Since the 2027 plans went live on October 1, our team has pulled every plan in Scottsdale and Las Vegas to get ready for next week's client workshops. More deductibles, higher out-of-pocket limits, a $700 drug deductible cap, and what Medicare.gov cannot show yet.
What yesterday's Medicare workshops taught us. People holding their plan letter still had not caught that things were changing, Medicare.gov is not showing doctor matches for 2027 yet, and the numbers on the screen only help if you know what each one means. Here is what each one means.
The workshop's last section sorts the room into three groups: not on Medicare yet, on an Advantage plan, or on a Supplement with a drug plan. What each group does this fall, the six questions to ask anyone who offers to help, and every section of the show in print, in one place.
This morning Medicare.gov switched to 2027 plans, and the workshop's live demo walks the search click by click. How to search drug plans and Advantage plans, the notes-sheet grid, what the little tooth means, and what the site does not show yet on day one.
Plan letters are due today, and the workshop's calendar slide answers the next question: which Medicare window is yours, what you can change between October 15 and December 7, what happens if you do nothing, and the one change you can apply for any month of the year.
Copay, deductible, network, and maximum out-of-pocket. The workshop defines these four before anything else, and each one is hiding in the plan letter on your counter. What each means in Medicare's own words, the 2027 numbers, and the one that surprises people most.
“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
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.
We keep the best of what you already have, replace what can be better, and make sure nothing is falling through the cracks.
As life changes, so should your plan. We lock in an annual review to make sure everything is still working for you.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
