Social Security & Medicare
Benefit changes, claiming strategies, eligibility rules, Medicare enrollment, Part D updates, and policy changes affecting retirees.
Latest in Social Security & Medicare
Withdraw a Social Security claim within 12 months and repay what you got, and you can restart later at a higher check
Social Security offers a rarely used reset button for people who claimed retirement benefits too early. By formally withdrawing the original application, a retiree can...
Social Security Fairness Act back pay has averaged $6,710, but a fight over 6 versus 12 months is unresolved
The Social Security Fairness Act has already pushed an average of $6,710 in back pay to more than 1.1 million people, one of the largest...
Waiting from 62 to 70 to claim Social Security can raise the monthly check by about 77%
Claiming Social Security at 62 instead of 70 can shrink the monthly check by nearly half over a lifetime, because the same worker’s benefit swings...
A defaulted student loan can take up to 15% of a Social Security check, though $750 a month stays protected
Retirees who defaulted on a federal student loan can watch the government skim up to 15 percent off the top of their monthly Social Security...
A surviving spouse can claim a one-time $255 Social Security death benefit, an amount unchanged since 1954
Among the checks Social Security can send after a death is one many families never collect: a single $255 payment meant to help with the...
Delaying a Social Security check past age 70 adds nothing to the benefit
The standard advice to wait on Social Security is right up to a point, and then it becomes a costly mistake. Benefits grow for every...
Social Security’s family maximum caps what one worker’s record can pay at roughly 150% to 180%
Social Security can pay benefits to more than one person on a single worker’s earnings record. A retired or deceased worker’s spouse, minor children, and...
Higher 2026 income limits let more seniors qualify for Medicare’s Extra Help
A larger group of older Americans can qualify for Medicare’s Extra Help in 2026, after the income limits that govern the program rose again alongside...
Medicare Advantage members get a January 1 to March 31 window each year to switch plans or return to Original Medicare
A Medicare Advantage plan that looked right in the fall can turn out to be a poor fit once a new year begins and the...
Up to 85% of a Social Security check can be taxed once combined income passes $34,000, a line set in 1993 and never raised
Once a retiree’s combined income tops $34,000, up to 85% of each Social Security benefit becomes subject to federal income tax — and that $34,000...
Retirees who return to work can drop Medicare Part B and its premium under an employer plan
A retiree who goes back to work and picks up health coverage through the new job is not required to keep paying for Medicare Part...
Remarrying after age 60 does not cost a widow her Social Security survivor benefit
A widespread belief keeps some older widows and widowers from remarrying: the fear that a second marriage will cancel the Social Security survivor benefit earned...
Medicare now covers the shingles vaccine and other Part D shots at no cost
The shingles vaccine used to carry a sticker price that stopped a lot of older Americans at the pharmacy counter, often around $150 to $200...
Medicare’s standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026, more with IRMAA
The number that sets a retiree’s Medicare budget for 2026 is $202.90. That is the standard monthly Part B premium, up from $185.00 in 2025,...
Medicare’s Part B late penalty is permanent, adding 10% for each year you delayed
Most Medicare cost mistakes can be corrected the next year. The Part B late-enrollment penalty is the exception: it is a surcharge that attaches to...
Original Medicare has no yearly out-of-pocket limit, unlike Medicare Advantage plans
Original Medicare covers hospital stays, doctor visits, and outpatient care, but it does something no Medicare Advantage plan is allowed to do: it lets the...
Working before full retirement age, Social Security withholds $1 of every $2 over $24,480, then repays it later
Plenty of people claim Social Security early and keep working, then watch part of the check disappear and assume the money is simply gone. It...
This year’s Medicare fall enrollment, October 15 to December 7, is the main window to replace a plan leaving in 2027
With major insurers dropping and reshaping Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, the calendar has quietly become the most important tool a beneficiary has. Medicare’s annual...
Medicare won’t post 2027 drug-plan prices until late September, so seniors can’t compare next year’s coverage yet
Medicare’s fall enrollment season is approaching, yet the one figure a senior most needs to make a smart choice, the actual price of each 2027...
A widow can take a survivor benefit first, then grow her own Social Security until 70
When a spouse dies, the survivor often faces a choice that Social Security presents as one decision but that actually holds two separate benefits inside...