Retirees typically have a lot of confusion about Medicare, which is understandable since it’s a large and complex system. But such misunderstandings can lead to choosing the wrong plan, paying too much for coverage, and actually having it eat away at your retirement savings.
To avoid all that, it’s a good idea to accept help from financial advisors who make Medicare one of their specialties. When you go through tax preparation for Medicare, you can get the help you need by visiting this page. Here’s how a specialist financial advisor can help a Medicare patient make the best choices.
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Educating clients on Medicare plans and costs
Advisors generally spend a lot of time reading up on the many different types of plans and costs which are associated with the Medicare program. They also take the time to investigate the health care resources which are being considered by their clients and how those resources might impact clients’ financial situations.
This kind of background is essential to having all the available information and using it to best advantage. Retirees typically don’t spend a whole lot of time examining the various Medicare plans and the costs associated with them, even the ones which they are considering for selection.
By accepting the advice of a financial advisor, they can fill in the gaps in their knowledge and have an understanding of all the essential facts about a given plan.
Focus on health care costs and strategies
The first thing a good financial advisor will try to do is to gain a greater understanding of a client’s medical costs, as well as their ongoing needs. This will help an advisor develop a holistic plan that takes into account current medical expenses as well as projected medical expenses.
Using this information as a basis, it then becomes possible to navigate through the various Medicare plans to see which one might be best suited for the client’s needs.
There will always be at least one plan which is particularly suitable to the situation of any given retiree, and there may even be several for the individual to choose from. In any case, the one eventually selected will be one that handles the retiree’s medical situation comfortably and effectively.
Eliminate some of the confusion
A survey conducted by Sage Growth Partners in conjunction with Medicare education organization Healthpilot discovered some interesting facts about retirees and financial advisors. Of the more than 1,100 individuals surveyed who were eligible for Medicare, the survey found that the vast majority were confused about enrollment and about which Medicare plans they should choose.
In fact, 63% of those polled indicated that they were completely overwhelmed by the glut of Medicare advertising that constantly bombarded them. It was found that only 20% of these individuals could claim a good understanding of Medicare itself, and that 31% had a fair understanding of Medicare Advantage.
Interestingly, the survey also discovered that 33% of those in the survey had a financial advisor, but only 2% of these individuals actually used the advisor to help select an appropriate Medicare plan for themselves.
The survey concluded that financial advisors could be a valuable resource for those enrolling in Medicare, but that the advisors are drastically underutilized. Therefore, it stands to reason that if a great many more retirees opted to receive financial advice on wading through the various Medicare programs, there would be much less confusion about the program, and better choices would be made.
It is assumed that the reason most retirees don’t avail themselves of financial advisor assistance when it is readily available, is the simple fact that they have a mistrust of anyone outside their immediate family and are reluctant to open up about personal details to someone they don’t know personally.
Avoid financial mistakes
A good financial advisor can help a retiree avoid making bad choices that could cost them a lot of money. In some cases, the cost of Medicare can be very high, and it could actually threaten the life savings of retirees. It’s also possible that making a poor choice about
Medicare can result in inadequate health insurance coverage, thus allowing expenses to snowball out of control and siphon significant amounts of money away from retirement savings.
According to Fidelity, the average retired couple aged 65 or over in the year 2022 will need roughly $315,000 saved after taxes in order to adequately manage their healthcare expenses during retirement.
A financial advisor can help steer these couples toward an ideal Medicare plan that will not impact any of those savings they have established for healthcare expenses, and for enjoying life in general.
Unfortunately, retirement age is when more healthcare issues pop up for a couple, so it becomes critical that the right healthcare coverage is in place to cover all those extra healthcare expenses. That will allow them to retain more of their retirement savings, so they can be used to enjoy their golden years.
