Another thread about money......for those receiving S.S.

[wyliec]

Received good news today. Social Security monthly payment is going up. The percent is good enough for me. What surprised was, I've seen Medicare monthly payment go up the same amount dollar wise, in the past; this time, we get almost the whole amount of the SS increase, except for a $1.50.:clap:

 

[Bob Denman]

:clap::congrats:

 

[Chupaca]

Really

Have not seen anything as yet but the last time they adjusted mine it went down....Glad yours is going up and fingers crossed mine will stay the same or go up as well....:dontknow: congrats...:clap:

 

[2Paw]

Hope mine goes up as well.

 

[wyliec]

You must still be working and haven't reached full retirement age? I'm just guessing. I'm past full retirement age, and still working a few days a month, and don't have to worry about being penalized with a reduction.

 

[pegasus1300]

I too got a nice raise and all of my Payee clients got one as well. I also noticed that medicare did not take the obligatory equal raise. Happy daz are here again.:yes::yes::roflblack:

 

[canamjhb]

Yah, Last time there was an announcement of the SS increase. Yippie....! Then, they raise the Medicare amount that just happened to equal the SS increase. A lot of bureaucratic nonsense. Could have saved us a bunch of money by just saying "nevermind". Looks like this year may be a bit better. Hope so..... Jim

 

[ARtraveler]

:bowdown: Retirement is great. My finances are now better. :roflblack:

 

[johnsimion]

Received good news today. Social Security monthly payment is going up. The percent is good enough for me. What surprised was, I've seen Medicare monthly payment go up the same amount dollar wise, in the past; this time, we get almost the whole amount of the SS increase, except for a $1.50.:clap:

I'm not yet old enough for SS or Medicare, but I'm close enough to be interested. I'm confused by this thread. Can you explain what is the "Medicare monthly payment"? I thought Medicare was a benefit you got without having to make a monthly payment. And what does this mean: "we get almost the whole amount of the SS increase, except for a $1.50"?

 

[newbert]

I'm not yet old enough for SS or Medicare, but I'm close enough to be interested. I'm confused by this thread. Can you explain what is the "Medicare monthly payment"? I thought Medicare was a benefit you got without having to make a monthly payment. And what does this mean: "we get almost the whole amount of the SS increase, except for a $1.50"?

Part A (Hospitalization) Medicare requires no monthly payment. Everything else does. For example, Part B (Doctor visits, etc.) requires a monthly payment (which comes out of SS). I think mine's been $135 this year and it's going up $1.50/month next year.

Those are just the highlights. Medicare is complicated. Be sure to do your research when signing up.

I hope this helps a bit.

 

[ARtraveler]

RE: Medicare Monthly Payment. Medicare deducts a monthly amount from the gross SS check--so in essence, it is not totally free. It is not bad though. I had over $250,000 in medical expenses a couple years back, it cost me about $10K out of my pocket that year. MC covered the rest. :bowdown:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I'm not yet old enough for SS or Medicare, but I'm close enough to be interested. I'm confused by this thread. Can you explain what is the "Medicare monthly payment"? I thought Medicare was a benefit you got without having to make a monthly payment. And what does this mean: "we get almost the whole amount of the SS increase, except for a $1.50"?

As newbert said, do your homework and study it all closely. The big one is original Medicare versus Medicare Advantage plans. And then there are Medigap, or supplemental plan out there. And your employer's insurance may play a part. I trust you realize your full retirement age is 67, not 65, although Medicare becomes available at 65. Confusing enough for you yet? That's why it's never too early to start learning about it!

 

[bikerbillone]

Received good news today. Social Security monthly payment is going up. The percent is good enough for me. What surprised was, I've seen Medicare monthly payment go up the same amount dollar wise, in the past; this time, we get almost the whole amount of the SS increase, except for a $1.50.:clap:

I feel your pain, mine was an exact wash, guess I should be thankful.

 

[jcthorne]

As newbert said, do your homework and study it all closely. The big one is original Medicare versus Medicare Advantage plans. And then there are Medigap, or supplemental plan out there. And your employer's insurance may play a part. I trust you realize your full retirement age is 67, not 65, although Medicare becomes available at 65. Confusing enough for you yet? That's why it's never too early to start learning about it!

