On the plus side, you have all the time in the world to deal with it.
6 months to go!
Congratulations!!
“Dealing with the bureaucracy” isn’t necessarily the horror story it’s often made out to be. The only problem I had was enrolling in Medicare Part B, because a) I retired at 70+, and b) after 65 I worked for two different state agencies — same insurance, different “employers” — but only submitted proof of insurance for one. After that was squared away, it was all smooth sailing; even getting the Part B surcharge based on excess earnings in my retirement year (vacation cashout and a Social Security lump sum) reversed was a slam dunk.
As has been noted elsewhere, SHIP can be a godsend for getting the alphabet soup of Medicare options straightened out. I wouldn’t have known that my last employer would cover half my Part F premium if the rep hadn’t pointed it out; while I was leaning that way already, that bit of information clinched the deal.
Planning to retire is a whole job unto itself. But the stress will be worth it!
Congrats!!
Got any big (or not-so-big) plans for what comes next?
I’ve applied to tutor at a nearby community college if they don’t hire me, I’ll probably go to graduate school. (Which would make it easier for them to hire me in the future.)
Yesterday I encountered an old colleague I hadn’t seen since 1986. He’s a couple years older than me, nearing 70, and still practicing medicine. He tried to recruit me to do some part time urgent care work. I laughed, because I am just so done with all that right now. I’ve been retired for 16 months, and while it’s not how I planned to spend my retirement (damn that cancer diagnosis) I am still loving my freedom and free time.
Welcome to the ranks, @puzzlegal. I think you’ll love it. And figuring out SS and Medicare is not as hard as I made it out to be in my head; I just had to reach out for the right help, and it became pretty simple.
Hearty congratulations to both of you, and welcome!
Allow me to (again) point to what I conisider the most valuable thread in SDMB history.
It truly helped me get a handle on Medicare.
mmm
I’m in week ~6 of my retirement. I just ate a fine dinner on a beach in Costa Rica as the sun went down and folks on horseback rode back and forth.
Come on in, the water’s fine!!!
If you read through this thread and the Medicare one, you’ll have a leg up on the bureaucracy! I think the worst part of dealing with it was trying to narrow the options. It’s just a new thing, and by the time most of us retire, we’re not used to not knowing how to do things.
The biggest hurdle for me has been convincing myself that it’s okay to start tapping our retirement savings. Those funds have been inviolable for so long that it’s very difficult for me not to panic about taking money out. Mr. Legend keeps pointing out that this is what they’re for. I’m getting there; in the meantime it spurs me to be thriftier than was my habit in the past ten years or so.
Congratulations to everyone who’s joining the club soon!
Closing in on the fourth month of my retirement, and I haven’t been bored for a second.
We just got back from our “dream vacation”: Europe cruise.
On the adjustment to taking out money from the IRA: for the past 18 months I had been rejiggering to a more income-focused portfolio. Having setup a regular monthly withdrawal, and having at least two years’ needs in cash (which is yielding 5%) lets me sleep at night.
Thanks!!
I tried reading the first few posts, and came away more confused than when I started.
I found the medicare.gov site to be very clear and straightforward, and answered my questions within minutes.
Fair enough.
TL/DR: Get Medicare Supplement (AKA Medigap) if you can afford the monthly premiums.
Medigap>Medicare Advantage>“straight” Medicare (Plan A & B only).
mmm
A few months after I retired, I started volunteering for a non-profit I’d been a member of for a couple of years before that.
Over the last few months, their requests for my services have come fast and thick and the expectation of turnaround time became unreasonable (at least IMO) for what a volunteer should have to do. So I objected to this, and an offer to pay me for my services surfaced. I told them NO! The whole reason I retired was to get away from expectations and schedules - while I understand that some things absolutely need to be done in a timely manner and I am willing to do that, many other things they’ve decided need to be done right away can in fact be done on an as-available basis. That’s what I want, not another damn job. My original intention was to help them do their thing with the skills I’d learned over my years at work … their response was to just keep asking for more once they realized what I was able to do.
I think we’ve reached an agreement on what my role should be now, but it’s funny … imagine turning down being paid for something. Very weird feeling, and it took a few days for me to think about what I want out of this relationship and articulate it to them. What I want most at this point in my life is for my time to be my own and to choose what I want to do, and when.
I have a friend who does a ton of volunteer with for her church, and she turned down being paid for exactly the same reason.
FWIW, I totally get it. Not weird at all.
mmm
The Medicare site says I have 8 months after my employment ends to sign up for Medicare before I get hit with a penalty. I know Medigap works differently since that’s from private insurers without any direct involvement by Medicare. What are the consequences of waiting for 6 years to sign up for a Medigap policy? I’m thinking that’s a lot of money out the window just to keep eligibility down the road.
AARP does not recommend waiting:
The best time to buy a Medicare supplement policy, also known as Medigap, is when you have what are called guaranteed protections — the right to buy any policy in your area at the best rates for someone your age, even if you have preexisting medical conditions. If you buy a Medigap policy at other times, insurers may reject you or charge more because of your past or current health.
If you’re 65 or older, the best time to buy Medigap is within the six-month period that starts the first day of the month when you enroll in Medicare Part B. This applies even if you choose to delay enrolling in Part B until you or your spouse stops working for an employer that provides health insurance.
Thanks! The big thing that this tells me is that I don’t have to make a decision on a Medigap policy between now and the end of the year. (Actually I might not have to make a decision between now and the end of 2024, because Medicare says I have 8 months to sign up for Part B without penalty, and then AARP says I have another 6 months to sign up for a Medigap policy without any potential consequences.) That’s a big deal to me because I will have more time to focus on this in a couple months than I do now.