mandatory medicare

[ccr]

Why is medicare mandatory? My understanding is at age 65 you have to enroll in Medicare Part A or you forfeit your social security benefits.

I didn't ask for social security benefits, but after paying social security taxes for over 40 years, i don't want to forfeit benefits.

We have health insurance and my understanding is after turning 65 and you begin medicare, the existing health insurance premiums remain the same even though medicare covers 80% ? of hospital cost.

There's part a, b, c, and d and different enrollment windows and penalties. After reading some on trying to understand all of this medicare stuff, still not sure, but the insurance companies got this figured out (same premiums as before medicare, but paying 20% of cost compared to 80% before medicare).

Do you quit your existing insurance and buy into the medicare part b, c, and d, or keep your exiting insurance?

 

[kenny thomas]

I have insurance through work and my wife is on Medicare. They charge my insurance the 80% and Medicare the rest. But we still pay a copay and have an out of pocket limit. Her meds still cost us around $300 a month. I don't understand either.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have insurance through work and my wife is on Medicare. They charge my insurance the 80% and Medicare the rest. But we still pay a copay and have an out of pocket limit. Her meds still cost us around $300 a month. I don't understand either.

My rates went down when I went on Medicare on my company plan. The plan I have through work is Aetna Medicare Advantage. I have a copay as well on doctors or hospital of 20% until max 3K out of pocket, then covered at 100%. The out of pocket is hit quickly with any type incident.

 

[hurleyjd]

I have insurance through work and my wife is on Medicare. They charge my insurance the 80% and Medicare the rest. But we still pay a copay and have an out of pocket limit. Her meds still cost us around $300 a month. I don't understand either.

My rates went down when I went on Medicare on my company plan. The plan I have through work is Aetna Medicare Advantage. I have a copay as well on doctors or hospital of 20% until max 3K out of pocket, then covered at 100%. The out of pocket is hit quickly with any type incident.

Post at 12:55 am looks like you are burning the midnight oil.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I have insurance through work and my wife is on Medicare. They charge my insurance the 80% and Medicare the rest. But we still pay a copay and have an out of pocket limit. Her meds still cost us around $300 a month. I don't understand either.

My rates went down when I went on Medicare on my company plan. The plan I have through work is Aetna Medicare Advantage. I have a copay as well on doctors or hospital of 20% until max 3K out of pocket, then covered at 100%. The out of pocket is hit quickly with any type incident.

Post at 12:55 am looks like you are burning the midnight oil.

Gout attack!!!!
Not much sleeping last three days.

 

[hurleyjd]

I have insurance through work and my wife is on Medicare. They charge my insurance the 80% and Medicare the rest. But we still pay a copay and have an out of pocket limit. Her meds still cost us around $300 a month. I don't understand either.

Your wife might look into a United Healthcare Medicare Advantage plan. My wife had a supplement before she signed for the plan. With the new plan her medicare check is sent to the new plan. It covers her drugs eyeglasses and some dental care.This has saved her in the neighbor hood of$1200 a year. She does have co-pays but not any worse than before. She has one drug that she has to pay $10 for it is for drugs that are not a generic. Her rheumatologist said that they pay for what ever he thinks she needs and with no hassle what so ever.

 

[kenny thomas]

I will have her look into it on

 

[farmerjan]

When I was getting close to 65 I talked to the lady that has handled our health insurance at work. I was going to lose my full time status due to losing farms that I milk tested. So it was good for me at the time. But she told me that I had to sign up for Medicare part A, which is free. If I continued to have full time employment that made me eligible for my health ins, that you can delay signing up for part B with NO PENALTY as long as you have proof of insurance. Then there is part D which is the prescription. Our particular plan at work was not "qualified" so I would have had to sign up for it. Part C is the Advantage plans which might be good for some ... you can get things like the eyeglasses etc.... but there are deductibles on other stuff and some co-pays.

Since I was losing my ins coverage when I lost my full-time status, I opted to go on Medicare completely. This is what she told me to do and it has worked out great. I turned 65 in Sept of 2018. I signed up for part A, and deferred part B as I was still covered at work. I signed up for part B as of Jan 2019 BECAUSE it was the calendar year that I turned 66 which was my "full retirement age" and at that time I also signed up for part D. Part B is automatically taken out of your SS if you are receiving that. It runs about 135 a month (don't quote me exact $). I pay my drug plan, part D, yearly as it is only 15/month but again I do not take any drugs regularly . I also have a supplement plan, which will cover most of what is not covered. I have plan G. I pay 88/month, directly out of my checking account. Between what all I have, I have 200 YEARLY deductible and am then covered 100% on everything else except for a few small co-pays on any prescriptions. I just paid $5 towards an anti-biotic the other day.
So I am paying approx 105/ month not counting the 135 that comes out of my SS check before I see it. So about 240-250 a month. If I have no health issues then I might be better off with something that has a 2500 deductible a year.....BUT....
I will be having my ankle replaced in about 2 weeks. I will be totally covered, have at least a 14 day stay at a rehab facility, and all followup visits etc. To the tune of somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000..... My total out of pocket will be the 200 deductible and a little towards the prescriptions.
I had an "incident" the end of Oct that at first thought was a stroke. Emergency room trip, blood tests, x-rays, MRI, you name it. Possible seizure but no one could pin point anything. Had to go to a primary care dr., had more blood work, then had to go see a neurologist, and turns out no signs of a seizure either. My Chiropractor said I was way out of alignment and he was pretty sure it was a basically a "pinched nerve" due to the upper part of my spine being so out of alignment. There was over 5,000 just in the first ER trip and I was completely covered.
My ins lady advised me on this after her husband had retired and had a knee replacement. Said they paid out 187. and the rest was paid for. I said that is what I want.... knowing I was going to have to have a knee replacement in the future, not counting the ankle situation.
This fall we talked again and I told her that I had a friend that switched to one of the "all inclusive" plans that she got her glasses and some other stuff, maybe even dental, and it costs less than what she was paying. My ins lady said that they are good for people that "never go to the dr" but that there are higher deductibles and co-pays. Once you go off the plan G, I have, it costs a lot to go back on and that is if I haven't had any health issues in the meantime. There is underwriting to go back and they might turn you down then you would have to stay on the advantage plan.
She point blank told me that I should stay with what I have and that prices will go up as my age increases, that is not due to my situation but due to the general cost increases. This way, I will only ever have the one "out of pocket cost" right now at about 200/yr., and it costs me what I was paying in towards my ins coverage at work which had a 6500 yearly deductible. She told me that there is a plan F that is very similar to mine, but there is a little less cost but a few more out of pocket co-pays. I will keep this from now until the cows come home because I know what I have to pay and will not get blind sided by co-pays or deductibles.

When I went to SS to discuss my options, before I turned 65, they did automatically sign me up for part A. I deferred the part B due to still having full coverage at work. The SS lady was great too. Gave me a chart to tell me what I would be receiving at what age if I took SS. Again, it was in my best interest to start the SS... but I waited the 3 months until Jan of 2019 because that was the year I reached full benefit age (66) and it allowed me to earn up to 46,000 in wages, as opposed to only being able to earn about 17,000 while on the year I turned 65.... which was taking it "early", because you have to pay back part of the SS if you earn too much if you take SS early. Once I "lost my ins " at work, I contacted them and they started taking out for my part B with no penalty. There is a complicated bunch of BS in figuring out a penalty .... if you don't have coverage at work, and don't sign up, then you pay a penalty for every month that you "wait" to sign up, which translates into a higher monthly cost for the rest of your life.
It doesn't cost anything to go talk to them at SS... Get some idea of what the options are.
I never made much money at a job, so my SS is not that big, but it sure is a nice extra every month now while I still work.

