Lifestyle & Mindset
The Rooms Are Filling Up Again
There's a feeling in a room right before a show starts, and if you've ever run one, it
The American Retirement Advisor — News & Insights
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Medicare & Healthcare
Eddie and Betty Are Coming to the Big Screen
Betty gets to say it herself. On Friday, October 2, Eddie and Betty are coming to the big screen for one day only, two showings, at two Valley libraries, alongside the advisors you have been reading all summer. Here is everything, including how to save your seat at no cost to you.
Lifestyle & Mindset
Eddie and Betty Have Been Keeping a Secret
The two voices you have been listening to all summer said yes to something last week, and I promised them I would not spill it. Tomorrow morning, right here, Betty gets to tell you herself. This is the story of how they found their voice, and the one thing I am not allowed to say yet.
inheritance planning
Show Up Once: Badly Prepared Beats Perfectly Absent
The last card on the fridge is the easiest one to misread. You do not prepare for a first meeting with an advisor; the meeting is where preparing happens. Day five of The Fridge List closes the series: why walking in with a shoebox and three questions beats staying home with a perfect plan you never
inheritance planning
Put It in the Box: One Place Your Family Can Find Everything
The documents exist. The accounts exist. The passwords exist. Almost none of it lives in one place, and most of it lives in your memory. Day four of The Fridge List is one job: gather it all where your family can actually find it, and why a single labeled box beats a lifetime of good filing.
inheritance planning
Tell the Kids: The Call Parents Put Off
The documents are signed. Nobody has told the kids what is in them. Day three of The Fridge List is the executor conversation: who to call, what to say, and why the kids are relieved by that call, not burdened by it.
Trusted by 14,000+ Families
“My full trust is in you folks and always has been since the beginning.”
— Dana B., ARA client since 2019
“Best decision we made years ago in AZ was finding American Retirement Advisors!”
— Ellen K., Scottsdale
“I told my friends I was in the same position and talked to American Retirement Advisors and got my questions answered.”
— Rod H., ARA client
“I was talking to a family friend yesterday and told him what a wonderful job Marc did.”
— Susan S., Mesa
“He comes highly recommended by close friends. I only want to talk to David Edge.”
— Gene M., referred client
“This is my first year in Medicare and your input was extremely helpful.”
— Randy B., new client
How It Works
1
Discovery
We start by learning what you want to accomplish and what you have to work with. We can't help if we don't know the full picture.
2
Build Your Plan
We keep the best of what you already have, replace what can be better, and make sure nothing is falling through the cracks.
3
Review Every Year
As life changes, so should your plan. We lock in an annual review to make sure everything is still working for you.
Medicare & Healthcare
See What Smart Medicare Planning Looks Like →
Medicare & Healthcare
Three Medicare rumors to ignore this fall
The Annual Enrollment Period opens today, and three claims are making the rounds that are wrong or out of date: a new escape hatch when your doctor leaves, a $2,000 drug cap, and a rule that you must re-enroll every year. What the official sources actually say.
Medicare & Healthcare
Will any Medicare plan pay for long-term care?
As people compare 2027 Medicare plans, the biggest late-life cost is not on any plan summary. Medicare and Medigap do not pay for long-term care. What Medicare does cover runs out fast, what care costs today, and the questions a couple can settle calmly, before either of them needs it.
Medicare & Healthcare
Why can a $0 drug plan still bill you?
Plan shopping starts Thursday, and plenty of plans show a $0 premium. For about 1 in 12 people with Medicare, that is not the whole bill. The income-based Part D surcharge follows you to any plan, so here is how to shop around it instead of into it.
Medicare & Healthcare
What do the extras really cover?
Dental, vision, and hearing are the extras people notice first, and the plan letter rarely shows their limits. On Medicare.gov, the dental flag read 'not specified' for every plan we pulled. Where the real limits live, and why the extras belong last on your list, not first.
Retirement Planning
Discover How Retirees Protect Their Income →
Retirement Income
Can you beat Eddie at this week's quiz?
Eight true-or-false questions from a busy week: charitable giving, the income surcharge on $0 plans, long-term care, three Medicare rumors, and Social Security's 2027 raise. Every answer links back to the article it came from.
Retirement Income
Your 2027 raise is set. What will you keep?
Social Security's 2027 cost-of-living adjustment is 3.6%, about $75 more a month for the average retiree. What lands in your January deposit depends on a few numbers that are not out yet, plus some that are. A short household check before the year ends.
Retirement Income
Giving to charity this year? The rules changed
Starting in 2026, the first slice of every itemizer's charitable giving is no longer deductible, and top-bracket households see their deductions trimmed. If you are 70½ or older, there is a cleaner route straight from your IRA, and it has to happen by December 31.
Retirement Income
The Annual Physical for Your Money
You would not skip your annual physical, and you should not skip your money's either. To close out our week on financial interactions, here is what actually happens in a real annual review, piece by piece, and the moment from one of ours that I would put up against any product pitch in the country.
Inheritance Planning
Learn How Families Preserve Their Legacy →
Lifestyle & Mindset
Is an estate plan from 2004 still a plan? Fiscal Fridays Episode 8 answers that and three more, now on YouTube.
Four real situations, thirty seconds each: a widow who found four accounts she never knew about, a man who sold his company and felt nothing, a couple whose plan is twenty-two years old, and three kids who will not agree. Plus Greg Frantz on thirty years of Medicare. Hayes's thirty-two-minute cut is
inheritance planning
How to Split the House and the Heirlooms Without a Family War
The thing that actually splits families isn't the money. It's a ring, a chair, a photo, and the feeling of being left out. Here is how you hand it all down without anyone stopping speaking.
inheritance planning
How to Ask Your Parents If They've Actually Planned Anything
Asking your parents about their estate feels like reaching for the inheritance. It isn't. It's making sure the plan they built still does what they wanted. Here are the words that open it gently.
inheritance planning
How to Give the Grandkids Money Now, and Watch It Matter
The money you give while you are alive to watch it land is worth more than the same money left behind. Here is how to do it without stepping on the parents or spoiling the kids.