More Money Podcast - 319 How Much It Really Costs to Have a Pet - Katie Blakeley, Head of Pet Insurance at MetLife

Episode Date: March 16, 2022

Were you one of the many people who adopted a pet during the pandemic? You wouldn’t be alone because the number of pet adoptions significantly rose during the last couple of years. My husband and I have also been toying with the idea of adopting a pet, which is why I’m so excited about today’s episode. Today’s episode is all about the real cost of owning a pet, including whether it's worth it or not to get pet insurance. To help me with this topic is Katie Blakeley, Head of Pet Insurance at MetLife. Prior to joining the MetLife team through acquisition, Katie was the CEO of PetFirst Pet Insurance. She had been with the organization since it was founded in 2004 serving in a variety of roles including Marketing Director and Vice President of Business Development. Prior to joining PetFirst, Katie worked in the thoroughbred racing industry. Katie lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband Chris, daughters Maddie and Charlotte, and terrier-mix (Franklin). In this episode, Katie talks about how much money should you be putting aside for monthly pet costs, why you should consider pet insurance, and how much you could expect to pay for it. I also ask Katie all about why breeds and pre-existing conditions matter when it comes to pet insurance rates. This episode is great if you’re already a pet owner or you’ve been considering getting a furry friend (like me) too. For full episode show notes visit: https://jessicamoorhouse.com/319 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to the More Money Podcast. This is episode 319 of the show. I'm Jessica Morehouse, the host of the show, and I'm so excited that you're here for this episode because if you are like me who does not have any pets but has lately been considering getting one and you kind of want to understand more about what are the financial, you know, situation? What's the kind of financial costs of having a pet? Because I feel like a lot of people don't talk about that. But I've talked to so many people who are pet parents, and they always tell me it's a lot more expensive than you think it's going to be. Because there's things that will, you know, throw you for

a loop, like, you know, your pet gets sick, or there's an accident or something like that. So it's important to be prepared. And so that is what we're going to be diving into. In this episode, I have Katie Blakely on the show. She's the vice president and head of pet insurance for MetLife. But before she joined the MetLife team, she actually was the CEO of Pet First Pet Insurance, which was then acquired by MetLife. And she's been with the organization since it was founded in 2004 and served in a variety of roles, including marketing director and vice president of business development. And prior to joining Pet First, Katie worked in the thoroughbred racing industry. So Katie lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her husband and family.

And of course, she is a pet parent herself with a terrier mix. And so I think this is going to be a great episode in case you're similar to me and thinking about getting a pet or maybe you know someone who's considering it. But you want to know all the facts, especially like that, honestly, the important things like there's lots of things to know, like how to be a responsible pet parent. I understand that. But I think a lot of things that aren't talked about is how much do I actually need? Is it $100 per month in my budget? $200? $300? And also, how can I determine what is the best pet or breed? And what are the costs involved determining all that? So we really dive deep into this topic. So I know you're going to love it. But before I get to that interview, here's just a few words I'd like to share about this podcast's episode sponsor.

This episode of the More Money Podcast is supported by The Globe and Mail. Now, you may not know this about me, but my interest in personal finance actually started all the way back in high school. You see, whenever I finished school, I'd take a bus to my part-time job at a fast food chain, and I'd always get there about 20 minutes before my shift. So to kill time, I would browse through the latest issue of the Globe and Mail that would always be in the break room. And guess what turned out to be my favorite section? Unsurprisingly, the report on business section. Who knew that that early introduction into the world of finance would eventually lead

me to a career centered on financial literacy. Needless to say, I've been a loyal Globe and Mail reader ever since. And that's because even though I've been creating personal finance content for over a decade now, I am always learning something new. And I especially always want to stay on top of the latest business and investing news, market data and analysis. And honestly, I just love reading anything Globe columnist Rob Carrick writes. Want to invest in yourself and start a new morning ritual of reading the Globe and Mail like I do? Well, lucky for you, the Globe is offering listeners of the More Money Podcast a special digital subscription rate for unrestricted access to everything on globeandmail.com.

