How SOME PEOPLE Increase Their Social Security Check By Over 50%

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Some people can increase their Social Security check by over 50% simply by delaying when they claim. In this episode, we explain how Social Security benefits grow between early retirement age, full retirement age, and age 70.

You’ll learn why timing matters, how delayed retirement credits work, and why the “best” age to claim depends on your health, income needs, spouse, and retirement goals.

Watch to better understand your options and call in with your questions LIVE!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Did you know that depending on when you start your Social Security benefit, you can get up to 50% more in your Social Security check? We're gonna be talking about all of that today because Social Security is a huge part of your retirement, and you deserve to know how to get the most amount possible. Welcome to Medicare School Daily. My name is Josh Music. This is my dad, Marvin Music, and we're so excited to be with you here today. So whether you're just starting Medicare, maybe you've been on it for a while, or it's time to start Social Security, and you have questions about your situation and you need to learn, welcome, you are in the right place. In just a moment, you're gonna learn everything you need to know about when to start Social Security. But if at any point you have a question about your situation, maybe a question about Medicare, a question about Social Security, a question about retirement or income planning or whatever it is. Uh maybe you have a story of something that went great or something that went wrong or a bad experience, we would love to hear about that. We all get smarter when we hear what is going on out there in the real world. So give us a call. Our phone number is 833-824-2004. We're here every day, Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. noon to Central Time, and we'd love to talk to you. So, Dad, how do people increase their Social Security check by over 50%? Because that sounds unbelievable.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

It does, uh, but it is true. Okay. So let's let's talk it through. So anyone that's born, of course, from 1960 thereafter has a full retirement age of 67, right? And so when uh you look at your uh Social Security statement and they're quoting you uh a certain amount that you're eligible for, uh, that is always at the full retirement age. Uh you can take Social Security as early as 62. So what happens when you do that? Well, you're gonna lose six percent per year. So if my full retirement age, yours, is sixty-seven, uh which most of you it would be, uh, every year you take early, you're gonna lose six percent. So if you take it as early as sixty-two, you've lost a full thirty percent. Now let's do some dent math just on that. Uh now right now, just so you know, the average Social Security check is right around $2,100. But for the simplicity of math, let's just say it's two grand. Okay? And so if I'm gonna take, you're gonna take at uh $62, you've lost a full 30 percent. So that means your check instead of being $2,000 as it would be for retirement age, is now gonna be $1,400. All right. Now, uh some people do take at $62, and why do they do that? Well, because they need the cash, and there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever. The negative is two things. Number one, you're gonna have a permanent reduction. So it's it's not ever gonna go up again unless uh you we have cost of living adjustments. So there will be slight increases. So you pretty much have locked in that less amount for the rest of your life. Uh but uh you also have you know the money in hand, so some people like that. Uh so we're gonna take less. But there's a second issue that you have to be aware of that if you do decide to take your uh Social Security before your your uh full retirement age, and by the way, this would be survivor benefit, spousal benefit, your own retirement benefit. Any benefit. Any benefit uh if you're gonna continue to work, now you can only make so much money. Uh, that's called the earnings tax. It's called the earnings tax, exactly right. And so you're gonna be very limited as to how much money you can make until you you hit your full retirement age. Because at full retirement age, uh week you can make as much as you want. There's no consequence at all to your Social Security check. Now let's let's take and uh discuss what happens if you don't take a full retirement age and you continue to delay. And you can delay. You actually can delay up until the age of 70. And so let me just use me and his example. My full retirement age is 67. And so what happens, and I'm uh if I don't take it 67, then I can grow that 8 percent a year. So you can do that, 8 percent a year. Uh so we can grow that a full 24 percent. And so if I wait to 870, I grew that $480. So now my benefit is $2,480. So if I take it $62, I got $1,400. If I take it $870, I get $2,480. And so that account was now I grew it $1,080 a month. So that's where we get the 50% more money. All right?

