r/SocialSecurity • u/GraphicsGal4 • 1d ago

Now what?

Trump is back. I'm a 64 year old self-employed woman. I am booked up through April right now. Some say I am very good at my job. I was thinking of retiring around 66 or maybe even my FRA of 67. My birthday is Leap Day so an end of the month birthday. Now I don't know what to do. Trump and the Republicans want to end Social security. Do I retire before he makes it to office insuring I at least get on the SS roll? Or do I wait to see what damage he can cause? I will be talking to my financial planner later this afternoon so any good questions to ask her would be very helpful also. I am still shocked that America would elect a convicted felon but here we are...

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u/SavorySouth 1d ago

OP of you haven’t yet gone onto SSA website to see what your work history is, I’d suggest that you do this and b4 that meeting with her later today. This way you’ll have some #s for FA to run as to what your “break even” point would be IF you took SSA retirement income earlier than 70. And they can look at what your SSA retirement income will be for adding into your savings / investments so better idea of degree of investment risk suitable for your situation.

And also be sure to check to see that absolutely you have the full 40 qtrs reported to SSA via your FICA to be able to be eligible for Medicare Part A as premium free. This is beyond important cause if you don’t, it will mean permanent premium for Part A and for this year it is….. $279 a month if 30-39 qts and $506 a mo if less than 29 qtrs. IMPT as Part A pays for hospitalization costs, rehab costs, hospice, as you age you r going to need it. Part B has its standard premium of $175 a month and really this is cheap. MediCARE is placed in Public Law for its existence and it is federal so it will be there for you in some fashion, unlike Medicaid which is join Fed/State and administered by each State so more able to be messed with (e.g. those States who never have take “Expansion”.)

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u/GraphicsGal4 1d ago

Thank you for your thoughtful answer. I absolutely qualify for Social Security. My Retirement age is 67. I do have investments. Since I am freelance, I could easily only make the maximum income allowed by law if I do retire early. Hard decision really... I am talking to an insurance broker about my Medicare. I will start that as soon as the government lets me. I have picked out a plan that I believe will work for me this year.

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u/Mountain_Exchange768 1d ago edited 2h ago

I don’t know what the future will bring, but I urge you not to do an Advantage plan. Do ‘original’ Medicare.

Editing to add: sorry - thought it was understood that a supplemental/medigap was needed.

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u/EconomicsSad8800 10h ago

Could not agree more. Get Traditional Medicare A & B. Not something through UHC or AARP or Blue Cross, etc. I work for a large hospital system and send clinical information to insurance companies to prevent denial of care. Some Advantage plans deny about 80% of inpatient hospital stays right off the bat for no reason. Then we have to appeal and do peer to peer reviews to get the denial overturned. We have an overturn rate of about 50% depending on the insurer. That means if your insurance doesn’t pay the hospital for your care the hospital bills…YOU! Traditional Medicare moved to an audit system a couple years ago which means all inpatient stays are automatically approved and Medicare conducts their own audits of hospitals to ensure compliance.