The Healthcare Shock: Why LGBTQ+ Retirees Need a Different Strategy

TPIR Ep 97 Full Show.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

TPIR Ep 97 Full Show.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Speaker1:
Any examples used are for illustrative purposes only, and do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and may not be suitable for all investors. It is not intended to predict the performance of any specific investment, and is not a solicitation or recommendation of any investment strategy.

Speaker2:
Welcome to Take Pride in Retirement, the podcast dedicated to helping members of the LGBTQ+ community protect and grow their hard earned money. Get set for a show full of education and insights with your host and advisor, Matt McClure. We recognize every family is unique. The goal of the show is to help you achieve financial freedom so you and your loved ones can have the retirement you've always dreamed of, a retirement you can take pride in, no matter who you are, where you're from, or who you love. So now let's start the show. Here's Matt McClure.

Speaker1:
Hello there, and welcome to another edition of Take Pride in Retirement. Matt McClure here with you, your host, your advisor, your friend, your pal and your confidant. Really appreciate you taking the time, as always. You know, this is the show where we help LGBTQ+ individuals and couples build retirement plans rooted in clarity and confidence and of course, in pride. And I appreciate you being a part of what we are doing here. And today we're going to be tackling kind of one of the biggest sources of retirement anxiety. And no, I'm not talking about, you know, having to spend more time at home rather than out doing things because you can control your time. You know, that's it's a thing. Or coming up with what to do in retirement can often be a source of anxiety. But no, the biggest source of anxiety, or at least one of them for most people, is healthcare. Um, healthcare costs specifically. So we're going to get into that before we do. I want you to do a couple of things for me. Um, I am so appreciative, as I say, of you being a part of the show, and you are the biggest part of the show because you are the ones who are listening or watching hello on YouTube if you're watching this show there, and I really do appreciate that. However, if you would, if you are watching on YouTube and you are not subscribed, please subscribe to the channel. Like this video? Leave some nice comments and all that kind of great stuff.

Speaker1:
If you got some not so nice comments, keep it to yourself. But if you got nice comments, I love them and so give me them, I appreciate that also, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, do that as well. Just search, take Pride in Retirement on your favorite podcast app, and you can go to take Pride in Retirement comm or take pride in retirement. A couple of different things you can do on the website. You can go there and find out more about me and why I do what I do. Sort of the inspiration behind this, all of that good stuff. See the past episodes, watch previous videos, get connected with all the socials, all the things all over the socials, by the way, uh, Facebook, Instagram, blue sky threads. All the all the biggies there. Um, but you can also go to take pride in retirement to get started with getting your own customized retirement plan in the works. And I would really encourage you to do that if you have any doubts about, as we're going to talk about today, whether you're going to be able to afford to pay for healthcare in retirement because it's one of the biggest, if not the biggest costs that you're going to face. And so we're going to talk a lot about that healthcare shock in retirement and how to stay ahead of it. Now also and take pride in retirement plan. You can get a copy of the free e-book that is called the Smart Retirement Plan, is written by a colleague of mine, and I wrote the afterword for that book.

Speaker1:
And that is, um, such a thing that I am, I'm just really proud of. It's the first time I've ever done anything like that, and I'm, uh, was flattered to be asked to do that. And if you want to get some really great insights on, uh, you know, retirement, different retirement issues, uh, ways to come up with a retirement plan. That is a smart one and not a dummy. Then, uh, just go there. Take pride in retirement. You can also schedule a free consultation. It's absolutely free of any cost or any obligation. So healthcare costs are a big source of anxiety. And especially, you know, if you're a member of the LGBTQ plus community, the topic can feel even heavier for you. You know, many of us have had kind of uneven access to employer benefits over the years. Perhaps. Uh, some are single heading into retirement. I've got, uh, a client or two that are heading into retirement right now, uh, as single folks. And so their planning is obviously different than those who are the couples who I work with as well. And many people rely on chosen family instead of those traditional sort of caregiving structures of the blood relatives and all of that. But the good news is that the fear and the anxiety can fade away. When you replace that uncertainty with an actual plan that shows you, okay, I actually can pay for this, that, or the other, you know, cost that might come up in retirement.