Visit tgam.ca slash jessica to get started. Once again, visit tgam.ca to take advantage of this limited time offer. reasons. I mean, my husband or I have been considering for a good, you know, six months, we're probably late to the party with COVID and everything like that, but getting a pet, everyone has a pet. And I'm like, Oh, I've got some questions for you. Perfect. Perfect. Looking forward to them. I know. I know. Okay, great. So, um, before we really dive in, cause we've got a great, uh, list of questions that I personally want to know, but I'm sure other listers want to know as well. Um, you know, share a little bit about you. So you're currently the vice president and head of pet insurance for MetLife, but you previously worked at another pet insurance firm. So you've

been in the industry for a very long time. Do you want to kind of share a little bit more? How did you get into, I'm so curious when people like are in like those very particular roles, like how did you get there? Did you always want to work in insurance? And also like, I don't know a lot of people in like the pet insurance industry specifically, because I feel like it still kind of seems new to a lot of people. Absolutely. No, it is kind of an interesting story. And as many people can attest from their personal careers, not really a linear path in that. You're right that I haven't been in this industry for quite some time, going on 18 years now. So I was lucky enough. I know, exactly. I was fortunate enough

to be a part of this founding team that created Pet First Pet Insurance back in 2004. And I got involved with pet insurance kind of by accident. I was early in my career. Two gentlemen that I was connected with professionally had an appetite for creating this company. I had heard through the grapevine that they were looking to flesh out their team. And selfishly, I thought, well, what a great way for me to kind of figure out what I love doing. Being a part of a startup, that kind of entrepreneurial culture had always appealed to me. So I joined the Pet First team right at the ground level. And I thought, you know, I'll do this for a few years. I'll figure out what I love and pursue that professional path. Well, it turned out that I

loved growing a kind of a nascent insurance product like pet health insurance. You know, to your point, even today, pet insurance still feels relatively new. It's less than 3% of pet parents who actually carry pet insurance on their pets in North America. So there's still tremendous opportunity for growth. But even close to 20 years ago, we were thinking through, like, how do we build a compelling and engaging pet insurance product that's easy to understand and, of course, easy to use for policyholders, for the pet parents themselves? So my career has been very much focused on growing and scaling that pet first business. And then we joined the MetLife family just about two years ago, just over two

years ago through acquisition and now have the benefit in the scale of MetLife's brand and distribution. So it's just the next evolution of our pet health insurance business. But, you know, as I mentioned with the market penetration, there's still a lot of room to grow and that's where MetLife is focused right now is growth. Amazing. So I'm curious, since, like I mentioned, it seems like in the past two years, so many people have gotten pets at such and like, there was a point I remember this was probably early in 2020, when if you wanted a pet, you know, and even to this day, it's still depending on what kind of pet you want, very difficult to find hard to, you know, and even to this day, it's, it's still, depending on what kind of pet you want, very difficult to find hard to, you know, um, to really find that supply. Like I know friends who live in Toronto and traveled all the way to Ottawa just to, um, get their cat.

Wow. Incredible. Um, yeah. And so I'm curious what kind of effect has, you know, the past couple of years because of COVID and all the staying at home and needing, you know, an extra furry friend. How has this impacted, you know, kind of the pet insurance industry? Yeah, well, you hit right on the head that the key, you know, impact of the pandemic was, of course, everybody in every, you know, part of the world was reevaluating what's important to them. How do they want to invest their time? How do they want to invest their money? And a lot of folks were taking stock of, you know, what's the makeup of their family. And for a lot of people, it already included a pet. And for a lot of people like yourself, it sounds like you were evaluating, do we need a furry

family member? Would that be something that creates value inside our household and helps us make us feel a little more whole? So that's one of the really positive effects of the pandemic. But then, of course, to your point, a lot of people ran right out in March of 2020 and adopted a new animal or worked with a breeder to get a new pet such that by the summer of 2020, certainly into the fall of 2020, the inventory of adoptable animals was down significantly, which is a great thing. So that's been a little bit tricky for now people who do want a pet have fortunately been able to get access to that pet, dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and everything in between. But when it comes down to pet health insurance, the pandemic has been a catalyst for growth in this industry as well, because

pets are living, breathing things. And even though they're not human family members, we do treat them like family members. And that is kind of the emotional side of a product like pet health insurance. But then there's also the very practical financial piece of pet health insurance in that it helps you manage the risk of the unexpected. What if my pet gets sick or injured? And of course, these are things that pet parents are thinking about, but especially new parents of furry family members, if they're not already thinking about it, that's where we're really challenging people to make sure, I hope it's pet health insurance, but even if it's not, you need to have a financial plan for what am I going to do when the unexpected happens? If I'm faced with a veterinary bill of

