Drew Stevens, PhD · Retirement Decision Strategist
Your members are about to make a decision worth more than their house. Most of them will make it wrong.
Watch what a good year does two years later
Illustrative, from published 2025 Medicare figures for a couple filing jointly. The bracket is set by a tax return that is already two years old.
This is what Drew stands in front of a room and takes apart, in language nobody needs a finance degree to follow. Every presentation is 100% educational, unbiased, and never a sales pitch.
Three questions your audience is certain they already know the answers to. You will probably miss at least one. So will they. The difference is they are the ones signing the paperwork.
Wait from 62 to 70 to claim Social Security. How much bigger is the monthly check?
Claim at 62 and you lock in roughly 70% of your full benefit. Wait until 70 and you get roughly 124%. That is about 77% more every month, for life, for doing nothing but waiting. Most people guess 25%, file at 62, and never learn what it cost. Move the age and watch the two lines cross.
Monthly check
$1,400
Break even vs claiming at 62
age 62 baseline
Collected by 90
$470,400
This is the baseline. The earliest anyone can claim, and the smallest check they will ever get.
A retired couple's income goes up by one dollar. What happens to their Medicare bill?
Medicare premiums are not a ramp. They are a staircase. Cross a bracket by one dollar and you pay the whole next step. Drag it and watch.
Household income
$200,000
Their Medicare bill, per year
$4,440
Under the first bracket. This is what Medicare costs a couple when nobody has crossed a line yet.
It is 2026. Which year's tax return decides what that couple pays for Medicare this year?
This is the one that catches almost everybody, and it turns the first two questions into a trap. Medicare looks at a tax return from two years ago. So the Roth conversion someone does at 63 sets their premium at 65. The year they sell the rental, the year they take a big distribution, the year they finally cash out the company stock: none of it feels like a Medicare decision at the time. The bill shows up two years later, addressed to a person who has already stopped earning, and by then the decision that caused it cannot be undone.
Drew has about twenty more of those
Two questions and you have your session.
Tell the page who is in the room and how long you have. It will build the program instead of handing you a menu.
Step one · who is in the room
Step two · how long is your slot
Your audience walks out able to
Drew rebuilds the examples around your audience before he shows up. Same talk, their numbers.
Not quite it? · Drew also customizes programs around Social Security, Medicare, and IRMAA topics.
- Social Security claiming strategies for couples
- Medicare, IRMAA, and the two year lookback
- Roth conversions and what they trigger later
- Withdrawal order and sequence of returns
- Long term care and the conversation nobody starts
- Legacy, beneficiaries, and the ten year rule
In the room
This is what it looks like when nobody checks their phone.
One of the most engaging and practical retirement presentations our members have ever experienced.
CPA Society Program Director
Drew Stevens, PhD, is a retirement decision strategist, author of four retirement planning books, and founder of Wisdom to Wealth. With more than forty years serving individuals and families with retirement guidance, Drew has educated over 4,000 people through workshops, seminars, and educational events. He hosts the Wisdom to Wealth Podcast and holds certifications in Social Security planning, IRMAA, and fiduciary guidance. What he actually does is stand in front of people about to make irreversible decisions and make sure they understand them first.
PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
CF2
Certified Financial Fiduciary
CSA
Certified Senior Advisor
NSSA
National Social Security Advisor
IRMAACP
IRMAA Certified Planner
AHIP
Certified
What happens after you say yes.
FIRST
A short call
Fifteen minutes on who is coming, what they are worried about, and what your board needs the session to accomplish.
THEN
He rebuilds the examples
The math gets swapped for numbers your members recognize. You see the outline before it is final. Nothing is a surprise on the day.
ON THE DAY
He shows up early
Handouts, room check, and he stays afterward for the questions people would not ask in front of the group. No pitch, no sign up sheet.
Keep going
See for yourself, or arm your committee.
Two ways to take the next step. Neither one commits you to anything.
Build a one-sheet for your committee
Three lines and this page builds a printable speaker sheet with your event, your session, and a code your committee can scan to land right back here.
Nothing gets sent. This builds a sheet on your screen that you print or save as PDF.
Drew Stevens, PhD
Retirement Decision Strategist · Author
Founder, Wisdom to Wealth
Prepared for
Recommended program
Your audience walks out able to
Format
Perfect for
Credential
Promise
Educational. Not promotional. 100% unbiased.
Pass this around. Anyone on your committee can scan this and try the same three questions you just did, on their own phone, in about two minutes.
Wisdom to Wealth · 400 Chesterfield Center Dr, Ste 400, Chesterfield, MO 63017 · (636) 537-7851 · drew.stevens@wisdomtowealth.com · wisdomtowealth.com
Insurance and annuities offered through Drew Stevens, MO Insurance License #3000789840. Educational content only, not financial, legal, or tax advice.
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