Final Social Security and Medicare Questions

Here are the final questions from our client event…all of which were answered. We look forward to detailed discussions over the coming months. We are also delighted to let you know we recorded the entire event, and will be releasing the relevant audio with each topic discussion. We may have enough information for 50 or 60 posts, not to worry, we will be discussing this for some time!

Social Security Questions 

• People talk all the time about SS going bankrupt in the future, Do you believe this?
• What exactly are my spouse’s benefits?
• What benefits will an ex-spouse receive, if any?
• What are the implications of re-marrying a spouse with a lesser income and credits? And needed time of marriage or re-marriage qualifications?
• Tell me the best techniques for spouses of great age disparity
• Is there a time that if I am receiving a pension you will not qualify for social?
• When is or is there a Social Security Mandatory age to receive?
• Does the US government want us to delay taking SS?
• Buy back ? Is this still available and what does it mean?
• How likely is the calculations formula to change regarding state Educator’s retirement payments potentially cancelling out Social Security eligibility?  (If one retires from other places of employment he/she is eligible for both company and SS retirement payments, but Texas educators are entitled to whichever one pays the most unless there have been recent changes that I  am unaware of.)

File and Suspend Related 

• What file and suspend is, and how does it work?
• Why is file and suspend is so important?
• Who can benefit most from a file and suspend strategy?
• Can you mentions specific file and suspend scenarios?
• What are the benefits of having my wife file on my benefit and then suspend my own benefit in order to get a higher benefit later own?
• Does this harm my wife’s benefits?
• There are reports of recent legislation attempting to limit or ban this technique, do you have any comments?

Medicare: 

• I had a one-time event that has increased my Medicare premium, how do I get it lowered?
• Please explain the alphabet parts?
• I plan on working beyond age 65 and my employer has insurance, what do I do?
• Do I have to take Medicare if I am covered by a company plan? I have heard of penalties for delay ?
• Please explain the gap policies and what is their purpose?
• When should I enroll in Medicare?
• Will I be enrolled in Medicare automatically?

Alright, this is our starting point… We look forward to expanding on these topics and other items soon.

Have a Great Day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP