Irmaa Shagged Me Without a Kiss

pharmer

pharmer

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So I got my "Social Security Benefits Increase and Medicare Premiums" letter (email) today. Seems we had a very good year in 2022 so the "wizards in charge" whipped up a surcharge for those of us who have not rolled snake eyes. With all the "hocus-pocus-mumbo-jumbo-new math" only .gov can muster, my 3.2% "COLA" will yield me $12/mo less in 2024 than 2023. Oh joy, once again the wife and I will fund the entire homeless population benefits for the city of Portland Oregon. Maybe next year if we do better we can chip away at Seattle. Retirement is like a beautiful day at the beach except for the biting .gov sand flies. Joe
 
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A provocative post title with a deflating post. (Was hopin' for more excitement!)

Tell it like it is brother!

I'm lookin' forward to what I hope is a bump in SS benefits next year 'cause for the last year, due to selling a house in 2021, my income was artificially inflated and Medicare Part B became, what? ~ $400? Fortunately, I am back in a lower income bracket so hopefully SS Part B is gonna go back to normal, and my wife and my monthly bennies gonna jump.

We'll see.

(BTW: $12 less a month sounds like a bargain for someone who's been IRMAA'd...)
 
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The OP should be in my position. When I get onto SS the first thing they are going to do is hit me with a "windfall" reduction due to a UK pension. I assume it is to prevent what is seen as double dipping. If the British pension were super generous, I could see their point, but that ain't the case. Oh well, rules is rules. :(
 
Medicare and IRMAA annoy the tar out of me! First, at 65 one has no real choice for healthcare except Medicare. Sure you can pick traditional Medicare, maybe with a supplement or medigap plan. Or you can choose Medicare Advantage. That's it!

You've been forced (with few exceptions) to pay into Social Security and Medicare your whole working career. The more you make working, the more you pay into the system. Then upon retirement when you're enjoying the fruits of your labors, the more you made, the more the government dings you more for healthcare - IRMAA. And you have no choice. Likely you're drawing higher Social Security checks, but they can be taxable as well. Wait. Wasn't the pay-in a tax to begin with?

Yes, the income tax system is progressive with higher incomes, but I don't think government-mandated healthcare should be. Just another hand in the citizens' pockets.
 
It's not because of couble dipping. The Social Security pension formula is weighted; people who paid in a lot get less back as a percentage than someone who worked a very low paying job all their life. The WEP (Windfall Emlimination Provision) is to prevent someone who gets a pension from a source wherein they didn't pay social security taxes from getting the benefit of the weighted formula, since just looking at the SSA taxed earnings it would appear that person didn't work for many years. If you have 30 years of SSA earnings, your non-covered pension doesn't affect your social security benefits.

If you want to complain (not that anyone ever gripes about money :) ) try to place your ire to the right place. Congress passes these laws, SSA just administrates them.

Benefits Planner: Retirement | Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) | SSA
 
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Ohio screws me big time. I get a nice pension through Police & Fire pension system, but since I do, my Social Security pension is less than half of what I should get due to Ohio law.:mad:

Luckily I get a VA check every month since I was classified as 60% disabled, so that helps a lot.
 
Just retired and had to go to the local social security office this week for the first time and I came up with a change they should make.
There should be two waiting lines, one for people that actually paid into social security and one for the leeches.
 
Bullet Bob said:
.....The Social Security pension formula is weighted; people who paid in a lot get less back as a percentage than someone who worked a very low paying job all their life.....
Click to expand...

I paid in every year from 1969-2022, no "zeroes", a total of 54 years (well 2022 was only a payday to settle my sick time with the school district). One decade of $6 figures. Yeah, I'm griping about money. Millions of stiffs dragging arse across the border getting "grand slam" (SSI, Medicare/caid, Section 8 housing, SNAP) and nobody even talking about cutting their take. Something wrong with the current "reward" system. It sure ain't based in "work output." Joe
 
My expectation is to get $0. SS was from its conception, and will always be a ponzi scheme. One that we are by force required to participate. It never was an investment. There is no account that you own or has your name on it.
 
3 years ago I took money out of my IRA to pay off my house. Took a BIG hit on income tax that year.
Next year Social Security comes back with the IRMAA deal and informs me that our medicare payments were increasing to $615.00 each. That's $1230.00 a month. My wife's social security payment was now under $10 a month! That really hurt us for a year until we were "re evaluated" after filing that years income tax. Finally went back to normal, but just doesn't seem fair.
 
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