Find someone you REALLY trust in the insurance business, like I did with the lady at work, and let them guide you in your choices. If you have ANY health issues, possible future ones , like I did with the eventual knee and ankle replacement issues, get the most coverage you can sooner rather than later.
One thing she told me too, that since we had the 6500 deductible at work, that even if I hadn't been slated to lose my full time status, thus losing my ins through work, I was MUCH BETTER OFF, going off work ins and going on Medicare with the supplement that she steered me to. It was going to cost me about the same as I was paying for work ins, with only the small deductible of about 200 rather than our 6500 at work. She is going on Medicare this year as soon as she can because even though she is an ins agent, medicare is better than what she has at work through her company plan. Alot of that has to do with how Obamacare has screwed up the ins coverages and availability and costs.

 

[1982vett]

When I was getting close to 65 I talked to the lady that has handled our health insurance at work. I was going to lose my full time status due to losing farms that I milk tested. So it was good for me at the time. But she told me that I had to sign up for Medicare part A, which is free. If I continued to have full time employment that made me eligible for my health ins, that you can delay signing up for part B with NO PENALTY as long as you have proof of insurance. Then there is part D which is the prescription. Our particular plan at work was not "qualified" so I would have had to sign up for it. Part C is the Advantage plans which might be good for some ... you can get things like the eyeglasses etc.... but there are deductibles on other stuff and some co-pays.

Since I was losing my ins coverage when I lost my full-time status, I opted to go on Medicare completely. This is what she told me to do and it has worked out great. I turned 65 in Sept of 2018. I signed up for part A, and deferred part B as I was still covered at work. I signed up for part B as of Jan 2019 BECAUSE it was the calendar year that I turned 66 which was my "full retirement age" and at that time I also signed up for part D. Part B is automatically taken out of your SS if you are receiving that. It runs about 135 a month (don't quote me exact $). I pay my drug plan, part D, yearly as it is only 15/month but again I do not take any drugs regularly . I also have a supplement plan, which will cover most of what is not covered. I have plan G. I pay 88/month, directly out of my checking account. Between what all I have, I have 200 YEARLY deductible and am then covered 100% on everything else except for a few small co-pays on any prescriptions. I just paid $5 towards an anti-biotic the other day.
So I am paying approx 105/ month not counting the 135 that comes out of my SS check before I see it. So about 240-250 a month. If I have no health issues then I might be better off with something that has a 2500 deductible a year.....BUT....
I will be having my ankle replaced in about 2 weeks. I will be totally covered, have at least a 14 day stay at a rehab facility, and all followup visits etc. To the tune of somewhere in the neighborhood of 75,000..... My total out of pocket will be the 200 deductible and a little towards the prescriptions.
I had an "incident" the end of Oct that at first thought was a stroke. Emergency room trip, blood tests, x-rays, MRI, you name it. Possible seizure but no one could pin point anything. Had to go to a primary care dr., had more blood work, then had to go see a neurologist, and turns out no signs of a seizure either. My Chiropractor said I was way out of alignment and he was pretty sure it was a basically a "pinched nerve" due to the upper part of my spine being so out of alignment. There was over 5,000 just in the first ER trip and I was completely covered.
My ins lady advised me on this after her husband had retired and had a knee replacement. Said they paid out 187. and the rest was paid for. I said that is what I want.... knowing I was going to have to have a knee replacement in the future, not counting the ankle situation.
This fall we talked again and I told her that I had a friend that switched to one of the "all inclusive" plans that she got her glasses and some other stuff, maybe even dental, and it costs less than what she was paying. My ins lady said that they are good for people that "never go to the dr" but that there are higher deductibles and co-pays. Once you go off the plan G, I have, it costs a lot to go back on and that is if I haven't had any health issues in the meantime. There is underwriting to go back and they might turn you down then you would have to stay on the advantage plan.
She point blank told me that I should stay with what I have and that prices will go up as my age increases, that is not due to my situation but due to the general cost increases. This way, I will only ever have the one "out of pocket cost" right now at about 200/yr., and it costs me what I was paying in towards my ins coverage at work which had a 6500 yearly deductible. She told me that there is a plan F that is very similar to mine, but there is a little less cost but a few more out of pocket co-pays. I will keep this from now until the cows come home because I know what I have to pay and will not get blind sided by co-pays or deductibles.

