Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: 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.
Welcome to Reyna Retirement. Reyna Reyes has dedicated her career to helping people make smarter financial decisions. Reyna Retirement is all about breaking down complex financial concepts into language you can actually understand.
Now here's the co founder of American Federal Benefits Consultants, Reyna Reyes.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: Well, I think they call it a silver alert. When senior citizens go rogue and they go maybe they're traveling wrong or they were supposed to be somewhere and they're not or they're lost and we're looking for someone. Well we don't want to have a silver alert out on you when you have questions about Medicare. You need to bring that to us so we can make that that makes sense for you. Because many of my federal and postal employees specifically now I can help anybody with Medicare at any time of the day or the year or whenever. So reach out, we can answer some questions. But my federal employees who are retiring, federal and postal, remember postal employees, you gotta turn on Medicare A and B in order to keep your Postal Service health benefit plan. That's you and your spouse. Now federal employees, you don't have that mandate, but many people will go ahead and turn on Medicare part B anyway because either A they just thought they had to or B they don't want to have the penalty or C, they just think that the idea of having two different health insurance plans work for them sounds great.
The reason you have it is irrelevant to me. We just want to make sure that you know why you're doing it, what you're doing it. Wait, what you're doing and why you're doing it. And if it's a benefit to you because when you look at some of the costs for the monthly premium on even just major medical from the Fed, you have a much better deal than many non federal people who remain in their employee coverage. But the cost is still fairly substantial. For example, there are some this year that a family plan, it's over $1,000 a month in retirement self only. Even on that same plan it's like 411amonth. And then you tack on blue Medicare part B for two people at 202 90amonth. So you've got a thousand plus 202 right. So you're chilling it. Whatever. 1400 dollars a month easy. 1414 oh five or something.
So that is not incredibly appealing to everyone. But you want to see what the options are. There are some outside plans people are using to save themselves money.
Not everything is perfect for everyone. It is a zillion percent worth it to get scheduled with us to see what makes sense for you, what's available in your area.
Even when you have military Tricare, Champ va, they are working in conjunction with other plans now where they kind of play in the sandbox together and coordinate care.
So some things to consider.
Like I said, when you go to retire, you're able to keep your federal health benefit or your postal health benefit. You have choices. If you're at Medicare eligibility, you or your spouse, where you could add Medicare A and B as a redundancy of health care, but there is that monthly premium, does it make sense to reach out to other plans to potentially offset some of those costs? I'm a big fan of at least knowing what's available in your area. That way you can say yes or no to it, and that way you at least know what you're doing and why you're doing it. And if somebody says, I can't believe you're spending so much money, you say, well, here's why. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You don't have this. Oh, well, Jessica said that she has this. And I can't believe I don't have what she has. Well, Jessica may not be a federal employee. She may not have the same issues as you. She may not have the same doctors as you. Maybe y' all live in different counties where she has a plant available to her that you don't have. You see what I mean? So it makes sense to at least reach out to us as a third party to, number one, review what you got, see what you're paying for. Make sure it makes sense for what you already have anyway. And then see if you're going to add any coverage, whether it's Medicare or whatever. And remember, after retirement, if you're already 65 years old or older when you retire, you and your spouse both have eight months after retirement where you can turn on Medicare Part B and there will be no penalty. That's just the deal that's in the Medicare and you handbook. You can check it out. It's.
That's the deal. Now, if you retire and then turn 65, you are your spouse, then you've got that window the three months before, the month of and the three months after where you can turn on Medicare Part B with no penalty. And what's Even cooler is that you don't get a penalty technically until you have not had part B for a full 12 months. So there's that as well. Just a quick side note from your friend Raina. Go ahead and reach out get scheduled and we can go over whatever it is you need to talk about. Whether it's Medicare, postal or federal health insurance coverage, tsp, Social Security planning, pension, military buyback, you name it, we can help you with it.
I double dog dare you to get scheduled with it. We'll see you soon.
[00:05:09] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Reyna Retirement With a strong commitment to ethical standards, Raina works hard to find the right solution for each individual or family who reaches out for advice. To contact Rayna directly, call 850-450-6500. That's 850-450-6500. Or to reach the team at American Federal Benefits consultants, call 1-800-872-That's 1-800-872-8857. You can also go online to americanfederal.org not affiliated with the United States Government. Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice. These opinions are not intended as investment advice, nor do they predict future performance of any product. All information provided is believed to be from reliable sources. However, we make no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of any statement. The information is intended to be educational in nature and does not provide a guarantee or specific result. All copyrights and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. American Federal Benefits Consultants is an independent organization, not a government agency or affiliated with the Federal government or any state government. The terms CSRs, FERs, FELI, and FEHB are all registered trademarks of the U.S. office of Personnel Management. American Federal Benefits Consultants, agents, consultants, or any independent contractors do not provide tax, legal or investment advice and do not engage in the solicitation or sale of securities. Consult with your tax advisor or attorney regarding specific situations.
