One Week to Retirement

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I was totally surprised that Medicare was so good. I always heard it was shit.

The only downside to Medicare is that if you tend to get booted from the hospital quicker than if you have company paid insurance.

But yes....like you I was surprised about how good it is.

But I will say that once a person decides to retire and switch to Medicare, start the process 6 months ahead.

Trust me...you will be glad you did.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Mosbonian

The only downside to Medicare is that if you tend to get booted from the hospital quicker than if you have company paid insurance.

But yes....like you I was surprised about how good it is.

But I will say that once a person decides to retire and switch to Medicare, start the process 6 months ahead.

Trust me...you will be glad you did.

I just learned that the lookback period for Medicare income-based surcharges goes back two years, so you should start planning two years ahead of time. I had no idea of that.

I did a notable Roth conversion this year, and it's going to end up costing me a Medicare surcharge, which really stinks. I ran the numbers and I'm still ahead of the game to do the conversion, but the surcharge bites into my advantage.

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I just learned that the lookback period for Medicare income-based surcharges goes back two years, so you should start planning two years ahead of time. I had no idea of that.

I did a notable Roth conversion this year, and it's going to end up costing me a Medicare surcharge, which really stinks. I ran the numbers and I'm still ahead of the game to do the conversion, but the surcharge bites into my advantage.

You are correct...planning for the surcharges should be 2 years....

I was talking about the actual process of applying...because if you are working and have company insurance, there is a form you have to turn in with your application that shows you had coverage from your employer the prior year....and even when you do turn in your paperwork you can still run into snags...

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I just learned that the lookback period for Medicare income-based surcharges goes back two years, so you should start planning two years ahead of time. I had no idea of that.

I did a notable Roth conversion this year, and it's going to end up costing me a Medicare surcharge, which really stinks. I ran the numbers and I'm still ahead of the game to do the conversion, but the surcharge bites into my advantage.

I wasn’t thinking of getting Medicare any time soon. So no planning. Now, I guess they are going to whack me for two years.