@Dadof3 ,
If you can to wade and read through and understand those links you posted, you are a better person than I. 
Dear heavens, they don’t make anything simple or straightforward. And encouraging retirement savings is supposed to be embodied in tax policy. 
I hope that your HR person sorts it out for you. As for me, I think I will just hang on to H’s and my basis and deal with all later in retirement. Or I’ll tell him that it’s his, he deals with it!
@thumper1, they will reduce your benefits if you’re not FRA, but you don’t have to pay them – you are never “in the hole big time.”
So…basically, I just won’t receive my $166 benefit? Is that correct?
That’s fine…it sounds like it will balance out when they calculate…is that at age 66?
So…then how will my Medicare payments be paid? Instead of being deducted from my SS (which will be $0 I guess at age 65), will I just get a bill instead?
i think I understand. This will be for one year only for me…as I will be 66 early in 2017.
@thumper1, that’s how it works with your SS, but I have no idea how Medicare payments are made. Getting a bill seems the most likely, since there are Medicare-eligible people who won’t be filing for SS for another 5 years.
So…will I just lose my $166 benefit…or will I owe $6000 (my pay for 2015 will,exceed by $12,000)?
@thumper1, you will, at worst, lose your benefit. You will not owe $6000.
Yes, you will be billed for Medicare, if you are not collecting Social Security. I think that they collect it quarterly.
Yes, they bill quarterly. You can do paperwork to have it deducted from your bank account, if you chose.
I don’t know if this book was mentioned on this thread (maybe even by me), but I have been reading “65 Things to do when you Retire” - it is a compilation of essays that give a lot to think about, and the authors provided the essays on a pro-bono basis - the royalties from the book sale are being donated to nonprofit organizations dedicated to preventing and curing cancer.
Lots of good web sites and resources, etc mentioned - Wall Street Journal comment says it “is like having your own brainstorming session with 65 highly knowledgeable men and women of a certain age and many walks of life. The collection is full of candor, humor and wisdom…”
SOS - That book looks interesting. I found it on Barnes and Noble for $3 (not sure why so much cheaper than elsewhere) plus $4 shipping.
I just ordered a copy for DH for Father’s Day. It’s not as nice at the roses he got for me for Mother’s Day, but I think he’ll like it.
Maybe overstock - since it was published a few years ago; I buy a lot of books gently used via Amazon (sometimes from places like Goodwill) so I pay $3.99 plus the low cost of the book.
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I don’t know if this book was mentioned on this thread (maybe even by me), but I have been reading “65 Things to do when you Retire” - it is a compilation of essays that give a lot to think about, and the authors provided the essays on a pro-bono basis - the royalties from the book sale are being donated to nonprofit organizations dedicated to preventing and curing cancer.
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Just ordered it. Thanks
“Yes, you will be billed for Medicare, if you are not collecting Social Security”
@MiamiDAP, It’s Part A, not Plan A.
And you’re wrong to say you only need Part A if you’re still insured through your employer. Part A is hospitalization insurance only. It doesn’t pay for doctors, surgeries, labs, durable medical equipment, etc. Most employer-provided health insurance only pays a percentage of those bills. If you have Part B Medicare, it usually pays for the rest, leaving you with no out-of-pocket expense. Of course, everyone’s employer policy is different so you have to read the fine print, but it’s not uncommon for people to have Medicare Parts A and B as well as employer-provided health insurance.
I think once you’re 65, even with private health insurance, it’s only reimbursed up to Medicare rate. Anyway, I’ve decided to get part B for my husband. Hoping no surprise about Heath care cost, but I’m sure it’s not 100% covered but close.
We opted to wait to get Part B Medicare until H was officially retired, which saved us 5 years of premiums. His insurance was better than Medicare B, which we now have for him as well as Medicare A and his insurance from his employer.
You have to have worked and contributed to Medicare A for a certain number of quarters for you to be able to get it without a premium charge. I can’t remember what the # was, but it was less than the number of quarters needed for Social Security (which H doesn’t qualify for); I do know the systems are different.
patsmom,
“If you have Part B Medicare, it usually pays for the rest, leaving you with no out-of-pocket expense” - this seems to be contradicting itself. Don’t you need to pay for Part B? Isn’t it the fee that you pay for Part B paid from out of pocket ? How else it could be paid?
I know many examples of co-workers including myself who have only Part A while working and we are not paying for it, otherwise, I would not have even Part A while I work. Why to pay for another insurance? We are paying for 2 already.
patsmom,
“If you have Part B Medicare, it usually pays for the rest, leaving you with no out-of-pocket expense” - this seems to be contradicting itself. Don’t you need to pay for Part B? Isn’t it the fee that you pay for Part B paid from out of pocket ? How else it could be paid?
I know many examples of co-workers including myself who have only Part A while working and we are not paying for it, otherwise, I would not have even Part A while I work. Why to pay for another insurance? We are paying for 2 already.
@MiamiDAP, Part B costs around $105/month (this varies depending on income) plus a $147 deductible. That comes to about $1400 a year. It’s not difficult to rack up over $1400 in charges that aren’t covered by your employer’s insurance, especially if you have surgery, chemo and/or radiation, CT scans, etc., as my husband and I have.
In our case it makes sense. Maybe in your case, it doesn’t. As you always say,
My husband will pay for part B when he turns 65, because he will retire before he is 65. I think it’s deducted from the Social Security check.