$1,000 or even $5,000, what am I going to do? And am I prepared so I don't have to make tough decisions based exclusively off the financial component? Yeah. And I feel like for me and my husband, like part of the reason I think we didn't really think about getting a pet for a long time was just, you know, our lifestyle didn't really accommodate for that. But, you know, we've kind of realized, okay, we always, you know, had this idea. It's like, well, what if we want to take a year off and travel? It's like, we're not going to do that. But, you know, we've kind of realized, okay, we always, you know, had this idea. It's like, well, what if we want to take a year off and travel? It's like, we're not going to do that. Like, that's just not, that's like, you know, it's like we talk about that. I'm like, if we wanted to do that, we would have done that. And I don't think I want it like

just in our careers. It's like, it does not make sense for me to take a year off. Like that would, I've worked so hard for, for what I've built. I don't want to do that. I can do a vacation for a few weeks, but maybe not a year, maybe in the future when we want to retire or something like that. And so, so that's, you know, a big reason why we're considering, you know, and we're not going to have kids. It's like, okay, what can we do? What can we add to our family? But honestly, a big hesitation I think is the financial burden. So many people I know get into it and, you know, a lot of people adopt a pet, you know, for emotional reasons, they, you know, just like they want it, but they don't really think about, like you kind of mentioned the practical side of things, the financial side of things. And I've seen so many people, they're

like, surprise vet bill, several thousand dollars, and they don't have that. And then that, you know, becomes a really tricky situation where then they have to rework their budget or put it on credit. Now they're paying off debt. That's always been a concern for me. It's like, I just, you know, it's hard to kind of, I guess, evaluate what is the cost. And so I kind of want to start there when people are like me considering getting a pet and I obviously the cost can vary depending on what type of animal you want to adopt as well. What are some key things that you need to think about outside of just like, well, we need to get, you know, a food dish and, you know, some things for the house. What are some things that people forget about that may be, you know, really expensive down the road? Yeah. And you are so right in that there are unexpected hidden costs to, you know, everything that seems like a really great idea, but certainly pet parenting, you know, it's a, can be a 15 to 20 year commitment. And it's not something that anyone should enter to

enter into without a lot of careful consideration. But to your point, you've got, you know, you have expenses related to the basic care of, you know, I need a safe place for them to sleep, a safe place for them to be where I'm away from the home. Maybe it's a crate, maybe it's gating. I need to think through food, grooming, these types of everyday expenses. But then, of course, there's the unexpected nature of veterinary care. And with veterinary care, there's a component of everyday expenses.

There's the vaccinations, spay and neutering, flea and tick prevention, things like that, of which pet health insurance can and does cover depending upon the plan that you purchase. But the scary side of it is that unexpected care. And it's worth noting that veterinary care is as sophisticated as human health care. It's just always come down to what pet parents are willing and what they're able to pay for. So there's organ transplants for dogs and cats. There's chemotherapy and dialysis. All the things that we do to help, you know, manage our own human health, we can, of course, do for our dogs and cats as well. And so that's where when the unexpected happens, just like, again, with our human children or our parents or spouses, that you go to the emergency room and expenses can, you know, creep up very, very quickly. The same is true for our pets as well.

So it's not something where you have the luxury of saying, let's spend a thousand dollars and then we'll take this little guy home and reevaluate what our next steps are. You're going to be prompted, you know, in the span of 20 minutes to say, are you, am I authorized to do this surgery? Am I authorized to initiate this treatment? And you need to be prepared so that you can hopefully say yes to what needs to be done financially. So you can just really focus on what's best for your pet and in the end, what's best for you as well. So making sure that you have a financial plan before you're ever faced with those tough decisions is a really critical component. So I'm curious, you know, besides, you know, outside of getting pet insurance, in terms of just like having some cash on hand,

like a pet and emergency fund, just for those kind of little things, maybe, you know, not veterinary costs. What are some, you know, things that, you know, costs that may come up again that, you know, people may not expect? Or how much is a good amount to set aside for having a pet? Just, you know, always having that kind of pet emergency fund in mind. Yeah, and that can be a really smart idea, too. Anywhere from $30 to $50 a month is often what we recommend for pet savings. And sometimes that can seem like, my goodness, what in the world would I be spending $50 a month on for my dog or for my cat? But even aside from

the veterinary expenses, there can be a lot of unforeseen expenses, especially as I hope we start to enter some post-pandemic world where we start leaving our homes a little more regularly, perhaps a little more consistently. In terms of returning to an office environment, there's a lot of people who have rehomed a pet in 2020 and 2021 that that pet has been at home with you all day, every day. And when you start to return to an office later in 2022 or into 2023, situations like anxiety or separation anxiety can crop up and you may find, gosh, you know what? I need to have a pet sitter come and check on my pet twice a day, every day. Those types of expenses can be significant. Also maybe doggy daycare or some kind of a place where I drop my pet off that can be very expensive as well. So it's not just the veterinary side. It's really

anytime there's a change in your environment or of course the pet circumstances as well certainly related to their health but you know maybe as people with a dog or a cat introduce a new baby into the family or you know have a another family member come stay with them anything that's changing your pet's environment is certainly going to potentially result in increased expenses as well. And that's where, you know, some form of savings can certainly make sense where, of course, I'm biased, but I'm always going to be an advocate for the insurance because just like with auto or homeowners insurance, you never know when this unforeseen expense is going to crop up. So you want to make sure that if something happens in month two and I just have $100 in my savings account, you know, that's going to leave me in a bit of a tight spot.

