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Medicare is a health insurance program of the United States government that subsidizes healthcare services. The plan provides coverage for individuals 65 or older, those younger than 65 who meet certain eligibility criteria, and those with certain diseases. 

Medicare comprises several plans, each providing coverage for a particular aspect of medical care; however, some require the insured to pay a premium. Medicare gives consumers more options in terms of costs and coverage, but it also makes it harder for people to sign up for the program.

Medicare Changes in 2022

According to a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the typical Medicare beneficiary will have access to 39 different Medicare Advantage plan options in 2022, more than in recent years. The expected changes would consist of the following:

Improved Alzheimer’s Drug Coverage 

According to the Alzheimer’s Association in the U.S., the disease affects approximately 6 million Americans. It has grown to be a serious issue for the medical industry because it is among the most widespread illnesses that affect people of all ages.

An effort was made to control and help those afflicted by it by the government. For instance, CMS announced that they plan to submit a proposal for a monoclonal antibody drug that could help fight Alzheimer’s disease.

The government is still testing the drug and needs more real-world data before it can be sold to the public. The Food and Drug Administration Authority has approved the use of AduhelmTM as the only treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

Improved TeleHealth Services

Medicare has over 44 million beneficiaries, making it one of the largest health-related programs in the U.S. The program is designed to cover a large population. It offers some of the most comprehensive treatment plans currently available to patients. As a result, many Medicare beneficiaries have limited mobility or are in poor health, making it difficult for them to access hospital facilities in their area. Sometimes the journey is so strenuous and exhausting that some people prefer to stay home and postpone their doctor’s appointments. It was a significant issue for people during the recent covid outbreak.

Fortunately, Medicare has addressed this issue by providing more telehealth care services to its patients. Telehealth services enable medical professionals to treat COVID-19-related or other medical conditions from the comfort of their own homes, offices, or other locations.

Reduction of Insulin Cost

The price of insulin has historically been a significant burden on the finances of older adults. Many older Americans rely on insulin, which puts their lives at risk if they don’t have it. According to statistics, one in every five Medicare beneficiaries has diabetes. Unfortunately, many people continue to lack adequate access to insulin.

The Part D Senior Savings Model was introduced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2021, marking the beginning of the process by which the Medicare program would begin to address this concern for senior citizens. This model limits insulin costs to $35 per month.

Since its expansion in 2022, the Medicare Part D Senior Savings Model now assists more people enrolled in the Medicare program. The program has expanded to include all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico so that everyone can get the same insulin doses at the same price.

Medicare Advantage Changes

Another popular option for Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. is the Medicare Advantage plan (Part C). People must be aware that there may be numerous changes soon regarding this plan.

The Medicare Advantage Plan (Part C) price has dropped from $21.22 to $19, making it a viable option in 2022. Coupled with the monthly premium for Part B, beneficiaries are responsible for paying an additional premium because of the benefits it provides to users and because the program benefits patients in various ways. The following are some of the most popular advantages of signing up for the Medicare Advantage Plan:

· Amplification devices for the deaf

· Availability of gyms and exercise facilities

· Assistance during an emergency

These plans are easily accessible to people who have a plan subscription. In 2022, experts estimate that the number of people enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans will rise to 29.5 million. People with chronic conditions may also qualify for a 19% to 25% reduction in the monthly premium for their Medicare Advantage plans.

How Do I Sign Up for Medicare?

Once you are eligible for Social Security benefits at age 65, you will be automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A, which covers hospital costs, and Medicare Part B, which covers doctor visits. You are automatically enrolled in these programs without taking any additional steps. On the other hand, you will be required to sign up for additional Medicare-related services. You must enroll in Medicare Part D to receive coverage for prescription drugs. You can apply for this through the Social Security Administration’s website, even if you do not currently receive benefits from Social Security. This should be done within seven months, around your 65th birthday. This window includes the three months preceding your 65th birthday, your birthday month, and the three months following your birthday month.

To qualify for Medicare Supplement Insurance, also known as Medigap, you must enroll in Medicare yourself. This enrollment period begins the month after you reach the age of 65 and are enrolled in Medicare Part B. If you sign up during that period, the private insurers offering Medigap plans are required to accept you. 

It’s possible to switch Medicare plans at any time during the year if you miss the initial open enrollment period or decide to enroll later.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2178542386

Bio:
Bill and his associates of Faith Financial Advisors have over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
He has been a Federal Employee (FERS) independent advocate and an affiliate of PSRE, Public Sector Retirement Educators, a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendor to the Federal Government, also an affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants.
Bill will help you understand the FERS Benefits and TSP withdrawal options in detail while also helping to guide you in your Social Security choices.
Our primary goal is to guide you into your ment with no regrets; safe, predictable, stable and for life using forward thinking ideas and concepts.

Bullet points:
> Financial Services consultant since 1984
> FERS independent advocate and an affiliate of Public Sector Retirement Educators (PSRE), a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendors to the
Federal Government
> Affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants
> His goal is to guide individuals into retirement with safe, and predictable choices for stability using forward thinking ideas and concepts.

If you’re a federal employee leaving the government, you may have heard that early withdrawals from accounts like the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) might result in penalties.

Penalties, especially levied by the IRS, should be avoided when possible. Let’s go through an overview of the early withdrawal penalty.

Background

So, let’s start. You’ve worked hard to save money in a tax-deferred account like a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) all your career. You plan to use that money in retirement, but the IRS has set rules for when you can withdraw it. Remember, the IRS granted you a tax break when you earned that money. You know you’ll have to pay them eventually, right? When you earned money, they handed you the pass, but there were some strings attached as you can only access it at 59.5 years or later. 

There are certain exceptions, and we’ll discuss them for the TSP. But first, let’s explain the IRS rule. A person who withdraws money from a tax-deferred account before age 59.5 will be charged a 10% IRS early withdrawal penalty. This penalty is in addition to any standard tax you owe. 

TSP’s Special Rule 

There are some special rules for the TSP. Federal employees who retire or leave federal service in the calendar year they turn 55 can take TSP funds without penalty. 

First, note that the TSP doesn’t differentiate between retiring and separating. Either you work, or you don’t. Some things are allowed if you’re employed, and others if you’re separated or retired (of all the actions that TSP can do for you). 

Next, let’s discuss if you retire “in the calendar year you reach 55.” If you turn 54 in October and want to retire at the end of the year, that won’t be the calendar year you turn 55. That year, you turned 54. To avoid a penalty, you must wait until the following year. 

This exception, the TSP’s special rule, only applies to funds straight from the TSP. You can’t move money from the TSP to a private IRA and then obtain a dividend from it. You’ll be penalized if you do so. Special provisions employees, like police enforcement officers, firefighters, and air traffic controllers, have a special age of 50, not 55. You can retire considerably earlier than the usual government employee. Therefore they’ve made an exception for you if you fit into one of those categories. Everything else is the same. 

Who’s Affected

Employees with regular retirements are exempt from any penalty. Regular retirement is when employees have reached their minimum retirement age (MRA) and have the required years to go. They include those who aren’t special provisions employees, law enforcement officers, firefighters, or air traffic controllers.

A penalty may be imposed on an employee who retires early. That’s where a job vanishes—someone retiring under deferred retirement regulations, unable to collect their pension immediately. Then there’s the special provision workforce. So even though they have special rules, they may still be penalized. We’ll explain how later. 

Triggering the Penalty

There’ll be different rules if you do or don’t fulfill these special rules, and you trigger the penalty. So, let’s look at a few scenarios. 

If you’re under the age of 59.5 and don’t meet the special rules, you’ll be penalized regardless of whether you take your money immediately from the TSP or roll it to an IRA and subsequently take it. You can roll the entire account into a private-sector IRA or keep it all in TSP. Any money taken before age 59.5 will be subject to a penalty. 