When I went to SS to discuss my options, before I turned 65, they did automatically sign me up for part A. I deferred the part B due to still having full coverage at work. The SS lady was great too. Gave me a chart to tell me what I would be receiving at what age if I took SS. Again, it was in my best interest to start the SS... but I waited the 3 months until Jan of 2019 because that was the year I reached full benefit age (66) and it allowed me to earn up to 46,000 in wages, as opposed to only being able to earn about 17,000 while on the year I turned 65.... which was taking it "early", because you have to pay back part of the SS if you earn too much if you take SS early. Once I "lost my ins " at work, I contacted them and they started taking out for my part B with no penalty. There is a complicated bunch of BS in figuring out a penalty .... if you don't have coverage at work, and don't sign up, then you pay a penalty for every month that you "wait" to sign up, which translates into a higher monthly cost for the rest of your life.
It doesn't cost anything to go talk to them at SS... Get some idea of what the options are.
I never made much money at a job, so my SS is not that big, but it sure is a nice extra every month now while I still work.

Find someone you REALLY trust in the insurance business, like I did with the lady at work, and let them guide you in your choices. If you have ANY health issues, possible future ones , like I did with the eventual knee and ankle replacement issues, get the most coverage you can sooner rather than later.
One thing she told me too, that since we had the 6500 deductible at work, that even if I hadn't been slated to lose my full time status, thus losing my ins through work, I was MUCH BETTER OFF, going off work ins and going on Medicare with the supplement that she steered me to. It was going to cost me about the same as I was paying for work ins, with only the small deductible of about 200 rather than our 6500 at work. She is going on Medicare this year as soon as she can because even though she is an ins agent, medicare is better than what she has at work through her company plan. Alot of that has to do with how Obamacare has screwed up the ins coverages and availability and costs.

Hate to be knit picky...but it is most definitely not "free". Once you've paid in for 40 quarters from earning a "paycheck" and have met the qualifications, you may receive "premium free" benefits.

 

[kenny thomas]

Jan, I'm only 62 but beginning to think about when I want to retire. The biggest problem for me is the insurance until I become 65. But really don't care much about retiring anyway.
You state at full retirement I could still make 46,000 a year. Can I begin to get SS at 66 and Medicare at 65 and still work full time?
I don't make a lot over that amount now unless I get a bunch of overtime.

 

[farmerjan]

If your full retirement age is 66 then you can make up to something like 46,200 or so and not lose any of the SS. Again, they change the rules around, but as of this past year that was the rule. If you earn over the max allowed they "take back" something like $1 for every 2 you get?? Don't know the exact amount, you would have to talk to the SS person.
As far as I was told, you can start medicare at 65, working or not. If you have coverage at work, then you can either decide if one is better or not, or have both and they will "co-pay" from what I was told. In my case, if I had been still considered full time, I still had the option to go on Medicare and drop work ins or do some sort of both. Since I was not going to have that option, I really didn't pay alot of attention to those possibilities; I knew that by the first of that following year I would be below the minimum number of work units/hours to be considered full time, and would be losing my work ins.

