Medicare & Social Security are severely underfunded, and there’s a wave of baby boomers retiring in mass over the next 15 years. These rising medical costs have to be absorbed and will put many people, young & old, in the crosshairs of IRMAA thresholds. Too many investors have been advised to “max-out” their tax-deferred retirement plans, this has lots of potential negative tax & IRMAA consequences, even sabotaging many retirement plans with lots of unexpected costs! The time to be planning and saving correctly is now so you can avoid many of these unforeseen events, and certainly keep more of your hard earned money.

In the last month, Senators like Elizabeth Warren have voiced their desire to lower IRMAA guidelines, or Bernie Sanders suggesting “Medicare for all!” The Bipartisan Budget Policy Act of 2015 discussed IRMAA and proposed lowering the income thresholds, and was only tabled because President Trump tabled IRMAA for 5 years with his tax concessions. However, he specifically left the discretion up to the President to change it at any time. It’s often been suggested that if the government can tax it, they probably will, but it’s often at the expense of those with higher incomes. <b><i>Why would people risk it when proper planning can help avoid this?

All income, from 401(k)’s, IRA’s, pensions, brokerage accounts, real estate, etc counts towards IRMAA, and it’s paid for out of your social security benefits. If your social security is all used, then you will actually have to pay out of pocket for your Medicare premiums. We have a custom report that we share with people on their situation, and it’s not uncommon, to see many more affluent investors (doctors especially come to mind) losing millions to lost social security benefits and taxes.