Medicare requires that nearly all workers sign up for the program during a seven-month Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) that includes the three months before, the month of, and the three months following their 65th birthday. If you are already receiving Social Security at that point, you will be signed up for Medicare Part A (hospitalization) and Part B (outpatient services) automatically. But everyone else needs to pay careful attention to the enrollment rules. Missing your IEP can trigger late-enrollment penalties levied in the form of higher premiums that continue for life. There really is o ..read more

It’s the best news that few people seem to know about: Prescription drug costs are falling this year for more than a million seniors — in many cases, by thousands of dollars. The lower costs are the result of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), – one of the signature pieces of legislation championed by the Biden White House and signed into law in 2022, when Democrats still controlled both chambers of Congress. The IRA is best known for its investment of more than $370 billion into climate and energy programs. But the changes it makes to Medicare Part D Part D, are significant. Yet a recent  ..read more

Few government agencies touch the lives of more Americans than the Social Security Administration — the agency pays $1.4 trillion in benefits to more than 71 million people every year. But Social Security has been grappling with a customer service mess that threatens to grow worse because of the federal budget deadlock and a possible government shutdown early next year. The problems include long wait times on the agency’s toll-free phone line, a large backlog in disability applications and controversial clawbacks of overpayments to low-income and disabled beneficiaries. Many of the problems st ..read more

Did IBM just kick off the next big trend in the world of employee retirement benefits? Big Blue made headlines recently when it announced plans to end its 401(k) matching contribution in favor of a new benefit that sure sounds alot like a good old-fashioned pension. While pensions are still dominant among public-sector state and municipal employers, they have all but disappeared in the private sector as employers rushed to get them off their balance sheets over the past two decades. That much is clear in this chart from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR), which depicts ..read more

The U.S. economy is in much better shape today than it was during the Great Recession. But persistent inflation and last year’s sharp stock market decline have shaken the confidence of American workers and retirees about their retirement prospects in a way not seen since 2008. That is the key finding of the 2023 Retirement Confidence Survey – the longest-running survey of its kind measuring worker and retiree confidence. Conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research, the survey is in its 33rd year. The survey was fielded during January this year ..read more

Healthcare costs are undoubtedly one of the top challenges that retirees face—especially when overall inflation is running hotter than at any time in the past few decades. Enter the health savings account, which offers an unmatched tax shelter for dollars that can be used to pay healthcare expenses. HSA adoption has increased rapidly in recent years, fueled by the rise of high-deductible health insurance plans. Industry advocates often position HSAs as a way to build savings that can be used to meet health costs in retirement. And the tax advantages are compelling: HSA contributions are t ..read more

Here’s a tough reality to face: most of us will slow down as we get older. You might be very active, independent, and engaged in your 60s, and beyond, but at some point that independence starts to shift to dependence—at least to some degree. And that reality raises a number of questions that can be difficult to answer years ahead of any possible need and determining how you will pay for it. It’s critical to understand the type of care we’re talking about here. This is not a question of medical care provided by health care professionals in outpatient or hospital settings. Much of that will be c ..read more

Listen to a series of podcasts focused on the key themes of Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. The six episodes feature conversations with expert guests discussing Social Security, Medicare, saving for retirement and more. Listen to the podcasts using the links below – you’ll need to sign up for my free Substack newsletter. Or, subscribe to the podcast anytime on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or IHeart Radio. Introduction: An overview of the book featuring a conversation with Chris Farrell, senior economics contributor for Marketplace, the public radio p ..read more

This week, the newsletter features the last episode of the Retirement Rebootcast – the special podcast series on my new book – Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track.  Retirement Reboot is chock full of practical strategies for your retirement plan. But in the last chapter of the book, I argue that we also must pay attention to public policy on our key social insurance programs. And, I lay out my vision for expanding Social Security and pushing back against the growing privatization of Medicare – something I regard as antithetical to t ..read more

Welcome to the Retirement Rebootcast. That’s what I’m calling this special podcast series on my new book – Retirement Reboot: Commonsense Financial Strategies for Getting Back on Track. The book is out this month, so I invited some of my favorite experts on retirement to join me on the show to talk about some of its key ideas.  On this episode of the podcast, let’s talk about investing for retirement – even if you’re getting a late start. The chapter of Retirement Reboot that addresses this topic walks through a simple approach to saving for retirement, focused on very-low ..read more