Robert Brokamp

But it may also be a time when you have to do something you've never had to do.

Namely, get your own health insurance.

Most retirees will get their health insurance through Medicare, which in many ways is far more complicated than the health insurance they were getting from their employers.

Here to explain the basics and where to get help with your Medicare decisions is Richard Chan, founder and CEO of CoverRite.

And full disclosure, Motley Fool Ventures is an investor in CoverRite.

Richard, welcome to the show.

So many of our listeners are years, if not decades, from retirement and likely have just sort of maybe a general awareness of Medicare, but probably haven't given it much thought.

So let's start with the basics.

What is Medicare?

And that mandatory part is important, right?

Because if you don't sign up as soon as you're supposed to, you could pay a higher premium for the rest of your life.

There are sort of versions of Medicare, really two basic types.

There's the original Medicare and then a more expanded version.

But just very basically speaking, what does Medicare cover and what are some things that it doesn't cover?

Right.

So obviously key is deciding what you need and making sure you're getting all the coverage for the services you need.

And another thing that is generally not covered by Medicare is long-term care, correct?

All right, so let's say someone is getting close to 65, right?

They're within shouting distance of applying for Medicare.

What do they need to know?