Not sure what you mean about retirement age being 67 vs 65. SS can start at 62 if you want and medicare at 65. For me, the big one is Medicare. Health insurance for the wife and I is nearly 25k a year so I cannot retire until medicare takes that on. Have not decided when to start SS.

 

[wyliec]

As newbert said, do your homework and study it all closely. The big one is original Medicare versus Medicare Advantage plans. And then there are Medigap, or supplemental plan out there. And your employer's insurance may play a part. I trust you realize your full retirement age is 67, not 65, although Medicare becomes available at 65. Confusing enough for you yet? That's why it's never too early to start learning about it!

johnsimion,

I'm retired military, and up until I was 65 I had Tricare Prime health insurance (a freebie from being retired military), at that point I was automatically enrolled in Tricare for Life, IF and only IF I had Medicare part B, which you have to pay for, as others have mentioned. So, in my case the supplemental stuff that Idaho mentions, I didn't find it necessary to deal with. Also, I chose to start drawing my S.S. at 62, which was at a reduced rate, but I also continued to work, when I felt like it, keeping me just below the threshold of having to pay back some S.S.

Just as an aside, when you are told Tricare is free, it really is not, not when you hit 65. However, I'm not complaining; others have to pay a lot more to maintain a reasonable amount of health coverage into their golden years.

 

[wyliec]

Not sure what you mean about retirement age being 67 vs 65. SS can start at 62 if you want and medicare at 65. For me, the big one is Medicare. Health insurance for the wife and I is nearly 25k a year so I cannot retire until medicare takes that on. Have not decided when to start SS.

Full retirement age for S.S. is based on the year you were born; age 65 is when you start with medicare.


https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/agereduction.html

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Not sure what you mean about retirement age being 67 vs 65. SS can start at 62 if you want and medicare at 65. For me, the big one is Medicare. Health insurance for the wife and I is nearly 25k a year so I cannot retire until medicare takes that on. Have not decided when to start SS.

JC, " on the when to start " thing …… for you and others who are trying to figure this out. ….. Do the Math - for me if I had waited till I was 70 ….. I would have to have reached 82 ( 12 yrs ) for the money numbers to break even. After that I would actually begin to benefit from the 70+ max amount. The SS administration has done the Math on this and they have the actuarial's that show They SAVE money if folks wait till they are 70...… IMHO do the math…………...Mike :thumbup:

 

[Easy Rider]

Do the Math - for me if I had waited till I was 70 ….. I would have to have reached 82 ( 12 yrs ) for the money numbers to break even.

I didn't do the math that far.
I figured that with my luck, if I waited until 70, that I would die at 69 years and 11 months.......and get a big NOTHING.

I passed that milestone but glad to hear that I made the right decision anyway.

 

[Bob Denman]

I'm waiting until I hit 66 years, and 4 Months: That's when nobody will want to be in the way of me retiring.
62, and 2+ Months now: and counting! :2thumbs:

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

JC, " on the when to start " thing …… for you and others who are trying to figure this out. ….. Do the Math - for me if I had waited till I was 70 ….. I would have to have reached 82 ( 12 yrs ) for the money numbers to break even. After that I would actually begin to benefit from the 70+ max amount. The SS administration has done the Math on this and they have the actuarial's that show They SAVE money if folks wait till they are 70...… IMHO do the math…………...Mike :thumbup:

I've said for years the one mistake the Reagan administration made when they pushed the SS reform back in 1984 was not make a significant change in the crossover calculation, i.e., the year after which your total SS benefit would be greater by delaying retirement. For retirement at any age from 62 to the current 66 the crossover is around 78 to 80. Reagan's intent was to create an incentive for delaying retirement but they botched it. The crossover keeps moving out farther the later you retire. They should have made it so that the later you start SS benefits the sooner you reach the crossover age.

In my case the crossover was something like 94 when I calculated it on my and my wife's combined SS benefit. She is four years older than I am and her benefit is based entirely on my earnings, so naturally I opted to start SS at 62. Family history doesn't give me any confidence in getting past 85, or maybe not even 80, let alone 94.