk a little bit about that and solar energy, some of the cool things you’ve got going on. Stay with us here on Aging in Place Podcast.

Henrik de Gyor: 19:33 Hi, I’m Henrik, the producer of Aging in Place Podcast. If you’d like more information and transcripts of this podcast, visit aginginplacepodcast.com. And now, back to Debi Lynes with the next segment of Aging in Place Podcast for every stage in life.

Debi Lynes: 19:52 We are back here on the aging place podcast. Once again, we are with Parrish, we are with Missy and we were going to talk about renewable energy but really first we wanted to talk a little bit about solar energy, which is really interesting,

Missy Santorum: 20:08 Right? Solar and also we have a Surge Guard Program.

Debi Lynes: 20:11 That’s what we want to hear.

Missy Santorum: 20:11 Well, let me tell you. You know in the summer, you’re on Hilton Head Island, you’ve got this unbelievable hot humid day and then about four or five o’clock, what happens? The clouds roll in and have a big thunderstorm. So in, because we’re an Island surrounded by water, we’re very susceptible to lightning. So Parrish just going to tell us a little bit about the Surge Guard Program because it is fabulous and we have a lot of our members on it.

Parrish Neville: 20:37 Yeah, surge protection is, well I tried to tell people is like a seat belt for your house. Surge protection is going to help keep you safe, just like a seat belt would, but you can still be injured just like with a seat belt in car wrecks. And so that’s the way you got to think about surge protection. It’s a smart thing to do. It’s not very expensive and it may save you a lot.

Debi Lynes: 21:04 What does it look like? What does that even mean?

Parrish Neville: 21:07 Well, a power surge can come from a lot of different things. Lightning is the most devastating thing. But when lightning or other things disturb the power lines, you can have a sudden spike in the electrical voltage.

Debi Lynes: 21:20 Which is bad for my computer. Bad for everything.

Missy Santorum: 21:24 And there are other ways it can come into your house. It not only through, you know, the power line but also with your irrigation, through your cable. Think about all the things that are plugged in, you know, with your television and other ways. So we have two steps in this program.

Parrish Neville: 21:39 Yeah, the, there’s first there’s surge protection we can put on the outside on the primary electric line. So at the meter, we can put some surge protection there and that stops the big stuff from coming down on the power line. We have other surge protection we can put on some of those other lines come into your house like the phone or the cable or the internet line. But the other step that’s important is to have point of use protections for those most vulnerable electronics, your televisions, computers, and that type of equipment. You can put a surge protector right where it plugs in and protect both the electric side there as well as those data lines that are coming into your equipment.

Debi Lynes: 22:19 And I’m gonna go back really quickly to how do people find out about these programs? I’m assuming the website has all of these.

Missy Santorum: 22:26 Website and we are big with social media. Okay. palmetto.coop.

Debi Lynes: 22:31 I went on Facebook, your Facebook.

Missy Santorum: 22:32 I will tell you, social media became a thing at Palmetto Electric after Hurricane Matthew. In 2016 and that’s a fabulous way that we communicate with our members. We get the word out. We’re on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Palmetto.coop is the website. So yes, we have all of that information out there.

Debi Lynes: 22:52 Very interesting. Talk to me, if you will, now a little bit about the kind of energy about renewable energy, also about solar energy.

Parrish Neville: 23:00 Well, Palmetto Electric has available to our members and net metering rates. So if you decided to put rooftop solar on your house, you can sell back the amount of energy up to the point that you consume during the year.

Debi Lynes: 23:15 He’s so going to have to say that again in real words.

Parrish Neville: 23:19 Ok. When you put a solar panel system in, your house uses part of that energy, but sometimes you produce more energy than you need and so that energy can be sold back.

Debi Lynes: 23:31 Oh that’s a good thing. Okay.

Parrish Neville: 23:31 Now you won’t get a check from us, you can just sell back. You’ll get the sell back what you use so you can net out to zero during the year. and that, you know, so that’s good. A lot of utilities offer net metering, but not everybody does.

Debi Lynes: 23:51 Are you finding that people are taking advantage of putting solar panels up? Is it difficult to do? Is that something that you helped much do?

Parrish Neville: 23:59 It’s very expensive,

Debi Lynes: 24:00 Okay, so on the front side it’s expensive,.

Parrish Neville: 24:02 It is very expensive. And it’s not for everybody for sure. And frankly, with our co-op, we have very affordable power. Okay, So it’s not necessarily economically.

Debi Lynes: 24:20 feasible here. And you know, we were talking about yes, we are in Hilton Head, South Carolina, but we go nationally and so a lot of the information we’re providing may feel local, but I think again, you don’t know what you don’t know some of these…

Parrish Neville: 24:33 Yeah. And some in some places in the country that cost power is very expensive and so there, solar may be a very good fit. But you know, there are things to consider when you put it, you’re going to put rooftop solar on. You have to, first of all, have not had any shade, so you don’t need any trees in your yard. One shadow will stop the production of solar across the whole panel. You need to remember that there was maintenances involved. So these panels, in our area, we have lots of pollen every year.

Debi Lynes: 25:03 Oh yeah, good point. I never thought about that. If it’s not about shade, it’s about pollen.

Parrish Neville: 25:07 Yeah. So they’ve got to be cleaned. We have lots of trees in our area here, so we have lots of squirrels. Squirrels can damage solar panels. I know that you probably had some eat some irrigation lines or things in your yard so they can cause damage.

Debi Lynes: 25:24 They’re like family now, the squirrels.

Parrish Neville: 25:26 Missy mentioned the hurricane we had that damages…

Debi Lynes: 25:29 Everything

Parrish Neville: 25:30 Of course, the systems. that you want to make sure that you’ve got insurance to cover these.

Missy Santorum: 25:34 Every now and then we’ve got hail. Can you imagine what hail is going to do to solar?

Debi Lynes: 25:38 I never even thought about that. So it is, it is a wonderful source of power, but it comes with an inherent set of…

Missy Santorum: 25:44 Yeah and you have to have sun. Yeah. That, so there are places in our country, you know, in the United States that we do get a lot of sun, you know and really humidity’s not great either.

Parrish Neville: 25:57 And one important thing about the hurricane, a lot of people felt that they were going to have power when the power was out because of the hurricane.

Debi Lynes: 26:05 Yeah, I would if I had solar power.

Parrish Neville: 26:06 Not true. If you don’t have power to your house, solar panels will not work. That’s the way they’re designed for safety.

Debi Lynes: 26:13 See? You learn something every day. What is renewable energy?

Parrish Neville: 26:18 Well solar would be, yeah.

Debi Lynes: 26:20 Oh solar is what it is.

Missy Santorum: 26:22 It is. And also we have landfills in our area that produce methane gas that is part of renewable energy.

Debi Lynes: 26:31 It’s funny because you guys all know what that means and I’ve heard the term, but I think there are a lot of people really don’t know what it is.

Parrish Neville: 26:38 Well that would, it would include solar production like Missy said, from generate power from landfill gas, hydropower. There is a couple of other sources… wind. Those are all examples of renewable power.

Debi Lynes: 26:55 When you buy power and you said hydro is one that you do buy special kinds of power, go to special to go to different places or is it all accumulated and then just dispersed? I don’t know if that sounds like a naive question or….

Parrish Neville: 27:11 Heard of the grid?

Debi Lynes: 27:13 Yeah.

Parrish Neville: 27:13 Just think of it like a big bucket. Everybody’s topping something in the bucket and everybody’s taking stuff out of the bucket. So that’s the way it is. More or less.

Debi Lynes: 27:23 What are some of the most asked questions about Palmetto Electric or about things that you do?

Missy Santorum: 27:30 Well, one thing that we do that’s fabulous, it really gives back to the community, is Operation Roundup. And we are celebrating 30 years.

Debi Lynes: 27:37 So what is that?

Missy Santorum: 27:38 That’s where members in 1989, our president and CEO came up with the idea where you round your bill up to the next dollar and literally it’s about $6 a customer a year averages. And we are now at $7.8 million that we’ve collected in 30 years. And we give back to the community, to organizations and individuals in need.

Debi Lynes: 27:59 Wow.

Missy Santorum: 28:00 And we’ve allowed other co-ops in the country to adopt it. So over 300 if done that. And now we even have some local businesses that have picked up on that idea. Those you’ll hear them say, would you like to round up to the next dollar to give to this charity or that.

Debi Lynes: 28:14 Do you all have conferences that you go to where you actually go and collaborate, idea swap, here is what’s new, what’s trending, what the future is holding for us?

Missy Santorum: 28:24 Absolutely. We do marketing, we have national conferences, key accounts.

Debi Lynes: 28:29 What are some concerns or what are some things you’re really excited about?

Missy Santorum: 28:35 Well, concerns of course. We’re always trying to stay on top of technology. We’re trying to be efficient. And so just like the way we market and send out our public relations. People are like, “well, you’re member-owned. Why do you advertise?” Because we have these programs and services that benefit our members and we want them to know about it.

