topic Re: Questions about retirement in Community Chat

Questions about retirement

Goodie2shoes — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 05:25:56 GMT

I know there has been conversation before but a little guidance would be much appreciated. I have decided to retire in a few months, I've been recovering from a second foot surgery in just a little over a month and have decided I have had enough. So where do I start ? I have received my medicare card for part A only when I turned 65 last year since I was still working. I know I will need B for doctors visits and part D for scripts. Any recommendations on Insurance ? AARP ? Should I contact a Tax advisor for direction on taxes from my pension ? Any info would be appreciated, I am feeling quite lost at the moment

Re: Questions about retirement

Snowpuppy — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 05:47:10 GMT

Congratulations on your decision to retire!

Personally, I would ask for an estimate of your pension benefits based on a projected retirement date. Do the same with SS if you are eligible. Look at your 401k, 403b, etc and go from there.

I requested my pension estimate last year and based on those numbers, I'll be there until I'm 92.

Re: Questions about retirement

Carmie — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 06:05:36 GMT

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement. I retired a few months ago and it is wonderful.

You will need to pick up Medicare Part B as soon as your group insurance at work expires. I would suggest you do so as soon as you have a retirement date. Medicare D too.

You also need to decide if you want a Medicare Advantage Plan or Traditional Medicare with a Supplimental plan. Be careful in choosing. It will be very costly to change your mind down the road.

You may have received a handbook entitled "Medicare and You". it explains Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare and Supplimental policies. if you chose Traditional Medicare, please think about a Supplimental plan that includes coverage for skilled nursing care from day 21-100. There are several to choose from. I usually recommend Plan C Supplimental for most people.

Once you decide on the plan type, call insurance companies or look online. All of the plans are controlled by the Federal govt are are the same, except for the price.

All of your income from all sources will be taxed by the Fereral govt, unless you make very little. Many states and local govt to not tax retirement income.

i would suggest that you call your local office for the aging. They will explain everything you need to do and will help you decide what is best for your circumstances.

I forgot to mention that the handbook is on the Medicare website if you don't have a copy.

Happy retirement!

Re: Questions about retirement

feline groovy — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 06:35:15 GMT

Consistency is nice - and can be comforting.

But outside of those everyday things, I like looking forward to a brand-new 'next day' and all its possibilities.

Re: Questions about retirement

Desertdi — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 07:27:19 GMT

You will get a 1099 for your pension. It's the same as a W2. You will have to pay tax on your pension (over a certain amount). I doubt you will need a tax attorney unless you have very complicated stock investments, real estate income, and "other" i investments, also.

Re: Questions about retirement

Burnsite — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 11:03:28 GMT

Goodie, Retirement is so individual--I am not retired but will work a while longer.

Just writing to suggest that the Retirement Forum on a site called City Data is a really helpful source of information from a variety of viewpoints. If you browse through the various threads, the different perspectives are very interesting.

The City Data forum is very active and most people who post on it are delighted with their retirement situations.

Re: Questions about retirement

Nuttmeg — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 13:18:57 GMT

@Goodie2shoes

@Desertdi wrote:
You will get a 1099 for your pension. It's the same as a W2. You will have to pay tax on your pension (over a certain amount). I doubt you will need a tax attorney unless you have very complicated stock investments, real estate income, and "other" i investments, also.

Here is information about benefits, taxes on SSA, and Medicare Supplement insurance.

https://www.benefitscheckup.org/

https://www.ssa.gov/planners/taxes.html

http://www.aarp.org/health/health-insurance/info-2014/medicare-mistakes-to-avoid.html?cmp=NLC-WBLTR-DSO-MCTRL-070414-HT9-370965&encparam=5k0Us0MIjmTrWIydzA4vSRGeyzuleu6u/dFsr2pQ4Nk=

You can contact AARP and have them send you a packet for Medicare Part C, and D. Please ask them Medicare Advantage Plans.

You may have to pay state tax on your pension. I was able to have this amount deducted from my allowance.

Re: Questions about retirement

151949 — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 13:43:51 GMT

When we retired we took DH's 401k out and transferred it to a finance guy at Morgan Stanley who was highly recommended to me by a doctor I worked with. This guy does nothing but retirement accounts and he met with us for about an hour while we told him how we planned to spend our retirement and he recommended how to achieve those goals. That was in 2009 at the height of the financial crisis. We wanted to snowbird between Pa and Fl so that was primary. He gave us great advice and we are still with him.

As for medicare and SS - it's best to get yourself educated about medicare. It's very complicated and you can easily make expensive mistakes. I can tell you with 100% certainty you will get a lot of incorrect information on this board. Those who have the least amount of knowledge come here and post like they are experts. Do not use this as a resource !!!! We are AARP members and we started out by going to their website where we found they had online "town hall meetings " with people from medicare that we could get on. Then we went to some actual town hall meetings locally where there were medicare people and agents from various companies. That is where we found our agent and have stayed with him. We chose an advantage plan but that is not necessarily the best choice for everyone. As for SS - make an appt. and go to the SS office and sign up - they will also sign you up for the rest of your medicare. I think we were there about an hour. Go about a month before you retire.

So that is my best advice at this time.We found AARP to be a helpful resource as we were starting to put our plans into action. One of the best money savers we did was to get rid of our contract cell phones and go with tracfone. Once we were done working we really did not need contract phones anymore. Now that we are not working we live on approximately half what we lived on while working and have not felt we are at all strapped for cash. We also went from having a company car , a truck and a SUV for me to only one vehicle, and we really don't miss having a second car. It saves us a lot of $$ in insurance and maintainence and gas. Another thing we let go of was to only buy the basic cable TV - we don't miss the more expensive upgrades to get more channels - we get 200 in the basic package - and save a ton of $$$. And now that we don't work anymore we prefer to go out to lunch as a treat instead of out to dinner which also saves us $$ - eating out is something we enjoy doing. Then we just have a sandwich or soup for dinner. You will find your own ways to economize.

Re: Questions about retirement

nomless — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 13:57:30 GMT

Please don't take advice from a message board such as this.

Talk to aqualified independent medicare advisor about Medicare supplement and part D plans that are avilalbe in you state. There are people out there who are experts about such plans and work exclusively woth them. Yes, AARP offers such plans, but their prices tend to be higher than you can get elsewhere. There generally is no cost to you for consulting with a Medicare insurance plan advisor.

Talk to an independent certified financial advisor about finances. By independent, I mean not tied to a particular brokerage house. Recommend that you interview 3 or 4 financial planners before selectong one to be sure you find one you can work well with. Again, for an initial interview, there will be no cost to you usually.

These are important decisions with life long implications, so seek the advice from professionals, not a message board.

Re: Questions about retirement

Winkk — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 14:12:19 GMT

I would take the advice of @nomless and @Carmie. There are people out there who help you with this decision and they are not connected to any insurance company. Usually, the service is free.

Read Medicare and You, that is very helpful. Each State is different so you can't really go by what others on the forums have.

Congratulations and good luck. This is an important decision so give it some serious thought.

Re: Questions about retirement

cotton4me — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 14:14:46 GMT

You can find information about Medicare through SHIP (found out about it on Retired Living TV channel) -

What is SHIP?
SHIP is a free health benefits counseling service for Medicare beneficiaries and their families or caregivers. SHIPs mission is to educate, advocate, counsel and empower people to make informed healthcare benefit decisions. SHIP is an independent program funded by Federal agencies and is not affiliated with the insurance industry.

Here's a link to find one in your state.

http://www.seniorsresourceguide.com/directories/National/SHIP/

Re: Questions about retirement

151949 — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 15:08:18 GMT

I agree to look into both medicare supplements with part D Rx plans and medicare advantage plans very carefully. Purchase thoughtfully - you can make an expensive mistake. Be certain you completely understand all about each one before you sign on the dotted line, as you can purchase a different plan each fall BUT it isn't easy to jump back and forth between supplements and advantage plans.

Re: Questions about retirement

hoosieroriginal — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 15:19:02 GMT

Congratulations! I retired at 62 and have Obamacare and have just decided (after getting taxes done and talking to tax lady) to go back to work 2 half days - can make some extra money for myself without hurting my taxes next year. I've been retired for two years and have gotten a lot done at home; now I'm ready to get out of the house a bit. I have to deal with Medicare next year and I plan on going to a meeting to get all the details. I did learn yesterday that at 65 your Medicare payment of $104 comes directly out of your social security payment and then you pick what "parts" you want to add to.

Enjoy retirement - it is the best!

Re: Questions about retirement

AnikaBrodie — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 15:33:00 GMT

@Goodie2shoes

Goodie, congratulations on your upcoming retirement.

