Questions about retirement

Goodie2shoes · ‎04-30-2012

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

Snowpuppy · ‎03-09-2010

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.

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

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!

feline groovy · ‎07-29-2014

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.

Desertdi · ‎03-13-2010

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.

♥Surface of the Sun♥

Burnsite · ‎03-10-2010

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.

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

@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-...

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.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

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.

nomless · ‎03-10-2010

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.

Winkk · ‎03-15-2010

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.