The challenges are significant when you are trying to get by on a fixed income without having a hefty store of savings to draw from. This is why financial planning lawyers are so adamant about the need to develop a clear-cut path that leads to a comfortable retirement.
Many people find they will be working beyond the age when they become eligible to receive Social Security benefits because the numbers simply don’t add up. Social Security payouts are quite modest, with the average monthly benefit in 2012 being just a bit over $1200.
To make matters worse costs are always rising, but the cost-of-living adjustments that are afforded to Social Security recipients are miniscule. The 2013 cost-of-living adjustment is going to be just 1.7%.
Even if there were no increases in out-of-pocket Medicare expenses 1.7% is not going to get you very far in today’s economy. However, the premiums and deductibles that seniors must pay out-of-pocket are indeed going up in 2013.
You don’t receive Medicare Part B coverage for free. This is the portion of the Medicare program that pays for outpatient care and visits to doctors, and it comes with a premium that must be paid monthly. Most people who are enrolled in the Medicare program have this premium deducted from their Social Security benefit.
In 2013 the Medicare Part B premiums are going up by five dollars per month. The deductible is rising from $140 to $147.
And, the deductible that applies to Medicare Part A (hospitalization coverage) is going up from $1156 to $1184.
Larry Parman
Author, President and Founding Attorney
Parman & Easterday
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