I believe we had a similar situation with ShawWife going on my Medicare when she turned 65 at the beginning of the Pandemic and everything was backed up. They assured me that we could do it in a way where her Plan A and B were backdated to the original date and it did work. But, it was pretty confusing and a little bit scary. I think we paid to continue her existing insurance while waiting for Medicare to get authorized.
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I watch a lot of her stuff and thought this was her best video yet.
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DH filed for part A at 65 and Part B at 68 when he stopped working full time with benefits. It took about 6 weeks for his part B to come through. But he filed 90 days before he left his job. He did have to make one call to themâŠand they said it was because a person needed to contact him about some questionâŠwhich they then did within about 5 minutes.
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Well this is funny. DHâs came yesterday!! I am still waitingâŠ
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none of my business, but were you born in a different state? Did you change your surname when you got married, perhaps in another state? If so, SS records can get moved. (Dunno why)
For example, I was born in CA and my records are there, even tho I worked for 10+ years on the east coast and midwest after college. My wife is from a midwest state, but we were living in another midwest state and after marriage, she changed her surname in that state. Her SS records were then transferred from her birth state to her married state.
Fast forward a few decades all the time living in CA, when it was time to apply for SS, her app to the local SS office got shipped to her married state for processing. When I applied for Spousal benefits on her record, my Spousal app was transferred and processed at her married state. A few years later, when I applied for my own SS benefits, that was processed where my records remained, which was CA. But oops, CA and married state were not talking to each other â COVID and all that. CA processing could not start my own benefits until Spousal was turned off, but that required married state to stop it. So my app bounced back an forth between the two state processing centers for weeks, until a fantastic local Manager took a stand and processed it. (btw: âwhile we are on the phone, does your wife want to change her benefit to Spousal? If so, put her on and I can process both right now.â)
It is hard to parse all of the effects of OBBB. There is a temporary increase in the cap on SALT. We live in a high property tax state so this is going to be good for us, I think. However, it could trigger AMT. In the past, I found strangely that the more I made, the less likely I would trigger AMT.
In addition, there is a provision that formally blesses the way in which people with high property taxes have gotten around the cap in some states, which is to create an LLC that can fully deduct the tax. I have never pursued that approach because I was concerned that a) such a dodge would be short-lived; and b) it might trigger capital gains tax. It also might require that the state allow such a workaround. Now that it is enshrined in law, I will investigate.
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Back in 2020 or 2021, when I was still working in rehab facility doing nursing admission assessments, I heard a crazy story and I totally believe the woman. When she got on Medicare, she got a lot of grief about her last name. I donât remember all the details - she was married more than once, and she had a current legal last name, but due to the way they had her records, she needed to use a prior married last name as part of a hyphenated name. I donât remember more specifics - but she ended up doing what SS/Medicare told her to get her Medicare card. It may have been also due to coordinating with SS benefits - maybe she was under higher SS from a prior husband. One can have higher SS benefits from a spouse they were married to for over 10 years - I donât remember if this came into play. One part of last name was her legal name, and one part was tied to the spousal SS benefits. All the medical providers were able to process her medical the way the Medicare card was stated.
I am also having difficulty figuring out whether Iâll be triggering AMT. It is next to impossible to find an AMT calculator out there. We will itemize with large medical deductions and max out the SALT deduction, so I am afraid that we are going to trigger the AMT, if we have to add those deductions back in.
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Thatâs not strange.
You pay the higher of AMT or the regular tax calculation. Once you make a certain amount, the higher federal income taxes will be more than the AMT flat tax. Im guessing you made $1 million or higher.
The reason most people paid AMT prior to the TCJA was the phaseout exemption.
The TCJA dramatically increased the exemption phaseout threshold, which was $160,900 for married couples in 2017. In 2025, the AMT exemption begins to phase out at $1,252,700 for married couples filing jointly.
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I just found out some good news. My husband is retired, but he works as a 1099 employee for a couple of places. Apparently he can deduct both his and my health insurance costs from our taxes. For some reason I thought because it was still subsidized by the govât that was not the case, but I was wrong. Every little bit helpsâŠ
I spoke too soon. Looks like because husband also works for a non profit that may offer supplemented health insurance, that may not be true. DARNâŠ
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I believe most people on this thread have thought carefully about retirement and having enough to retire. I saw a short line somewhere âI want to do more than earn money, pay bills.â In retirement, I would say have a nice life (fill in what you consider a nice life) and have the bills under control - have enough of a nest egg with proper investments to enjoy life and not outlive your funds.
I saw a brief reel where a caller to Dave Ramsey was about a couple who wanted to live their dream in FL. After their daughter got out of college, and both in their mid-50âs, they moved to Sarasota FL (bought a home for $225,000, totally paid for), got lower paying jobs than what they had (combined income $60,000), but didnât have a very big retirement nest egg (I am thinking they said under $200K) and their current earnings had them not adding to retirement funds. They have to âregroupâ - get higher paying jobs, work more, spend less, something - because they do not have enough of a nest egg. Yikes!
