It's me, It's me, It's me, Oh Lord....

[katisha]

After being gone for a long time, I thought I would come in and say Howdy to everyone.

HOWDY!

Been really occupied by life for the past 5 months. But I have a little free time now so I thought I would check in. Seems everyone here is doing well, with a few exceptions.

Myself, I am doing good. Hubby is loosing ground, has moved to a wheeled walker for all walking and is fighting constant vertigo and trouble swallowing. Son and Grand-son doing great, although my grandson seems to be heading towards being a giant; he is 5' 9" and only 11 years old. Mom and my sister are all right. I assume. I don't hear from them too often. My health is good, and my mind is going strong. I just wish I could loose those 25 pounds I gained last year. They seem to be following me around; I know they are back there...I can feel them bounce when I walk.

The world is being a complicated place right now, what with politics, economic issues, hurricanes, fires, and all the other S**T going on all over the place. Thank God for good books, an occasional good movie, and my writing. That helps keep my head on relatively straight.

AND....I will be turning 65 on the 27th. Strange, I don't feel 65. I feel closer to 15. But the woman who looks out at me in the mirror every morning tells me differently. That's life.

[Ivy]

Katisha!! Thank goodness you're back!! We were about to send out the troops.

[agricola]

Wow! A voice from the past!
Glad to hear it again, too.

[Opie]

Hi Katisha, glad you're back and congratulations on being eligible for Medicare . I will be turning 65 in April, and it's unreal the number of phone calls and mail that I'm getting about Medicare supplement insurance. Sheeesh!

[katisha]

Hi Katisha, glad you're back and congratulations on being eligible for Medicare . I will be turning 65 in April, and it's unreal the number of phone calls and mail that I'm getting about Medicare supplement insurance. Sheeesh!

I have hung up on more Medicare calls than I care to think about. And the junk mail is almost as bad. I plan on signing up for Part A, since it does not cost anything, and that is all for now. I am still working and have decent insurance where I work. But I have a feeling the calls and mail will continue to come.

[katisha]

Ivy & Agri, glad to know I was missed. I will try to stop in more often now. Lord willing and the creeks don't rise.

[Ivy]

Hi Katisha, glad you're back and congratulations on being eligible for Medicare . I will be turning 65 in April, and it's unreal the number of phone calls and mail that I'm getting about Medicare supplement insurance. Sheeesh!

I have hung up on more Medicare calls than I care to think about. And the junk mail is almost as bad. I plan on signing up for Part A, since it does not cost anything, and that is all for now. I am still working and have decent insurance where I work. But I have a feeling the calls and mail will continue to come.

Well, really think hard about Part B, because for most there is some penalty if you take it later.....not sure in your case since you are still working. You will automatically be enrolled in Part A when you turn 65.

[teresa]

Katisha

It looks like it depends on how many employees your employer has, as to whether you need to sign up for Medicare Part B to avoid a penalty (i.e. increased cost going forward). This might be true of Part D also.

Under current rules, if your employer has 20 or more employees, you don’t have to enroll in Medicare if you don’t want to. Your employer’s group plan is the primary payer, which means they pay first on any healthcare bills you have. You can delay enrollment into Medicare until you retire and stop actively working.

If you work for a smaller company with fewer than 20 employees, you must sign up for Medicare as soon as you are eligible. With small companies, Medicare is the primary payer. If you don’t sign up, but stick with your group plan, the group plan can refuse to pay your claims. Even worse, when you do finally sign up for Medicare, you’ll be faced with late enrollment penalties.

From https://boomerbenefits.com/medicare-while-working/

[katisha]

Katisha

It looks like it depends on how many employees your employer has, as to whether you need to sign up for Medicare Part B to avoid a penalty (i.e. increased cost going forward). This might be true of Part D also.

Under current rules, if your employer has 20 or more employees, you don’t have to enroll in Medicare if you don’t want to. Your employer’s group plan is the primary payer, which means they pay first on any healthcare bills you have. You can delay enrollment into Medicare until you retire and stop actively working.

If you work for a smaller company with fewer than 20 employees, you must sign up for Medicare as soon as you are eligible. With small companies, Medicare is the primary payer. If you don’t sign up, but stick with your group plan, the group plan can refuse to pay your claims. Even worse, when you do finally sign up for Medicare, you’ll be faced with late enrollment penalties.

From https://boomerbenefits.com/medicare-while-working/

My company has 5000+ employees across the nation. So I am not too worried about insurance right now. Just basically signing up for Part A to get my name on the books. Hubby is really pushing for that. Which brings another question to mind. Is there anyone on here who understands the process of having benefits paid pre-tax or post-tax? Hubby want me to change to post-tax so more gets hit with SS taxes.

[agricola]

Hi Katisha
Up to 85% of your SS income can be subject to income tax. How much depends on your total income - the cutoffs depend on how you file (married jointly, married separately, etc).

So some people choose to let the SS system hold back a percentage for the IRS, just like your employers hold back part of your pay for FIT.
Other people don't bother.

It's up to you, and there's an annual open period (in the fall) where you can make changes.

Good idea: sign up for an account at mysocialsecurity.gov - they have all sorts of information on all this sort of stuff, and you can check online about your benefits, and sign up online - practically everything. It's easy.