Whereas if I had the insurance, I've got the benefit of, you know, a plan that will cover $5,000 or $20,000 worth of expenses or maybe no ceiling on expenses. That's why I think it's such a great idea to invest those dollars that you would have put towards savings toward an insurance product, because then you have the full benefit of that risk management right from day one. You don't have to wait until you've got critical mass in your savings. Yeah. So I'm curious what kind of plans, you know, maybe this is kind of similar to human health insurance, but what kind of, you know, coverage or plans are available? Because I know there's probably a variety, and I've heard from some people like, oh, I had pet insurance, but then, you know, something happened with my pet and it wasn't covered. So how do you, you know, kind of evaluate

the different plans to make sure that you do kind of get the best coverage for your pet? Yeah, that's a really great and important question. And the critical component of any good pet health insurance plan is making sure that you've got a broad spectrum of services that are covered related to unexpected accidents or illnesses. And we always like to recommend that people get coverage for illnesses as well. There are a lot of providers that will offer accident only plans, which are really affordable, but that's due in part to most of your unforeseen vet expenses are going to be tied to illnesses and not accidents. So make sure you've got that accident and illness coverage for unexpected care there. And then of course,

you want to make sure a lot of pet parents do like this component of having optional wellness. So if I want to get coverage for vaccinations or any kind of preventative care, that's available to me. It's something that's important to us at MetLife. And we see that a lot of pet parents of younger pets will add that optional wellness, but also a lot of pet parents of more senior pets will add that optional wellness. So also a lot of pet parents of more senior pets will add that optional wellness. So it's kind of a reverse bell curve where it makes sense at the beginning and towards the end of the pet's life. But the other thing that I'll just caution listeners to look out for is just making sure that there's no surprises. Of course, we always say that, like,

you want to be aware of any hidden fees or surprises in terms of the coverage itself, but making sure that your coverage is as robust as possible with no hidden waiting periods or exclusions. And I'll give you a couple of examples. You know, some providers may exclude coverage for things like an ACL tear or a CCL tear, which can be very common among larger breed dogs, like dogs that might be prone to hip dysplasia as well. You want to make sure that there's not a pullout that says, oh, we cover all of these accidents or illnesses except ACL tears or CCL tears, because that can be one of the most significant expenses as it relates to surgery and the ongoing care that's required after the incident occurs. So just making sure that there's no surprises, that you feel like your coverage is pretty straightforward and transparent in terms of what it does cover, but also what it doesn't cover. And one exclusion that you'll see across all pet health insurance providers is pre-existing conditions. So that's if my dog already has cancer or my cat is already diabetic. Insurance would not cover those conditions that are already identified and

already for which symptoms have manifested. You can get coverage for anything that will happen in the future, of course, but it wouldn't cover that pre-existing condition. And that's just another reason just to encourage pet parents early in your pet's life when everything is perceivably fine and everybody looks healthy as a great time to get pet insurance because you don't want to wait until something has happened to try to secure coverage because I think then a lot of pet parents can be disappointed with their options. Yeah. Now I know another thing to consider is obviously the breed, the type of pet and the breed, like some research I was doing a certain breeds are more prone to health issues. So that may make it very difficult to find coverage. Or if you do get

coverage, it's more expensive. What are some things, you know, for people that aren't, you know, pet parents yet, but considering it, what should they look out for, especially when they're deciding, you know, what kind of pet to get? Yeah, that is a really good call out because there are some providers who will exclude breed specific conditions that will say, gosh, you know, to my point earlier, this is a large breed dog. They're prone to hip problems. We're not going to cover anything related to hip problems. A lot of providers, however, like MetLife will cover those breed specific conditions, but also to your point, we'll rate those plans accordingly.

Just like if you drive a Lamborghini, you're going to have a different auto insurance rate than somebody who's driving a more affordable sedan. So the same is true for those breeds that are prone to kind of chronic conditions. And I think, you know, Dr. Google, we have a lot of cautionary tales, like don't trust the internet for everything, but there's a ton of great information out there about what are some of the chronic medical conditions that certain breeds are prone to, you know, bulldogs are a great example. They're so cute. And a lot of people say, gosh, what a, what a fun breed to have. But they're prone to a lot of people say, gosh, what a fun breed to have, but they're prone to a lot of health

problems. And especially for a person who's not thinking through the finances, who's not considering pet insurance or some types of savings, often they can be forced to make really tough decisions about how to proceed if their bulldog is diagnosed with a chronic condition that's going to require a lot of management over the course of the pet's life. So just making sure that you are thinking through for specific breeds, what does make the most sense, of course, for your household and your family makeup, but also what's your expense tolerance. And then doing some of that research, even before you bring that pet home, get a couple of pet insurance quotes and see how affordable coverage can be.