IDK about our own ânew homeâ cost will be in the city where DD1/SIL/Gkids live; it will be a big move for us to get our home ready to sell and then relocate. Waiting for the shoe to drop for the city being DD1âs family âpermanentâ location (SIL is transitioning out of the Army).
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They told me they had all the paperwork. Iâm just waiting for it to process. Hopefully, it will come shortly. I am guessing that because I am the spouse of the person who is retiring and whoâs HR provided the info about the holder of the primary insurance that the attached letter from HR from his company May take an extra day or so for them to understand who knows. But I am hopeful that it will work through.
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Here are real stories that reflect the experiences of âmostâ Americans. Having a nest egg of a couple hundred thousand is not realistic for many, and sadly, those who have a nest egg often lose it for reasons beyond their control. Social Security Income Is Crucial to These Americans
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That was interesting and sad. Thanks for posting.
Just addingâŠIIRC, most retirees donât have millions of dollars in retirement funds. They just donât.
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AARP does a good job with information. They also have a lot of volunteers in communities.
Going through life can have âlandminesâ at various times and circumstances. Things beyond your control. These individuals did a very good job thinking through the realities of their situation and moving forward with a plan.
DH is working to keep healthy at age 69. His PCP did an extra blood test on kidney function based on earlier labs, and I researched the one out of range lab result EGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) and then explained it to DH in laymanâs terms (I am retired BSN). He is better at drinking a good amount of water every day and very limited coffee and caffeine levels. He always wasnât that good at drinking the daily water. There is no family history of kidney disease/kidney failure, and he has good longevity expectations, especially with his fatherâs ancestry. Even his momâs type II diabetes and heart disease did not strain her kidneys (she died at 92 of hypertensive heart disease). I reviewed the information with him in his home office (best place for him to hear any news). Sometimes worry with the unknown. Our financial picture/good nest egg relieves most worry of unknown.
One of the benefits for us to moving where DD1/family live (when that time comes, maybe 2026) is that DD1 is BSN and super capable within her hospital job and has a great background to be able to keep us plugged in with the latest medical in her area/up to date care and knowing options. Although I did work in direct patient care early and then sunset of career, most of my work was using my graduate business degrees â and those skills are helpful in some areas. Always good to have more expert advising within the family.
I help out now at a distance with the grandkids. For example, for the last few years, I have monitored and purchased the swim wear for grandkids (now there are 5 of them), which includes L/S SPF shirts to help reduce need for sunscreen. With Landâs End sale, I could purchase what her needs are for next summer - and I got 8 items (purchased an extra item to get the free ship). When I was there with the family, and the kids had various clothing needs (including water shoes for the kids during daycare water day (splashpad), I was able to sort out exactly what was to get purchased from my various sources and got that taken care of in one swoop. The sports shirts/shorts for T-ball and softball. The pajamas (including the extra bottoms for the one boy that wets a little sometimes). Things DD1 doesnât have the extra time to do. Glad to lift some of that off her plate.
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Responding to myself â I meant to add one concern. I noticed that my Medicare A card has my first name middle initial last name, but the Application and form from my husbandâs employer has first name full middle name, (which is my maiden name) and last name. I hope those are understood to be the same person!
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Iâve been doing a number of transactions lately in cash, which is rare for me, Iâve been know to put 17 cents on a credit card because I didnât have cash.
However, weâve been doing some buying and selling of large items, everyone wants cash, whether itâs for purchases or getting your hair done. Not my business why, whether they donât want to pay credit card fees, donât trust a check, donât want to pay taxes, not my call.
What is rather creepy is that the bank employees keep asking me directly, âWhat is this for?â Two employees asked me that for the same transaction yesterday. I get that theyâre trying to prevent someone from getting defrauded, but they could ask specific questions that could detect fraud. We are long time customers whoâve kept a reasonable amount of money at their bank, and I want to tell them itâs none of their dang business. I feel like I want to start withdrawing the max in ATM withdrawals just so I donât have to be questioned. It makes me feel like theyâre tracking what Iâm doing, and I have t done anything wrong. Just like when I get IDâd for buying wine, Iâm obviously of legal age times three, but I still feel guilty like Iâm doing something wrong!
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all cash transactions of $10k or more must be reported to the feds. I have read on other sites where local banks are just asking seniors about large cash transactions (<$10k) as a courtesy to make sure that they seem cognizant of what;s going on, and not, âmy Uncle in xx country needs a cash wire before he sends me $5mâ.
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I understand trying to prevent fraud and those sort of specific questions, but I definitely donât come across as a senior with dementia (at least, not yet 
). Iâd suspect that if they asked my husband, heâd say, âNone of your businessâ. Wonder if that would be some sort of flag.