Debi Lynes: 28:54 I really appreciate you all coming today. I think it’s been extremely helpful. Very, very educational. We’d love to give you the opportunity to share a little bit about how we can connect with you all.

Missy Santorum: 29:07 Okay. Through palmetto.coop is the website. We have a Palmetto Electric Cooperative. We are in, like I said, Hardeeville, Ridgeland, Hampton, Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, South Carolina. The website is Palmetto.coop. That’s P-A-L-M-E-T-T-O dot C-O-O-P. The one 800 number is (800) 922-5551.

Debi Lynes: 29:32 That makes so much sense and they are extremely user-friendly so don’t hesitate. Thank you both so much for joining us here on aging in place.

Debi Lynes: 29:42 I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Tracy. Tracy is naturally curious and always creative and when we were doing the Aging in Place Podcast, she said there are so many quick tips that I can think of offhand. My response, who knew. She’s gonna be with us every week, giving us a quick tip and a hint that is a practical application.

Tracy Snelling: 30:10 Thanks Debi. Who’s sitting on the remote? We’ve reached the age where everything has a remote and usually the universal remote is not the answer to our problem. Right now I have four remotes on my coffee table because that universal just isn’t working in my world. The grandchildren come to visit. It ends up being just one remote on the table and it’s “not that one.” Elderly persons with a table completely full of today’s necessities will also appreciate this “Who knew”. To eliminate the current coffee table shuffle or controllers, take Velcro with the self-sticky tape and put it around the edge of the table on the side that faces the couches or their favorite chair that will be the best. Place a small piece of Velcro on each of your remotes and attach. If your table has an overhang top, the remotes will be hidden out of plain sight. Who knew we would be such a controlling generation?

Debi Lynes: 31:08 We are back and what a fantastic episode with Palmetto Electric Cooperative. Talk about takeaways. I’m sitting here with a friend of mine and she has 17 takeaways. We decided that we’re going to leave you with one and one that will be good for all of us and that is two numbers, 68 and 78. Keep your thermostat set at 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter and what a great way to save money. We want to thank all of you for joining us here on the Aging in Place Podcast. Have a wonderful week.

Henrik de Gyor: 31:49 Aging in Place Podcast is hosted by Debi Lynes and produced by Henrik de Gyor. If you have any comments or questions, send an email to debi@aginginplacepodcast.com. We would love to hear from you. If you’re interested in advertising or sponsoring this podcast, email us at pr@aginginplacepodcast.com. Thank you for listening to Aging in Place Podcast.

3. Emily Johnson

January 3, 2020April 16, 2020 ~ Henrik de Gyor ~ Leave a comment

Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Emily Johnson about financial planning for every stage in life.

(duration: 34 minutes 27 seconds)

Emily Johnson

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Takeaways

It’s never too late to manage your finances. More importantly, hire someone who can help you demystify your finances. Don’t be intimidated by the talk of money, savings or investment no matter what stage of life you’re in.

Lynes on Design

Transcript

Debi Lynes: 00:03 Hi and welcome to aging in place for every stage in life. What if you could visit or have a home that would accommodate anyone, at any age, any physical ability, at any time? How cool would that be? That’s what we’re doing here at aging in place. Why me? Because I’m a doctor of psychology and I specialize in physical spaces and health and wellness. Also, I love designing with intent at any age. Why now? Because we the baby boomers want to age in place gracefully and we want our families around us as much as we can. And why you the audience? Because we want you to experience what it’s like to have a home that’s safe, aesthetically pleasing, and that you can live in at any age, with any ability, at any time. I’d like to introduce you now to Aging in Place Podcast for every stage in life.

Debi Lynes: 01:04 Hi and welcome to the Aging in Place Podcast for any stage in life. I’m here with my friend today, Emily Johnson from Polaris. She is a financial planner and a dear friend and an expert in her field. And when we talk about aging in place, you don’t really think finances until you go see Emily. And you’ve taught me a lot in the past three or four years. And really, aging in place is something that is, what we say, for any stage in life. I know I’ve got nine grandchildren and three kids and we are all at such different ages, but we all have different wants and needs. And I think the older I’ve gotten, the more, the more imperative planning for my future seems to be catching up with me. So I’m really excited to have you here today. What I’d love to do is introduce you to our listeners and let them learn a little bit about you.

Emily Johnson: 02:00 Okay. Well first of all, Debi is ageless. My name is Emily Johnson and I founded a company called Polaris Capital Advisors 10 years ago now. Now it makes me feel old, I guess. And when it comes to aging in place, the way that that comes up in my business is when we put together financial plans for people and they’ll come in our office looking for all different things. We’re different things for different people. For some individuals, we do investment management. For others, we do retirement planning. For others, we’ll assess 401k planning for business owners. It really just sort of depends what the needs are of the client.

Debi Lynes: 02:44 Well, let me ask you a question even to that, to that statement. When I come in, you say financial plan and can you give me an overview about what some of the things are at different stages in life? What’s important?

Emily Johnson: 02:56 Sure. So again, I mean, it’s different for everybody which is what makes the job so fantastic. So, it’s really more psychology with a little bit of finance thrown in than it is finance as the core. So let’s say, you know, plain vanilla would be, of course, you know, younger individuals if they actually do come to seek out the advice with financial planner, which is my hope and prayer because really that’s really what makes a great launch and plan is starting early.

Debi Lynes: 03:25 My son and daughter in law are like, “we don’t really have any assets. We don’t need to come and see Emily.” And I’m like, “Oh my gosh, yes”

Emily Johnson: 03:31 Yes, definitely.” And, and that’s, that’s sort of the key is learning how to develop assets. And I don’t know that. It’s basically you have income, you have expenses, you have future objectives and those objectives are always going to change, but I know in the case that you’re talking about, there’s grandchildren that are involved, they have some small children, they have objectives for those kids and things are gonna happen fast and furious. So the earlier you can actually get comfortable with money talk and the earlier that you can start working towards those goals, the better. Because really my job is pretty easy. I can put a plan in place for somebody. It’s executing on it that’s hard. And giving people that comfort level to be able to talk about money and to talk about their goals and their fears. Sometimes there’s, you know, there’s embarrassment, sometimes there’s, you know, a concern about school debt that they don’t want to talk about or you know, a former spouse that there’s something that’s gone on. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff that, you know, sort of sits in the back of people’s minds when it comes to talking about money.

Emily Johnson: 04:31 So I’m at different stages in life and I don’t care how much money clients have. There’s always some emotional hangup around their finances, planning, planning for themselves, for their kids, for their grandkids. And it’s very interesting. So when it comes to what people are looking for when they come to me, it might be that they’re looking to start a, a simple IRA, just a very simple IRA, setting aside $50 a month. Fantastic. You’d be amazed at how fast that actually adds up and it’s really empowering. It’s not so much the dollar amount as much as it is the confidence level that you start to develop and gain on as you start taking control of that. And I’m not talking about you have to have conversations every night around the dinner table more just, you know, more just maybe a once a month, once a quarter type check-in. And that’s, it gives you a lot of comfort.

Debi Lynes: 05:21 Are your consumers more educated now than they used to be? Number one. And number two, one of the things you taught me is I don’t have to even know what an IRA is. I can be completely naive to finances. No, and that’s the truth. And I don’t have to be embarrassed or shy because I don’t know.

Emily Johnson: 05:37 Exactly.

Debi Lynes: 05:37 I think that a financial planner and an excellent professional like you and many others around the US I think are able to walk us through plans, walk us through what we need. When you talk about vanilla or just doing basics, what are some basic, what do you like me or any of come armed with? What would help you? Well, from a paper standpoint, it’s ideal if he could come armed with existing statements.

Emily Johnson: 06:07 If you don’t have existing investments then you know, statements for your credit cards for your mortgage, for, you know, whatever other, if there’s student loans, things like that. Tax return is ideal. Existing W2’s. To be quite honest though, if you actually come with a yellow notepad and you have these things handwritten out, that’s good enough, that means that you’ve actually taken a look at it. Or at least you have some idea of where things are and you’ve jotted it down. It might be that you do everything online and so it’s easier to do it this way, whatever it might be. I’m just coming with some basic idea of what your income, what’s your expenses are. Nobody likes that. I don’t like that. I just, you know, nobody likes doing a budget. It’s definitely four letters, you know, without questions.

Emily Johnson: 06:53 But having some idea of what your inflow and outflow is what’s your assets and liabilities are and then what your objectives are. And that is really, that’s the fun part. And especially when you’re dealing with couples or people that have gone through a lot of transition, if you ask them what their objectives are sometimes they just don’t know or sometimes they don’t agree.

Debi Lynes: 07:15 I’m just going to ask and I’m cross talking and over-talking but because, what our objectives, what does that even mean? Is it I want to save for retirement or I want to go on vacation. I mean, how do I know what an objective is?

