Clarification About the Social Security Roller Coaster

Oops! I need to clarify because, sleep-deprived as I was, I may have mislead you and I have to be cautious about that. In yesterday's post, I said...

"Just one word of advice for my US friends who might be looking at their own retirement and Medicare coming up. The window for Social Security is three months before your 65th birthday, the month of your birthday, and three months afterward."

What I should have said was that the seven month window is for Medicare signup, which is governed by the Social Security Administration. If you're a US resident, you can pick and choose when you want your draw from Social Security to start, but you MUST sign up for Medicare right around your 65th birthday. The penalties for not doing that are similar to a neverending hell, so if you're within 3 months of turning 65, get onto their website, grit your teeth, fill in the myriad of information, save the application if you need to look up more stuff and then return to it, and finally submit it. They say it normally takes 10-30 minutes to complete. It took DH approx an hour and it was mucho-frustrating, but he got it down and submitted, also choosing Plan B. 

Some would liken this experience to jumping through hoops, I, however,
equate dealing with the forms and deadlines more like a roller coaster. You
think you understand it and you have all of the information you can, but
when you're confronted with the questions from the SSA, you're totally
at loose ends once again. 

If you have time, but are approaching when Medicare will kick in for you, take advantage of the various meetings and explanations for the public, etc, that are held around your town in November. November is health insurance month - the time when plans switch over to the new plans that will kick off on January 1st. There's a LOT to know about Medicare and it's SUPER confusing. At least get your basics reviewed now in a general and generic meeting. You can meet with an agent specifically for your personal needs later on when you age into the system. 

Another roller coaster - so apt for the convoluted pathway
I've had to walk just to get to this point. 

I'm very proud of DH, though. He was extremely frustrated, even phoned me in the afternoon when the SSA website was asking questions he didn't know, but he persevered and got his application submitted yesterday. Now it's in the hands of the SSA and, hopefully, we'll have a Medicare number for DH before the end of the month. That's the goal. 

We rode the roller coaster, now we're hopefully cruising
into the start platform, a little bruised and with messy hair,
but in one piece. 

Thanks for hanging with me over these past few days. It's been quite the roller coaster. I'm hoping for a nice, quiet Friday and a weekend without too much drama. That's probably hoping a bit much, but a girl can dream. Have a wonderful day and I'll be back tomorrow.