Keith and Marie were preparing for retirement. They were turning 65 in October and November, and they wanted to begin drawing Social Security at the same time. They were anxious to enter this stage in life and had little knowledge of Medicare. To their credit, they contacted me 4 months before they were ready to pull the trigger on Medicare and Social Security. I was able to advise them to start their enrollment process at the earliest possible time (90 days before the requested effective date), since it can take 6 weeks – 3 months for an enrollment application to be processed. I educated them on Medicare basics and the additional coverages available to them. They decided on the path they wanted to take, and we discussed the specific steps to take to navigate that path. They were able to get all the pieces of the puzzle in place in time for their retirement and felt informed and confident in their choices.