Already have an idea in mind of how you proceed with a pet health insurance policy because it really is a matter of if and not when. So after you bring that pet home, you want to make sure you secure coverage as soon as possible. Yeah. Lots of what I've seen is actually that, you know, cause I think a lot of people get really hung up on, Oh, I want this particular breed or I want a purebred pet. And usually those purebred pets actually have more health issues just because of that type of, you know, breeding. There's not a lot of diversity in their genetics. And so that is kind of one of of one of those things to think about adopting, you know, from a shelter or something like that where they're not a pure breed, because it does kind of seem like, believe me, there's so many cute pets. Like I am obsessed with corgis.

I just think they're the cutest thing. But everything I look, it's like they're very prone to certain health issues. And so it's like, do you want to pay for that? Or can you, you know, pre-plan for that? And is that worth it? I'm curious on your side of things from the insurance industry, are there any particular breeze that you should be, you know, mentioned bulldogs? Is there any other kind of breeze that you should be, you know, pretty cautious of because of those potential future health costs? Yeah, I think, gosh, I'm trying to think, you know, of course, we're a fan of all pets, large and small, risky and not risky.

But it's just worth noting that we have on the insurance side of things as a carrier, we have a tremendous amount of data to support. If there is a greater likelihood that this pet will become sick or injured, the rates will be adjusted accordingly. And part of that is just to make sure that more affordable breeds to manage their veterinary care have more affordable pet insurance rates. So, you know, it's again worth just pulling up the quote engine, checking out metlifepetinsurance.com and seeing how much might it cost to insure this particular type of dog versus that particular type of dog? You know, certainly you want to find a breed and a specific pet that you connect with and that you feel like is going to be an extension of your family. But it's always the balance of that

emotional side versus the practical side, you know, even down to grooming and other everyday maintenance expenses. Am I going to have to get this dog's haircut every month or every six months or maybe never? That was with our own dog, who is a long haired terrier mix. I thought he was just darling when we first met him. But after I see that his hair expenses are more expensive than my own to manage and keep him looking smart. Yeah. It's just another part of the pet ecosystem as you're considering all these expenses. There's just, it's worth doing your research. Certainly both from a, just what is the best pet for my family, but also what, what kind of expenses can I expect from a veterinary expenses? And then from the other

perspective, the pet health insurance premiums as well. So yeah, talking a little bit more specifically about the cost, obviously you have your kind of monthly premiums and I'm assuming if you do have to actually take advantage of your coverage, then there's a cost upfront for that. What kind of pricing can you expect? I mean, I'm sure there's a long range, like we kind of talked about. It really depends on the pets and the type of coverage you get. But what is kind of the range that you can expect to pay, you know, just for your monthly premiums, as an example? Sure.

And to give you back up a bit, as you're considering enrolling in pet health insurance, there's a couple of variables that we collect from you as a pet parent to understand what is your rate. The first is, of course, information about your pet. What's their species? And then more specifically for canines, especially what's the breed? Because there is some variance there. Then we're also looking at the pet's age. More senior pets are going to cost a little bit more to insure than younger pets. And then finally, we're going to look at where you live. How affordable is veterinary care in your specific region? Do you live in a more affluent area, a more urban area, or are you in a suburban area where veterinary expenses might be a little more manageable compared to that metropolitan

area? So after we understand those factors, and that again, all completed through a very simple online form or working with an agent in the call center, then we start going through, okay, how do you want to structure your plan? And when I say structure, talking about the annual benefit limit, the deductible, and also the reimbursement percentage. At MetLife, the most common plan combination is $5,000 worth of coverage annually, and that benefit limit resets each year for the life of the pet. A $250 annual deductible, so once that's satisfied, your benefits kick in, and then 90% reimbursement after that. So to give you an

example, my first claim, say, is $1,000. I would get $250 off the top and reimburse 90% of that balance, 90% of the $750. Any subsequent claims would not be eligible to the deductible because it's already satisfied until my plan renews and I enter a new plan year. So that's kind of how the enrollment works. And we really pride ourselves on having a lot of flexibility when it comes to our coverage options. So I mentioned what's most popular, but often if a quote's returned and it's $35 a month, for example, our average premium is $45 per month. So of course that considers all breeds, all ages. But if I get a quote for $35 a month and say, gosh, I really wish it started with a two, if I could get into the $20 range, this would be an

