# How to retire questions?



## Terri (May 10, 2002)

DH is thinking about retiring in perhaps 3 years. 

Would we be able to get medicare? I am younger than he is: do I automatically retire when he does and draw money, as I do not work?

And, could I then draw medicare as we both have health problems and we need insurance. If he retires in 3 years I would be 61.


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## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

The legal age for MEDICARE is 65. So, no. Sorry!


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Yup, we're in the same situation. DW is 4.5 years younger than I am so I'll have to work until I'm 69.5 just so she has insurance.

I never considered that when I was looking for a wife years ago.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Terri said:


> DH is thinking about retiring in perhaps 3 years.
> 
> Would we be able to get medicare? I am younger than he is: do I automatically retire when he does and draw money, as I do not work?
> 
> And, could I then draw medicare as we both have health problems and we need insurance. If he retires in 3 years I would be 61.


Unless you are disabled you can't start drawing SS until you are 62, regardless of your husband's age.

But in regard to healthcare insurance, it looks like Obamacare is going to work in your favor. As it stands today SS income isn't included in household income for Obamacare eligibility, but there is some talk that they might change that. Not including SS income will make you seem a lot poorer than you are to the healthcare exchanges. You can estimate your Obamacare benefit with this simple calculator.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/what-health-bill-means-for-you/#

Calculate it with and without SS income so you won't have any surprises. I suspect you will get your Obamacare insurance for less than Medicare. Medicare is about $100/month.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

As for Social Security- that depends on your age when he retires.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Nevada said:


> Medicare is about $100/month.


 
I thought Medicare part A is free, part B (prescription coverage) is about $100/mo. Am I wrong?


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

suitcase_sally said:


> I thought Medicare part A is free, part B (prescription coverage) is about $100/mo. Am I wrong?


*Medicare Part A* is hospitalization insurance. It's free if you contributed to the FICA program for 10 years or more. If you contributed for less than 10 years you will have to pay a monthly premium, and it IS expensive.

*Medicare Part B* is for routine care (doctor visits, lab work, x-rays, and such). The premium is about $100/month unless you make over $86,000/year, then the premium goes up.

*Medicare Part C* is when people agree to let a private insurance company provide insurance coverage instead of regular Medicare. The Medicare Part C connotation never really caught on, so it's normally referred to as Medicare Advantage. Medicare Advantage can offer HMO & PPO programs that have attractive low copays. About 20% of all Medicare patients opt for Medicare Advantage. 

*Medicare Part D* is prescription coverage. It's usually around $20/month, if you take no meds or just inexpensive generics. It can be a lot more if you take expensive meds.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

$104.90 + $104.90 is withheld each month from SS for Medicare. Then we pay $158.10 plus $162.30 for Blue Cross Blue Shield supplemental insurance plus $37.60 + $34.10 for RX insurance. Nothing is joint/family all paid as separate premiums. So nothing is free. Of course, there are deductibles and eye exams, glasses, and dentist are not covered. We budget $600 a month for medical and spend every penny of it. This year dental knocked us back for nearly $6,000 during Jan, Feb and Mar.

I have friends and relatives who took early retirement without factoring in the cost of health care and ended up broke and looking for jobs. My b-i-l worked longer than he planned to keep health insurance for his wife.


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