Speaker1:
And today on this particular edition of the show, we're doing two of these a week. I'm going to kind of divide the health care situation discussion up into a couple of episodes this week. So just kind of part one of it. And so today we're going to break down Medicare pitfalls, lifetime health care costs and how to prepare without panicking, which is always a good thing to do. Prepare but don't panic. It's almost like um, you know, be be prepared, not scared. Right. And that is really what we want you to be. And so let's talk a little bit about Medicare as a starting point here, because this is where a lot of costly mistakes really do happen for folks. You know, Medicare is essential coverage, but it's not completely free, right? Most retirees, you're going to pay a monthly premium for things like part B and part D. So what are the different parts of Medicare? Well, hospital coverage is under Medicare Part A. That's your basic. Like you go to the hospital, you you uh are covered there. Part B I always remember it by saying, you go to see doctor Bob. That's your like your basic, you know, medical coverage if you're going to see the doctor, uh, all of those different types of things for your yearly checkup and, uh, you know, if you've got a cold or whatever, like you go to see the doctor, that's in part B, good old doctor Bob.

Speaker1:
Um, part D is drug coverage. So part D drugs, prescriptions. Pretty self-explanatory. There. Now notice I skipped over C. Part C is actually Medigap. And we'll talk more about that in just a bit, or Medicare supplement plans could be that that sort of thing or Medicare Advantage, I guess I should say, is really what kind of what that is, that sort of encompasses a lot of those and provides some other supplemental coverage beyond that. But that's kind of the outlook, that little brief rundown of the alphabet soup of Medicare. But what we're seeing right now is that premiums are rising faster than a lot of people expected, because health care costs just keep going up in this country, and they don't show any signs of slowing down. And they're definitely not going down, that's for sure. Um, you know, it doesn't show any signs of slowing down the growth in the prices, in the Medicare premiums and all that stuff. And they're definitely not going down. Uh, but Medicare is becoming a major retirement expense category for folks. Like if you look at, say, a monthly budget of your average person in retirement, Medicare costs going to be up there. And, you know, enrollment timing also is a big deal because that can affect how much you're going to pay for life, because you may be stuck with enrollment penalties, late enrollment penalties. And that's really one of the biggest traps for folks like if you delay part B, for example.

Speaker1:
And that's that doctor going to see doctor Bob, right? If you delay past the time you turn 65, you could face a permanent premium increase because you would be subject to a late enrollment penalty. And I want to emphasize that that one word that I said there permanent. It's not something that is going to go away necessarily for you. You can face a permanent premium increase for Medicare Part B if you delay. And it's not a one time penalty, folks, it lasts the rest of your life. That kind of is what permanent means. Uh, another issue, Irma and I've talked about Irma a little bit here not all that long ago on the show, but I want to introduce you to our friend Irma once again. Irma is not, um. She's not a nice lady. She, uh, can be something that that really gets you in the. You know where, because Irma stands for it's an acronym that stands for income related monthly adjustment amount in Medicare. And so these are income related surcharges. So if you make over certain thresholds, uh, you are subject to paying higher Medicare premiums. And so higher earners can actually pay dramatically more than those at the lower end of the scale. And the calculation is actually not based on current year income. It's based on income from two years prior. So that's what if you ever hear somebody say, oh, the Medicare two year lookback or the Irma two year lookback, that is what they're talking about.

Speaker1:
So there's a two year lookback. So it's based on the income from two years prior. So age 63 is a critical age for you to start thinking about those Irma surcharges that could potentially come to bite you when you turn 65. And so the calculation is based on that income, as I said from two years prior. And retirement transitions then need to be planned out very carefully. Between those those ages, like 62, you got to start thinking about it. 63 really, you got to put that plan into place to make sure that you're not going to face, you know, potentially two times or more the amount of monthly premiums that you would otherwise be having to pay. And for LGBTQ plus listeners, look, many people in our community face career changes. Midlife, um, some people retire earlier or maybe later than traditional, uh, timelines. I've got one particular client right now. He's like, he's a younger guy in his 30s, and he says, look, I want to retire when I'm in my 50s, like 55 at the latest. And he's well on his way, um, facing a little bit of a career upheaval right now due to some stuff going on corporate wise for his particular situation, but is is, well, well ahead of where I was in my early 30s, right when I, you know, started even having the idea of retirement in my mind. He's like, yeah, I want early retirement.

