@pizzaman They have a 3.7 out of 5 on yelp. There's some reddit threads with experiences. Keep in mind companies like this will not recommend plans that they don't work with or get commission from, so it's a limited view of your choices. Some people reported they were able to find better plans that were outside the scope of what BB recommended. But also plenty of reports from satisfied clients.
No free lunch of course, if it's "free," to me that means they have even greater incentive to go with a plan that compensates them the most. That's business, got to pay the bills and employees. Much of this community is DIY oriented, and I'd add the medicare.gov site is pretty good for shopping Medigap and Part C/Advantage plans.
@hines202 Thanks for the info 🙂. I decided to go the Medigap route and have tentatively picked a plan provider before I read this book. It just confirmed for me my plan of attack.
What are other people who are approaching age 65 doing about Medicare coverage? What questions do you have?
@pizzaman Seeing more and more go the Medigap route. Big insurers like United Healthcare seem to really be struggling.
A + B + D + Medigap (Supplement) is my choice. ‘Advantage’ in my area usually cost less but it limits the doctors’ choices.
@hecht790 Same here, ABD+Medigap (Supplement). More specifically, though, my Supplement is provided through a former employer pension benefit and administered by UMR (United Healthcare retirement arm). It is less expensive and seems to cover more than any of the Medicare defined "letter" plans from other insurers. Still doesn't cover hearing and vision, though.
Medicare Supplement plans (also known as Medigap) are standardized, meaning they offer the same coverage for the same plan letter (e.g., Plan F, Plan N) regardless of which insurance company sells it. The only difference between plans with the same letter is the monthly premium.
JL Collins just came out with an update of his book "The Simple Path to Wealth". Excellent!!! Of all the books I have read about retirement planning he is the closest in thought to myself. He likes a 70/30 asset allocation with the 70% stocks all in low cost total US market index funds. Doesn't see anything wrong with developed markets, just not needed. Also doesn't use TIPs, but again not against them, just doesn't see any great advantage.
Doesn't see anything wrong with developed markets, just not needed. Also doesn't use TIPs, but again not against them, just doesn't see any great advantage.
Good points. It's always important to take these books with a grain of salt. These are what "works" from that individual person's perspective, and may be the worse possible thing for *your* perspective. Remember JL's *great* book started as a letter or notes to his young daughter, how to invest for a *young* person. I prefer books from folks that have worked with people across many different situations and use cases, but often those are professionals who are selling something.
When Grady and I discuss TIPS with clients, it's in the context of something like "Inflation is another retiree bogeyman. Would you like to buy insurance against it and take that worry off the table?" Certainly if their risk tolerance scores come in low. If you watch Vanguard target date funds, they start introducing TIPS as folks get near to or in retirement. After 2022, and with the certainty of what these tariffs are going to eventually do to prices, folks are more often buying that protection.
@ricke I see you reacted to one of my recent posts, but it doesn't say what your reaction is. Don't understand how the "reacted" function works???
@pizzaman If you check on the lower left side of a post (under the user info box), you see an icon of thumbs up. If you hover over that, you can "react" to a post by giving a thumbs up (agree) or thumbs down (disagree). That's basically it.
I see the thumbs up on other people's posts but not on mine and only not on mine. You reacted to my post but all I see is
@pizzaman yeah I think that's all you get 🙂 it's not as sophisticated as the ones that show you who reacted how.
Just read William P. Bengen's (Mr. 4% Rule) new book "A Richer Retirement" - 2025. My new favorite book! He updates his "SAFEMAX 4% Rule" with new up-to-date data and new analysis. His new "SAFEMAX Rule" is 4.7%. Should be required reading! I think I will start a separate thread discussing his latest research and go over some of the most important topics for us to discuss if people are interested. Yes???????
@pizzaman I read a summary in one of the financial rags, it sounds good so I'll put it on my list to read. It sounded like he was moving his asset allocation from the (old) Trinity study AA of S&P 500 + Intermediate US Treasuries to more of a Vanguard target date mix of total US/total international equity mix and agg bonds? Can you report on what he's suggesting in that area? I believe that is part of his justification of moving from 4% to 4.7%, as well as stating the 4% was for "worst case" economic times, thus ended up being too conservative.
