Why Retirement Planning Isn't Complete Without Medicare | Family Advice That Matters

Planning for retirement isn't just about building your savings—it's also about making smart Medicare and healthcare decisions.

In this special family edition of Medicare Mondays, Mackenzie Anderson is joined by her father, financial advisor Brian Winterowd, to discuss how financial planning and Medicare work together. They cover common retirement mistakes, long-term care planning, Medicare costs, IRMAA surcharges, inflation, and why having trusted advisors can make all the difference.

Whether you're turning 65 soon or helping a loved one navigate retirement, this conversation offers practical insights to help you prepare with confidence.

In this episode you'll learn:

✅ Why Medicare isn't completely free
✅ The importance of long-term care planning
✅ How IRMAA can increase Medicare premiums
✅ Retirement planning mistakes many people overlook
✅ Why having trusted financial and Medicare advisors matters
✅ How family experiences shaped Mackenzie's passion for helping seniors

If you're approaching Medicare eligibility, now is the perfect time to start planning.

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#Medicare #RetirementPlanning #MedicareEducation #Turning65 #Healthcare #FinancialPlanning #SeniorHealth #Retirement

0:41 Why Mackenzie chose Medicare

2:04 Helping families through major life transitions

2:59 Retirement planning mistakes to avoid

3:18 Is Medicare really free?

3:40 Long-term care planning

3:55 Understanding IRMAA

4:09 Inflation and retirement healthcare costs

4:38 Why trusted advisors matter

5:15 How to get personalized Medicare help

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hey everybody, welcome back to the show. You're watching We Are Austin. Planning for retirement involves more than just saving money, it also means making really important healthcare decisions. Joining us now because it is Medicare Mondays with McKinsey, McKinsey Anderson with Premier Medicare Solutions and the day we've all been waiting for since you first told us. Uh her father, Brian Winterrode, is here to help you transition into retirement with ease. We've really been looking forward to this, Brian. Great to see you. Nice to be here. Thank you. Thank you. Big fan of McKinsey. Well done. Good job there. That's great. Good to see you, McKinsey.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Yeah. I love it. We've been looking forward to this. Good to see you too. You know, this is a cool thing. This is a family affair, what you're doing. McKinsey, we'll start with you. Your passion for helping seniors, which is what you do every Monday, we are able to talk about this during the month, really comes from your own family's experiences. Can you share how your parents, especially your late mother, um helped kind of influence the path that you're on today?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Of course. So I mean, growing up I've always had really compassionate parents. Um but one thing that they did was they fostered that family connection. So I got to see my grandparents a lot. We went on lots of road trips and throughout life and um and uh got to really just be there and just kind of soak it up, and that's something that's really special. Um and my mom, you know, she had a big heart for everyone, as in in animals and everything, and so um, you know, what she focused on in her career was making sure that everything parks, natural spaces were accessible to everybody. And then my dad being who he is and a financial advisor, um, and just his history throughout his life, he's created so many businesses, and so I really would not be here without him.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Yeah, yeah, you've experienced kind of firsthand how important it is to have trusted guidance during those big transitions. So these are important decisions that people are making. How has that experience shaped the way that you work with your Medicare clients?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Yeah, so I mean a a big thing in my life was after my mother passed away. There was um didn't have a will, all this stuff. And so having my dad be there to help me with with all the financial stuff, have her sisters a CPA, it just really just made it even more apparent or important to me that how are you supposed to know all this if you've never been through it, you haven't. Absolutely. And so you need people like that in your life. And luckily, you know, I had a financial advisor and a CPA and everything, so I didn't have to pay for any of the advice. So, but um, it's really important to have that, and especially just as a child, be doing that with your parents and you're an only child, it's it's just a lot.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Yeah, and you're exactly right. How are you supposed to know a lot of these things? And you probably encounter that a lot when you're helping people kind of prepare for uh retirement financially. There are probably a lot of things that folks overlook. Uh, we're talking about uh healthcare, Medicare issues, things that retirees maybe not thinking about. Is that something you see often?

SPEAKER_02 2:59

For sure. Uh there are a lot of financial issues that aren't really understood, but if we talk about the medical side of things, one of the biggest uh kind of misconceptions is that Medicare is free. Right. I paid for it all my life through every paycheck, and well, no, it's not. You know, part A is, but that is also taken out of a out of your social security check. So there's a you you you pay for it in that regard as well. Uh a couple other things that are overlooked oftentimes is just the long-term care side of things. If there are two partners, um, if there's a male, he's probably gonna pass first, so he's not gonna be there to help her. How do you account for that? It's not cheap. It can be very expensive. Five, ten thousand dollars a month for full care. Goodness gracious. That can be very expensive. Uh Irma, there's this um income-related surcharge on monthly adjusted amount, yeah. And that can really take your monthly uh up to quite a few hundred. Quite a few hundred, and it lasts two years until it readjusts and readjusts. Uh, and maybe just inflation, just good old inflation that we don't account for. We think that the balance is gonna work for us. Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

And uh that's not always the case. Not the case at all, yeah. A lot of things to think about. I know all about Irma, thanks to a certain Medicare Monday segment we have. You know, and this you put your channel. Irma's not a nice lady. No, not at all. We have learned you don't want to see her.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

Not this one.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Not this one. You have you learned that, you know, this is what McKinsey's able to do to help people kind of with this important part of their retirement, and you trust her so much with what she does to really kind of help with your clients and help with that part of retirement, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:39

Yeah. So we um uh help her, uh we just have always appreciated how she's uh gone about doing her business and uh the servant's heart all the way through, which is really at the core of what we do. It's what you do, right? If you don't have somebody else's better interest in mind, then the outcome is not gonna be as good as it should have been.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

It's so true. It is such a difficult place to navigate. It really is a crazy journey. And for people, how do you know if you don't know? Uh it is important that you're here to help people with these services. How can people get in touch with you and find you? And then also how much does it cost?

SPEAKER_01 5:15

Well, you can call me 512-599-9527. It's on the screen and it's my website. Um, and it doesn't cost anything. Um, I believe that valuable information should be shared at no cost to you other than knowledge.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

I love that. This was a great, very special family edition of Medicare Mondays with McKinsey. Thank you both for being here. We appreciate everything you're doing for our community and for joining us today. Nice to meet you. Likewise. Thanks for being here. We'll be right back with more We Are Awesome right after this.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Thanks for listening to another episode of the Medicare Matters podcast with McKenzie. Please make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcast so you don't miss an episode. Please also leave a review as that helps me reach more people that can benefit from this podcast content. If you have questions or topics that you want me to cover for a future episode, please email them to McKenzie at Premier Medicare Solutions.com.