If you’re under 59.5 and meet the special rules, you’ll enjoy penalty-free access to your TSP money until you turn 59.5. Don’t forget that when the funds touch an IRA, they lose the special rule allowed by the IRS. 

Moving TSP Money to an IRA

Don’t worry. There’s a way to move some money to an IRA without penalty. Assuming you have money in the TSP, you know that moving the entire account to an IRA will result in a penalty on any withdrawals made before 59.5 years of age. The key is leaving enough money behind to cover the time between separation and 59.5. You can put the rest in an IRA and let it grow and do its thing. Just don’t touch it till you reach 59.5. 

You can get the best of both worlds if you do as mentioned above. You can avoid paying the penalty on the money you take from the TSP. And with the private IRAs, you get all the flexibility and control. The trick is to wait until you’re 59.5 or older to get the money. 

Other Options For Avoiding The Penalty

There are alternative ways to avoid the penalty inside the TSP. For example, if you’re a disability retiree, it has to be a total and permanent handicap; you won’t also be penalized if you withdraw your TSP in particular ways, like taking a TSP annuity which is not recommended for many reasons. 

Another alternative is if your deductible medical expenses surpass 10% of your adjusted gross income or if you prefer to have your money paid in substantially equal installments. It can be straight from the TSP or from an IRA. Getting those payments out, not in a monthly form that you choose, but allowing the entire account to be calculated as if it was paying you out throughout your lifetime, would be enough to avoid the penalty. The downside is that you could face a total penalty if you change your mind. 

Assume you depart the federal service at 55 as a regular employee. In this case, if you decide to make these substantially equal payments and have the TSP calculate your monthly payments but not annuitize them, and then at age 58, you decide to change your mind because you’re not getting enough income from your TSP, they will assess the penalty as if you hadn’t done anything properly from age 55 to 58. 

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2178542386

Bio:
Bill and his associates of Faith Financial Advisors have over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
He has been a Federal Employee (FERS) independent advocate and an affiliate of PSRE, Public Sector Retirement Educators, a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendor to the Federal Government, also an affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants.
Bill will help you understand the FERS Benefits and TSP withdrawal options in detail while also helping to guide you in your Social Security choices.
Our primary goal is to guide you into your ment with no regrets; safe, predictable, stable and for life using forward thinking ideas and concepts.

Bullet points:
> Financial Services consultant since 1984
> FERS independent advocate and an affiliate of Public Sector Retirement Educators (PSRE), a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendors to the
Federal Government
> Affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants
> His goal is to guide individuals into retirement with safe, and predictable choices for stability using forward thinking ideas and concepts.

Federal and military employees will soon be able to choose from a wide selection of new investment alternatives for their retirement savings plans.

The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) administration said it would open a long-planned mutual fund “window,” enabling participants to access some 5,000 products provided by approximately 300 mutual fund companies and the index-based funds that TSP itself provides.

Some financial consultants who have coached government employees regarding their TSP funds have emphasized that the opportunity should be taken with prudence.

Underwork from Years

The TSP had more than 6.5 million account holders and $740 billion in investments, thanks to a law implemented in 2009 that authorized more expansive options for TSP. In addition to additional web services and security precautions, the TSP’s operational platform is being upgraded to include a mobile app.

To participate in the mutual fund window, investors must have at least $40,000 in assets, and no additional investments can exceed a quarter of an account’s total value, which is why only those with at least $40,000 in investments will be eligible.

Current and Former Federal Workers 

Only roughly 350,000 of the almost 2.5 million current and former military people with accounts in the TSP have balances over that level.

There are also yearly fees of $150 and $28.75 per trade for mutual fund users due to a 2009 law that mandated that they pay for the fund window’s operations.

Funds Tracking Stock and Bond Indexes

This is the TSP’s standard lineup of 5 funds that track broad stock and bond market indexes and funds that can be diversified by the predicted withdrawal date. There was a significant increase of choices before the approaching transition, including expanding the number of target-date funds from 5 to 10.