Speaker1:
And I just applaud him so much for that. So some people retire earlier like that particular client wants to do and some people retire later. I just I had another client who recently just retired at the age of 70 and, you know, enjoyed what he did, worked as an engineer, worked all the way until age 70, and then finally, you know, said, okay, I am ready to to quit and enjoy the rest of my life in retirement. And so a lot of people, you know, those, those traditional sort of timelines, I'm retiring at 62 or 65 or whatever. They don't apply necessarily to LGBTQ+ folks And others don't have HR departments walking them through these decisions. Right. I mean, if you work for any sort of large corporation, especially the HR department is there to help with with different things and be, um, you know, helpful when it comes to things like the, you know, personnel issues that might arise or all of those types of things. Even even the benefits and all of that. But they're not there to sort of walk you through making decisions. They don't operate in some advisory capacity to you or a fiduciary capacity, certainly. And so they're not going to handhold you through the process of making sure that you don't face the surcharges in all of these things. And so the key takeaway here is that Medicare, which you're eligible for and can enroll in at age 65, is not just a milestone saying, hey, it's your 65th birthday.

Speaker1:
Yay, here's your Medicare. No, it's actually a strategic decision. And so if you are within five years, let's say, of turning 65, and you are not 100% confident about those Medicare timelines, let's fix that. You know, I offer complimentary consultations, uh, kind of mapping out your strategy when it comes to retirement timeline, making sure that you take all these different things into account, like the Irma surcharges, the two year lookback, all those things, and help you avoid costly mistakes. You can learn more. You can visit Take Pride in Retirement Comm to actually schedule that consultation as well. Take pride in retirement comm or go take pride in retirement complex. All right. So you know Medicare timing oftentimes intersects with another sort of reality in people's lives. A lot of people are working longer than expected. Yes. That's sometimes by choice. That's sometimes because they want more flexibility and sometimes because they need to rebuild savings, right? Because of certain events that happen in their their lives. Well, the job market these days can be tough for anybody, but especially older workers really concerned about either losing their job and then having to find a new one in a tough job market or, you know, other concerns within the workplace. And AI is increasingly becoming a part of that workplace, including finding a new job. Well, joining me to talk more about that is Carly Roszkowski with AARP. She is the VP of financial resilience programming there. Hi, Carly. How are you?

Speaker3:
I'm good. Matt, thanks so much for having me today.

Speaker1:
No problem. Thanks so much for being a part of the discussion here. And it's a very important one. I mean, first of all, as we kind of set the the sort of baseline, I guess, for our conversation, what are people saying about their concerns about either, you know, losing a job, finding a new job at a certain age? I know that you all have some new research that kind of delves into that.

Speaker3:
Yes we do. And the labor market is is quite challenging right now. Many people who have jobs are staying put. We're calling that sort of job hugging. You might have heard that term. So older workers who have been laid off, or those who retired and want to go back to work, may have more difficulty finding a job than they have in the past during this, this current climate. Our recent research shows that about a quarter of the older workers we surveyed are concerned about losing their job within the next year. And more than two thirds, about 67% of older workers, believe it would be difficult to find a new job right now.

Speaker1:
Yeah, well, it's, uh, it really is a concern, obviously, for a lot of folks then. And so, you know, I mentioned AI there. You know, it's it's sort of taking over our lives a bit. Um, and, and I think it's gone from maybe this sort of, like, scary unknown thing to just this sort of tool that we're all using, um, in one way or another. How are Our workplaces, especially in the job search, or that maybe the the candidate search. If you're talking about the the company's position, they're like the candidate search part of things. How are they using that. And I guess as a as a follow up to that, how can candidates for jobs actually use that to their advantage?

Speaker3:
Yeah. So the job market has changed dramatically in recent years, with AI playing a much bigger role, both on the employer side and the job seeker side. So we encourage older workers to embrace this technology, including AI, and use it to help with their job search. You can use it to help write your resume and cover letters. It can also provide information or research on the companies that you're interested in or you're applying to. And it can even predict the types of questions that may be asked during an interview.

Speaker1:
Wow. And so, you know, what are some tips that you may have for older job seekers who are either, you know, updating their resume, maybe looking at using different AI tools to to either help with that or other aspects of the job search process.

Speaker3:
Job seekers should focus on making sure that their resume highlights their skills and experience and not their age. So we recommend your resume be no more than two pages long. Focus on your recent experience. Include your credentials, but you don't have to include your graduation dates. Take off your street address and maybe ditch that old AOL or Hotmail email address for a more modern service like Gmail. But we also talk a lot about making sure that your resume includes industry specific terms or keywords straight from the job descriptions that you're applying to. Because some employers are using AI based tools to do an initial review or scan of candidates. And if you have these keywords or specific terms, it can improve your chances of making it past those sort of first digital gatekeeper rounds.

