Independent retirement & care planning · all of UT
Plan for care. Protect your income. Leave a legacy.
Most retirements aren't undone by the markets — they're undone by the cost of care. We help Utah families plan for long-term care, time Social Security, and turn savings into income that lasts. Educational, independent, no pressure.
The reality in Utah
What long-term care costs in Utah (2024)
These are annual costs for care in Utah. Medicare doesn't pay for most of it — a plan does. About 70% of people turning 65 today will need some long-term care in their lifetime.
Source: CareScout (Genworth) Cost of Care Survey 2024 — Utah. carescout.com/cost-of-care. Likelihood of care: U.S. Administration for Community Living.
How we help
Four pieces of a secure retirement
Plan for long-term care
About 70% of people turning 65 will need care — and Medicare won't pay for most of it. We help you plan before you need it.
Time your Social Security
When you claim, from 62 to 70, permanently changes your benefit. We help you weigh the trade-offs for your situation.
Build lifetime income
Turn savings into a dependable paycheck — coordinating Social Security, withdrawals, and annuities so you don't outlive your money.
Protect your family & legacy
Right-sized life insurance and hybrid policies protect the people who depend on you and pass on what you've built.
How it works
Get a plan in 3 simple steps
Talk to a planner
Tell us your goals, savings, and concerns about care. No cost, no pressure — ever.
Get a personal plan
We map likely Utah care costs against your savings and compare the protection tools that fit you.
Put it in place & review
We help you act on the plan and revisit it as your life and the numbers change.
Our services
What we help Utah families with
Long-Term Care Planning
A clear plan for how you'd pay for care — before you need it.
Long-Term Care Insurance
Traditional and hybrid policies that cover what Medicare won't.
Social Security Planning
Think through the best time to claim for your situation.
Retirement Income & Annuities
Dependable income you can't outlive, matched to your goals.
Life Insurance & Legacy
Protect your family and leave a legacy without overpaying.
Medicaid & Asset Protection
Understand how Medicaid fits — and when to involve an attorney.
Independent & in your corner
A planner who treats your money like family's
Brian Penner helps Utah families understand long-term care, Social Security, and retirement income in plain English — with the patience to make sure you understand every option before you decide. No pressure, ever.
Meet Brian Penner →Resources
Planning guidance & Utah data
Medicare Fraud and Elder Scams in Utah: A 2026 Guide
The people who target retirees are not guessing. They know the enrollment calendar, they know what a Medicare Number is worth on a billing form, and they know a call about your health coverage in late October sounds like housekeeping rather than a pitch. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center puts numbers on it: in 2025, Utah complainants age 60 and over filed 2,341 complaints and reported $65,946,070 in losses — roughly 24% of the state's complaints but about 34% of the $195.4 million Utahns of every age lost. Nationally the 60-and-over totals reached 201,266 complaints and $7.748 billion, up 59% in a single year, with an average loss above $38,500 and 12,444 people losing more than $100,000 apiece. Investment fraud alone took $3.5 billion from that age group, and government impersonation roughly doubled year over year, from 4,521 complaints to 8,628. Almost every one of these schemes asks for the same three things — your Medicare Number, remote access to a device, or money moved in a way that cannot be reversed. Here is the table of what Medicare and Social Security will never do (Medicare will never call to sell you anything or visit your home; SSA will never suspend your number or ask for gift cards), how the federal marketing rules give you something concrete to check on any enrollment call — recorded calls under 42 CFR 422.2274, a Scope of Appointment 48 hours before an in-home visit, and an agent who states outright that they do not offer every plan — how to catch medical identity theft on a Medicare Summary Notice, what to do in the first 24 hours, and every free Utah number worth having on the refrigerator.