SPEAKER_00 4:13

And so for some of you, that's that's actually the if you do the math on it, it's more than that. Yeah. $1,400 times what is that? Uh you know, it's like more like 75 percent.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Right. 1.75. Yeah, it's actually over 75 percent.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

All right, very good. And so you can you can see the the benefit of doing that. Now, uh uh you also have to keep in mind that um if if you need the cash or you're you're concerned about life expectancy, uh because there's always a break-even. How long uh do you have to live where you'll say, Wow, that was that was uh a bad decision that I made. Most people are gonna need to live to be 82, 83, sometimes 85 before they're gonna see the benefit of um of delaying their Social Security. Um I would encourage you to not only just look at at how this is gonna impact you, but also how it could impact your spouse. I personally made a decision, I'm gonna wait to age 70 because my wife does not have much Social Security. You could be in the same position. So if you don't need the money and you want to grow that uh to its maximum amount, uh then the the person who benefits will be your spouse. Even if you don't live to break even, that spouse is gonna get the amount that you were eligible for whenever you passed away. All right.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Yeah, so it's interesting. So if you would have taken at 62 in that time, in our example of a $2,000 main benefit reduced down to $1,400 if you took at $62 versus taking at $70, right? You would have received in that eight years $134,400, right? Right. So if we divide that by what your benefit would be $2,480, uh divided by 12, that doesn't take very long. That takes four and a half years. Yeah, I don't know how you how you did your math on that. So oh, in order to get that amount. Okay, that's interesting. Okay, so you're right, like eight, nine years. Yeah. Once you live past 79, then it's probably probably in your best interest to have waited.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Exactly. So for the for those of you that don't have to have the money, yeah, uh, it is a it's a good thing to be able to put it off if you think you have good life expectancy.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

So if you this kind of t ties into one other thing. So we're gonna we're expecting more and more people to get into what's called an IRMA territory down the road. So if you have a 401k, if you have an IRA, uh 403B, 457, TSP, what whatever type of tax deferred account that you may have, um that is going to cause IRMA issues, likely for you down the road. So what is an IRMA? IRMA stands for income related monthly adjusted amount or adjustment amount, and it's a surcharge on your Part B premiums and your Part D premiums. And the surcharge can be the base premium is 2029, and there's no extra surcharge on part D. So what's the top IRMA surcharge? What's the most that someone could pay?

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Right now, $5750 for B and D company.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

For B and D. So is that an additional or total?

SPEAKER_02 7:15

No, that's an addition.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

In addition to the $2029 to $202 plus up to $585, depending on your income, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

So what happens, and a lot of people don't know about this. So if you're in that camp, don't don't feel bad about this. There's a lot of most people work uh either they save all their money in a 401k uh at work or they work with a financial advisor that is a little more focused on how do we grow your assets, not thinking about how do we distribute your assets back to you in the form of income in a tax efficient manner over your over your retirement year. So there's usually like a little bit of a different specialty here. And so what happens when in those tax-deferred accounts, 401ks, IRAs, 403Bs, 457s, TSPs, you saved that and you never paid taxes on that, right? Well, the government eventually is gonna come knocking and they want some tax dollars for that, right? They want some tax dollars from that. They're not just gonna let you not pay taxes on that forever. So um what happens is if you were born um, I can't remember the number. It's either it's gonna be either the you you're gonna start them at 72 or 73 now. No, it's 73 and 75. It got kicked out again. Really? Yeah, it did. So the government Yeah, yeah. I'll look up the number. Sorry, but you can look up the number. I was not aware of that. Maybe you look up the number while I'm explaining this. But for most of you, probably by age 75, the government's going to start forcing you to pull money out of these IRAs and these tax-deferred accounts. And so what that's going to do is it's going to put you into this Irma kind of uh income category. So your part B is going to go up. Just when you, you know, you you thought maybe you were through most of your taxes, the government says, nah, you got to start pulling money out of those, and we're going to uh probably you may end up getting bumped up into IRMA category. Now, between 65 and 75, you've got this window of time where you can start to do some planning, right? So we need to take Social Security into this because what if instead of letting those IRAs continue to grow in this tax-deferred status, what if you retired, you didn't take Social Security, so your income is low, and you start pulling some money off of those IRAs and those 401ks. Not even saying you have to spend it. You just got to get it into a different type of an account so that when you hit 73 or 75, whatever the ages are, you are not going to be bumped up into this IRMA category without you being able to do anything about it. So you've got this window of time to start planning now. What were those ages?

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Okay. Anyone born between 1951 and 59 has a uh begins RMDs at 73.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

So before so it's almost like the after 67. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

So born 1960 after it's 75.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

Yeah, I was not aware of that.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Yeah. So if you're so then if your full retirement age is 67, we could say that you'll you've got uh what is that, five, eight? Eight years. Eight years to do some special planning. Um at Medicare School.com, we have a team of financial planners that actually do this sorts of analysis with Social Security, taking into account, you know, your IRAs, 401ks, how do we get that position in a way that at 75 it doesn't create this Irma issue for you? Um so if you don't have somebody you work with, uh you can call our office. We'd love to chat with you about that. But you need to be aware of this because it does come into play with do I delay Social Security? Do I take it now? Do I instead take some money out of IRA's 401ks? What is my income thresholds of how much Social Security do I have? And how much money can I pull out of those accounts? Not even saying you have to spend that money, you just got to pull it out of those accounts, and you've got kind of eight years now to do some planning. So if you need help, call our office, you can schedule an appointment to talk with someone on our financial planning team. Let's talk to Robert in Alabama. Robert, welcome to Medicare School Daily. What questions do you have for us?

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Yes, I'm going through a divorce and I'm on a Medicare Advantage plan with the state of Alabama. And I have TriCare for Life. I want to know if I come up a Medicare Advantage program with the state of Alabama. I go on original Medicare and Tri-Care for Life would be the best option.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Sounds good.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

Okay. Uh first off, um, you say you're you're you're on TRI-Care, um, and so you have you have A and B, so I can see here that you I guess you came on Medicare because of disability.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Is that I'm on a Social Security disability. I have a liver transplant patient.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Oh, okay, very good. All right. And so uh let me ask you, have you been um uh disappointed with how the Medicare Advantage Plan has uh been treating you? Have there been any kind of issues at all?

SPEAKER_01 11:56

No, no, no. It's for the state of Alabama. It's it's been really great.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

Okay. So I yeah, I'm just trying to figure out what um what has caused you to because I'm going. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

I'm going through a divorce.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

Okay, and how does that affect your Medicare?

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Because my wife is a sponsor. She's the one who has makes you eligible for TriCare?

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

So she or Medicare Advantage. Oh, the Medicare Advantage through the State?

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Okay, so is that plan that you're on, the advantage plan through the state? It's through Humana. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

So you have TriCare, she's the one who makes you eligible for the Advantage Plan. Okay. Is that right? Yeah. So you lose it.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

You lose the advantage plan then uh with with with with the divorce? Yep. Okay. All right. Yes. Okay. So here's here's what uh I I would tell you you can do very easily. Um if you're gonna lose it, by the way, when are you gonna lose that? Give us some dates on this. Is this real soon?

SPEAKER_01 12:53

I don't know yet. It's it we got a hearing in June, and I don't know. Okay. It all depends on when the judge signs a decree and whether we go through with it.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Okay. All right. Sounds good. So uh you when you lose the advantage plan, then if you did have uh A and B, which you have, of course, in TRICARE being in the second pair position, that is that is still very good insurance. But you'll also be eligible for another type of advantage plan we call those MA-only plans, uh, meaning you you'll still continue to use your TRICARE benefits for your prescription medications, but uh you'll still have an advantage plan uh for your inpatient and outpatient type care. Uh and so it's just gonna be a different advantage plan. Now, the the benefit of that problem, and again, I don't know how your advantage plan is working, but the the the uh type of plans that we write that you'd be able to take advantage of, uh they'll give you some type of a of a give back on your Part B premium. Uh Josh, what is that? $100, $120 a month or so. Uh so you will be able to move to a different advantage plan and you'll qualify for we do it's just called an SCP because your your your plan is being terminated because of the of the divorce. So what I would suggest doing, Robert, uh when when this happens and you have a specific date when uh your coverage is gonna end on that Alabama advantage plan, give us a call and we'd be happy to look at all the different MA-only plans in your area. And there are some for sure. So you're you're just gonna come off of one and go to another. Um and I think you'll be very happy, you know, even with the other plan. I'm not sure exactly how the Alabama plan works, but I know for sure those those plans are really attractive. Okay?