Emily Johnson: 07:27 And it’s so hard for people to define it which is what part of the fun is, is helping them define it, but on their own terms, and knowing full well that it’s going to change because life changes. So we do the best that we can at, what’s the saying? “Man plans. God laughs” and so true. But at least when you have that initial plan, that initial objective and you’re working towards it, it gives you the power to look at it and to be able to pivot at some point in the future if you need to. So, so some basics. I have a almost 13 year old daughter. So of course being the type-A that I am, I started setting up a 529 for her as soon as she was born.

Debi Lynes: 08:02 And 529 is?

Emily Johnson: 08:04 College savings plan and there’s lots of different ways to skin the cat, but that’s one, you know, one thing. So younger people might be setting up their first IRA. They might have an employer that has a 401k plan or something similar. So they might come to me and say, how should I invest these funds? So very sort of just getting started. Dollar amounts don’t matter. Again, it’s just the consistency. It’s like dieting. It’s doing something consistent all the time.

Debi Lynes: 08:29 A habit. It’s developing a habit.

Emily Johnson: 08:31 Exactly. And automating it. Automate it as much as you possibly can. So those are some basics.

Debi Lynes: 08:37 And automate it means?

Emily Johnson: 08:38 Automate it means a withdrawn from your paycheck. If you can have it withdraw automatically from your checking account, if you can. Just basically, it’s money that doesn’t exist. Okay. It’s probably a terrible way of saying it, but that’s what automating it meaning and there’s lots of ways to do it. So then you know, starting to save for retirement of course is also paramount. The earlier that you can get started with that, the better because time and time value of money and the ability to save is really the biggest benefit that we have.

Debi Lynes: 09:07 When you were talking about saving for retirement, again, is that an IRA? What does that look like? Are those investments, is that CD, I mean, how do you even begin to know where to begin?

Emily Johnson: 09:16 Okay, so, if we’re talking about saving for retirement, then we have to assume that a few other buckets are already filled. Okay. So the first bucket is going to be that, that classic rainy day fund, the, Oh my gosh, something hit the roof or my, you know, my transmission went out type fund. So that’s going to be the first bucket. So you should start filling that bucket. Rule of thumb for that is you want to have somewhere between 3 to 12 months of your expenses in that. And the idea is three months if you have a steady W2-type paying job, 12 months if you’re self-employed. Okay, so that’s a big number and that’s a big nut. So trying to move towards that is a goal. So you don’t have to have that there before you start saving for retirement, but there should be some money directed towards that objective to just sit in a very exciting 2% yielding savings account, which 2% awesome these days, for what it’s worth. Then the next one…

Debi Lynes: 10:10 So that is bucket one. I love buckets.

Emily Johnson: 10:11 I love buckets too. And you’re not seeing this, but we have lots of buckets and cans in front of us right now. They’re doing fake buckets. So bucket number two is going to make sure that you’re paying down debt. So you, you want to be accumulating some savings while at the same time paying down debt. And this is a common question of which do I do first? And the answer is you kind of want to do all three assuming that your debt is not eating up everything. It’s not 17% debt. Then you sort of, you want to be allocating funds towards each if you can.

Debi Lynes: 10:45 Can we take a quick break? She took a breath and we’re going to take a break. We’ll be right back to continue filling our bucket. Stay with us on aging in place.

Henrik de Gyor: 10:54 Hi, I’m Henrik, the producer of Aging in Place Podcast. If you’d like more information and transcripts of this podcast, visit aginginplacepodcast.com. And now, back to Debi Lynes with the next segment of Aging in Place Podcast. For every stage in life.

Debi Lynes: 11:14 We are back on the Aging in Place Podcast. We’re with Emily Johnson and we’re talking about buckets because we can. But these buckets are going to contain very important resources when you need them. So bucket one was something that kind of blew me out of the water. And that is as someone’s self employed, I should have a bucket full of enough emergency funds.

Emily Johnson: 11:39 And this, yes, this is buckets, you know, for getting started planning, but it’s also buckets for every portion of your life when it comes to your financial plan. So we’re really simplifying, but by simplifying it just makes it so much more real and you can apply it to all different stages of your life. So having that emergency fund is something that you do want to have as bucket number one to get started. Making sure that your debt is paid down is another bucket that you want to make sure that funds are going into that bucket to pay down student debt, credit card debt, sort of the debt that is not particularly helpful. Even though student debt is considered helpful, but credit card debt, definitely not. So those would be two buckets or places that you’re, you know, if you have $1,000 of income coming in that you’d want to put a few hundred dollars here, a few hundred dollars there, just dividing it up.

Debi Lynes: 12:29 And you can kind of decide exactly how many of those dollars we’re going to put in which bucket.

Emily Johnson: 12:35 Oh, Absolutely. So the third bucket…And we’re always dealing with three buckets, you can complicate this as much as you want, but I tend to just focus on three and you can always change the, sort of, structure of the three and how big the three are. But so then the third bucket is going to be saving for future. So it might be saving for future education for a child, that might be saving for retirement for yourself, which that’s a definition that’s constantly changing. So these different buckets, those are the three buckets that we always need to be looking at regardless of what stage in life we’re starting.

Emily Johnson: 13:03 And the catch-22 is when we start talking about financial plans. It’s so much fun to see people get a light in their eye of this is actually something I can actually do. I feel good about taking control of my funds. And then they say, well, you know, of my thousand dollars that is coming in this month, I’d like to put $900 towards each of these 300 here, 300 here and 300 there. And then you’ll usually have the spouse look at them and say, well now honey, how do we pay for food and the mortgage and the kids’ school? So the catch-22 is always wanting to save and then making it work for your cash flows. The reality, right? So my basic advice when it comes to trying to allocate to each of these buckets is you want to allocate enough to each of them on a steady basis that it hurts just a little.

Emily Johnson: 13:52 Because if it hurts just a little, then you actually feel like you’re doing something. It’s like exercise. You know, getting back to the same analogy, you know, if it hurts a little, you’re thinking, okay, I’m making a little progress here and you’re, and you’re cognizant of it.

Debi Lynes: 14:05 But I can still continue to do it. Just because it hurts little.

Emily Johnson: 14:08 If it hurts too much and you’re finding yourself in a constant cash negative or you’re building up credit card balances or your spouse is upset at you or whatever it might be, then that’s where you’re going to change the plan. And if you change the plan, then you’re no longer moving in the direction that you have, that I have helped you set up according to what you’re saying your goals are. So we want it to hurt just enough so that you feel like you’re doing something meaningful but not so much that you take a step back and, and negate the plan altogether.

Debi Lynes: 14:40 Is there a time when you should be more risk taking than others? Like I am 66 versus my daughter at 32?

Emily Johnson: 14:47 Okay. So I have two answers to that. One is yes, when you’re younger you have more time. So therefore you should be able to take more risks. That’s the reason that you see, you know, whether it’s on TV or on the internet or with other financial advisors saying that when you’re younger you can take more risks, therefore have more funds and equities. So that’s, that’s one simple answer. The other though is the sleep-at-night factor. And if you’re 37 years old, but you are extremely risk averse because you saw your parents go through a really difficult time financially or because you know you want to change careers or something like that, then you don’t need to take that extra risk. I don’t care how old you are.

Emily Johnson: 15:22 So I mean what you need to realize is that everything is a trade-off. So if you’re taking additional risks early on, history would show that you are going to, over time, achieve higher returns. You could have a few bad years, however, and if you can’t stomach those bad years. And again, with married couples, this is even more complex because it has two personalities. Exactly. So, and when it upsets the home life, chances are the plan’s going to change if they aren’t really in unison on that risk tolerance. So yes, over time if you take more risk in theory, you should actually have higher returns and therefore you benefit if you’re younger by taking more risks. However, if again, it’s, you’re going to be taking so much risk that you can’t stomach it and you’re going to stop the plan altogether, then don’t do it, then dial it back to a level that you can actually sleep at night. And that might mean putting more money in the cash bucket because you know that you can dig into it. It might mean taking less risk overall in your portfolio. And there’s lots of ways you can measure that, that are way more boring than this talk here. You know, so, so I think those are two really important gauges. One is age and one is the sleep at night factor.

Debi Lynes: 16:31 Well, let me ask you a question about your profession as a whole. Why is it so important that I have someone to help me navigate through this? And I mean, I can give a testimonial. I think for me it was being with someone objective who was also a professional in the field and knew all the nuances and that to me was worth its weight in gold. But I would love to hear your opinion on why is it really helpful to have someone?

Emily Johnson: 16:58 Well, first of all, I just absolutely love my profession. So I’m a certified financial planner. I was an investment banker before that. And I can say I love this part of the job in finance a heck of a lot more than I enjoyed that part of the job.

Debi Lynes: 17:10 You said that there’s a lot of psychology to it and listening.

Emily Johnson: 17:15 There’s so much to know and it’s just like any other field. I mean, if I have physicians as clients, you know, I don’t know everything that they’re doing. I go to a doctor for a reason.

Debi Lynes: 17:24 That’s right.