easy yes for me. I can increase my deductible, take it up from $250 to say $500. I can reduce my reimbursement percentage and go from 90%, maybe down to 80%. There's levers that we have to help pet parents customize a solution that's perfect for their pet, but also perfect for their finances as well. And then the other great thing is you can make those changes along the way. And we've had that happen. You know, even going back to, I know we talked about the pandemic, but there were lots of negatives to the pandemic as well. A lot of people were facing job loss or maybe furloughs and had to look at their finances and say, you know what, I'm going to have to trim back my pet health insurance premium here. We could help pet parents do that. So they didn't have to worry about

canceling their coverage. They could modify their coverage for a period of time, maybe reduce their annual benefit limit or increase their deductible, like I mentioned, to help ensure that they can continue coverage. But it's flexible and can grow and evolve with the pet, but also with the pet parents needs. That's, yeah, that's super helpful. That's super helpful. I'm curious too, because, you know, we've kind of touched on, you know, we've talked a lot about dogs. I'm kind of curious just from, you know, lots of the data that you have, are dogs just generally more expensive than cats? You know what? That is so interesting because the answer is no. Oh, really? But if you have ever owned a cat or owned a dog

or been around a cat and been around a dog, you can appreciate it's a little bit easier to get a dog to the vet than it is to get a cat to the vet. Cats can be a little more savvy. They've earned their reputation of saying, you know, I see that carrier's out. I'm no fool. I'm going to hide under the bed until the coast is clear. But it can be just a little bit more challenging to get those cats to the vet. And it's interesting in that cats are also better at hiding their symptoms where dogs are much more overt about, um, Hey, I'm sick. I probably need, I need some help here. Dog or cats will hide, um, and, you know, try to do some self-care, uh, and not really seek the help of their, their human companions to, to get that medical attention.

So it's a little bit more rooted in perception than in reality. But the other interesting thing, and I think it's tough and we're working hard to make sure we get access to more cat families, is that even though there are more cats in North America than dogs, cats account for just roughly 15% of the overall North American pet health insurance industry. So people are insuring their dogs more often than they are cats and cats are more affordable to insure. But it's not because they get sick any less. It's not because the significance is any less, less so. It's just that they go to the vet much less regularly. So we want to make sure that we've got solutions for all pet parents, including those feline owners as well. I'm also curious because you mentioned how age is a big factor.

And I mean, that's similar to, you know, if you want to get life insurance, it's always better to get that earlier in life, you know, because, you know, it's cheaper. That's just how that works because you're less of a risk when you're older, there's a higher risk likelihood that you'll actually have to use that life insurance or your, your insurance bill. So, you know, for, for someone, I guess, thinking maybe they, they've had their pet for a while. Is it ever too late? Is there ever a time where it's like the cost just is not worth it? It's better just to save money yourself than get insurance. You know, I'm curious what kind of those costs look like when you have an older pet. Yeah. And actually I mentioned my dog Franklin. He is in the senior segment now. He's now 12 years old and his pet insurance premium is just over $65 per month for another point of reference.

So as a more senior pet, certainly his rate has changed with age. It's worth calling out. I didn't mention this before, but your claims activity will never affect your premium, at least with MetLife Pet Insurance. And that's incredibly important to us because we don't want people to be afraid to file a claim kind of like you are with your auto insurance or your homeowner's insurance saying, is it worth me doing this because I don't want my rate to go up? That doesn't happen with MetLife. So no penalties there for using the insurance. But you're right in that the rate will increase as the pet ages. But I always think it's a smart idea to consider pet insurance, even if your pet is already 12, even if your cat is already 15 years

old. Certainly your rate's going to be more significant, but it's because your risk is more significant as well. So even if you have waited, I always encourage people to take a look at insurance because, you know, that next expensive veterinary bill could be right around the corner. And it's always better to be prepared. Yeah, absolutely. Well, before I let you go, because it seems like you just have a wealth of knowledge, but also you're a pet parent yourself. Any other kind of pieces of wisdom you'd like to give to someone who's considering becoming a pet parent or, or somebody who's maybe a new pet parent?

Yeah, I think it's just a matter of doing your research, um, making sure that you're prepared mentally, physically, uh, and financially for, um, I hate to say it this way, but the burden of pet parenting, you know, there are so many joys to this journey. And I was one of those people that it sounds like you, that I was very focused on my career. And I thought, gosh, I don't really have time for a pet. But, you know, 11 years ago, I adopted Franklin and it's been such a joy for our house, even as our family has expanded now and we have human children at home. Franklin is definitely a part of the family, but I'm so glad I did my research. Franklin struggled with separation anxiety. I really worried that he was not going to make it in terms of he couldn't be left alone., a veterinarian, but other pet parents who can make recommendations along the way. So if you're considering pet

