The New York Times published a very informative article recently on Medicare. As some of you may know, when you turn 65 you need to sign up for Medicare. You have a short window before or after your 65th birthday in which to sign up.
You don’t have to sign up if you have employer-provided health insurance that meets certain requirements.
However, if you don’t have that, and you don’t sign up on time then there’s a penalty, and you pay that penalty forever.
So you need to make sure to either sign up for it or make sure you have coverage that’s acceptable. When you lose that coverage or when you actually retire, you need to make sure you follow the right procedure for signing up for Medicare, so you don’t pay that penalty.
Like a lot of other things, it’s more complicated than it needs to be. I’m sure there are good reasons for the penalty, or at least I hope there are good reasons for it.
Anyway, don’t get tripped up by it. As you approach your 65th birthday, carefully look at the rules, see what needs to be done, and make sure you do it right. Go save that article.
My name is Mike Garry, and my company is Yardley Wealth Management. We are a fiduciary, fee-only financial planning, and wealth management firm in Newtown, Pennsylvania. (That’s in Bucks County). If you’d like to talk about this or anything else, please reach out: 267-573-1019, [email protected] or @michaeljgarry
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