Speaker1:
Yeah, we talk about the changes in the workplace and in the job seeking area. It really is crazy how things do evolve over time. And, you know, I mean, as we talk about older workers and, and folks going either going back to the workplace or, or just being in the workplace for a long time and bringing that experience to the table. Aarp, I know, often really highlights the benefits that come with that. You know, people of different generations working together. What does that look like right now in 2026?

Speaker3:
Yeah, there are five generations in the workplace today, which is fantastic. And we see and research shows that multi-generational teams bring together different perspectives, different skill sets and different ways of solving problems. We hear from younger workers that collaborating with older colleagues provides them opportunities to learn new skills, and contributes to maybe a more productive work environment. Our recent research shows that 90% of all workers enjoy working with people of different ages.

Speaker1:
Yeah, I often have enjoyed that as well. Like just getting that when I was younger, like, you know, getting that experience and and all of that just from people who have been there and done that in the workplace. I always thought was just so helpful. And really, they really do just bring a lot to the work that they do. And along those lines, what resources are out there for, uh, you know, from AARP, I should say for older Americans who may be looking for work right now.

Speaker3:
Job seekers can go to npr.org to find expert advice, tools, resources including AARP and Indeed's job search platform, which offers thousands of curated job listings. Help with your resume and interview prep.

Speaker1:
Very good. Well, we will direct our listeners in that well, direction. Um, Carly Roszkowski is VP of financial resilience Programming at AARP. Carly, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with me. I really do appreciate it.

Speaker3:
Thank you Matt. Have a wonderful day.

Speaker1:
And my thanks to Carly again for that really insightful conversation. And one thing that I want to highlight here for our LGBTQ plus listeners and viewers, hi again on YouTube, is that, you know, reinvention is really part of our story as a community. And it's been out of necessity so many different times. If we look back at our history. Right. Many of us have have pivoted careers, moved cities, um, and, and even, you know, explored, uh, realizations about our identities and things like that over the years. And so AI doesn't have to be something that replaces opportunity. It can create new ones. It can help you be by being a tool to help with maybe that reinvention that you are exploring later in your life career wise. And so financial resilience as well. It's not about, you know, having a perfect financial past. Lord knows I don't. I had to learn a lot of financial lessons the hard way. That's one of the reasons I do. What I do is because I want to help other people ahead of that, ahead of them having to make the same, you know, sort of financial mistakes that I did early in my life. And so it's not about having a perfect past. It's about making smart decisions now and going forward. So take pride in retirement once again. That's the website. If you want to check out things there, take pride in retirement comm and schedule a consultation.

Speaker1:
A couple of different options for you to do that on the website. So go there. Take pride in retirement comm. You can actually also give me a call 85524692178552469211. Is that number. All right. So um, let's kind of zoom out here a little bit and take a look at the bigger picture when it comes to your healthcare costs. Lifetime healthcare spending and the numbers here. When you hear them, they can really kind of surprise people a lot of the time. Um, industry estimates now suggest a 65 year old retiring today may spend well over $170,000 on healthcare in retirement. And that's just kind of, on average, a lot more people, you know, could spend more than that. And a lot of people could spend less than that. You know, it's that's kind of the average there. Uh, average 65 year old retiring today, $170,000 just on healthcare in retirement. And that figure doesn't even include long term care, which is a huge cost that a lot of us are going to need in our retirement years, whether it's, you know, in an assisted living capacity, a nursing home later on, any of those type things, you just really need to keep in mind that that $170,000 figure does not include that, and Medicare does not cover long term care.

Speaker1:
So bear that in mind as we talk about this going forward. Now for couples, the estimates say about $400,000 or more over time. So that's even double what an individual could face when you work out the numbers there. And why this matters is because, you know, health care inflation as we've seen here lately, it rises faster than general inflation. Overall inflation and medical needs are going to increase with age, typically speaking. I mean, you know look the body breaks down the older we get. Um, I realize that every time I stand up now and I hear so much popping and cracking, I'm like, oh, the fireworks going off, you know who's having a party? Um, well, it's not my joints, I'll tell you that. But those medical needs, they they increase with age. It's just like anything the older your house gets. You know, you got to replace the roof. You got to replace the HVAC, the water heater, all of the different things. They break down and you got to get them worked on or replaced. Same with the human body, as you know, to, to put it lightly. Um, and, you know, even with Medicare, there are gaps in coverage, dental vision, prescriptions, co-pays, you know, that you've got to worry about. And for LGBTQ+ retirees, we've got some unique dynamics to to consider here. Single retirees often face higher per person costs than couples do.