parenting or new to pet parenting, making sure that you have those resources that you trust, but that also you have a plan, a plan for the unexpected, especially when it comes to the finances. Yeah. I mean, that's one thing that kind of brings to mind. There's so many great online communities for specific pets. So if you have a specific, you know, breed or something like that, and you want to find information and firsthand experiences from pet parents, oh, believe me, there's going to be a Reddit thread or a Facebook group dedicated to that. Quite the community. Yes. Yes, indeed. Yeah, there's always a community. Well, thank you so much katie

for being on the show it's a pleasure having you and thanks for sharing all these really important i think uh financial tips uh and pieces of information that people should know when it comes to uh investing in a pet because it is it is kind of an investment isn't it indeed indeed it is well thank you so much for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. And that was episode 319 with Katie Blakely. Once again, she's the vice president and head of pet insurance for MetLife. If you want to learn more about some of the topics that we discussed, always check the show notes, jessicamorehouse.com slash 319. You can also visit metlifepetinsurance.com slash pet dash insurance. Lots of resources there. And of course, you can follow MetLife on Twitter and Instagram.

But again, I'll just include all of those links that will be easy to access in the show notes for this episode, which you're going to want to check out because there's some important information in the show notes, which I'm going to share in a moment. So hang tight. I just want to share a few words first about this podcast episode sponsor. This episode of the More Money Podcast is supported by The Globe and Mail. If there's one thing I've learned over the years is that the most important investment you can make is the one you make in yourself. But learning about actual investments is pretty important too. That's why I've been reading The Globe and Mail for close to two decades now. And I've got to say, it's an investment that has always paid me

dividends. Not only is it one of my favorite resources for business and investing news, actionable personal finance advice, and helpful tools and calculators, the globe keeps expanding its personal finance coverage to keep getting better. That's why they've added Erica Alini, who you may remember from episode 311 of the podcast as one of their personal finance reporters, launched a new beat called The Future of Work, which looks at how technology and the pandemic are changing how we work in Canada, and continue to share helpful explainers on things like mortgages, ETFs, RRSPs, and TSAs so Canadians can become better informed. Want to invest in yourself and start a new habit of reading the Globe and Mail every day like I do? Lucky for you, the Globe is offering listeners of the More Money

podcast a special digital subscription rate for unrestricted access to everything on globeandmail.com. Visit tgam.ca slash jessica to get started. Once again, that's tgam. a slash jessica to take advantage of this limited time offer okay so announcements things i want to share um again reminder check out the show notes for this episode jessicamorehouse.com slash 319 because the the first thing that you're going to want to check out and reminder um is i'm doing a big book giveaway um if you go to you know again jessicamorehouse.com slash 319 or you can just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash contest19, or you can just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash contest. You can find all the books that I'm giving away. I think currently there's five I'm giving away. There's more I'm going to be giving away as more authors come on the show

and have a book that they would like to share with you wonderful listeners. So make sure to go there to enter to win one of the books. Honestly, some of these books, I think, you know, you've got a really good chance of winning them. So, you know, what's the harm? What's the harm? So that's number one. Number two, if you're not aware, I have a ton of freebies, especially as we are in taxis and stuff like that. I've got like my tax prep checklist and things like that. All this is now housed trying to kind of consolidate it. So it's not like where do do you find all of my freebies, all these like random web pages. Everything is now housed in my free resource library. So if you go to JessicaMorehouse.com slash resources, that is where you can sign up for free and access not only all of my kind of, you know, guides and checklists, but I've got some

free spreadsheets, I've got past webinars, a ton of good stuff for free. Again, all tucked into my free resource library. And lastly, too, if you don't know, if you don't know, I also have an investing course. It's called Wealth Building Blueprint for Canadians. So it is a very specific course that is focused on educating Canadians about the fundamentals of investing, but also how to implement the passive investing strategy, which I talk a lot about on the show. So that means, you know, investing for the long term, building wealth, and investing in a portfolio of index funds. So if you want to learn more about that, just go to JessicaMoranHouse.com slash WBB. But again, you can also find more information in the show notes for this episode. So some personal kind of announcements, like I've kind of teased in other episodes, I'm doing a lot of kind of updates for my business and my brand and stuff.

