For nearly 30 years, Marcia Mantell has helped the country’s foremost financial services firms and advisors increase their knowledge of complex retirement concepts and regulations, then turn the technical into the tangible. Her remarkable ability to translate challenging retirement concepts into everyday language educates and motivates real people to take the right steps to achieve the retirement they desire.
Through her small business, Mantell Retirement Consulting, Inc., (est. 2005) Marcia develops innovative retirement income planning workshops and programs, fun and engaging retirement education programs and seminars, and writes extensively as a guest columnist and content creator and curator. She is considered a retirement industry go-to-person for Social Security and Medicare expert-level information.
To build successful programs and materials, Marcia digs into the details. She has spent the past two decades:
- talking to Baby Boomers getting an inside look at how they are redefining retirement;
- pouring through the code and regs that define the Social Security Act and Medicare; and,
- spending countless hours analyzing the answers behind Social Security estimates and Medicare costs.
Marcia is an engaging presenter at standing room only events where consumers are looking for “magic answers” to retirement questions that keep them up at night:
- Will I really have enough money to last through my retirement?
- Should I claim Social Security early to get it before it’s gone?
- How will I be able to afford health care costs once I’m in Medicare?
The results of her exploration and experiences are captured in her books and long-time blog:
Her latest book, What’s the Deal with Social Security for Women, (Rethink Press, 2019 goes way beyond the typical book of calculations. Instead, Marcia helps women (and men) understand what goes into their benefit, how and why it works, and how claiming is a critical financial decision. She also features a dozen real women who are in different life situations and how they have grappled with making the decisions around their Social Security benefit. It’s informative, fun, and practical.
In her first book, a thought-provoking, but non-traditional, fun approach to planning for a woman’s retirement, Marcia guides readers through 10 key questions they’ll need to answer well before they retire. What’s the Deal with Retirement Planning for Women? (2015) is a short, snappy book written to get women talking about money. “Don’t abdicate…participate” and “plan for the party and the price tag” are key themes.
Marcia frequently interviews Boomers and shares their stories in her blog at BoomerRetirementBriefs.com. It offers a light-hearted look at how Baby Boomers―from the youngest in their 50s to the oldest in their 70s―are reshaping and reinventing retirement. It also includes many Social Security posts and fun, helpful, downloadable checklists and budget planners.
Marcia and her husband raised two daughters in the suburbs of Boston, teaching them from a young age how important it is to save for retirement and to build financial independence. They are all big University of Minnesota Golden Gopher fans. She is an active member of her community, serves on the boards for several organizations, and is a member of Altrusa International, a service organization for women that focuses on literacy.You can reach Marcia directly at BoomerRetirementBriefs.com, on Twitter (@MarciaMantell), or on Facebook (Boomer Retirement Briefs). She’d love to hear from you.