America's Elder Crisis, Medicare Edition

[LSLGuy]

Very short version: Go to the SSA website, obtain Form 44 which is a PDF. Fill it out and snail-mail (yep) it to your local SSA office. It’s pretty simple.

Form 44 is designed for exactly that situation, the transition year(s) when your taxable income craters upon retirement. You tell them what you expect to have for taxable income in 2027 and they just take your word for it. But … if you get it wrong enough they’ll (eventually) bill you for any unpaid IRMAA that later tax returns show you should have paid waay back when in 2027.

Longer versions ... You can read about it upthread here:

America's Elder Crisis, Medicare Edition

That matches my understanding. AIUI … Every year until death they will assess IRMAA based on your tax return from 2 years ago unless you file form SSA-44 to explain why a different number is applicable to your case. Bottom line being: While your year to year income is pretty stable, the SSA’s default behavior is close enough. Whenever you have a significant disruption in income or change in family situation you can file form SSA-44 to make the change in IRMAA assessment take place a year so…

And in even more detail here, with some gotchas:

Countdown to retirement

Here’s a vexing story about IRMAA that is a cautionary tale for everyone approaching their own retirement. Since we each only really retire once, we never get very good at it. So one person’s experience navigating the transition can be useful for others. Explanation of IRMAA for those who don't know what it is and how it works ... Now comes the vexing tale. Well, I retired towards the end of 2023. My 2021, 2022, and part-year 2023 taxable income (mostly W2) and married status put me in a h…