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

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

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

This is your new user's roadmap for the first 30 days with Retirement Analyzer. From the very first session to your first real client appointment, Brooke and Steve break down the exact steps that turn brand new users into confident RA advisors — and reveal the full support and training ecosystem that Thomas Gold has built to make sure you never feel stuck or alone.

Plus, don't miss this episode's RETIREMENT BS segment, where we call out one of the most dangerous myths in financial planning: "I don't need to update my plan... I just did it last year."

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The single most important thing to do in your very first RA session
• How to walk through the software tabs (and why Tabs 1, 2, and 3 are all you really need to start)
• Why the Thomas Gold Power Line is unlike any support you've ever experienced from a software company
• How the team's support staff have insurance licenses and Series 65 credentials — and what that means for you
• What the Thomas Gold Bootcamp is really like (80 advisors, 16 hours, breakfast and lunch included)
• Why the RA advisor community has shifted from competition to collaboration — and how that benefits you
• The #1 mistake new advisors make in their first client session with RA (and exactly how to avoid it)
• What the first "wow moment" with Retirement Analyzer actually feels like

Chapters:

00:00 — Cold Open: What If You Could Retire With Confidence?

01:00 — Welcome & Introductions (Fully Caffeinated Edition)

02:00 — The First Session: You Clicked the Icon. Now What?

03:15 — Pro Tip #1: Run It On Yourself First

05:00 — Walking the Tabs: Income, Assets, Expenses — and the Red Line

06:15 — The Thomas Gold Power Line: We Actually Answer the Phone

08:00 — The Most Common "I'm Stuck" Calls From New Users

09:00 — Steve Takes a Support Call From Costco on a Saturday Morning

11:00 — Your Support Team Are Financial Coaches (With Licenses to Prove It)

13:00 — The Full Training Ecosystem at Thomas Gold

14:15 — Live Daily Training Sessions: Bring Your File, Bring Your Questions

15:00 — 150 Videos Inside the Software (And Steve's Famous Outtake)

17:00 — The Bootcamp Experience: 80 Advisors, 16 Hours, A to Z

19:00 — Thomas Gold Talk: Community, Collaboration, and Study Groups

21:00 — Zero to Hero: What Explosive Growth Looks Like in RA

23:30 — Rising Tide: Why RA Advisors Share Instead of Compete

25:00 — Your First Client: Paper Fact Finders, Client Portal & More

26:00 — Garbage In, Garbage Out: Getting Your Data Right

27:30 — Run RA on Every Client — Regardless of Age or Net Worth

28:00 — The Education-First Mindset That Eliminates Objections

30:30 — The #1 Mistake New Advisors Make (And How to Avoid It)

33:30 — The First "Wow Moment": Watching the Red Line Disappear

35:00 — Conservative Rates Are Your Best Friend

36:00 — 🚨 RETIREMENT BS: "I Don't Need to Update My Plan — I Just Did It Last Year"

39:00 — How to Start Your Free Trial of Retirement Analyzer

40:00 — Audience Challenge + Next Episode Preview

You'll hear how a solo producer in Idaho named Chuck Cravens built the foundation of RA on Excel spreadsheets over 30 years ago because he was obsessed with answering client "what if" questions at the click of a button. How a 23-year-old Brooke Thomas, fresh out of college with zero sales experience, used that software to generate $150,000 in commissions in her very first year. And how a Wall Street trader named Steve Goldstein made a career leap into financial advising, fell in love with Retirement Analyzer, introduced Brooke at a webinar by reading nervously off a piece of paper — and ended up building a company with her a decade later.

But this episode isn't just a great origin story. Brooke and Steve go deep on the concepts that define their approach to retirement planning, including:

• Why financial plans have so many moving parts — and why that's actually an opportunity for advisors
• The budget conversation most advisors avoid (and why the ones who require it close the biggest cases)
• What the famous "red line" in RA really means and why showing it to clients is a confidence-building superpower
• Why Thomas Gold picks up the phone when you call — even on weekends

The episode wraps with the debut of Retirement BS with Brooke and Steve — the show's recurring segment that tackles common retirement planning myths and misconceptions. First up: the age-old client question, "Should I just pay off my mortgage?"

Whether you're a seasoned financial planner, a newer advisor looking for an edge, or just curious about what makes Retirement Analyzer different, this is the episode that sets the stage for everything that follows on The What If Show.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to The What If Show

01:32 Why It's Called "The What If Show"

03:15 Brooke's Story: From Zero Sales Experience to $150K Year One

05:43 Steve's Story: From Wall Street Trader to FinTech Founder

06:48 How Brooke and Steve Actually Met

09:33 Why Financial Plans Have So Many Moving Parts

11:37 The Budget Conversation Most Advisors Avoid

15:21 Why Thomas Gold Actually Answers the Phone

19:14 Getting Over the "New Software" Hump

23:12 Continuous Continuing Education

27:08 Small Changes, Big Outcomes (The Tour de France Analogy)

28:58 The Red Line Explained

32:34 Tab by Tab: How RA Builds Advisor Confidence

34:42 Let the Math Tell the Story

38:27 Introducing "Retirement BS" with Brooke & Steve

39:13 Retirement BS #1: Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage?

41:42 What Do YOU Want Us to Cover Next?