Do I have to register for Social Security once I am on Medicare? – The madman

As a senior, you are entitled to a number of key retirement benefits starting at a certain age. Once you reach the age of 65, you have the right to start receiving Medicare health coverage. In the meantime, you are allowed to collect social security benefits from the age of 62. Therefore, if you are about to sign up for Medicare or have recently registered, you may be wondering whether it is a good idea to file a Social Security Application at the same time. . And the answer is: it depends.

Wait Social Security, not on Medicare

Once you are eligible to join Medicare, it pays to register immediately, unless you work for an employer who offers a health care plan (or if you are married to a person whose employer offers a health care plan). Your initial Medicare registration window actually begins three months before the month of your 65th birthday and ends three months after the month you reach the age of 65. But if you want your coverage to take effect as soon as you reach the age of 65, you will want to register in advance.

Source of the image: Getty Images.

In fact, you do not want to wait too long to sign up for Medicare because the delay can cost you a lot. While Medicare Part A, which covers stays at the hospital, is free for most seniors, Part B, which covers doctor visits and preventative care, costs money. At the present time, the standard monthly premium for Part B is $ 134, but this figure may increase over time. It can also increase depending on your income. And if you do not sign up for Medicare during your initial registration period, you may experience a 10% increase in your Part B premiums for each period during which you were entitled to coverage but have not registered.

Obviously, it makes sense to take out Medicare at about age 65, because in the meantime, you're not just taking the risk that your premiums go up, but also that something is going to happen. produce and that you do not have health insurance. . (Again, this assumes that you are not covered by a workplace health plan, if you are, you benefit from a special Medicare enrollment period that you leave more time to register without penalty.) But Social Security works in the opposite direction: It will actually reward you waited to register.

As mentioned earlier, you can start collecting Social Security as early as age 62, but it is best to wait until the full retirement age or beyond to file. Your full retirement age is based on your year of birth, as follows:

Data source: Social Security Administration.

If you are waiting for the full retirement age to receive Social Security, you will receive all the monthly benefits to which you are entitled. But every time you drop before At full retirement age, you will reduce these benefits automatically, which means you will receive a smaller amount each month as long as you collect Social Security. However, if you do not consider the benefits past At the age of full retirement, you will increase your monthly payments by 8% per annum until the age of 70, when this incentive will be exhausted.

So, let's say you're close to 65 and want to sign up for Medicare. If you do it right away, you will have the coverage you need for medical services (or at least those covered by Medicare) and you will not be affected by a surcharge. But if you do not collect social security at that time and you do not need that money immediately, it makes sense not to go beyond the age of total retirement or beyond .

Now, you may have heard that Medicare Part B premiums are generally deducted from Social Security benefits, and that's true. But if you do not yet collect Social Security and you sign up for Medicare, you will just be billed directly for these premiums, as you would for any other service you receive. The only drawback is that you will have to be careful when these premiums are due, rather than automatically charging them via Social Security. But you can sign up for Medicare Easy Pay and have these premiums deducted automatically from a checking account or a savings account.

If this does not work for you, you will need to make these payments manually. But this is an inconvenience if it means taking more money out of social security for the rest of your life.