Speaker1:
Some people may lack the, you know, sort of family advocacy in in medical situations that others might otherwise have. Longevity trends can actually increase lifetime health care spending because people are even even post-Covid. People are living longer, but medical care is getting more expensive at the same time. Boy, is that a double whammy for you. So you have to pay more over a longer period of time. Congratulations. You've survived. Here's you a big medical bill. But now you know that's the Debbie Downer part. Here's the empowering part. If you project health care costs early, then you can actually do something very powerful. And that is build them into your retirement income strategy. Even if you just take those average kind of numbers there that we were just talking about, make sure that you have a buffer of retirement income that's going to be guaranteed. Much like, you know, Social Security often seen as a guaranteed income in retirement. There are other vehicles as well. I can help you set up something that operates like a personal pension, right where you may not have a pension from work, like in the good old days where you worked 40 years and you retired, you got a gold watch and a pension, and we're told to go along your merry way, And then you got a paycheck the rest of your life.

Speaker1:
It doesn't quite work like that from the workplace these days, for most of us anyway. And if you are one of the vast majority of workers out there that does not have a pension coming your way in retirement, you can create one for yourself and make sure that it is going to be, yes, a guaranteed source of income that lasts as long as you do. But make sure that that amount is going to cover your health care costs in retirement. And so you can build that into your retirement income strategy. And it removes a lot of that anxiety that's just kind of hanging out there in the background. Or maybe it's like the little devil on your shoulder being like, you've got to pay for health care. You got to pay for health care. What are you going to do? And you can just brush that devil off your shoulder and say, look, I got it handled because I've planned ahead. And boy, what peace of mind that can give you. Get rid of that anxiety. You get rid of all that worry. And you can just focus on living life and not have to worry about how you're going to pay for your medical bills. And you know, if you've never seen what your real retirement healthcare costs could look like, that's something that I help folks with all the time.

Speaker1:
Um, you know, you've got to account for that. And so we can look at things like how taxes and health care and even your Medicare choices, your Social Security, uh, projections and all that. How all of that looks altogether because it all happens in tandem with each other, if not in tandem, then they all affect other different aspects of your retirement. So you've got to make sure that it's a it's a well-oiled machine, that it's not an old rusty clunker about to break down. That's not what you want in your retirement years. And so schedule that complimentary no pressure consultation. It's at take pride in retirement comm take pride in retirement. Com you can also call 211855246992. 11. All right, so next time around we're going to talk more about healthcare. Of course, as I said in the beginning. But we're going to focus a lot on long term care the coverage decisions and controlling. Say it with me. The things you can control. If you're a long time listener, you know that's what I'm all about. Control the things you can control. That's going to be a big part of the next episode of Take Pride in Retirement. Well, that is going to do it for this episode of the show. And until next time, take pride in yourselves and take care of each other. We'll see you then.

Speaker2:
Thanks for listening to Take Pride in Retirement. Members of the LGBTQ plus community deserve to work with a fiduciary financial advisor who puts their needs first. To schedule a free, no obligation consultation with Matt McClure and the team at Active Wealth Management, call (855) 246-9211 or go online to take pride in retirement investment advisory services offered through Brookstone Capital Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Bcm and Active Wealth Management Incorporated are independent of each other. Insurance products and services are not offered through BCM, but are offered in sold through individually licensed and appointed agents.

Speaker1:
Any comments regarding safe and secure investments and guaranteed income streams refer only to fixed insurance products. They do not in any way refer to investment advisory products. Rates and guarantees provided by insurance products and annuities are subject to the financial strength of the issuing insurance company, not guaranteed by any bank or the FDIC. Information provided is not intended as tax or legal advice and should not be relied on as such. You are encouraged to seek tax or legal advice from an independent professional. Registered investment advisors and investment advisor representatives act as fiduciaries for all of our investment management clients. We have an obligation to act in the best interest of our clients and to make full disclosures of any conflicts of interest. Please refer to our firm brochure. The ADV two, item four for additional information.

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