Retirement Healthcare and Medicare
Retirement expert Bob Carlson’s research and knowledge on how to get the most out of healthcare options
Found 311 Articles.
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Multiplying the Money Available for Long-Term Care
Traditional long-term care insurance might be dying, but there are other, and probably better, ways to protect your family and assets from the potentially onerous costs of long-term care. In 2017, only 66,000 traditional long-term care (LTC policies) were sold. That’s 10% of the number sold 20 years earlier. Steep premium increases on existing policies […]
Medicare Premiums Rise For 2019
Medicare announced the premiums and other costs for 2019. There’s a modest increase in the standard Part B premium to $135.50 per month from $134.00. As income increases, so do Part B premiums under the Medicare Surtax, or IRMAA, provision. This is where it can get very expensive for very high earners. For 2019, there […]
How to Build Your Long-Term Care Plan
The cost of long-term care is one of the major retirement financial worries. Survey after survey confirms that. The data also confirms that few people do anything about long-term care, other than worry. One survey even found that many people would rather go to the dentist than talk to someone about long-term care. That needn’t […]
Understanding Medicare
There shouldn’t be anything new here to readers of Retirement Watch and my books, but this article is a good review of the basics of Medicare and how to choose your coverage. Deciding on a type of plan is critical. Take the example of someone who wants more freedom to select health care providers because […]
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Act Now to Avoid Higher Medicare Premiums in Two Years
The Medicare premium surtax jumped higher for many retirees in 2018, making planning for this Stealth Tax more important now and in the future. The Medicare premium surtax, or surcharge, is officially known by the acronym IRMAA (Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount). It was created by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, and was first imposed […]
AARP’s Take On The Medicare Trustees’ Report
The recent annual report of the Trustees of Social Security and Medicare made a lot of headlines, and AARP didn’t like all of them. The organization responded with a different take than some of the media coverage. AARP argues that the programs will be able to pay most promised benefits indefinitely and could pay all […]
The Struggles Of Social Security And Medicare
The latest annual report from the Trustees of Social Security and Medicare is out, and it generated a lot of negative headlines. The big news from the report is that this year the income of the program will exceed the benefits it pays out, so it will have to dip into its reserves or trust […]
How to Save Money on High Prescription Drug Costs in Retirement
As you might expect, medical care will be one of your highest expenses during retirement. And prescription drugs will be among your highest medical expenses. Now consider this… A 65-year-old couple today that has median prescription drug expenses for the rest of their lives will need $165,000 of savings to have a 50% chance of covering their health expenses in […]
