Medicare is one of the most expensive and most misunderstood variables in any retirement plan — and most clients don't see it coming.

In this episode of The What If Show, Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein of Thomas Gold Solutions break down exactly why Medicare deserves its own dedicated chapter in every retirement plan you build. They cover the IRMAA surcharge tiers (and how a single dollar over the income threshold can spike a client's premiums), which types of income — including Roth conversions and capital gains — feed into that calculation, why the two-year look-back period creates planning blind spots, and how Medicare cost growth is quietly outpacing Social Security COLA increases in a way most advisors and clients haven't connected yet.

They also tackle this episode's Retirement BS myth: that Medicare is a fixed, predictable cost you simply check off at age 65. It isn't — and the math Steve walks through at the end of the episode shows just how much is at stake.

If you'd like the free IRMAA one-pager Thomas Gold has put together for advisors to share with their clients, email info@thomasgold.com.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro: The What If Show

00:07 – Welcome to Episode 5

00:53 – Why Medicare Is One of the Biggest Retirement Variables

01:33 – Healthcare Inflation: 5–7% vs. the 3.2% Average

03:29 – IRMAA Explained: What It Is and Why It Matters

05:44 – The IRMAA Tiers: From $202.90 to $689.90 Per Month

09:24 – The Cliff Tier Trap: $1 Over the Limit Changes Everything

10:55 – Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D: A Clear Breakdown

14:21 – Enrollment Timing and Late Penalty Warning

16:23 – How Retirement Analyzer Automates IRMAA Calculations

18:40 – What Counts Toward Your MAGI (Roth Conversions, Capital Gains & More)

19:20 – Why Spreadsheets Fail and Purpose-Built Software Wins

23:08 – The Quiet Retirement Killer: Medicare Costs vs. Social Security COLAs

26:12 – Scenario Planning: Why Where You Retire Affects Medicare Costs

30:14 – 🚨 Retirement BS: "Medicare Is Just a Fixed Cost"

31:31 – The SSA-44 Form: How to Appeal an IRMAA Determination

34:17 – The Shocking Math: Nearly $1 Million in Lifetime Medicare Costs

35:10 – Audience Question + Call to Action

36:27 – Merch, Sneakers, and Hat Tips for Bald Men

In Episode 4 of The What If Show, host Mike Langford sits down with Thomas Gold Solutions co-founders Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein to make the case that a monthly expense plan isn't just a budgeting exercise — it's the cornerstone of every great retirement strategy.

Fresh off their 86-person Scottsdale Bootcamp, Brooke and Steve explain why "klumping" a client's expenses into one round number — even with a reasonable inflation rate attached — produces a fundamentally less accurate plan than itemizing the components. The difference isn't academic: it can shift a plan outcome by more than a million dollars at age 100. Critically, doing the work often allows clients to spend more in retirement, not less.

The conversation covers how Retirement Analyzer handles mortgage P&I separately from taxes and insurance, why healthcare inflates at a far faster rate than clothing or life insurance premiums, and how to model the go-go, slow-go, and no-go phases of retirement spending with RA's stairstep expense feature. Brooke recommends advisors explore item-level inflation data from BLS.gov to build inflation assumptions that actually reflect real-world costs — right down to bacon.

Steve introduces the concept of "fluff" — the gap between a client's net income and their actual tracked expenses — and explains why that number is one of the most powerful leverage points in the entire planning process.

The episode wraps with the Retirement BS segment, where Brooke and Steve tackle the long-standing rule of thumb that retirees only need 70–80% of their pre-retirement income — and explain why it's a shortcut that can lead well-meaning advisors in the wrong direction.

Resources & Links:

• 🎯 Try Retirement Analyzer free for 14 days: RetirementAnalyzer.com
• 🌐 Thomas Gold Solutions: ThomasGold.com
• 💼 Thomas Gold on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/96812430
• 💼 Brooke Thomas on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/brooke-thomas-91185218
• 📊 BLS.gov CPI data by item category: bls.gov/cpi
• 🥓 BLS Average Price data for Bacon: data.bls.gov/timeseries/APU0000FD1101
• 📍 Nashville Bootcamp — October 6–8, 2025: RetirementAnalyzer.com

Chapters:

00:00 - Welcome to The What If Show

00:45 - Scottsdale Bootcamp Recap

02:15 - Nashville Bootcamp Announcement (Oct 6–8)

03:30 - What Advisors Discover at Bootcamp (New: Scenario Track) ← was 04:00

06:00 - Why a Monthly Expense Plan Changes Everything

08:00 - Klumping vs. Itemizing: The Million-Dollar Difference

11:00 - Breaking Down the Key Expense Categories ← was 11:30

13:00 - Why Each Expense Has Its Own Inflation Rate

15:00 - How RA Helps Clients Engage With Their Own Plan

17:00 - Go-Go, Slow-Go & No-Go: Planning for How Retirement Actually Feels

19:00 - The "Fluff" Factor: Finding Hidden Savings

21:30 - Personal Inflation & Expenses That Didn't Exist Yet

23:00 - Using BLS.gov to Build Smarter Inflation Assumptions ← was 23:30

26:00 - The Real Cost of a Basket of Goods

29:00 - 🥓 The Bacon Inflation Tangent (You're Welcome)

32:00 - ⚠️ RETIREMENT BS: The 70-80% Income Rule — Fact or Fiction?

36:00 - Why Top RA Advisors Make Expense Plans Non-Negotiable ← was 35:30

36:15 - Audience Question & Closing ← was 36:30

How fast can a financial advisor show a prospect or client that they are genuinely worth their time and trust?

In Episode 3 of The What If Show, host Mike Langford sits down with Retirement Analyzer co-founders Brooke Thomas and Steve Goldstein to answer that question with practical, specific strategies advisors can use starting in their very next meeting.

Brooke and Steve walk through the exact moments that create an immediate “aha” for clients — starting with something as simple as showing a prospect a sample plan before you ever ask them for a single piece of personal data. They dig into the power of the itemized expense plan and why breaking down a clumped monthly spending number can mathematically show a client they can spend more money in retirement and still come out ahead.

The conversation shifts to one of the most in-demand topics in the RA community: tax planning.

Steve and Brooke explain how advisors can have high-impact tax conversations with their clients without being a CPA — covering Roth conversions, the cumulative tax chart, the “retirement time bomb” sitting inside large qualified accounts, and why tax risk may be more dangerous than market risk for many clients.

From there: why becoming an educator instead of a salesperson is both more effective and more compliant, how RA’s archived annual plans make the advisor’s annual review one of the most powerful relationship-building moments in the business, and Steve’s favorite question to ask a client who has a positive monthly cash flow (hint: the room goes silent).

And in Retirement BS with Brooke and Steve — the segment where conventional retirement wisdom gets put to the test — the topic is the 401(k). Specifically: is it always the right move to maximize your contribution? Brooke and Steve break down when the answer is yes, when it is no, and how to use Retirement Analyzer to show your client the actual math.

Start your free 14-day trial of Retirement Analyzer at RetirementAnalyzer.com.

Learn more about Thomas Gold Solutions at ThomasGold.com. And if you have a topic you would like Brooke and Steve to tackle on a future Retirement BS segment, drop us a message — we read every one.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro — What is The What If Show?

01:00 The Aha Moment: Showing All the Numbers in One Place

04:00 The Sample Plan Trick: How to Lower Client Resistance Before You Start

07:00 The Expense Plan Deep Dive: Why Itemizing Changes Everything

09:00 The $10K Example: How Itemizing Can Let Clients Spend MORE

13:00 Tax Planning Without a CPA License

16:00 Quick Clips & Progressive Taxes: How to Explain It Simply

17:00 Roth Conversions: The Biggest Tax-Saving Move in RA

19:00 The Cumulative Tax Chart: Showing Clients Their Tax Pain Points

22:00 Becoming an Educator, Not a Salesperson

26:00 Compliance & Confidence: Why RA Is a Track to Run On

28:00 Annual Reviews & Archived Plans: A Powerful Show of Value

30:00 Personal Inflation: Why the Budget Conversation Never Gets Old

32:00 Continuous CE: Educating Advisors AND Their Clients

36:00 Product as the Launching Pad — Not the Lead

38:00 The Positive Cash Flow Question That Stops Clients Cold

39:00 ⚠️ RETIREMENT BS: Should You Always Maximize Your 401(k)?

43:00 Wrap-Up: What to Take Away and Try This Week