<p>You are welcome.</p>
<p>From what I have seen so far, I find Medicare to be complicated.</p>
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<p>I’m 99% sure I’m taking the money early. Like all these decision I’ve got the multi-column spreadsheet. If I start collecting at 62 I’ll get about $1500 month. </p>
<p>By time time I turn 66 I’ll be $36,000 ahead of if I waited unitl 66 … with the higher payment at 66 I will not catch up until 77 and not be $20k ahead until I’m 84.</p>
<p>By the time I turn 70 I’ll be $48,000 ahead of if I waited until 70 … with the even higher payment at 70 I will not catch up intil 81 and not be $20K until in 87.</p>
<p>Layered on this is the money in our 401ks and IRAs … which we have to take some of when we are 70 and older … so our lowest cash flow point is in the 62-70 time frame. This is also the time when as retirees we will be in the best shape to travel and have grandkids to see and etc. I do not see the point of living frugally at 62 so we can live very-very well at 85-90 if we happen to make it that long. To me waiting to collect seems like a backwards play of my life expectancy.</p>
<p>If you need the money in your 60’s, take the money in your 60’s.</p>
<p>We are working with a lot of variables here. There is no correct answer that works for everybody.</p>
<p>I think it all depends on what your 35 years of top earnings are compared to what your earnings would be if you continued to work after age 62.5 -and if you don’t plan to work and/or earn more than 14.6K during the years between 62.5 and 67.
I agree!</p>
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<p>A medicare advantage plan basically ‘takes over’ your medicare. These companies are contracted with medicare to offer you their services for a ‘low’ premium though some can be more expensive. The money that you are paying in for medicare premiums, 99 dollars or more, is given by medicare to the advantage plan as part of them offering the services to you. Many of the advantage plans have little to no premium of their own. They are sometimes very limited in where you can use them. I always told people that called us at work if they were unsure what to do then they should ask the people who do the billing in their doctors office what they think. They see every insurance company… they know who pays their bills timely and without hassle… and they know who has good customer service as well.</p>
<p>Many advantage plans include drugs where as most medicare supplements (all of the current ones) do not include drugs. If someone was paying 225 a month plus their medicare and a drug plan it could have very well been a supplement instead of an advantage program (though not necessarily). Was she getting billed for services? Example being my great aunt is in skilled nursing right now and she has a 25 dollar copay for 100 days with her advantage plan as opposed to most supplement plans having no copay for those services.</p>
<p>I hope that helps.</p>
<p>Taxes can be the big deal issue with taking Social Security early. Up to 85% of your social security pension can be taxed if you have other income. That was a nasty surprise to us when my husband took over some of my MIL’s accounts and sold some of the items. The realized gains put her over the allowed amounts and so that percentage of her social security became taxable along with the gains. </p>
<p>If you have money in IRAs or other qualified plans, it is often wise to take them out and get them into ROTH IRAs,and take the tax hit all in one year, other wise with those couples getting top of the line ssocial security pension will find that they will be taxed on close to an additional $40K of income each year.</p>