SPEAKER_01 14:29

Yeah, there's I think that would be better than original Medicare.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Well, I think it it it comes with some uh nice benefits. Uh original Medicare. You're not gonna get your Part B reduced. Um uh you're also not gonna be able to get uh any kind of perks with original Medicare uh at all.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Additional benefits like dental envision, hearing, hearing aids, different things. Oh, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Yeah, yeah. But uh I get dental envision through tri-care for live.

SPEAKER_02 14:59

Okay. And that would be fine if that's what you want to do. Yeah, I'm not saying that's a bad option. I'm just saying, too, many people in your position uh like the MA-only plans because of the perks. They also like the the Part B give back as well.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

Yeah, so there's like a plan in your area that will reduce your Part B premium by about $130. So instead of $202 coming out of your check for Part B, it would you know be like $70. So and then you you do get those extra things that he mentioned.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

Yeah, probably over the counter card.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

I don't know if you use Party. Wouldn't you have less doctors if you have a Medicare Advantage program than you would with original Medicare?

SPEAKER_02 15:39

Trevor Burrus, Jr. Well, not necessarily. It it here's the way it works with that. Uh the all the MA-only plans are PPO plans. So that just simply means that you can go to any doctor that's gonna take Medicare. Uh so even if you go to a doctor out of network, which the PPO plan will allow you to do so, then TRICARE is gonna pick up the balance of that bill. So here here's the point, Robert. Your TRICARE will coordinate benefits uh either with um original Medicare or they'll coordinate them with the uh advantage plan. Uh and you're fine. If you don't take an advantage plan, don't do it. I mean, I'm I'm I'm I'm not an advantage plan, I'm on a supplemental plan. I did it for a reason, but you're in a very unique situation in that TRICARE will coordinate either way. And so if you stay in A and B, you're gonna pay the full premium. If you go to an advantage plan, you're gonna get a reduction in that, plus some of the perks are there. And here's another nice thing about it. If you don't like that arrangement, uh any year during the uh the Medicare open enrollment season, you can drop your advantage plan and just go back to uh original Medicare A and B. So I would suggest you may want to try it. And if you don't want to, don't. Yeah, I'm not saying you're making a bad decision. Uh A and B with TriCare is fine. I just think there's a few additional items that make that MA only plant attractive.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

Yeah, primarily it's you know it's reducing that part B. It's reducing that part B premium by over $1,500 a year that's back in your pocket. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:02

Yeah, go ahead, Robert.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

On my prescription drug on the Tri-Care for Life with the prescription drugs, you think that's the best option?

SPEAKER_02 17:12

Yeah, I I I do because um uh it's credible coverage, so it's as good or better than uh a regular Part D plan. And so I I think it's excellent. And in fact, if if you don't get your meds through TriCare, if you got them through like a regular advantage plan, uh then you're not going to get that Part B reduction. That's where the money is coming from. Um it's not like they went out and created the money. It's it's there because the government gives them a certain amount of money every single month. And when you get your drug coverage elsewhere, such as TRICARE, then they they give you a credit of that that money back to you uh towards your your um um your Part B premium. So that's where it's coming from.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Well, I can also get my drugs at the military base for nothing.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Okay. Well then do that. That's no no problem whatsoever. Yeah, that's why I think the MA only plan would be something if I were in your position, I I would at least consider. Uh and again, you're not stuck if you decide you don't like uh a normal what what company was that, Josh? Humana. Okay, Humana. So uh Humana the addition.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Humana. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it'd be like I have Humana and Tri-Care for life.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Whatever Humana don't pay, TriCare pays and picked up.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

So yeah, so we're kind of suggesting that you would go instead of the state of bou of Alabama one, you would get a special plan that's designed for people who are veterans, have TRICARE or federal employee health benefits. And like this plan is called the Honor Plan.

