How the hell are we supposed to retire?

Bike N Gear said:
I don't really want to waste anyone's time. This is more an FYI for my wife's comfort. I'd like to be able to prove to her that we can handle her quitting now at 59 without any issues. Just a quick search confirms that "if" I start SS this year it would more than cover the insurance expense. I'm tempted to take it now anyhow not knowing how Elon is going to affect SS. My guess is is that once you start, they won't cut it off but I could see them trying to change the minimum age requirement.
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Not sure if it is a waste - you'll probably need a medicare supplement when you get there, they can help with that too.
AARP is a good source - my wife does a lot of initial stuff in there. She goes medicare in a couple months coming off COBRA from work.

I'm 62 at the end of the year - will turn SS on immediately! think i'll have another year of COBRA (there is a weird thing in cobra where family can extend it)
then a couple year gap to Medicare.

The agent loads it into a system, prob the same as using an online quote - they just don't let your info get shopped, cause they want the sale.
If you are in any of the local service clubs - rotary, knights, kiwanis, lions, etc, they might have a chapter agent.

GL - and get her to retire!
 
Norm said:
Is that at 65?

Didn't @Fire Lord Jim say something about his premiums going up when he went to Medicare?
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65 for Medicare -

base is around $250/mo, but if you made any significant money in the previous 2 years, they hit ya with IIRMA adjustment - just double it.

Then you'll need a supplement plan - haven't check this too much. covers gaps, deductibles, donut holes, excess - Jim, help here?
Sue is an AT&T retiree. Supplemental coverage will be through the AT&T plan/UHC.
 
Patrick said:
65 for Medicare -

base is around $250/mo, but if you made any significant money in the previous 2 years, they hit ya with IIRMA adjustment - just double it.

Then you'll need a supplement plan - haven't check this too much. covers gaps, deductibles, donut holes, excess - Jim, help here?
Sue is an AT&T retiree. Supplemental coverage will be through the AT&T plan/UHC.
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I just reviewed my mom's supplemental coverage through ATT/UHC. Comprehensive and competitive.
 
Patrick said:
Then you'll need a supplement plan - haven't check this too much. covers gaps, deductibles, donut holes, excess
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I think the base plan covers 80% which is fine until you get one of those $75,000 hospital bills. This is why you end up needing that gap coverage you mentioned.

BRB need to memorize the Oh Canada theme song.
 
Medicare premiums are based on income from two years prior. So beware collecting Social Security at age 62 or 63, or doing an age 63 Roth conversion. These will increase your Medicare premium at age 65.

Once in Medicare, you can choose traditional Medicare or get a PPO plan. I had PPO throughout my work life, and found my same doctors and specialists in United Healthcare PPO under Medicare, so the transition was seamless into this PPO. Yes I am in a network, but I'm used to that.

The cost of my PPO is zero. I pay only my co-pays and deductible. The Big difference between my age 64 PPO and my Medicare PPO is that Medicare premiums are income based, and can nearly triple based on income.

So far I have been able to manage low enough income so my Medicare premiums approximate my age 64 PPO premiums. That will change at age 72 (Medicare looks back two years) as I will collect Social Security at age 70 and my Medicare premiums will reflect Social Security as income. Premiums will spike upwards again at age 75, two years after I have to start taking RMDs.
 
Patrick said:
65 for Medicare -

base is around $250/mo, but if you made any significant money in the previous 2 years, they hit ya with IIRMA adjustment - just double it.

Then you'll need a supplement plan - haven't check this too much. covers gaps, deductibles, donut holes, excess - Jim, help here?
Sue is an AT&T retiree. Supplemental coverage will be through the AT&T plan/UHC.
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My doctor and the Medicare books that I read advised choosing the Part G Supplemental insurance.
 
Warren Buffet said, yesterday, "We sent $5 billion to US federal government last year. If 800 other companies did the same thing, no other person would
pay a dime in federal taxes-income tax, no social security taxes and no estate tax." Even though paying that much tax isn't enjoyable, Buffet emphasized, he didn't mind writing the check, seeing it is a responsibility to a nation that helped Berkshire flourish.
 
Bike N Gear said:
I don't really want to waste anyone's time. This is more an FYI for my wife's comfort. I'd like to be able to prove to her that we can handle her quitting now at 59 without any issues. Just a quick search confirms that "if" I start SS this year it would more than cover the insurance expense. I'm tempted to take it now anyhow not knowing how Elon is going to affect SS. My guess is is that once you start, they won't cut it off but I could see them trying to change the minimum age requirement.
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We're factoring zero in our retirement for SS. The way I see it, whatever we get will be our disposable income.
 
qclabrat said:
We're factoring zero in our retirement for SS. The way I see it, whatever we get will be our disposable income.
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Without a doubt. We never used SS in our planning. But I figured it was an easy way to convince my wife to retire sooner by using it to cover health insurance. I've said this before, but she is extremely conservative and with days like today's market convincing her that we're good is tough.
 
This is going back a while but when Al Gore ran for President, he," said that he wanted to put SS in a lock box" I remember people laughing about that.
What he meant was stop borrowing from SS to balance budget or giving more tax cuts. Every President and congress since President Reagan have just been putting an IOU in the bank of SS. I don't know where it goes from here.
 
Use caution buying the dip. There's a massive window until March OPEX where the sell can get much larger. Basically all of the loans that were taken out in the beginning of covid are coming due after 5 years. Basically the market has to go up enough to add $20 trillion to compensate for the 5 yrs or liquidity will get ripped out(happening now) until loans are made good on. There will be a time to buy. It may not be this week or next.
 
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