My advice to you Kenny, make an appt at the SS office. Takes a few weeks to get one around here. Tell them you want to explore your SS benefits and options, that you are working at present. If you get a good person to talk to, they will lay it all out in front of you. If you have a good ins person at work, talk to them. I went to 3 different seminars done for free by the county here, all that "What seniors should know" crap, and was more confused than ever. So I called and talked to our ins lady from work and she sent me some stuff e-mail, and then said to call her back and she would go over it with me. She is GREAT and I figure if what she has for her husband and soon for herself.... is good enough for them, it is good enough for me.
There are so many plans that are set by the Medicare as far as what they have to cover. There's the 4 "parts" . Then the plans that are covered through supplemental ins. Plan F has to have this, Plan G has to have that.... Then there are a dozen different ins companies that "offer" their own supplement, that meets these basic requirements... and they are all priced differently. Mine is through Anthem BC BS. The cost went from 83 to 88 this year; Aetna offers the same plan G but the cost is different.AARP has a supplemental ins that will cover the different "plans". It also has some bearing on where you live as to the comparable costs of insurance. It is way over my head. That is why I talked to someone who has nothing to really gain by it like my ins lady. She is making her salary from working for the ins company she works for, giving advice to our milk testing company. Every year we have an annual meeting and she comes and does an update on any new changes in the ins, deductible, whatever. Since many of us are getting long in the tooth, she talks about Medicare and rules etc. Somewhere along the line, you need to talk to someone that understands all the ins and outs.

So as far as I know, yes you can go on Medicare at 65, if you have work ins there are some requirements/restrictions/ co-ins. rules. Yes you can collect SS and if it is the year you are eligible for full retirement, you can earn somewhere in the 46,000 range with no loss to the SS you get. If you make "cash" money or do barter or anything, you only "have to" claim what you feel you must.... If it can't be proven that you made too much, then you can't be penalized.

 

[farmerjan]

1982vette; I agree it isn't "free" because we have all worked our 40 quarters to be eligible. But what I meant that there was no "out of pocket" cost for it. Part A is no "additional cost". Part B is 135 or so a month. Part C is more of the "advantage type" plan which will cover A B and often D . Part D is the drug coverage. Part C is the one that is more like a blanket plan, but there are restrictions that my ins lady does not like. Says she will seldom ever suggest a Part C. It operates more like an HMO or PPO and she does not like the restrictions. Might be good for some people.....
Basically you get Part A B & D OR you get Part C, which includes the other 3 but has more restrictive coverages on some things

Medicare.gov and HHC websites do a pretty good job of explaining each "part" and what they encompass.

 

[farmerjan]

Just wanted to add this. I had called one of those "free Medicare consultation" numbers and got a call back today. I was going to just tell them I wasn't interested in talking, because I had really wanted to just get a comparison, but the guy was nice and directed me to another agent. So I said okay. He was in Va so had available the information that was relevant to me and my state. Asked what I was interested in knowing. I said I was on Medicare, was 66 and just wanted to do a little comparison "shopping" since I had a friend that went from a more conventional Medicare of part A, B and D with a supplemental plan.... to an Advantage plan that covered it all for next to no actual cost and she got some more stuff like glasses and some dental. So I was curious. He asked what I currently had. I told him Part A, B and D (for drugs) and Plan G. He asked if I smoked, "No" and did I have any current medical issues....diabetes or high BP or cholesterol or anything. No, no and no. I explained that I would be having as ankle replacement, and that a knee was in the future. He said that the average going rate for plan G was in the neighborhood of $90 to $120, so if I was paying 90 or less then I was getting a good rate. Then he said, you have a very GOOD supplemental plan and even though you have no "daily" medical issues, that whoever advised me to go with the plan G gave me very good advice. That my total deductible for 2020 was $ 197 total for the year. Then covered 100%. All according to my part D drug plan I might have to be paying a co-pay but that if I got it on the advice of the same person, that I was in the very best place for my future surgeries. I did not tell him that I was going in to have the ankle in a couple of weeks.