SPEAKER_02 18:39

Humana Honor plan.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Humana Honor. And it's just designed for people in your exact situation. Um, and it low the one of the biggest benefits, right, is it's gonna lower your Part B premium um by $1,560 a year.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

You just have a different Humana card is basically all it's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

I have would I have deductibles and premiums through the Medicare Advantage program?

SPEAKER_02 19:01

No, no, because uh the uh your um TRICAR is gonna pick all those things. TriCare. Yes, right. Yeah, Humana continues to pay first. It's truly just you're on a plan right now that's called a waiver program. That's the one that your wife has. Uh these uh Medicare Advantage companies put together special programs for states, for big companies, and that's what you're enrolled in. And then the normal market doesn't have those kind of things available. Uh most people couldn't wouldn't have that. So they just they're gonna get a traditional Medicare Advantage plan. And we're just suggesting that's something you may want to consider uh just because the the B reduction, I think, would be nice. Um again, you're not stuck forever. I mean, really, any you can change that anytime you want to.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Who would be the company for this kind of plan?

SPEAKER_02 19:46

Humana. Yeah, we would suggest you stay with China.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

But there's a couple other options too. I think whenever you get to that point, if you call our office, we can go through because we want to make sure docs that you want to see are in there, and then make sure. I just pulled up, you know, in two seconds on this uh on this to see um what the options were. And there were two or three different options that are available. If you like Humana, that may be the way we suggest you to go once we look at every kind of compare everything. Yeah, plus the network would be the same, Josh. If you don't like Humana, then let's look at one of the other options.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

Yeah, United Healthcare could have some there. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Most of the large carriers have these MA- only plants designed for designed for people that have VA benefits, TRICARE, and then maybe some FEHB, Federal Employee benefits.

SPEAKER_01 20:33

It would definitely have to be a PPO plan. It is. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

Yeah. Yeah, all the one no HMO. Don't blame you. Yeah, all these plans are PPOs because uh they want you to better go to any doctor that's going to take Medicare. And coordinate with TriCare. Exactly right. TRICARE will coordinate with them, just like they're coordinating right now uh with that uh advanced plan through the estate. Okay? Anything else, Robert?

SPEAKER_01 20:58

No, that's all.

SPEAKER_02 20:59

Okay, let me ask you a quick question about your number. Yeah, I want to ask you though, about your you're you you had a kiddie transplant, is that what you said?

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Liver.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Liver transplant. Okay, how are you doing with that?

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Well, they think I may have some cirrhosis. I've had it for 14 years, but they want me to go through this MRI machine at United uh University of Alabama in Birmingham to determine what the growth is, but I've lived pretty good for 14 years on it.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

Wow, that's awesome. Okay, do you you still have to take uh like anti-rejection meds, those kind of things? I do. You do okay to try care cover those well.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Oh yeah, I would assume so.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Yeah, play is like eight dollar coplay for any day. Yeah for meds. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

That's wonderful, sir.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:52

All right.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

Either way, I have good prescription. Whether I do it here, or whether I do it with it. I still have good prescription drug covers either way.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

Yeah, you will have. You will. What what branch of the service did you serve in, sir?

SPEAKER_01 22:07

I served in the Alabama Army National Guard for 21 years.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

All right. Well, that's great. I got a daughter that's in the National Guard of Missouri. So uh hey, listen, we appreciate you and uh good to talk to you. We appreciate the call and uh hope this helps. Let us know if we can do anything further for you, uh, you know, once you have that uh divorce finalized. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

Okay, good to talk to you, Ryan. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

If you are wondering who you can trust when it comes to Medicare advice, because it seems like everybody is out here trying to sell you something, which is not necessarily untrue. Most of the people who say I'm a Medicare expert or are filling up your mailbox or calling you, they just want to sell you a plan. And that doesn't make them bad, but it's hard to know how good their advice is or if they're being biased in one direction. If you're in that case, in that scenario, which most people are, I want to invite you to join the MedicareSchool.com community Facebook group. I think there's 60,000 people in there, people that are on Medicare. These aren't sales agents. In fact, if you're a sales agent, we kick you out of this Facebook group. But you can join this Facebook group and you can ask questions. And there's questions in there, dozens of questions asked and answered by real people on Medicare every single day. So I want to encourage you to do that. Just pull up your little Facebook app, type in Medicare School Community. You're gonna ask me have to answer a couple of questions, and then you'll be able to join, and you can start getting feedback from real people on Medicare uh right away. Uh, we're gonna answer a couple of questions that have been asked in there. Uh let's talk to, let's see, John V said, I'm looking for some information specific to my situation. I will start Medicare in December. So in September, I will sign up for my plan G and Part D to start December 1st. Okay, that's good. Then in October, do I need to double check and reapply for my part D to start in January? Or would it just be better off skipping part D for December and having it start in January? Uh edit, I will turn 65 in December so well within my IEP window. Well, you kind of can do whatever you want. My suggestion would be to probably sign up for Medicare, A and B, right? And then wait to enroll into it. And we, by the way, our company can help you do this, get all this kind of facilitated so you um don't have to do all this on your own, but uh we can probably wait until October. So you sign up in September, you're gonna get your cars there in a few weeks. After October 1st, the new prescription drug plans will be out. That will allow you to not only or allow us to say, okay, what's it gonna look like for December for a drug plan? And then hopefully it's the same plan for January. Obviously, this is gonna depend on your medications. If you're on some very expensive medications, maybe there's some a difference. And you're on one plan for the month of December and one plan, you know, a plan, a different plan beginning January 1st. Based upon your question, that's probably not you since you're saying maybe I should just skip December, which you can do as well. But likely what'll end up happening, because only probably 10 to 15 percent of people switch their drug plan from year to year. It's not like every year you're gonna be switching drug plans. Oftentimes those plans stay pretty similar. Uh so we just wanna double check. So wait till October, the new plans will be out. We can double check, probably get you on the plan for December that's just gonna automatically roll over January 1st. So you don't have to reshop and fight with new cards and different insurance carriers. No one wants to do that.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

Right. I I would suggest, John, I wouldn't encourage it would not encourage you to go without a drug plan uh for December. And you're not either, Josh. You're saying the same thing. So yeah, you want a drug plan. And as he said, what we would make sure of is that that that your your 2027 drug plan, if it's available in 2026, you'd we would enroll you in the same plan.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

So it will auto-renew. So but just don't go without a drug plan even for one month. It's just too risky.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Yeah, there's no point. Yeah. Okay, Nancy Fantetti says uh I was told if you can afford straight Medicare, not an advantage plan, so she probably means original Medicare, you should go that route if you can. I listened to your podcast, and it sounds like Medicare costs are different for different incomes. How much do I find out how much it will cost with a supplemental plan, also, so I consider my options. Okay, well, first thing to know, the only thing that's going to change based upon your income is going to be your Part B premium, and maybe you would have a surcharge on Part D. But that is going to happen no matter if you go with an advantage plan or you go with a supplemental plan, like a you know, plan G or a plan N. There's never going to be any increase in cost on the advantage plan itself. There's never going to be an increase in cost on the supplemental plan itself. It has to do with the original Medicare A and B, which you have to have in place, no matter if you have a supplemental plan or an advantage plan. So it doesn't the the the way your question is worded, uh it kind of sounds like that that increase in cost would be tied to the supplemental plan, your income. That's not the case. It's just part B premium and part maybe a part D surcharge that gets increased if you have higher income. That's right. But yeah, yeah. And if you're less than 2029, or if you're less than $109,000, if you're a single filer, tax filer, there's no surcharge. If you're less than $218,000 married filing jointly, then there's no surcharge. Right. Exactly right. Perfect. Okay, Dad Molly or Holly Moffey, my husband and I are both beyond full retirement age, and my husband is now working part-time in a retail position. Will this potentially impact his Social Security monthly payments in the future without any action requests on his part?