Emily Johnson: 17:24 You know, same thing with my engineer clients, you know, I certainly, I can’t change the oil in my car, let alone any of the things that they could do. So, but they come to me because this is what I do all day, every day and I love all of the little nuances and the little changes that constantly happen. That’s what I do all day and every day and I’ve seen it now over the last however many years in so many different forms and iterations. So I think that’s number one is this is my trade, this is what I do. But the other is, you know, finding somebody that you feel really comfortable talking to about your finances, about your fears, about your insecurities, about your goals about the son in law that you don’t like, but you know, you want to make sure that there’s money there for the grandkids. I mean, it’s things like this and also somebody that you don’t worry about asking questions of. You don’t feel like, Oh, if I ask what an IRA is, is that going to show that somehow I’m going to be taken advantage of? Or something like that. So being open and able to ask those questions. So finding the person that you can do that with is really important.

Debi Lynes: 18:26 Is the professional really fluid and dynamic? Are things oftentimes changing? Markets are volatile and money. I mean it’s just a chaotic world in many ways.

Emily Johnson: 18:35 It’s definitely fluid, but really, you know what the market’s doing. Yes, that’s sort of the sexy part of the job. And that’s what the news focuses on. But if you look at statistics, actual your allocation and what you are actually invested in only I think I want to say it drives about 3% of your overall success in achieving your goals. So if you look at all of the factors that allow you to, let’s just say you want to retire with $1 million, there’s your standard that you see on TV. You retire with $1 million. So if you start saving when you’re 25 years old and you assume that retirement is 65 then your success and achieving that goal is derived about 97% just from your ability to actually save.

Debi Lynes: 19:18 Wow.

Emily Johnson: 19:19 And time value of money. So the actual the other percent that’s there, the 3% that’s there, a portion of it is allocation. And a portion of it is what you’re actually invested in. So all these arguments about mutual funds versus ETFs versus individual stocks, whatever. That’s what sells advertising, right? And that’s what sells TV. And that’s what sells CNBC. And that’s where the big money is because saving is not sexy. Saving is boring. But that’s really what drives the success in a plan. So it’s why I think that a plan is so important because it brings you back to looking at what you can do and what is within your control because the market’s outside of your control. You do the best that you can to manage the risk so that you can sleep at night. But what’s within your control is the saving.

Debi Lynes: 20:05 We’re going to take a quick break, Emily and we’re going to come back and we’re going to talk about the aging in place market over 50 and if we’ve been afraid or haven’t done as well as we should as we’ve gotten older, we’re going to talk a little bit about that, so stay with us. We’ll be back on aging in place.

Debi Lynes: 20:22 Hi, I’m Dr. Debi Lynes. Design elements are psychologically and physically supportive and conducive to health and wellness. To learn more about what Lynes on Design can do for you, for more information on certified aging in place and facilitative and supportive design. Look for us at lynesondesign.com. That’s L Y N E S on design dot com.

Debi Lynes: 20:47 We’re back here on aging in place and Emily and I are talking about as we get older, what is it that we all really want to know? Well, of course, everyone wants to know something different. But I think what probably is important for the folks who are 50 and over who really want to get serious now, Oh my gosh, I just had a big birthday and I want to make sure… I’m 66 I want to make sure that at least I have a fighting chance of, if not retiring, at least not being a burden to my kids. So how do you begin to really counsel someone or take someone through the process of getting older and beginning to fill those buckets, if you will?

Emily Johnson: 21:30 So the first part is just asking a whole lot of questions and really trying to get a good feel for if you say you don’t want to be a burden, do you mean that you want to stay in your own home? Do you already anticipate that you have one child that you know you’ll be moving closer to them because that’s just the way that’s going to be. So questions like that just to get a better feel for you, for your family dynamics and things like that. So we start with that. And then of course the next part is going to be asking questions about all of your assets. So very rarely do people think of their home and the equity in their home as something that they can use towards retirement. And there’s lots of different ways to do that. You know, you might have longterm care insurance, which is first a question.

Debi Lynes: 22:14 I was just going to say, do you have life insurance?

Emily Johnson: 22:16 Life insurance is an interesting one, especially for folks that are, I would say over 60 because life insurance is a new investment and I’m sorry to all the insurance agents that are out there that hear this, but life insurance as a in general as an investment at this point in time where interest rates are, is not necessarily a fabulous investment. However, back in the day when interest rates were a lot higher and whole life insurance was sold in abundance, it was a heck of a great investment vehicle. And if you’ve had it for a really long time, then it’s a great investment vehicle and chances are you have a lot of cash in it. And rarely do people actually look at. And another thing I find interesting about it is people have 15 policies. They bought one from their son’s soccer coach. They bought one from their brother-in-law. They bought another one when they moved in and got a new job. Some are term and some are whole life. But they’ll have a boatload of it and there’s a lot of cash in there. And unless they actually have a state issues, tax issues, you know, different things. and then we won’t even get into any of that. Most families don’t. That’s just suffice to say most families don’t. So unless you have an emotional tie to that insurance for some reason, there’s oftentimes a lot of cash sitting in those policies that can be a great resource to people in retirement. You can take notes from that and better used because it’s sitting there. So we’ll ask about all different assets. Even if it seems like, wow, why are they asking about that?

Emily Johnson: 23:40 That doesn’t make sense. Because when you pull it all together, the idea is trying to make sure that pie stays as large as it possibly can for as long as possible. And the two biggest problems that we have keeping that going is taxes and interest rates. And so because interest rates are really low, fortunately taxes are historically low too right now, but they’re still higher than interest rates. So trying to manage where different funds come from so we keep as much invested as possible and minimize taxes is a key. So those are two big things, you know, trying to get a better feel for the individual, the family dynamics, all of that is paramount. And then number two is okay, if that’s what we have as sort of our environment, you know, what are the tools that we have within that environment to make it hopefully right.

Debi Lynes: 24:28 Oh, it’s a little overwhelming isn’t it?

Emily Johnson: 24:31 So you basically, if you break it down, so I’m a checklist person, Okay?

Debi Lynes: 24:33 And actually I’ve actually seen that.

Emily Johnson: 24:37 And I find that, you know, if you started having these conversations very wide open, but then if it becomes overwhelming trying to put things down as sort of an order of operations, sometimes it’s more info gathering as the next step. Sometimes it’s again, budgeting. Nobody likes that. You know, sometimes it’s really having to have the heart to heart with yourself or your spouse or your kids about what your plan is. And earlier on, like when you are 50, that’s probably not even considered. I mean, that’s, you know, that’s right. Yeah. but, but some, for some people it isn’t, especially now with the definition of retirement changing so much and people having multiple jobs throughout their life, you know, 50 might be when they’re actually starting a new career.

Debi Lynes: 25:18 It’s funny, I’m 66 and when you were saying, Oh, it’s 65 at retirement, Oh, I missed that.

Emily Johnson: 25:23 And I think there are a lot of people that are offended that the idea that 65 is retirement. I mean, I, you know, I’m 42 and I look at that and I think, I don’t know what I’ll do with myself. I mean I do not even have any hobbies now, but it’s probably because I have a kid and a career, but I’m good with that, but still I think because the definition of the workforce and your job progression and the idea of retirement is changing. Yeah. So the whole idea of financial planning is changing too because setting up a plan that says, “Okay, I’m 42 years old and I’m going to set up a plan that says I want to retire when I’m 60 and this is what I think I’m going to do.” Who the heck knows? I’m doing the best I can and I’ll set that up and then I’ll have a game plan, but I know darn well that between now and then, life’s going to happen. And it will allow me to be able to make those changes.

Debi Lynes: 26:19 Well, talk to me about things that I never thought I’d be asking about. Like social security, reverse mortgages, all of these fun things. Medicare, it’s really like, Oh.

Emily Johnson: 26:30 I know, and they all seem like black boxes. So one thing I want to say from the very, very beginning is that every tool that’s there, whether you call it a product, an investment, a policy, a contract, whatever it is, every tool has its place. So don’t let anybody tell you that what you have in your portfolio is bad or wrong or terrible or whatever, because everything has its place. So you’ll hear people say, Oh, reverse mortgages are terrible. Well, you know what, for who? It might be for you, it might be for your brother-in-law who just told you that it’s terrible, but that’s in a vacuum. If you look at it in your particular scenario, it might be that that’s the best scenario or the best tool to achieve whatever it is that you’re trying to achieve. So, you know, if you’re talking to the folks on your tennis team or you’re forcing the ball, you cannot apply the same logic that somebody else does to your plan.

Debi Lynes: 27:25 So it is like medical care to me. Everybody’s different. Everybody has different tolerance.

Emily Johnson: 27:32 Same thing when it comes to investment tolerance and that type of thing. So you know, definitely look at everything. What is it they say? Trust, but verify. So you know, definitely consider the opinions that you hear and consider, you know, the different products and solutions that are out there, but verify that that particular opinion at that particular product solution, whatever is right for your scenario.

