Life insurance, health coverage, and Medicare decisions become more consequential-and more confusing-as you approach retirement. The right insurance coverage can protect your family, reduce estate taxes, and preserve the wealth you’ve spent decades building. The wrong coverage wastes money on premiums that don’t serve your goals. At Godsey & Gibb, we advise you on which types of insurance support your financial situation, your estate plan, and your retirement strategy.
Insurance Advice Built for Discerning Retirees
If you’ve ever sat across from an insurance broker who seemed more interested in closing a sale than understanding your needs, you know the frustration. Many retirees waste money on inappropriate insurance products because the person recommending them earns a commission on the sale. That conflict of interest leads to permanent life insurance policies sold to people who only need term coverage, or supplemental plans layered on top of existing health coverage that already fills the gap.
As a fee-only wealth management firm, we have no financial incentive to recommend one insurance plan over another. Our advisory services evaluate your existing coverage, identify gaps, and provide objective recommendations that align with your estate planning and retirement goals. We help you understand what you actually need-and just as importantly, what you don’t.
Our Insurance Advisory Services
Comprehensive Insurance Review
We conduct a full analysis of existing coverage across every category that matters in retirement: life insurance, disability insurance, long term care, health insurance options, and Medicare. We examine whether your current life insurance policy still matches your needs, whether the death benefit amount reflects your estate’s actual obligations, and whether you’re paying premiums for coverage you’ve outgrown.
Estate Planning Insurance Strategy
Including life insurance in estate planning provides financial flexibility and tax advantages. Our specialized analysis evaluates how your insurance interacts with your broader estate plan-trusts, wills, charitable giving, and wealth transfer strategies. Tactics clients have used in the past include:
Placing a life insurance policy in an irrevocable trust can help reduce estate taxes. Specifically, a policy in an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) removes the death benefit from the taxable estate. The trust owns the policy, the insured retains no “incidents of ownership,” and the proceeds pass to beneficiaries free of federal estate tax inclusion. This tactic also allows premium contributions to an ILIT to qualify as tax-free gifts through Crummey notice provisions.
Using an irrevocable trust as an insurance beneficiary allows control over asset distribution from life insurance, meaning life insurance can be structured to pay into a trust for controlled distribution of funds to loved ones over time rather than in a lump sum.
Medicare Transition Guidance
Medicare eligibility starts at age 65 for most people, but the transition is rarely straightforward. We help clients understand what Medicare covers, how it coordinates with existing health coverage, and which supplement or advantage plans make sense given their healthcare costs, income level, and health history.
For high-income near-retirees, income levels also affect Medicare premiums through IRMAA surcharges. Understanding how income affects your Medicare premium is critical for managing costs, and our guidance helps align your Medicare decisions with your broader retirement strategy.
For those planning to retire early, we help evaluate the bridge period between employer healthcare benefits and Medicare. Whether you’re weighing COBRA coverage, an ACA plan, or a private insurance option, we assess how each choice fits your financial plan.
Why Our Insurance Advisory Approach Benefits Clients
Here’s what a conflict-free advisory model means in practice:
No product sales, no commissions, no pressure
We don’t sell life insurance policies, health insurance plans, or any insurance products. Our revenue comes from advisory fees, so our recommendations serve your interests, not an insurance company’s bottom line.
Comprehensive review alongside your full financial picture
We don’t evaluate insurance in isolation. Your life insurance, health coverage, long term care, and Medicare decisions are analyzed in the context of your investment portfolio, tax situation, estate plan, and retirement income.
Integration with estate and retirement planning
Your permanent life insurance policy’s cash value, your irrevocable trust structure, your beneficiary designations, and your healthcare benefits all interact with your tax advisor’s recommendations and your estate attorney’s work. We coordinate across all of these to help ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
Who This Advisory Service Is For
Our insurance advisory services are designed for:
Affluent approaching retirees
unsure of their insurance needs once they stop working-whether that means understanding what to do when an employer sponsored plan ends, evaluating coverage options for a health insurance gap before Medicare, or determining whether existing life insurance still serves its purpose
People exploring early retirement
who need to understand how private insurance needs will affect their financial plan-including how to purchase health insurance on the marketplace, manage COBRA coverage, or evaluate whether to retire early given healthcare costs
Current retirees navigating Medicare
alongside existing coverage-comparing Medigap plans, Medicare Advantage, Part D, and coordinating with any retiree health plan or spouse’s workplace plan
Families concerned about estate tax implications
of their insurance coverage-especially those with estates near the $15 million threshold where the difference between proper and improper policy ownership can mean millions in taxes
Affluent individuals seeking objective insurance advice
without sales pressure-people who want the right insurance for their particular situation, not the most profitable product for the person across the table
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you sell insurance products?
No. Godsey & Gibb provides advisory services only. We do not sell life insurance, health insurance, long term care policies, or any other insurance products. We do not receive commissions or referral fees from insurance companies. This means our guidance is free from the conflicts of interest that come with product sales, and you can trust that our recommendations reflect your best interests.
How do you help with Medicare decisions?
We guide clients through every aspect of the Medicare transition: evaluating whether to choose Original Medicare with a Medigap supplement or Medicare Advantage, selecting Part D prescription coverage, timing enrollment to avoid penalties, and coordinating Medicare with existing employer or retiree coverage. We also assess how your income level may trigger IRMAA surcharges and help you plan withdrawals and income to manage those costs. For clients approaching 65, we often begin this conversation well before the enrollment deadline.
What types of insurance do you review for estate planning?
We review life insurance (both term and permanent life insurance), disability insurance, long term care insurance, Medicare supplement plans, and health insurance options. For estate planning specifically, we focus on policy ownership structure, whether the death benefit is included in your taxable estate, trust coordination, beneficiary designations, and whether your coverage amount matches your estate’s actual liquidity needs at death.
Is this service available to non-investment clients?
Our insurance consulting is provided as part of our comprehensive wealth management services. It’s most valuable when integrated with investment management, tax planning, and estate strategy-because insurance decisions don’t exist in a vacuum. They affect and are affected by every other element of your financial life.
Get Unbiased Insurance Guidance Today
Your insurance should work as hard as the rest of your financial plan. Whether you need to evaluate a permanent life insurance policy’s role in your estate, navigate the transition to Medicare, bridge a health insurance gap before age 65, or simply confirm that your current coverage still fits your life, consider scheduling a consultation today.
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