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Social Security & Medicare

Two huge components of the transition to retirement are your Social Security and your Medicare benefits. Many people think they’ll just apply to receive their Social Security benefits and be done with it, but there are actually several ways you can optimize your Social Security benefits according to your specific needs and situation.

Additionally, enrolling in Medicare is more complicated than many pre-retirees anticipate. There are specific periods of time when you’re able to enroll, and if you don’t enroll when you’re supposed to, you could end up paying penalties for the rest of your life.

Our Social Security And Medicare Planning Services Include:

• Considering how your Social Security benefits will interact with your other income sources
• Creating tax strategies to reduce the tax burden on your benefit payments
• Evaluating your life expectancy and family medical history to optimize when you should begin taking benefits
• Analyzing and strategizing your options for spousal benefits
• Choosing the right Medicare options
• Guiding you through the Medicare enrollment process
• Educating you about what Medicare does and does not cover

Why Do You Need Social Security & Medicare Planning?

When you’re getting ready to retire, you’re likely going to be feeling some stress. Not only is this a huge financial transition, it’s also an emotional transition. Five to Ten years before retirement, you’ll probably be dreaming of leisurely days spent on the golf course or traveling to exotic beaches. But as the retirement date nears, many people find themselves worrying about how they’ll spend their unscheduled days and how they’ll maintain their social connections.

Social Security and Medicare worries may only compound that stress. As government programs, they’re not exactly the easiest programs to navigate. And because these programs are designed to benefit all Americans, there are a multitude of options to choose from which can result in something we like to call “analysis paralysis.” You need to be able to sort through the options to determine which options are best for your particular situation, income level, and goals.

For example, you have to decide when you’d like to start taking Social Security benefits, and the choice you make could impact your future monthly income for the rest of your life. Each year you delay taking benefits, your monthly payments increase by 8% until you reach the age of 70. But wait too long, and your anticipated life expectancy might not allow you to truly enjoy the increased monthly payments, which means you would have sacrificed useful income in earlier years.

Additionally, you have to choose between Medicare Parts A, B, C, and/or D when choosing your coverage. You may also elect to add on Medigap insurance, which can cover services not paid for by basic Medicare benefits. The benefits you have to choose from may overlap one another, and you’ll need to make sure you choose the benefits that are right for the needs of you and your spouse. This takes detailed foresight and planning to account for the services you’re likely to need and the amount of money you’ll have to pay to have those services covered.

Benefits Of Social Security & Medicare Planning

Social Security and Medicare planning can take the stress out of choosing from so many options, options that may have a significant impact on your monthly income and health insurance choices for the long term. By partnering with financial experts, you can weigh your decisions through the lens of informed guidance and be sure you’re not overlooking important considerations.

Additionally, Social Security benefits can heavily impact your tax burden, so aligning your Social Security strategies with your tax planning strategies is crucial to ensure you’re not overpaying in taxes. Medicare benefits may also be costly depending on your income level and needs for coverage, so planning for these costs is an important component of your overall retirement and income planning.

How We Help

We help you choose the best timing strategies and coverage options based on your unique situation, needs, and personal preferences. We will demystify the choices and processes in front of you to make sure you know what decisions you’re making and why.

We also help you align your Social Security strategies and Medicare choices with the other components of your retirement income planning. Failing to account for these costs can impact the amount of disposable monthly income you have access to or unnecessarily increase your tax burden. Our team works to pursue a healthy alignment between benefits, taxes, and monthly expenses so you’re still on track to meet your goals.