Preserve and Protect
Chris Dodge, a Medicare and retiree medical specialist with Market Street Wealth Management, helps clients safeguard their health and other things in life they consider most precious.
Like every member of a close-knit team, Chris Dodge has a clearly defined role. His is to gain an in-depth understanding of clients’ needs as a way to shield them from the unexpected—particularly relating to one of the toughest decisions in retirement, Medicare.
As a Medicare and retiree medical specialist with Market Street Wealth Management in West Chester, Dodge guides clients through the “Medicare maze.” By joining together, Dodge and Market Street Wealth Management are able to offer these extended services at no additional cost to clients trying to figure out Medicare.
“With Medicare, the plan you choose is specific to each individual, and people need help figuring that out,” he says. “This means that even spouses may end up with different plans based on their individual need.”
The hardest part for retirees is determining how to transition to Medicare from their current coverage, whether they have an employer plan, COBRA, or coverage through the Affordable Care Act. In doing so, Dodge makes sure clients avoid penalties and pitfalls in Medicare enrollment.
“People have done their best to build their fortunes over time, and they come to us to take them the rest of the way,” he says. “My job is to make sure that their fortune doesn’t go away because of their insurance coverage, or lack of it. The insurance end of the business is all about what you can do to protect yourself from what can go wrong.”
Dodge helps clients of all ages, though much of his work—and the firm’s, for that matter—revolves around individuals who are either already retired or on the cusp of retirement. He devotes much of his time to helping clients manage the costs associated with healthcare insurance, which tends to be one of the largest monthly expenses in retirement. This might include strategic work, such as mitigating clients’ Medicare premiums, or tactical work, such as resolving any billing issues that might occur.
“When someone is retiring, what they’re really looking to do is recreate the paycheck from when they were working,” he adds. “It also involves budgeting for monthly expenses, and it’s much easier to budget for set monthly costs than it is to anticipate a $6,000 to $10,000 surgery. Through insurance, you can take a lot of those random costs out of the equation. A monthly premium can take a lot of those risks away.”
Born and raised in Morehead City, North Carolina, Dodge began his career with an independent agency providing life insurance for clients in the eastern part of the state. Since joining Market Street Wealth Management in 2014, he has been working with the firm’s team of financial advisors—including Matt Dodge, his brother—to provide individuals, families, and business owners with the most appropriate, cost-effective insurance solutions.
Dodge, who splits his time between offices in West Chester and Morehead City, sees himself as an educator first and foremost.
“I like having the opportunity to explain things to people in a way they can understand,” he says. “You can learn a lot about people by sitting down with them for an hour and hearing about what’s important to them. In some cases, you might know more about them than even their family members do, and I take that responsibility seriously.
“Figuring out the best plan for people is a little like a game, because you don’t want someone to be over- or underinsured,” he continues. “It’s all about finding the gaps in coverage. No matter what someone chooses to do about those gaps, my job is to make sure they know those holes are there. You don’t want to think you’re covered for something when you’re not.”
As clients’ needs change in light of emerging healthcare issues, Dodge is available to adjust their insurance needs accordingly. His expertise extends far beyond healthcare insurance, of course. Whether someone’s insurance needs are basic or complex, Dodge can use his expertise to safeguard all of the things in life they deem most precious.
“People come to us to grow and protect their wealth, and insurance is an important part of that equation,” he says. “If a problem arises as it relates to insurance, I’m here to solve it. People have a nest egg to live on, and I’m here to make sure that nest egg doesn’t go away if there’s an accident or something unexpected happens.”
For more information on Market Street Wealth Management, call (610) 692-3200 or visit marketstreetwealth.net.
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, September 2020.
