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Some who want original Medicare may be automatically enrolled in an Advantage plan instead.
Even though a person nearing Medicare enrollment age wants original Medicare for their healthcare coverage, some insurance companies may automatically enroll them in a Medicare Advantage plan. This could happen when a person’s pre-Medicare provider also offers Medicare Advantage and…
Retirement benefits rules changing in 2017.
There are some changes coming in 2017 that can affect your retirement benefits, including requiring financial planners to make recommendations on what’s best for you, rather than for their commissions. This, along with other “tweaking” of the rules for Social Security,…
Why is your COLA increase so low? Here’s an analysis.
On the heels of a few zero increase years since 2009, Social Security recently announced that the COLA for 2017 would be a paltry 0.3%, amounting to an average of about $5 additional benefit. So why was this increase so…
When should a single person begin Social Security benefits?
“When should I retire?” is the most frequently asked question from those thinking about taking their Social Security benefits. There’s a lot of advice available but much of it focuses on married couples or divorced spouses, and the decision criteria…
More doctors are shying away from Medicare.
Recent surveys of American doctors show that more and more of them are considering getting out of Medicare all together, or to stop taking any new Medicare patients. While over 90% of doctors surveyed said they now accept Medicare patients, only…
Many thinking about retirement have a rough road ahead.
There’s a lot of discouraging news out there, what with the Social Security program’s health at issue, defined benefit pension plans becoming a thing of the past, small retirement nest eggs and large amounts of debt. Far too many of…
2017’s Social Security benefit maximum is going up, and here’s how your benefit is calculated.
Though the tiny COLA increase isn’t much, it’s enough to cause Social Security’s maximum benefit amount to rise a little. The most any worker could collect in monthly benefits at full retirement age for 2015 was $2639 and in 2017…
Social Security COLA and Medicare
Most people say they want smaller government, until it hits them in the pocket. Then those same folks complain about not getting what they deserve from the government. This Tucson.com article by Tom Margenau, who worked for the Social Security…
Women shouldn’t count on the averages in retirement
Women aren’t usually in the workforce as long as men, and often don’t earn as much, which are two factors frequently leaving them shortchanged in retirement. Most financial planners use the accepted norms in their suggestions to both men or…
Today’s seniors breaking the stereotype
Today’s seniors are changing the way the world looks at aging, because we are all healthier and a lot more active than our grandparents were. With stories of seniors in their 70’s and 80’s skydiving, working and volunteering in their communities,…