Emily Johnson: 27:56 And the only way to do that is to really look at your comprehensive plan. It’s like putting together a color palette. You know, if you know that you like blues and greens. You know, that you like blues and greens, but your tennis partner tells you that the latest thing is going to be bright, cherry pink and you say, okay, well let’s put bright cherry pink in here because that’s the thing. It looks terrible with your color. It might look great depending on what you think. Maybe it’s great for you, but the point is that it really needs to fit into your palette. So definitely, you know, listen to other’s opinions about things, become educated, but just consider it as one point of reference. You can work into your plan, take that piece of information to your financial planner, to your financial advisor and say, “Hey, you know, I heard about such and such. Would that work for me?” It just might, it might be something that’s outside the box that they hadn’t considered. It might be, you know, something new. So definitely bring it to your advisor and see if it’s something that fits. If it’s not something that fits, then ask them why it doesn’t fit so that you can at least, you know, you feel that you’ve verified it.

Debi Lynes: 29:00 Is there a rule of thumb about how often you like to see a client or how often you like to at least touch base or accessibility, things like that.

Emily Johnson: 29:10 Sure. It’s probably better to ask the clients that, right? Because each client is so different. So from my younger side…

Debi Lynes: 29:20 Some of us are hand holders. Need some handholding.

Emily Johnson: 29:22 I know exactly who’s going to call when the market’s down 360 points and I tried to preempt that. And you know, and I know, you know who we need to deal with at year end for charitable gifting. I mean, you know, I know all of those things, but I think that it’s different for each person. So I think that the best is, you know, if we can actually ideally meet to discuss things twice a year, that would be ideal. because really quarterly, even though that’s the, people will say that’s rule of thumb for a lot of people, that’s too much. It’s if you see my phone call coming in, you’re probably thinking, gosh, if it gets to that point then we’re definitely doing it too much. So I’d say, you know, every six months because things can change every six months and also just making sure that people are opening their statements and things. So that’s, that’s a good general rule of thumb.

Debi Lynes: 30:14 Well, it has been such a treat to have you here today. I’m always a little intimidated when I talk to you as a financial planner because I think, I think it can be, like you said, there’s this element of mystery for a lot of people.

Emily Johnson: 30:32 The key about a really good financial plan is removing the mystery from it and not trying to address it in using words that are made to sound like foreign or lingo or jargon or whatever. But words that actually apply to your situation. I have a client that likes to use the word money market for different things and I know exactly what she means. Is it a money market? No, but I know exactly what she’s talking about when she’s talking.

Debi Lynes: 30:57 Exactly. Emily, it’s a, it’s a real treat to see. I want to thank you. I want to thank you all for joining us this week on aging in place for any stage in life.

Emily Johnson: 31:06 Thank you very much, Debi, for having me here today. My name is Emily Johnson of Polaris Capital Advisors. If you have any questions about anything that we have discussed today or have anything that is lingering in your mind financially, please give me a call. Our number is 843-686-2425 shoot me an email at emily@polariscapitaladvisors.com or just check us out on Instagram, Facebook. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Erin Lentz: 31:33 For podcasts, links, information and media inquiries, please visit our website at aginginplacepodcast.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as our host Debi lines and her expert guests discuss relevant topics for creating a home for all decades in life. Don’t miss our weekly podcast on aging in place for every stage in life. Transition through life where you are with the comfort and ease you deserve. Discover how you can start creating a home that will adapt to you as you journey through life and the changes that will bring.

Debi Lynes: 32:05 I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Tracy. Tracy is naturally curious and always creative and when we were doing the Aging in Place Podcast, she said there are so many quick tips that I can think of offhand. My response, who knew she’s going to be with us every week, giving us a quick tip and to hint that is a practical application.

Tracy Snelling: 32:34 Thanks Debi. A cool selfie with a refrigerator helps your grocery shopping become a little easier. Like I know I have six bottles of salad dressings, but what were they? Is my milk half empty or is it half full? And don’t forget to snap a picture of your freezer too to make sure you have room for that gallon of ice cream. If you like taking pictures when you empty your bottle or jar, snap a picture of it. It comes in handy if you send your teenagers to the store and they don’t really know which brand you like. And if they’re like my kids, they always would buy the cheap stuff anyway because they always got to keep the change. Who knew pictures of food would be so popular. Days don’t think so? Just check out social media. I know what my friends eat almost every day by their posts.

Debi Lynes: 33:20 Wow. My head is exploding with everything that Emily taught us today on this episode of aging in place. All right, here’s the bottom line for me and the takeaway. It’s never too late to manage your finances. More importantly, hire someone who can help you demystify your finances. Don’t be intimidated by the talk of money, savings or investment no matter what stage of life you’re in. Again, it’s been wonderful having you here with us on aging in place.

Henrik de Gyor: 33:56 Aging in Place Podcast is hosted by Debi Lynes, marketing by Erin Lentz and produced by Henrik de Gyor. If you have any comments or questions, send an email to debi@aginginplacepodcast.com We would love to hear from you. If you’re interested in advertising or sponsoring this podcast, email us at PR@aginginplacepodcast.com. Thank you for listening to Aging in Place Podcast.

2. Sean Stewart

December 27, 2019April 16, 2020 ~ Henrik de Gyor ~ Leave a comment

Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Sean Stewart about technology in the home for any stage in life

(duration: 34 minutes 47 seconds)

Sean Stewart

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Resources

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Amazon Echo Dot

Control4

Custom Audio Video

Dusk til dawn nightlights

Josh AI

Motion-activated nightlights

Takeaways

Don’t be intimidated by technology.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

The point of all of this technology is to make your life easier and simplify it, not to make it more difficult, so don’t hesitate to call when it comes to technology.

Transcript

Debi Lynes: 00:03 Hi and welcome to Aging in Place for every stage in life. What if you could visit or have a home that would accommodate anyone at any age, any physical ability, at any time? How cool would that be? That’s what we’re doing here at aging in place. Why me? Because I’m a doctor of psychology and I specialize in physical spaces and health and wellness. Also, I love designing with intent at any age. Why now? Because we, the baby boomers, want to age in place gracefully and we want our families around us as much as we can. Why you the audience? Because we want you to experience what it’s like to have a home that’s safe, aesthetically pleasing, and that you can live in at any age, with any ability, at any time. I’d like to introduce you now to Aging in Place Podcast for every stage in life.

Debi Lynes: 01:05 Hi and welcome to the next episode of Aging in Place, the podcast. We’re very excited. My friend Sean Stewart is here from Custom Audio Video. I tell you what, I am more excited to talk to you. We have been trying to demystify, if you will, a little bit of aging in place. And a lot of people think of it is as you get older you want to stay in your home, but you and I have talked about this, Sean, many times. It’s really about being able to live in your home at any age, universally, and we can all function there. And I have to admit that talking about technology is a little intimidating to me. So I’m going to ask you before we even get started to talk a little bit, Sean, about what you do and about Custom Audio Video.

Sean Stewart: 01:53 Yeah. So Custom Audio Video is here in Bluffton [South Carolina] and we cover all kinds of things technology-wise in the home. Now some things may fit more in place with what we’re trying to talk to about today, but overall we do, you know, home theaters, audio systems, stereo systems, networking, and internet throughout your home. We’ll talk more probably about automation and a lot of the smart home stuff that we do. We do lighting control. We do shade control. We can do furniture even. When it comes down to good living room furniture that fits with that home theater feel. So we do all kinds of stuff.

Debi Lynes: 02:32 And what is your role specifically? Because you have an interesting job there.

Sean Stewart: 02:35 Yeah. My role is kind of multifaceted in a lot of ways. I oversee the showroom so if anybody wants to come through during the week and just want to see what we have, I’ll probably be the one there waiting for them. I also do a lot of this kind of stuff, being the face and the voice of the company, talking a lot about what we do, and working with architects, builders, clients, and designers trying to get the idea out there. A lot of what we do isn’t necessarily common knowledge, but it’s stuff a lot of people want to learn about what we can do, they want it. It really cool stuff.

Debi Lynes: 03:00 Exactly. And like I said, the psychology of technology in the home can be a little intimidating. And I think that if we can just bust a little stigma and demystify this, we will be good to go for a lot of people. Let’s talk a little bit, if we can, about what an automated home looks like throughout the ages.

Sean Stewart: 03:28 Yeah. So first I want to distinguish that there’s a big difference between a smart home and home automation. I’ll explain why. Smart home: the way to think of it more is a lot of different kind of subsystems. You can have smart lighting in your home. You can have multi-room audio. You can have shades that go up and down. You can have front door locks. You can have thermostat control, for instance. So these are all kinds of individual subsystems, almost individual silos, if you will. Home automation is bringing them all together into one system. So instead of having to go on your phone or your iPad and go, I want to turn on my lights. I want to change the thermostat. I need to unlock the front door.

Sean Stewart: 04:12 With home automation, when I come home with one command, whether it’s just knowing that I’m home or a button that I hit, I am going to open the shade, turn the lights, change the thermostat, and unlock the door. Do all those things. So that home automation is taking the smart home and making it even easier and more convenient.

Debi Lynes: 04:30 Okay. So let’s start at the very beginning. I am a potential client and again, I’ve got grandchildren and I’ve got aging adults in my home. How do we even begin? Where do I start? So I come to you and say, Sean, help. Here’s what I’ve got. Here are my needs. Here is my home. What helps you? What do you need?

Sean Stewart: 04:48 Yeah, so from our standpoint, we’ve got some designers that are trained on all these systems to create a system and really figure out your needs, to help you understand what’s out there and kind of match what you want. The awesome thing about all this is that it’s very scalable. So if you want something very simple, or you want something that covers the home in a lot of different ways? It’s available.

Debi Lynes: 05:14 So when cost is no object, you’ve got it, and when cost is an object, you’ve got that too. Can you create a master plan? And we can build on that too.

Sean Stewart: 05:22 You can. Now though, of course there are going to be some pieces that over time maybe change a little bit. There are going to be cornerstone pieces that you want to put into place and the little things you can add here or there as convenience or time…

Debi Lynes: 05:37 You’re so good. Cornerstone piece. Let’s start at the very beginning. So I walk in and I want to create an automated home. I want Clementine, my one year old, and my dad to be able to function… Not equally, but you know what I’m saying. What would you recommend as a first step? It’s a blank slate for you. So we’re going to kind of do a wishlist or master plan, if you will. We’re building a home. We’ve got no walls or windows yet. Where do I want to start for universal design?

Sean Stewart: 05:58 Well, if you’re starting that early, we always recommend starting with a good pre-wire. Essentially, you are wiring the home for the future. You know, things used to be co-ax everywhere, but thankfully we’ve moved to ethernet cat[egory] five or cat[egory] six [cables]. That can do a lot of different things.

Debi Lynes: 06:33 So what do I do? Do I sit down with my architect? My builder? You? Do we come as a team and decide what that’s going to look like for us?

Sean Stewart: 06:40 Yeah. So from our standpoint, we always say as early as we can get involved as possible, that’s the best. We have a lot of jobs that we start, and then there’s a big period where maybe we’re not doing work, but we’ve answered questions that don’t have to be redone when we get there. So we can sit down with the plans and say: Hey, this is where you want TVs. This is where you want shades. This is where you want lighting control. This is what we need to do to get all that done.

Debi Lynes: 07:05 Do I have to have done research? Do I have to be an expert? Or am I really relying on you to help guide me as to what I need and can afford?

Sean Stewart: 07:13 No, you don’t have to do any research. Of course we welcome it if people are interested, but we also have customers that go, you know what, I don’t really want to worry about it. I’ve got my own thing. This is what you are for. I happily say that nobody on our team is a salesman.

Debi Lynes: 07:29 That’s a really good thing.

Sean Stewart: 07:32 They’re there to figure out what you need, what you really want, and help get to that point.

Debi Lynes: 07:37 So let’s talk about the different silos and the basic component pieces. What would you call a basic component piece for home automation?

Sean Stewart: 07:45 Lighting control for instance. You know, making it simple. We call it the critical path. Where are you going to go from the time you come home? For instance, whether you always come through the front door and you go to the living space or you come from your garage and you go to living space. What lights need to come on to make it very convenient for you to get in?

Debi Lynes: 08:06 It’s really interesting that you say that, because we were talking on previous episodes about the entry of a house is probably one of the most important things you can do for universal design in aging in place. Making sure that you have safe access. And that’s really what you’re saying. So lighting would be the first… what did you call it? Critical path.

Sean Stewart: 08:26 Yeah, the critical path. Where are you going to walk pretty much very time you come in your home. Whether it’s coming in the garage and going to the kitchen and that’s kind of where the hub is. I know that’s how it pretty much works in my house. I come in, I go into the main living space.

Debi Lynes: 08:38 So what do you have? Do you have something on your phone? Do you have a panel? What does all that look like?

Sean Stewart: 08:44 Yeah, so there’s a couple of different ways to do it. The most common way is using your phone and setting up what’s called a geo-fence. So essentially when your phone recognizes you’re within a certain area of your home, it’s going to activate a system that is going to trigger certain things. In this case, turning on maybe your porch light and your entryway light and your kitchen lights so that when you come home, maybe you’ve got some groceries. You don’t have to worry about finding the switch it’s already on for you.I

Debi Lynes: 09:09 I mean, what a great age to live in. Okay, so that’s amazing. So now I’ve entered my home, my lights are on and is it going to go ahead and take me through the critical path all the way back to my bathroom, my bedroom?

Sean Stewart: 09:23 That really comes down to how in depth do you want to go. Can you control every single light system in your house? Absolutely. But not everyone wants to put that kind of cost into it. Right, because you really need to control your guest bedrooms?

Debi Lynes: 09:40 Teenage bedrooms. That would be fun. Yeah, I see exactly what you’re saying. So what I hear you say is lighting the critical path is probably the first thing we want to look at, a silo that we really want to take into consideration. But, again, you can build as much or as little as you want to do. I absolutely love that. We’re taking a quick break. We’ve got about a minute to go. We’re going to come back cause I want to spend a little more time in this next segment talking about some of the other silos that we have for aging in place and technology. Again, we’re with Sean Stewart, Custom Audio Video, stay with us.

Debi Lynes: 10:14 Hi, I’m Dr. Debi Lynes. Design elements are psychologically and physically supportive and conducive to health and wellness. To learn more about what Lynes on Design can do for you, for more information on certified aging in place and facilitative and supportive design, Look for us at lynesondesign.com. That’s L Y N E S on design dot com.

Debi Lynes: 10:31 We are back here on the Aging in Place Podcast. We are here with Sean Stewart and we are learning about technology as it affects your home at any stage in life, at any age. And Sean is a wonderful source for us to be talking to. So thank you so much. Actually, during the break, it was kind of fun because we were talking about whether it’s an adolescent or a kid or someone who’s broken their leg or an aging parent, many times you’re at home alone. And, it’s interesting to me because I don’t think of cameras and looking in as something that you do or part of technology.

Sean Stewart: 11:20 Yeah. You know, there’s a lot of technology kind of evolved I think around this aging in place idea, but I think there’s also just a lot of other technology that we have, that can be re-purposed for what we’re trying to do. So for instance, you mentioned cameras, surveillance. Of course you can do surveillance outside the house. You can do looking at your driveway to make sure that motion’s coming in or out, or just making sure that there is no motion if you don’t want people around your house. But then for what we’re talking about today, there’s also the monitoring side of it.

Debi Lynes: 11:55 So what does that even mean?

Sean Stewart: 11:57 One way to look at it would be, you know, we’re here on Hilton Head Island [South Carolina] right now. Let’s say this is where my mom is or my grandmother is, but I live in Atlanta [Georgia].

Sean Stewart: 12:07 I can’t always keep an eye on her and make sure that she’s fine, but I want to make sure that if something happens, I know at least as quick as possible. So with some programming, for instance, you can have a camera that looks over a common space in the home and it has a way to detect motion. If it doesn’t detect motion for a certain amount of time, you can set an alarm to alert me for instance, and go, you know what? I need to check on mom because there’s no motion. And that way it’s kind of, you know, you don’t have to worry about it because there’s something watching that’s taking care and you don’t have to have that constant worry. Do I need to check on her now? Do I need to check on her now? Because I mean, of course, you should call your mom anytime, but you don’t have to worry about it because that’s where technology comes in to help.

Debi Lynes: 12:52 And all of this again can be tied in and pulled into our…

Sean Stewart: 12:57 Yeah, home automation.

Debi Lynes: 12:59 I’m going to get this by the end of this. This is my project to be able to get the lingo right. All right, so we talked a little bit about, I love this, critical path lighting. Now we’re talking about surveillance. That’s another kind of cool word and cameras. Take me through some of the other things that come to mind for you.

Sean Stewart: 13:19 So, surveillance is an iffy word too, because a lot of people think of surveillance as like bad. Monitoring overall and camera monitoring is one way to do it as well. But there’s all kinds of sensors that you can put throughout your home that help keep you safe, keep your home safe.

Debi Lynes: 13:37 What does that mean and what does that look like?

Sean Stewart: 13:39 Well, of course, you know, you’ve got smoke detectors. We’ve had smoke detectors for a long time. So there are ways to tie your smoke detectors or CO [carbon monoxide] detectors into your home automation.

Debi Lynes: 13:54 You hesitated to see if I could fill that in that home automation piece. Smoke detectors and CO [carbon monoxide] detectors I didn’t even think about as part of what you would do. Wow.

