Thread: Maricar19 Account Talk

Originally Posted by nnuut

When I retired I bought Medicare [they kind of force you], everyone gets part A with no cost part B's price is salary adjusted the more you make the higher you pay, the wife and I both pay $109 a month. I kept BCBS basic, it's cheaper than Standard, it's a good idea to price them. I don't pay for visits to the Doctor and BCBS covers the 20% that Medicare part B doesn't pay. I LIKE it!

I know we are taking over Maricar19's thread but have you compared an advantage plan vs. BCBS as far as cost? I sign up this year and my wife has to sign up next year. Because of my BCBS coverage all I need right now is Part "A".

Questions about Social Security and Roll Over:

At 62, my husband and I will receive almost the same amount of Social Security. e.g. $1600 each.
I am almost a year older than him (10 months). I am 58 and my husband is 57.
Per our family histories, he will have an above average lifespan and I will have a below average lifespan.
Will it be wise for him to start collecting his Social Security at 62 while I wait to collect mine at FRA -70 years old?
The logic we are thinking is that if I reach 70 years old and die soon after that, my husband will get my higher pension since I reached FRA?
Any thoughts?

TSP Roll over to IRA- We are also thinking of rolling over our TSP to a Traditional IRA and when we both reach 59.5, we can start moving them to our Roth IRAs on a monthly basis so that we don't get hit by a big tax.

Note:Additional info:
One of us has to collect SS at 62 for us to be financially comfy since both our supplemental incomes will stop. As much as possible, we don't want to withdraw from our TSP because we have a child with disability and would like to ensure that he will be comfortable for the rest of his life.
My husband's gov't. pension is 40% less than mine, but his military pension will kick in at 59.5 years old, so we will almost be on equal footing regarding our gov't.

I'll be rolling mine over into my Scottrade account so I can manage my money on my own terms.

Originally Posted by nnuut

When I retired I bought Medicare [they kind of force you], everyone gets part A with no cost part B's price is salary adjusted the more you make the higher you pay, the wife and I both pay $109 a month. I kept BCBS basic, it's cheaper than Standard, it's a good idea to price them. I don't pay for visits to the Doctor and BCBS covers the 20% that Medicare part B doesn't pay. I LIKE it!

Thanks. That's what I'll do I think. My wife is a year younger and is on my bcbs Basic , which I like.

So, Medicare has 0 copay for Dr visits?

Originally Posted by clester

Thanks. That's what I'll do I think. My wife is a year younger and is on my bcbs Basic , which I like.

So, Medicare has 0 copay for Dr visits?

I don't think so, all I know is that it's paid. BCBS handles prescription drugs so I don't need Part "D".

Originally Posted by clester

Thanks. That's what I'll do I think. My wife is a year younger and is on my bcbs Basic , which I like.

So, Medicare has 0 copay for Dr visits?

Medicare Part B covers doctor visits, home health visits, DME. Thereis a copay for visits but if you keep your Fed BCBS standard option (not sure what BCBS basic covers), your BCBS Standard option will act like gap insurance and so it will pay the Medicare coinsurances plus BCBS pays for drugs with your paying the drug copay. medicare doesnt pay for drugs unless you pay for Medicare Part D. Right now BCBS copay is about $10 for 3 months mail order on generics or older drugs, $85 on Brand name 3 months mail order, and some in between...I think....best to check with BCBS to find out what tgey cover when Medicare is primary payor.

My mom was CSRS retiree and we analyzed and decided to have her keep paying for BCBS Standard into retirement and Medicare Part A hospitalization (no charge) plus Medicare Part B (charged against monthly annuity). No need for Medicare Part D, which I thought was expensive. So BCBS gap covered almost everything that Medicare A&B didnt, and she had lots of medical issues.

Only thing we found (3 years ago) is that you must manage the rehab that sometimes occurs after a hospitalization. medicare days are paid at 100% at a skilled nursing facility or rehab nursing facilty for about 22 days (if memory serves me), and then 75% from day 23 to 90. BCBS covers that 25% but only out to day 30, and then if you must stay longer, you have to pick up that 25% out of pocket iand it is about $150 per day...ouch!

There are also limits on what is considered am episode. If you go to hospital, you get 30 days in facility, but if you go home, get sick again a month later for something different, go back to hospital and after care infacility again, the 30 days does not Refresh if it happens within 90 days of your last hospitalization.

The reason I mention " manage" the days is because we found some facilities try to keep you as long as possible, eats up your days and leaves you vulnerable if something else occurs in those 90 days.

“44 Social Security ‘Secrets’ All Baby Boomers and Millions of Current Recipients Need to Know – Revised!” with permission from Dr. Kotlikoff."

Start-Stop-Start may also make sense for married workers who aren’t already collecting and whose age differences are such they can’t take advantage of File and Suspend. Take, for example,a 62-year-old high earner, named Sally, with a 66-year-old low earner spouse, named Joe. By starting retirement benefits early, Sally permits Joe to start collecting a spousal benefit immediately.The reason is that spouses aren’t eligible to collect spousal benefits unless the worker is either collecting a retirement benefit or has filed for a retirement benefit, but suspended its collection. If Sally starts her retirement benefit at 62, Joe can apply just for his spousal benefit at 66 and then wait until 70 to collect his own retirement benefit, which will be at its highest possible value thanks to Social Security’s Delayed Retirement Credit. As for Sally, she can suspend her retirement benefit At 66, when she reaches full retirement, and then restart it at 70, at which point her benefits will be 32 percent higher than what she was collecting. Even single workers may opt for Start-Stop-Start to help with their cash flow problems.

http://www.firstchoicefinancialwebsi...44-secrets.pdf

TSP Withdrawal -I spoke to a TSP representative yesterday and I was told that once I start a monthly withdrawal, I cannot stop it. And the only option I have is to deplete the account and withdraw the balance in full, although I can only change the amount once a year.

Originally Posted by Maricar19

TSP Roll over to IRA- We are also thinking of rolling over our TSP to a Traditional IRA and when we both reach 59.5, we can start moving them to our Roth IRAs on a monthly basis so that we don't get hit by a big tax.

Note:Additional info:
One of us has to collect SS at 62 for us to be financially comfy since both our supplemental incomes will stop. As much as possible, we don't want to withdraw from our TSP because we have a child with disability and would like to ensure that he will be comfortable for the rest of his life.
My husband's gov't. pension is 40% less than mine, but his military pension will kick in at 59.5 years old, so we will almost be on equal footing regarding our gov't.

One option you may want to consider, depending on how much you have in TSP, is to take distribution from your TSP or IRA and delaying social security for both of you. If you have a large amount in TSP, you may want to look at how much your required minimum distribution will be when you reach age 70.5 based on your expected rate of return (calculator available on TSP website using life expectancy calculation). I'm planning on taking a one time partial withdrawal to roll over to IRA so that I can gradually transfer that to Roth IRA. I'm still working on a way to minimize taxes, but not sure that is going to be possible with pension & other income (especially when I start monthly payments from TSP)--still trying to wrap my head around things based on current tax code, which could change with new administration. Retirement distributions are treated as ordinary income as are conversions to ROTH IRA. I've got a long time before I'm eligible for SS, but your modified AGI impacts how much of your SS income is taxable (50 or 85%), see https://www.ssa.gov/planners/taxes.html. There are lots of factors to consider.

Originally Posted by Scout333

Maricar, Aren't the Roth IRAs taxable if rolled over from the TSP?

Unfortunately, if I am not mistaken, we have to do a 2 step process to rollover traditional TSP to Roth IRA.
We rollover first from Traditional TSP to Traditional IRA which is not taxable.
And then you rollover from Traditional IRA to Roth IRA, and that when it becomes taxable.

Thanks, I am right there please expand this. More?