He then went on to give me a short explanation of the "advantage" Medicare.... in essence Part C. Said that it costs next to nothing if anything..... good for people who never go to the doctor and can save a person quite a bit of money. That if I was paying about 1,000 a year for my plan G and a couple hundred for the drug plan that I was paying out 1200-1400 a year. For someone who "doesn't use it" that is alot of savings, especially if they have glasses and go to the dentist. BUT...... if something should happen that requires medical care, that the co-pays can run up to about 5-6000 and there are certain restrictions. And, once a person is on the advantage part C, and then they do have a medical "emergency" that requires a fair amount of care.... that there is a good chance they will not be able to switch back sine they would have to meet a certain level; like a health/physical exam; and it is very hard to find an insurer to take someone who has had any health issues, even if it is done and over with..... If they do qualify, the costs would be very high. He said he personally does not write very many advantage plans.
Then he said, that I was in the best place I could be with the medicare coverage and the supplemental plan I had. He would advise me to stick with it just as it is and DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING. He said it is sort of the "cadillac" of plans, and that all I should do is check with other companies that offer a supplement ins for the Plan G to check on prices since it is mandatory that all insurances that advertise a supplement policy have to meet the requirements that Medicare has for them to be able to offer it as "Plan G" or what ever. Different companies will charge different prices and I might be able to find the same plan at a better price.
He said I had gotten very good advice and that he encourages people to look at the broad picture. Not just how cheap you can get away with paying each year, but to figure what one incident could cost you and how much it would cost you in total with co-pays and deductibles..... He said that you have to consider the whole picture. He said with paying out say 1200 a year, and not using it for anything that yes, I could save that with an advantage part C..... But it would take 5 years of no claims to come up even, and if I needed it, then that could be wiped out in one trip to the emergency room or even a short hospital stay. Then I would be unlikely to be able to switch to Plan G in the future. He said that with my knowing that in the future that I would be needing some work done on my joints, that I will be getting away very very cheap with the plan I have.

So just thought I would throw that out there since it was rather like "FATE" stepping in with that advice, with the subject just coming up here, just recently.
The thing I like is knowing that I am paying out X amount, and that there will be NO SURPRISES. No continuing co-pays, or deductibles and no restrictions. I can budget it in and be done with it.

So, take it for what it is worth.... there was a totally unbiased, unrelated, not going to make a penny off me, consultation. He was a representative of "United health care" (I think that is who he said) so he is getting paid by the company to be a rep and if he sells any policies or anything he probably gets a cut or commission or something.....
He basically told me the very same thing our ins lady at work said. And he doesn't know me from a hole in the wall.

 

[TexasBred]

If your full retirement age is 66 then you can make up to something like 46,200 or so and not lose any of the SS. Again, they change the rules around, but as of this past year that was the rule. If you earn over the max allowed they "take back" something like $1 for every 2 you get?? Don't know the exact amount, you would have to talk to the SS person.
As far as I was told, you can start medicare at 65, working or not. If you have coverage at work, then you can either decide if one is better or not, or have both and they will "co-pay" from what I was told. In my case, if I had been still considered full time, I still had the option to go on Medicare and drop work ins or do some sort of both. Since I was not going to have that option, I really didn't pay alot of attention to those possibilities; I knew that by the first of that following year I would be below the minimum number of work units/hours to be considered full time, and would be losing my work ins.

My advice to you Kenny, make an appt at the SS office. Takes a few weeks to get one around here. Tell them you want to explore your SS benefits and options, that you are working at present. If you get a good person to talk to, they will lay it all out in front of you. If you have a good ins person at work, talk to them. I went to 3 different seminars done for free by the county here, all that "What seniors should know" crap, and was more confused than ever. So I called and talked to our ins lady from work and she sent me some stuff e-mail, and then said to call her back and she would go over it with me. She is GREAT and I figure if what she has for her husband and soon for herself.... is good enough for them, it is good enough for me.
There are so many plans that are set by the Medicare as far as what they have to cover. There's the 4 "parts" . Then the plans that are covered through supplemental ins. Plan F has to have this, Plan G has to have that.... Then there are a dozen different ins companies that "offer" their own supplement, that meets these basic requirements... and they are all priced differently. Mine is through Anthem BC BS. The cost went from 83 to 88 this year; Aetna offers the same plan G but the cost is different.AARP has a supplemental ins that will cover the different "plans". It also has some bearing on where you live as to the comparable costs of insurance. It is way over my head. That is why I talked to someone who has nothing to really gain by it like my ins lady. She is making her salary from working for the ins company she works for, giving advice to our milk testing company. Every year we have an annual meeting and she comes and does an update on any new changes in the ins, deductible, whatever. Since many of us are getting long in the tooth, she talks about Medicare and rules etc. Somewhere along the line, you need to talk to someone that understands all the ins and outs.