SPEAKER_02 27:40

No. Once you've reached full retirement age, uh Holly, you can make as much money as you want. Uh there's no impact at all to your Social Security check, so you don't have to worry about it a bit.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Now, you she also could be asking, uh, will additional wages readjust the amount of his Social Security check.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

Okay, and that could be true. Yes. Yeah. So it what happens if if uh some of his income years uh uh now are higher than previous years, then it would knock it out and they would recalculate that. And it could go up. Oh, oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

It's not gonna go down, though.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Oh, no, no, not at all. Not at all. They're always true. They recalculate it every year if you continue to work, and they'll kick out lower earnings years with high earnings years, recalculates your your amount, and so it could go up. It would not be significant.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

No, it's not gonna be much. And plus it says working part-time in retail. So it's not like you know, uh uh, assume if you had some, you know, huge high-paying job, you know, between 67 and 70, that could maybe more materially impact your Social Security payment because they're gonna take the last 35 years, apply the inflation calculator to it, and it's the last, it's the highest 35 years, right? Yeah. So you'd have to you'd have to have substantially higher for it to even matter.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

And they they stopped that um inflation index at 860. Oh, yeah at 861 up. They they stopped increasing it. But prior to 60, index applies to the There's been a lot of um talk in the news about the Wiser model. And we want to make sure first off that you know about this. Let me tell you just the the what the acronym WISER stands for. It stands for Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction Model. Uh and this actually just started this year. It started uh January 1, 2026. So it's called the WISER model. And it's a model that uh exists um only in six states. Okay. Uh those states are Washington, um I thought I had it memorized here. Washington, um, Ohio, Oklahoma. Hmm. Sorry, here it is. Washington, Ohio, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Jersey, and Texas.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

So if you live in one of those states, you are going to potentially this wiser model is in play. What is it?

SPEAKER_02 29:55

It is in place. So what it is is uh there were 17 services that were identified by uh the Department of Doge, you know, the um uh group that's trying to f find fraud, waste, and abuse in a variety of different uh you know uh agencies. And so they identified these 17 services that uh they felt like there were uh some uh uh abuses occurring. And so what's interesting, let me just kind of read off a couple of these, uh Josh. Uh electrical nerve stimulators, uh sacral nerve stimulators, phrenic nerve stimulators, deep brain stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation. Uh and so the whole point is if you look at all these uh what is that even for? Yeah. Well, these are just different things that have to do with um uh but they're being abused. Yeah, they are being they're being abused. And and not only that, there's even some uh issues with uh whether whether these things are really medically necessary, or are they really helping? And some of them are for sure.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

But again, there's abuse. So there's these states, there's these procedures. That's right. 17 of them. What is the what is the wiser model with the right?

SPEAKER_02 31:01

So the wiser model says this that um uh the if the provider uh wants to be guaranteed payment, they must go through the pre-authorization process, which means uh submit uh uh you know paperwork saying, hey, we're gonna do this, uh we all cover this. And so just like a normal pre-authorization that exists. And so right now, other than these 17, there are just literally, I think there's about a dozen pre-authorizations in the entire original Medicare system. Josh, there's 7,000 billable codes.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

So there are 17 of them that they've identified.