Sean Stewart: 14:04 I mean there’s, there’s that. So think about this. For instance, something happens. Fire happens. It sets off the alarm, you can detect it, but then also you can have programming set to where maybe whenever it’s going off, you start flashing your outdoor lights. One, that can help emergency personnel find your home easier. Those few seconds can be the difference between a really bad day and an absolutely awful day. But then it can also, if you’ve got these locks on your door can unlock your door to make it easier for them to get into the home. So, you know, there’s the technology overall. I think a lot of people sometimes can think of it as a scary thing, but it 100% is intended to make our lives better and easier. Now, we can have some issues. Maybe our personal contact gets limited because of technology, but overall life’s definitely better and it’s easier in a lot of ways because of all the different things we can put in our homes to improve our homes.

Debi Lynes: 15:01 Is there a learning curve to technology or are you finding that things are becoming more streamlined and overall not so intimidating to manage?

Sean Stewart: 15:14 There’s definitely some sort of learning curve, but it’s easier and easier. And that’s where that home automation system comes in a control system because what it does is take that learning curve that may be four or five different apps and brings it into one and you really only have to worry about one.

Debi Lynes: 15:34 So what does that look like? What is it? Is it an iPad? Is it a phone? Is it a panel on my wall. What am I looking at? What am I seeing?

Sean Stewart: 15:44 All of the above. Honestly. So for instance, one of the ones that we use most often is Control4. So Control4 is the company. It’s a control system. Now it can be very, very simple and control my TV and my Blu-ray player and that’s all I want it to control.

Sean Stewart: 16:01 Or I can start throwing things in like lighting, shades, security, all these different things. You can access it from an app on your phone. You can access it from an iPad. They have specified wall panels that make it very simple. So we always recommend, for instance, if you’re doing a Control4 system, have one or two wall panels in the home. They’re never going to move. They don’t do anything other than the Control4 system. So nobody’s going to take the iPad and hide it somewhere. It will be very easy to get to. It’s right there with all the buttons. Very simple to find, very easy to customize and make it… I mean, it’s really what we’re talking about. Taking all of this technology and making it accessible and custom for whoever needs it.

Debi Lynes: 16:46 Talk to me about unlocking and locking doors. I didn’t realize that that was even an option either.

Sean Stewart: 16:50 Yeah. So there’s a lot of options for door locks.

Debi Lynes: 16:55 Because I think that as we get older, again, I’m talking about young kids or aging adults, I would think that locking a door or unlocking it would be something that would be easy to forget.

Sean Stewart: 17:06 Yeah, one of these things with control systems, they take security very seriously, so it’s a whole lot easier to lock the door than it is to unlock the door. And that’s what we really want. Right. If anything, I want my door to be accidentally locked rather than left open all night. So you can have a program, for instance, that our guys can help with that when it’s time to go to bed, you can… we haven’t been talked about voice assistants. You can use your voice or you can hit a button on the iPad and lights go off or dim to a certain way. So it’s not completely dark. Your shades are closed, the AC changes and your doors all lock.

Debi Lynes: 17:44 I think Sean’s just trying to see if we’re all paying attention. I want to, because you just said, Oh wait, we haven’t even talked about voice assistants. So what are ways to actually, what’s the right word.. activate the system? You said voice system. Because what I’m thinking of is my dad, it would be so much easier for him to be able to voice activate than to probably maneuver on an iPad.

Sean Stewart: 18:10 We see it left and right nowadays, you know where we’re heading into the holiday season now and we’re going to see even more of it. Google Assistant and Alexa. So those are two big ones we use. And we also have another one called Josh AI that we partner with as a voice assistant, a home automation, a voice automation.

Debi Lynes: 18:30 How does that work?

Sean Stewart: 18:30 It’s pretty complicated in some ways, but it’s very simple in other ways.

Debi Lynes: 18:35 Like a “Hey Google” kind of thing.

Sean Stewart: 18:36 Yeah, I mean that’s with everything we’re talking about, it’s as simple or as a complex, I don’t want to say complex as much as comprehensive maybe as you want it to be. Some people want that voice assistant to do nothing other than play music when I want my music played; or you can control your lights, control your shades, and control your TV with your voice.

Debi Lynes: 19:00 Let’s talk about shades for a minute because I know that when I think of window coverings and window treatments, I think of them as kind of multifaceted. Number one they can insulate, they can keep out sun, they can keep cool in and warm out. So that’s a really important thing. Number two, they’re oftentimes very cumbersome and they’re very hard for young people or older people to navigate and negotiate. So I never really thought of them in the same sentence as home automation.

Sean Stewart: 19:28 Yeah. I mean definitely. One you mentioned, your window treatments, and what that brings to your home and the value of your home. But then not having to worry about whether you want some more light in here. You want to shade up?

Debi Lynes: 19:41 Exactly. Or I’m facing West and it’s five o’clock in the afternoon. Whoa!

Sean Stewart: 19:45 Absolutely. Yeah. You can control that a lots of different ways. Or to take it out of your worry you can automate it. You can program it to a solar clock that as we’re starting to head towards sunset start lowering the shade incrementally so that it’s blocking the sun from coming in and not looking out at the bright sun.

Debi Lynes: 20:05 Wait. You can set it to a solar clock? So what does that mean?

Sean Stewart: 20:09 So let’s say, you know, you’re looking over the [lowcountry] marsh and the sunsets, you know, at this time of year [around winter soulstice], it’s terrible. It’s about 5:30 pm. Well, the sun is going to start beaming in that window about three o’clock. So about two hours before sunset you can start with programming to lower of the shade in increments, however you want it so that it blocks the sun. So you can keep that view without having to worry about the increased heating costs or the sun just beaming in and kind of making everything uncomfortable.

Debi Lynes: 20:38 Or the glare on my TV, just saying. Because again, trying to tie all of this stuff together, it’s amazing how when you’re talking about it, Sean, I’m getting an overall visual of how the pieces play together, where I thought it would be really, tough to understand.

Sean Stewart: 20:59 Yeah, I mean that’s my ultimate goal is to try to make this as easy as possible. That’s what our designers are there for, is to figure out all these different pieces that you want to put together in your puzzle and then make that puzzle super easy.

Debi Lynes: 21:11 What’s the super, we’ve only got 30 seconds or about 30 seconds in this segment, so I have to ask… The super coolest, newest sort of, Whoa, thing. I wish I had a good one.

Sean Stewart: 21:23 Can I think about it for a little bit?

Debi Lynes: 21:27 We’ll have to think about that one for a few minutes. Well, let me go onto another question and we’ll come back to that super coolest grooviest thing ever. I want to talk when we come back about watches because that was kind of an interesting thing. I also want to talk about, sound systems. We haven’t talked about surround sound. We haven’t talked about it from a design point of view. I don’t want to trip over a speaker. All of those things. I think again, the more we talk, the more questions I have. So stay with us. We’ll all be back here on Aging in Place.

Henrik de Gyor: 22:04 Hi, I’m Henrik, the producer of Aging in Place Podcast. If you’d like more information and transcripts of this podcast, visit AginginPlacepodcast.com and now back to Debi Lynes with the next segment of Aging in Place Podcast. For every stage in life.

Debi Lynes: 22:23 We are talking to Sean Stewart from Custom Audio Video. We’re talking about technology and home automation and demystifying it and learning a lot about it. And again, it’s a great topic because the more you know, the more you realize, you don’t know and the more there is to know. One of the things I [am] really, really, really curious about is you checked your watch. I’d like to know about some of the ancillary pieces that sort of tie in to home automation. You found a great Forbes article on technology and aging and I find a lot of what that’s going to be interesting too.

Sean Stewart: 22:58 There’s so much with technology and we’ve talked a lot about kind of the protective side of things. How do I make sure that my house is secure? How do I make sure that I’m not tripping over things because the lights are off? How do I monitor where my mom is to make sure she’s fine if I’m out of town, but there’s also just using technology to increase the interactivity, the engagement and enjoyability of life.

Debi Lynes: 23:22 Which makes a lot of sense because I know as we get older there’s a lot of isolation and I see it even with my dad, he spent a lot more time on the television or listening to music as a way to stay socially connected. What about that? I know there were new TVs. I mean, you’re fantastic TVs that look like you’re right where you are. So talk to us a little bit about those.

Sean Stewart: 23:46 Yeah. Well, one of the great things I think in today’s world with technology is video conferencing, right? Whether it’s FaceTiming or Google Duo or, I mean, even Control4 that we talked about has an intercom ability to go from a wall panel in your home to an iPhone somewhere. Yeah. So it’s, there’s tons of options to interact with people.

Debi Lynes: 24:08 So, let’s take that from an isolation or socialization point of view. I can have grandchildren in California and I can have a grandparent here and that is a great way to not be isolated. Absolutely. That makes so much sense to me.

Sean Stewart: 24:22 Yeah. So there’s all kinds of ways that you can, you can talk to each other, you can see each other. I was talking to somebody the other day whose grandkids just moved a couple of States away. And the thing that they hate the most was they seem to age so much faster when you don’t see them every day. You know?

Debi Lynes: 24:39 It makes a lot of sense.

Sean Stewart: 24:40 When you can video with them, it kind of takes that away and then it brings that grandparent – grandchild relationship to a new level.