So as far as I know, yes you can go on Medicare at 65, if you have work ins there are some requirements/restrictions/ co-ins. rules. Yes you can collect SS and if it is the year you are eligible for full retirement, you can earn somewhere in the 46,000 range with no loss to the SS you get. If you make "cash" money or do barter or anything, you only "have to" claim what you feel you must.... If it can't be proven that you made too much, then you can't be penalized.

Jan once you reach the age for full Social Security Benefits (66 in my case) there is no restriction on the amount of income you can have, however, larger incomes will cause the premiums for the medicare insurance coverage to go up considerably. (usually at least double)

 

[kenny thomas]

So TB, I could work a couple years and save up the SS? That would help

 

[farmerjan]

I was told that you could earn up to the 46,000 or what ever it is upon full retirement age, and then after 70 you could earn all you want with no reduction in SS benefits. I could be mistaken. I will never make the 46,000 so it wasn't really my biggest concern. I was concerned if it was the 17,000 because I was still working enough to make over that. That is why I waited til Jan of 2019 to take it as that was the YEAR in which I reached my full SS retirement age. I guess that it wasn't anything for me to worry about making a "large income" for the cost of the medicare to be higher!!!!

 

[kenny thomas]

I can't retire before I get medicare because of the insurance costs. Both my wife and I have lots of health issues. I'm 62 and 6 months so guess I'm still around for a while.

 

[TexasBred]

So TB, I could work a couple years and save up the SS? That would help

Absolutely ... youwould be past the age of any restrictions or further requirements

 

[kenny thomas]

So TB, I could work a couple years and save up the SS? That would help

Absolutely ... youwould be past the age of any restrictions or further requirements

Thank you. A years worth of savings sure would help me feel better about it.

 

[hurleyjd]

I was told that you could earn up to the 46,000 or what ever it is upon full retirement age, and then after 70 you could earn all you want with no reduction in SS benefits. I could be mistaken. I will never make the 46,000 so it wasn't really my biggest concern. I was concerned if it was the 17,000 because I was still working enough to make over that. That is why I waited til Jan of 2019 to take it as that was the YEAR in which I reached my full SS retirement age. I guess that it wasn't anything for me to worry about making a "large income" for the cost of the medicare to be higher!!!!

Receiving Social Security Income While Working

If you plan to work in "retirement" and also collect Social Security benefits, some of your benefits may be temporarily withheld, based on your income. Until you reach full retirement age, your benefits will be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn in excess of $18,240 (for 2020).

In the year you reach full retirement age, your benefits will be reduced by $1 for every $3 you earn above $48,600 (for 2020). Starting with the month you attain full retirement age, your benefits will no longer be reduced. Note that these dollars are not lost forever; instead, your Social Security benefit will be increased to account for them after you reach full retirement age.

Your income from Social Security can be partially taxable if your "combined income" exceeds a certain amount. Combined income is your gross income plus any nontaxable interest you earned during the year, plus one half of your Social Security benefits. For example, if you're married, file a joint tax return with your spouse, and your combined income is between $32,000 and $44,000, you may have to pay tax on up to 50% of your Social Security benefits. If your combined income is greater than $44,000, up to 85% of your benefits may be taxable.