SPEAKER_02 31:33

That they've added now. So there were like a dozen before. And I've I've read the list, and and and it kind of makes sense. And these seventeen were added to it. So we still have minimal pre-authorizations in the original Medicare system. Trevor Burrus, Jr. So it's what it's six states.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

Yes, six states and it's these kind of fraudulent tendency sort of things that Medicare is saying, because we've always said for a long time, right, original Medicare doesn't have preauthorizations. And so that's why we like people to get Medicare supplement plans, because it's you and your doctor, not the insurance company, coming in and saying, hey, you can't get this service. But it but on the wiser model in six states, for 17 different kind of highly fraudulent procedures, they're saying, actually, original Medicare, again, not the insurance company, not your Medigap plan, they still have no say-so in claims at all. Original Medicare is saying, hey, we got we want to pre-approve these sorts of services before they happen, or is it after they happen?

SPEAKER_02 32:31

No, well, that's just it. If the doc wants to be guaranteed payment, they they go through the pre-authorization process. But if doc says, I'm not going to, this is emergency, whatever, they can do the procedure. So it's not even pre-authorized. But here's let me explain that. I think it's a very good thing. Yeah. But also what happens. So if Doc's convinced it's the right thing, they do the service, then all they have to do is then prove why they did it, and it's going to be covered. Uh so it's not, I mean, I think on I'm not saying that uh that that uh these senators that are really trying to push this are up to no good. But I do think that uh this is something that really uh overall the goal is good. It is to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse, to reduce unnecessary procedures, to lower Medicare spending on some of these things that really stats on on fraud within Medicare?

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Like is it like one out of every $10 or something that's spent?

SPEAKER_02 33:22

It's extreme.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

Outrageous the amount. And all that does is just turns up for you guys, you know, it turns up for everyone who's on Medicare into higher Part B premiums. Right? That's all it does. We're just pushing up the cost of all of this for you. So, you know, you may you may hear some things about, oh, the Wiser model is adding pre-authorizations to Medicare and Medicare supplement plans. That's not true because number one, it's the original Medicare, it's not the insurance company from your Medigap plan that has anything to do with. But these are like highly fraudulent codes that uh they need to crack down on.

SPEAKER_02 34:02

Some people are abusing it. And a lot of this also, Josh, is outpatient. So there's not as much um uh oversight when we're talking about outpatient type of procedures. And so and again, that didn't mean to say these these should never, these uh uh you know, scans and tests and all should not occur. They're just saying, hey, because we've seen the abuse, we're gonna add a little bit more accountability to you. Yeah. Uh jump through uh a hoop here. But I think the intention is great. And so I think these senators that are that are uh you know pushing this, uh I don't think they're up to no good either. I just think I think they're they're making, in my opinion, really uh a mountain out of a molehill. Yeah uh I think the intention is is great here by uh implementing the model. Here's what I like, Josh. There's still uh still uh you know clinical reviews on this. It's not like AI is determining all this at all. So I I I just think it as we look at the original Medicare system, I don't think they're revamping it totally. Yeah uh but there's some that are concerned about that. Sure.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

Understood. So that's but at the end of the day, you know, people we can't continue to just throw money at things that end up in fraudsters' pockets. There needs to be a little bit of a little because it it it impacts everybody and causes everyone's Part B premium to go up. It does. And again, this isn't about lining an insurance company's pockets. The reason pre-authorizations exist on Medicare Advantage plans is because they are paid a set amount, right? And they want to keep as much of that profit as possible. And it doesn't make them bad. We don't want, you know, wasteful spending either. You don't, anyone doesn't. But this is not the insurance company saying, nah, you can't get that hip replacement.

SPEAKER_02 35:32

Yeah, you've got to overstep their boundaries. Yeah. That's the problem.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Yeah. So this this wiser model does not allow that uh at all, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

In your area, there's probably 20 or 30 different insurance companies that offer Medicare supplement plans or Medigap plans. Those two things, those two words mean the same thing. But there's a lot of different insurance carriers, and they all have slightly different rules, and they all have slightly different prices for the coverage. And we're gonna be talking about that in tomorrow's episode. Because how do you tell the difference between a good carrier and a bad carrier? Because they're not all created equal. So join us tomorrow. We're gonna learn, you're gonna learn everything you need to learn about how to choose a supplemental plan that will last you for life.