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Beneficiary Designations in Utah: The Paperwork That Overrides Your Will (2026)
Most Utah families pay for a will and then never look again at the one-page forms that actually move the biggest assets they own. Life insurance, annuities, IRAs, 401(k)s, HSAs, and payable-on-death bank accounts are nonprobate transfers — they pay the name on the beneficiary form the company has on file, and a will generally cannot reach them. Utah Code 75-2-804 does revoke a revocable designation naming a former spouse after a divorce or annulment, and the statute is explicit that no other change of circumstances effects a revocation — not estrangement, not remarriage, not a sentence in your will. But the state rule stops at the federal line: in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 U.S. 141 (2001), the Supreme Court held ERISA preempts state revocation-on-divorce statutes for employer plans, so a 401(k), pension, or group life policy pays whoever is on the plan’s form. Federal law also makes a married participant’s spouse the default beneficiary of an ERISA plan unless the spouse signs a written, witnessed consent — a protection that does not follow the money into an IRA. The scale of the paperwork problem is measurable: the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator has matched more than 611,000 policies worth $13.18 billion through August 31, 2025, and Utah’s treasurer returned a record $43.4 million in unclaimed property in FY 2025, with unpaid insurance benefits among the sources. CDC data puts Utah’s divorce rate at 3.1 per 1,000 in 2023. Plus the five costliest mistakes — no contingent beneficiary, “my estate” by default, minors named directly, trusts drafted without coordination, and lump sums to a beneficiary on means-tested benefits — and a seven-step audit you can finish in an afternoon.
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Medicare Part D Late Enrollment Penalty: A Utah Guide (2026)
Almost nobody skips Medicare's drug coverage on purpose — they skip it because they take no pills, or because a letter about “creditable coverage” looked like junk mail. The bill arrives years later, every month, for life. In 2026 the Part D late enrollment penalty is 1% of $38.99 (the national base beneficiary premium CMS set on July 28, 2025) for every full month you went without Part D and without creditable drug coverage, rounded to the nearest $0.10 and bolted onto your premium. It starts once a gap runs 63 days or more after your Initial Enrollment Period ends — and the test never closes, so dropping a drug plan at 71 counts the same as never enrolling. A two-year gap costs $9.40 a month; five years, $23.40; ten years, $46.80 — more than the base premium itself, buying nothing. The one document that protects you is the notice of creditable coverage your employer, union, retiree plan, or COBRA administrator must send before October 15 every year, right before the October 15–December 7 enrollment window. CMS data for May 2026 shows 96,972 of Utah's 488,797 Medicare beneficiaries — 19.8% — with no Medicare drug coverage at all, running from 15.3% in Cache County to 25.6% in Tooele, 25.3% in Weber, and 24.0% in Davis. Most of those households hold creditable coverage through TRICARE For Life, the VA, FEHB, or a job. Some do not know which group they are in. Plus what counts as creditable, how the 60-day reconsideration appeal works, and how the Part B penalty (10% per full 12 months on $202.90) compares.
Read →Got questions?
Plain-English answers
Does Medicare pay for long-term care?
Generally no. Medicare covers only short, skilled care after a qualifying hospital stay — not ongoing custodial help, assisted living, or extended nursing-home stays. That gap is exactly what a long-term care plan addresses.
How likely am I to need long-term care?
About 70% of people turning 65 today will need some long-term care, according to the U.S. Administration for Community Living. Around one-third may never need it, while about 20% will need it for longer than five years.
Do you charge for your time?
We provide free, no-pressure planning conversations. When you choose to put a product in place, insurance companies pay us — so our guidance costs you nothing. We'll always explain how any product works.
Is this financial or tax advice?
No. Everything we provide is educational, to help you understand your options. We are not a government agency and do not provide financial, tax, or legal advice — we coordinate with your other professionals when needed.
Do you serve my part of Utah?
Yes — we serve families across all of Utah, from the Wasatch Front and Utah County to St. George, Moab, and rural communities. Most planning is done by phone or video, with in-person available.
Let’s build your plan
Get a free, no-pressure planning conversation with an independent advisor who serves all of Utah.