Hello. I will turn 65 in Nov 2021. I will file for Medicare and SS effective Dec as my insurance terminates Nov 30. 2021. I have a large amount of interest income in 2021. By having Medicare for one month in 2021, how does it affect the increased Medicare premiums? I know they look back 2 years. Would getting Medicare on Jan 1, 2022 make any difference when I might have pay larger Medicare premiums because of large income this year? Does SS effective date of 12/1 or 1/1/22 make any difference also? Thanks very much

Hi. Enrolling in Part B of Medicare effective with December instead of January won't make any difference in your ongoing premium rate. Nor would it make any difference with regard to whether or not you'd be required to pay a higher premium rate due to your income. Social Security normally uses a person's modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) from their 2019 tax return to determine if their 2021 Part B premiums will be higher than the standard rate (https://www.medicare.gov/your-medicare-costs/part-b-costs). And, a person's 2020 MAGI would be used to determine their 2022 Part B premium rate. In other words, your 2021 income won't be used in calculating your Part B premium rate until 2023, regardless of your Part B enrollment date.

Starting your Social Security retirement benefits in January instead of December won't have any effect on your Part B premium rate, but your monthly benefit rate will be 5/9ths of 1% higher if you claim your benefits starting with January 2022 as opposed to December 2021. It sounds like you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry