Defining the perfect retirement can vary from client to client.  Financial advisors spent countless hours managing risk and creating solutions to the possible pitfalls and challenges associated with `planning for the retirement phase of each client.

Medicare beneficiaries could need as much as $400,000 for health expenses per couple, this according to a 2018 research report from Employee benefit Research Institute. This is an increase from 2017 of $370,000.  So how does a client plan for healthcare?  What about Medicare?  What about Long-Term Care?

Medicare as we well know has a litany of rules to follow. Retirees need to be informed and given the correct guidance to make sure health care costs do not blow up their retirement plan.

Navigating the rules of Medicare can be a daunting challenge for many.  But as a trusted advisor it’s important to be able to assist clients with questions about healthcare costs in retirement.  Or have access to resources that clients can use to make the best possible decisions.

Tips for Financial Advisors

The rules for Medicare are full of many nuances. Unless someone at the firm is devoted to this topic full time, it can seem a steep hill to climb to justify offering advice on it.

There are some ways financial advisors can help to at least start the conversations with a client, as well as providing resources for them the advisors can direct them to.

1. Add health care to your client meeting agenda. By placing it into your annual agenda for clients, most of the questions and issues will be discovered before a crisis.
2. As early as age 62 start speaking to your clients about Medicare. Have your clients provide a list of the Doctors they are seeing, and if they will be allowed to continue to see them after they sign up for Medicare.
3. Start cultivating a relationship(s) with local Medicare experts where you can refer clients. This can be achieved by asking for suggestions for an unbiased insurance provider who has already assisted a current client who has gone through the process.
4. Partner with a firm that specializes in Medicare and senior issues such as Pinnacle Financial Services.
5. Use state of the art Medicare comparison software such as Connect4Medicare.

Engage in some simple troubleshooting that provides solutions to some key situations that can alleviate areas where clients will potentially make missteps in the process.