So it's really all started almost a year ago, I would say is when I kind of put the wheels in motion realizing I need to do a little refresh. It's been a long time since I've really taken a look at what my kind of the visual representation of who I am and what I do is. And so I started with hiring a freelance brand strategist so we can like figure out colors and just like the tone and messaging and things like that and fonts and whatnot. And so we did that. And then, you know, I'm currently working on a new website, which I think is going to be very well, it's going to be ready soon and it's going to be awesome. I cannot wait to share you. But what I just did literally yesterday, so I'm recording this on Friday, March 11th, just in case you're wondering, it was I did a photo shoot for new images for my

website that I can use on social media. And you know, headshots and stuff like that. Because honestly, the last time I got my photos done, I want to say it was, I think it was 2018, possibly 2019. I don't know. I I can't remember it feels like ages ago and I do not even look like that I do not have short hair anymore and it just you know I just like look at the photos I'm like that's just not me anymore and so I did a photo shoot yesterday which has literally taken me months and months and months of planning um because you know I don't have an assistant that does this I just do all this you know planning and stuff like that myself and I think I might actually create like a blog post or video

about it just because I thought it was like, because I've done a few of these shoots for, you know, past websites and stuff like that for myself. I'm like, I've learned a lot about how to do it right and get like the best photos and just like, you know, look professional, right? You want to have photos that are like, oh yeah, that looks like really, you know, professional brand, even though it's like a one man show. And so I think I might work on something like that. I just think it might be helpful. Maybe not, but I just want to do it. But yeah, it was really exciting. And I shared if you follow me on Instagram at Jessica, I'm more house, then you've seen some of my stories of sharing some of the fun outfits that I was wearing. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. And I cannot wait to share

some of the photos with you. With that said, though, because I'm just a lucky duck, I guess. Yeah, on the Instagram front, I am always a target of what's called spear phishing. It is basically a scam that I really can't do much about. But these fake accounts that are posing as myself are, you know, steal all my photos and my image, make a fake handle that looks similar to mine. Like maybe there's like one letter that's different or a dash or something like that. Some of them, they have been popping up literally for the past several years, like every few months, then I have to contact Instagram to get them taken down. This is all to say that be very, you know, just aware that this happens. And it's not just happening to me, it happens to

like so many other influencers, especially in the financial space. And I will never DM you asking for personal information or telling you that I'm a cryptocurrency coach. If you listen to this podcast, you know, my sentiments on crypto, like not a big fan, probably because there's so many freaking scams about them. And so this is just to be aware, because I honestly, my phone has been blowing up with all these messages asking for emails and asking me, Oh, is this you? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. If it seems fishy, and if I'm like, you're getting an unprompted DM, that seems a bit weird, like the grammar is weird. And again, I'm like, just trying to get something out of you, like important information that you shouldn't share with anybody or like telling you I can

teach you how to make money faster through crypto. Like, like that is not me I would never do that that is so yeah awful these are scams these are scams are trying to scam you out of money or personal information and you need to be really careful um so yeah just be wary of that this is happening and it sucks and all I can do is literally report it to Instagram and wait for them to take it down and they are not very quick and it really sucks for me really sucks. But on the other side of things, good, you know, nice thing I did finally hit 10,000 Instagram followers, which is really exciting. And I'm, you know, focusing more on Instagram, putting more helpful content and reels on there. So if you do want to follow the real me, I'm at Jessica, I'm warehouse. And that is where you can find me. That is my only account. And again, like how you'd

be able to determine like, is this really her is like, go to my website. If you go to the footer where there's like the logos for all of my social media accounts. Yeah, you can. That's that's how you can kind of legitimize if that's it. Or if you never know, you can email me Jessica at Jessica Morehouse dot com if ever there's like and actually appreciate when people do message me about like, hey, is this a weird account? Because I never know because they always block my account. So I cannot search for them. Like I can never find them on on my own you have to have a separate account to find it because they will always block me so I cannot easily you know do a search every couple months and find out these scam accounts so super frustrating so that's just a little grievance I'm dealing with so that's that's super fun um but otherwise everything's dandy you know I feel really good that this photo shoot is off my plate

there's a lot of other projects I'm working on. And I'm just hopeful that I can take some time off this weekend and just like chill. You know, I just want to chill a little bit. There's some really good shows coming up in March. I don't know about you, but I'm freaking excited about all of the period pieces coming out in March because I'm a big nerd and love a good period piece. So that's what I'm I'm really excited for March. Yeah. Anyways, that's really it for me. So thanks for listening all this time for me just gabbing. But you know, I will see you back here next Wednesday. I've got honestly, I'm so excited, honestly, for the rest of the season. Such an amazing variety of guests and topics just to give you a little teaser. You know, we're gonna be

discussing like money and mental health, getting out of debt, the financial industry, investing in fine art, real estate, so many good things. Really, you know, retirement, of course, it's always going to be a topic. We've got quite a few guests talking about retirement planning and investing. So lots of good topics to to get excited about. So anyways, thank you so much for listening to this episode. I will be back here next Wednesday, like I mentioned, and also, of course, a big shout out to my wonderful podcast editor, Matt Rideout. And yeah, I will see you soon. Have an amazing rest of your week and weekend. See you very soon on the podcast, or I guess hear you soon. You know what I mean.

Anyways, goodbye. This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.