Turning 65?
Here’s What You Need
to Know Right Now.
Your 65th birthday triggers a series of Medicare deadlines that most people don’t fully understand until it’s too late to go back. We walk you through every step so you hit every window with confidence.
Your 7-Month Enrollment Window
Medicare gives you a 7-month Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) centered around your 65th birthday: 3 months before, your birthday month, and 3 months after. The decisions you make during this window determine your coverage, your costs, and your options for years ahead.
Most people don’t realize that some of these decisions have deadlines that, once missed, carry permanent consequences. Part B has a late enrollment surcharge that never goes away. Medigap has a 6-month guaranteed acceptance window that closes and may not reopen.
This is why we exist. Our Certified Medicare Planners® have walked thousands of people through this exact transition. We know the deadlines, the exceptions, and the strategies that make the difference between a confident enrollment and an expensive mistake.
The 5 Questions Every Turning-65 Client Asks Us
- “Should I take Part B now or stay on my employer plan?” It depends on your employer size, your plan benefits, and your spouse’s situation. We’ll compare the numbers side by side.
- “What’s the difference between Advantage and Supplement?” Advantage bundles everything with a network. Supplement gives you freedom to see any doctor with predictable costs. Neither is universally better. We help you figure out which fits your life.
- “Will my doctors be covered?” We load your specific doctors into the system before you choose. You’ll see exactly who’s covered under each plan.
- “What about my medications?” We run your prescriptions through every Part D formulary available in your ZIP code. You’ll know the costs before you enroll.
- “Am I going to pay more because of my income?” If you earned above $106,000 (single) or $212,000 (joint) two years ago, you may face IRMAA surcharges. We help you understand the brackets and plan around them.
What Happens in Your First Meeting
Every meeting starts with one question: “What would you like to accomplish today?”
From there, we pull up every plan available in your ZIP code. We load your doctors, your medications, and your budget into the system. Then we shop together, on screen, so you see exactly what we see. You pick the plan that makes the most sense for your life. We handle the paperwork. And we’re here next year, and the year after that, for your annual review.