Debi Lynes: 24:48 Well let’s talk about really important things cause I know all the guys who are listening are like, “yeah, yeah, yeah, this is great. But could you tell me about TVs and what’s hip and cool and some audio surround systems and what about music?” We got to talk about that.

Sean Stewart: 25:00 Yeah, I mean that’s, that’s right in our wheelhouse of what we do with Customer Audio Video. I mean at Audio Video, we love great TVs, we love great sound systems. And I think you probably talked to one of your other guests about creating spaces in your home that are enjoyable to be in. And that’s what we do as well. We want to create great experiences with your spaces.

Debi Lynes: 25:19 So what does that look like? What would that feel like? How do I even begin to put that together from a design point of view?

Sean Stewart: 25:26 Yeah, so there’s all kinds of ways to do that and it really like, I don’t want to keep repeating myself on it, but this, it really depends on how much… what kind of scope do you want to go with?

Debi Lynes: 25:36 Exactly. Well, let’s do this. The cost is no object. Let’s have a wishlist.

Sean Stewart: 25:40 Well, I mean my cost is no object, dedicated theater room somewhere in the house. So you know, great big projector with a great screen. Incredible sound system.

Debi Lynes: 25:51 Well, let me say this and you and I have talked about this before with sound. I found that the older that I get and I have hearing aids, the older I get, the more sound is really important to my quality of life. And actually when we’ve talked before, that’s a huge thing with people now. The sound systems being able to have that kind of quality. And you said the sound capabilities are…wow!

Sean Stewart: 26:14 Yeah. We get a lot of people who go, “you know, don’t worry too much about sound. My hearing’s going out anyways” and I get the logic behind it, but it’s actually the opposite. When your ears start getting a little iffy, better sound helps because better sound…. I was like to say if you take kind of the spectrum of what a speaker can do and if the sound waves that can hit or this versus this small versus large, a bigger, a bigger range.

Debi Lynes: 26:43 It’s a podcast that we have to say small versus large.

Sean Stewart: 26:47 So a larger range that is, that the speaker can do, the more difference you can hear in sounds. So you’re watching TV. I think a lot of people have to deal with this. You’re watching TV and there’s a lot of stuff going on and somebody talking, I can’t hear what they’re saying. A lot of that is because all those sounds are coming from one speaker that has a small range. So it’s very hard to differentiate where maybe a good surround sound system is going to take some of those background noises of the cars going by and separate them in other speakers. And then the vocals are going to be dedicated to that center channel with a better quality. That’s going to let you differentiate a lot.

Debi Lynes: 27:26 So let me ask you a question about just soundproofing a room. Are there ways to do that? If I already had the room intact and I’m going to try to… I’ve got the room, I’m just going to I guess renovate it. What do I do about sound? How do I deal with making the sound… Making the room a better place to absorb sound.

Sean Stewart: 27:48 Yeah. So soundproofing is pretty difficult. So you want to start soundproofing as early as possible in the build process because a real soundproof room is going to essentially be disconnected from all the other systems in your home. But once you start realizing that, okay, well how do I sound easier, right? How do I not bother my neighbors? That kind of thing. And there’s a lot of ways to improve the acoustics of a room.

Debi Lynes: 28:17 That’s what I’m trying to ask.

Sean Stewart: 28:18 We’ve talked a lot in the past about essentially removing the room from the equation. Right? And, and if you’ve got a room that’s drywall or it’s wood paneling or it’s designed for it, it’s got, you know, good acoustic walls, you want to still remove it from the equation when it comes to what kind of sound quality am I getting? And there’s ways to do that. There’s a technology in receivers for instance, that can our guys can run some tests in the room and it essentially detects the room and it removes it from the equation. It’s a little more complicated with that. A lot of computer programming and algorithms.

Debi Lynes: 28:58 I’m just mesmerized sitting here listening to it. Are there things like canvases can artwork absorb silence? Are there other ways that we can absorb sounds that are a little more just natural?

Sean Stewart: 29:11 Absolutely. We have some pieces on the wall, for instance that look like a great picture. In fact, they are pictures that somebody on our team took when they were on vacation and you can get them printed on this sound absorbing material. So it looks like nothing more than just a beautiful picture on the wall, but it really improves the quality of the room because if you get a room that’s full of drywall, hardwood floors, you know a lot of reflective surfaces sounds going to bounce everywhere, which is not great for the best sound systems. So it absorbs the sound, stops it from going everywhere and really improves the sound quality.

Debi Lynes: 29:45 One of the things that we’ve talked about in in some of the podcasts and on one episode specifically is the out of doors and how important it can be to health and wellness to be part of nature. Can we take the same technology outdoors now for outdoor living?

Sean Stewart: 30:03 Absolutely.

Debi Lynes: 30:04 So what does that look like?

Sean Stewart: 30:06 All kinds of ways. Yeah. The most common ones that we see around here are sound systems outside, right? I’ve got a nice space outside. Looking in the Marsh. I’ve got a beautiful wooded backyard and I want to kind of enjoy nature but also love music. I love that ability. Lots of different options for sound systems that you can put out there draped on wall speakers or in ceiling speakers or even some speakers that you put throughout your landscaping that hide. I mean, if you look around it’d be really hard to find them. We like to call it the Disneyland effect, right? When you walk around Disney World, you’re like, I hear music, but I have no idea where it’s coming from.

Debi Lynes: 30:43 Well, and I, and I’ll tell you, I really appreciate you coming today, Sean. I’ve learned a lot. I think our goal today was sort of an overarching broad spectrum taste of what technology can do for the aging in place home. And what we’d love to do is have you back and sort of get into some of these silos. I love your word, get a little more specific.

Sean Stewart: 31:06 Do you have any more questions? We always say, you know, call, click or come in our showrooms here in Bluffton, South Carolina in Sheridan park. We’re always welcoming people to come in and see and experience what we’ve got. You can check us out customaudiovideo.com or if you could give us a call at 843-815-5130.

Debi Lynes: 31:26 So thank you so much for joining us here on the Aging in Place Podcast. Thank you all for joining us. Also stay tuned for the next episode.

Erin Lentz: 31:33 For podcasts, links, information and media inquiries. Please visit our website at aginginplacepodcast.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as our host Debbie Lynes and her expert guests discuss relevant topics for creating a home for all decades in life. Don’t miss our weekly podcast on aging in place for every stage in life. Transition through life where you are with the comfort and ease you deserve. Discover how you can start creating a home that will adapt to you as you journey through life and the changes it will bring.

Debi Lynes: 32:07 I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Tracy. Tracy is naturally curious and always creative and when we were doing the Aging in Place Podcast, she said there are so many quick tips that I can think of offhand. My response, “who knew”. She’s going to be with us every week, giving us a quick tip and to hint that is a practical application.

Tracy Snelling: 32:35 Thanks Debbie. Light it up like a Vegas strip stub, bruised knees, countertop, hit to the hip. I’ll usually happen in the night. You know those water pills are keeping the blood pressure down or the little one needs that last sip of water all seem to happen after 8:00 PM or when the sun goes down for safety nightlights are a must. There are ones that are motion-activated, ones that simply come on when it’s dark and some that just stay on 24 hours a day. Whichever ones you choose, you will be glad you did. Light your path. Buy four or five or more. Walk the direction you need to take installing them and every outlet, if it will prevent you from a fall or even an ouchie, even your little ones may just get that last drink by himself if he wasn’t afraid of the dark, so light it up like Vegas. Your toes will thank you and that’s your “who knew”.

Debi Lynes: 33:28 Sean Stewart, you’re a wonderful guest and I tell you what, I learned so much about custom audio, video and all the opportunities that are available. As always, it’s fun to have our takeaway. What did we learn from this segment? I can be very clear. Here’s what we learned: Don’t be intimidated by technology. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. What we learned today is the point of all of this technology is to make your life easier and simplify it, not to make it more difficult, so don’t hesitate to call when it comes to technology. Thank you all for joining us here on Aging in Place Podcast. Have a wonderful week.

Henrik de Gyor: 34:17 Aging in Place Podcast is hosted by Debi Lynes, marketing by Erin Lentz and produced by Henrik de Gyor. If you have any comments or questions, send an email to debi@aginginplacepodcast.com. We would love to hear from you. If you’re interested in advertising or sponsoring this podcast, email us at PR@aginginplacepodcast.com. Thank you for listening to Aging in Place Podcast.

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Category: Services

6. Missy Santorum and Parrish Neville

Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Missy Santorum and Parrish Neville of Palmetto Electric Cooperative about electrical service for any stage in life on the Aging in Place Podcast

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3. Emily Johnson

Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Emily Johnson about financial planning for every stage in life.

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2. Sean Stewart

Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Sean Stewart about technology in the home for any stage in life

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Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Missy Santorum and Parrish Neville of Palmetto Electric Cooperative about electrical service for any stage in life on the Aging in Place Podcast

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Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Emily Johnson about financial planning for every stage in life.

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Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Sean Stewart about technology in the home for any stage in life

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