Celebrating 40 Years at Sams/Hockaday & Associates

By Jeff Sams and John Hockaday, Founders of Sams/Hockaday & Associates

At Sams/Hockaday & Associates, our 40th anniversary offers a prime opportunity for reflection. It gives us an opportunity to celebrate four decades of serving our clients through life's most important transitions, including retirement.

It’s hard to believe it has been 40 years.

We started in the early ‘80s, and at that time, computers were just catching on. At one stage of building the agency, we had a lot of discussions on whether or not we needed a fax machine. I (Jeff) thought we shouldn’t spend the money on it – I didn’t think it was necessary. But John said we needed one. (He was right.)

At one point, we had clients from Shelbyville that would call Decatur, and that was considered a long-distance phone call at the time. When we got a toll-free 800 number, that was a big deal!

Then came the Apple II – our first computer.

We didn’t knowhow to do a thing but turn it on and watch it warm up! We later learned how to run quotes, and we would enter people in just to see how it could formulate rates. It was truly amazing compared to looking in a rate book.

I (Jeff) remember when we started growing, and I wanted a secretary to help me with all the paperwork. My first secretary was Carol Routin. She was a wonderful lady who we lost to cancer a while back. I will never forget her.

Our first signs, displayed on Jasper street, were made in my basement. I had a projector that copied the business card and projected it onto a big board. I traced the letters and hand-painted our first sign. It sounds horrible, but it actually turned out very good! At that time, our name was 4 Seasons Insurance, and our slogan was “for all the seasons of your life, we insure.”

We have come a long way and now have a website, billboards, social media, and an all-star team of licensed agents. They have spent decades helping individuals ages 65+ understand Medicare and everything that comes along with it.

• We help with managing Medicare to maximize your benefits
• We help with retirement planning, including rolling over 401(k)s, IRAs, and more
• We help with life insurance and long-term care planning to ensure life’s transitions don’t cause stress and division in the family
• We provide Medicare education and seminars free of charge

From finding the most competitive premiums to educating you on your coverage, we are humbled to be approaching such a landmark anniversary.

We've helped many people over the years with Medicare, and every year we have the pleasure of helping more. Thank you to the central Illinois community for trusting us with some of your most important financial decisions. From Medicare health plans to life insurance to rolling over your retirement accounts, we are honored to provide you with solutions.

Contact us today to start your own Medicare and retirement planning!