By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® If you did not work long enough to qualify for a Social Security benefit based on your own earnings—or if your benefit is significantly less than your spouse’s benefit—you may qualify for a spousal benefit based on your spouse’s earnings. But you’ll need to know the rules! To qualify for a […]
By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® Health savings accounts (HSAs) are such excellent savings vehicles that people rarely ask about distributions, or how to take money out without it being taxed. They’re too focused on putting money in—as they should be while they’re healthy and working. In 2025 an HSA-eligible person (meaning: not enrolled in Medicare) who
Spending HSA Funds Read More »
By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® Unlike Social Security, which people tend to think about many years before claiming, Medicare is almost an afterthought. As long as people are working and covered by an employer plan, they don’t think very much about how their health insurance might change upon turning 65 or leaving employment. This leaves them
Pre-Medicare Planning: 6 Caveats Read More »
By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® Imagine getting a letter from SSA saying that they overpaid you, that you were not entitled to the benefits you’ve been receiving, and that you must now repay $59,000 in benefits that should not have been paid to you. This is what happened to the client of one of our financial
By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® COBRA is the temporary insurance that allows people to remain insured for 18 months (or sometimes longer) after leaving employment. It is designed to give people time to get another job or find a different health plan. Aside from the expense—terminated employees must now pay the entire premium themselves—it works well
Medicare and COBRA Read More »
By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® Changes in marital status always call for a review of the financial plan. As you’re considering how taxes, estate planning, and retirement goals may be impacted by marriage, divorce, or death of a spouse, don’t forget about Social Security and Medicare. Here’s a rundown of common marital events among baby boomers
By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® A relatively new animal has popped up in the world of Medicare insurance and it has the potential to both negatively affect retirees’ health care and cost taxpayers more money. It’s the employer group Medicare Advantage plan. Like a regular Medicare Advantage plan, an insurance company promises to provide all care
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By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® It is common knowledge by now that if a person applies for their Social Security benefit after full retirement age (FRA), the benefit will include delayed retirement credits (DRCs) of 8% per year up to age 70. This is enough to entice savvy people—especially higher earners—to claim at 70 even if
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By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® Oops. It’s easy to violate a rule when the rule doesn’t make much sense to begin with. We are talking, in this case, about the rule that prohibits contributions to a Health Savings Account for anyone enrolled in any part of Medicare. As HSAs have become the plan of choice for
Correcting Excess HSA Contributions Read More »
By Elaine Floyd, CFP ® Something everyone still working after age 65 should know about is how to appeal the IRMAA. Amid the long checklist of things you must do at retirement, this can easily be overlooked, causing you to pay more in Medicare premiums than you need to. The IRMAA was instituted in 2007 as
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