Medicare: your foundation
The four parts, the seven-month enrollment window, what Medicare covers and the gaps it leaves, Original Medicare against Medicare Advantage, Medigap, and Part D.
Free 295-page guide · 2026 Edition
Retire With Confidence
Medicare, Social Security, and the money decisions that decide your retirement — the ones that come at you between 62 and 75, most with deadlines, several expensive to get wrong in ways nobody tells you about until later. It is free, and there is nothing to buy at the end of it.
No cost, no obligation, no pressure.
Where should we send it?
No cost, no pressure. Prefer to call? (702) 706-6564.
What’s in it: forty-seven chapters, six parts
IRMAA and the income traps
The surcharge nobody warns you about, the late-enrollment penalties that never end, and how selling a house on the Wasatch Front or converting an IRA can raise your Medicare premium two years later.
Social Security
How the benefit is calculated, claiming at 62 against 67 against 70, spousal and survivor benefits, the earnings test, and how much of it is taxed — including Utah’s own treatment of benefits.
Retirement income planning
Building the income stack, the tax difference between a 401(k), an IRA and a Roth, life insurance in retirement, and where you live changing what you keep.
Protecting what you have built
Long-term care and the hybrid policies that return your money, where you will live, caring for aging parents, and final expense planning.
Future-proofing & reference
The annual Medicare review, the decision timeline from 59½ to 75+, a glossary of 60+ terms, a 2026 quick-reference card, and what changed for 2026.
Who wrote it
Darin Weidauer — gerontologist, 22-year U.S. Air Force veteran, independent insurance agent licensed in Utah, and Registered Social Security Analyst. He is the licensed agent behind this site, and he is independent — appointed with a number of carriers rather than employed by one. That is worth knowing before you read anything he has written about insurance.
Why give it away? The rest of this site answers a narrow question: what Medicare plans are available where you live in Utah. The book answers the wider one — the decisions that arrive between 62 and 75.
The guide is educational — it is not a quote, an offer of coverage, or a recommendation to buy, drop or change any policy. Use the form at the top of the page and it will be in your inbox within a few minutes; check your spam folder if not.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Is the guide really free?
Yes. It is emailed to you at no cost, with nothing to buy and no obligation. A licensed agent will call only if you ask for a call on the form.
Is it specific to Utah?
The book covers Medicare and retirement decisions nationally. For Utah specifics — the Intermountain-or-the-U question, St. George winters, Hill AFB — use the guides on this site alongside it.
Will I be added to a mailing list?
You will receive the guide and, if you asked for a call, a call. You can opt out of any further contact at any time by replying or telling us.
Ready when you are
Get Retire With Confidence, free.
A short, friendly conversation — no pressure, no cost.
Written and reviewed by Darin Weidauer — licensed insurance agent (NPN 18580338), Gerontologist (USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology), MBA, Registered Social Security Analyst, and 22-year U.S. Air Force veteran.Last reviewed September 4, 2026. Plan availability, benefits and costs change every plan year — verify current details at Medicare.gov, 1-800-MEDICARE, or Utah SHIP at 800-541-7735.