You have received some good advice here. I would add another recommendation. Schedule a meeting with your company's Retirement Counselor to choose an option for your retirement that meets your personal needs. The RC should be able to give you a printout of your monthly and annual pension (gross and net) income for a variety of options.

Re: Questions about retirement

Nuttmeg — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 15:54:01 GMT

Many seniors apply for SSA benefits online.

https://www.ssa.gov/retire/apply.html

Re: Questions about retirement

lulu2 — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 15:59:59 GMT

@Nuttmeg wrote:
Many seniors apply for SSA benefits online.
https://www.ssa.gov/retire/apply.html

I agree. It is not necessary to visit a social security office to apply for benefits. Doing it online is easy and self explanatory.

Welcome to the world of retirement.

Re: Questions about retirement

151949 — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 16:00:18 GMT

@AnikaBrodie wrote:
@Goodie2shoes

Goodie, congratulations on your upcoming retirement.

You have received some good advice here. I would add another recommendation. Schedule a meeting with your company's Retirement Counselor to choose an option for your retirement that meets your personal needs. The RC should be able to give you a printout of your monthly and annual pension (gross and net) income for a variety of options.

I doubt many companies have "retirement councelors". Your fortunate if they even explain your pension options without having to drive yourself crazy bugging them for the info.

Re: Questions about retirement

Moonchilde — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 16:01:09 GMT

@Goodie2shoes wrote:
I know there has been conversation before but a little guidance would be much appreciated. I have decided to retire in a few months, I've been recovering from a second foot surgery in just a little over a month and have decided I have had enough. So where do I start ? I have received my medicare card for part A only when I turned 65 last year since I was still working. I know I will need B for doctors visits and part D for scripts. Any recommendations on Insurance ? AARP ? Should I contact a Tax advisor for direction on taxes from my pension ? Any info would be appreciated, I am feeling quite lost at the moment

OP, I have done all this within the past 3-4 months. Start your Medicare Part B and SS process now. If you are still working, your employer needs to fill out a form stating how long you have had insurance. Medicare won't process your application without it. You can go online and read up about how to print off all of the forms you need - this will save you a trip to a SS office.

You should apply for SS now as well. You can tell them when you want it to start. You estimate earnings for them. If there are no hiccups in your process it takes about 2 months for all this.

As far as Medicare supplements, it will depend somewhat on where you live. If you are in a highly populated area, go for a Medicare Advantage plan. If there are none in your area (more rural), I recommend doing some reading on this site, which proved invaluable to me:

boomerbenefits dot com

The companies like AARP and United Healthcare have high premiums and raise their rates constantly. Not good for those on a fixed income. Their ads are misleading as far as what your premiums would be.

If you get a Medicare Advantage plan your Part D is included within it. Otherwise, many companies sell Part D. I went with Silverscript, which is affiliated with CVS/Caremark. I just got my first batch of prescriptions under my Part D and my out-of-pocket was less than with my job group policy!

There is so much info out there, much of it cinfusing and misleading. I would highly recommend dealing with an insurance agency that specializes in this - let them do all the research for you.

Re: Questions about retirement

Jasmine19 — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 16:08:32 GMT

One thing that surprised me was that the amount you think you'll be getting from social security is far from the amount you actually receive each month. A charge for part B and another for part D is deducted from your check. If you don't sign up for B and D at the appropriate time you may be penalized (every month forever!). You should also realize that, depending on your income, you will probably have to pay taxes on your SSI income.

Re: Questions about retirement

AnikaBrodie — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 16:13:15 GMT

@151949 wrote:
@AnikaBrodie wrote:
@Goodie2shoes

Goodie, congratulations on your upcoming retirement.

You have received some good advice here. I would add another recommendation. Schedule a meeting with your company's Retirement Counselor to choose an option for your retirement that meets your personal needs. The RC should be able to give you a printout of your monthly and annual pension (gross and net) income for a variety of options.
I doubt many companies have "retirement councelors". Your fortunate if they even explain your pension options without having to drive yourself crazy bugging them for the info.

@151949 @Goodie2shoes

Fortunately, I had a retirement counselor (RC) provided by my company when I retired. Goodie doesn't say in her OP if her company has one, but if they do she should consult with the counselor for his/her expertise. The RC provided excellent advice to me personally. Believe me, it's hard to choose an option today that will be the best option 20 years from now. So, you have to rely on information and options available to you in making an informed decision and your best choice at the time.