Over the years, several pieces of legislation have been filed in Congress to expand the TSP’s investment options or eliminate specific enterprises from its portfolio. As a result of political resistance, the program withdrew its original 2020 proposal to expand its fund monitoring overseas equities to cover markets in around 24 different nations.

How to Access It?

It will be available to investors who fulfill eligibility requirements and will contain a screening tool that allows users to choose mutual funds fitting their criteria, including what the funds invest in and how much they charge for their services.

So, it was all about the investment options that will expand in the federal retirement savings program. Ensure you have read this post completely so you don’t miss anything.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2178542386

Bio:
Bill and his associates of Faith Financial Advisors have over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
He has been a Federal Employee (FERS) independent advocate and an affiliate of PSRE, Public Sector Retirement Educators, a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendor to the Federal Government, also an affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants.
Bill will help you understand the FERS Benefits and TSP withdrawal options in detail while also helping to guide you in your Social Security choices.
Our primary goal is to guide you into your ment with no regrets; safe, predictable, stable and for life using forward thinking ideas and concepts.

Bullet points:
> Financial Services consultant since 1984
> FERS independent advocate and an affiliate of Public Sector Retirement Educators (PSRE), a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendors to the
Federal Government
> Affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants
> His goal is to guide individuals into retirement with safe, and predictable choices for stability using forward thinking ideas and concepts.

There is more to Social Security than merely a source of income in old age. Social Security also provides spousal and survivor benefits, as well as disability and child benefits.

However, if you divorce and then remarry, the arithmetic underlying these advantages takes on an additional degree of complication. If you’re remarrying, you’ll want to talk to a tax professional or someone from the Social Security Administration about how your benefits may be affected.

Do You Know What Spousal Benefits Exist?

Social Security payments are always paid at the greatest level possible when applying. More of your benefit, based on prior employment records or up to 50% of your spouse’s benefit, is available for married couples.

This spousal benefit doesn’t affect the primary beneficiary’s payout. However, if your spouse is entitled to $2,000 per month in spousal benefits and has never worked, you may also be eligible for up to $1,000 per month. Couples are eligible for up to $3,000 in grants.

Spousal benefits are available to those divorced for at least ten years and are at least 62 years old. The regulations for spousal benefits, on the other hand, alter when you remarry.

Who Qualifies for the Survivor Benefits?

To qualify for Social Security survivor payments after the death of your spouse, you must be a widow or widower. These benefits should be claimed as early as age 60 to collect 71% of the deceased’s pension.

If you wait until full retirement age, which is 67 for individuals born in 1960 or after, you will be eligible for the deceased’s entire payout. If you and your ex-spouse were married for at least ten years, you are still eligible for spousal and survivor benefits. You may also qualify for a $255 death benefit if you and your spouse are still living together.

It is possible to alter your claim to the survivor benefit if your spouse dies after you begin collecting spousal benefits. Your surviving benefits may be affected by remarriage in the same way that spousal benefits would be.

How does Remarrying Affect Your Benefits?

Your Social Security benefits will be altered if you decide to remarry. When you remarry, your ex-marital spouse’s benefits are no longer available to you. Instead, you’ll be bound to your new spouse’s compensation plan. This is the same with your survivor’s benefits, which are likewise nullified by a subsequent marriage.

It’s worth noting that if you get married again beyond 60, your ex-record spouse can still be used to get you survivor’s benefits. Remarrying before your 60th birthday may allow you to get survivor benefits based on the earnings record of your deceased spouse if the marriage fails.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2178542386

Bio:
Bill and his associates of Faith Financial Advisors have over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
He has been a Federal Employee (FERS) independent advocate and an affiliate of PSRE, Public Sector Retirement Educators, a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendor to the Federal Government, also an affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants.
Bill will help you understand the FERS Benefits and TSP withdrawal options in detail while also helping to guide you in your Social Security choices.
Our primary goal is to guide you into your ment with no regrets; safe, predictable, stable and for life using forward thinking ideas and concepts.

Bullet points:
> Financial Services consultant since 1984
> FERS independent advocate and an affiliate of Public Sector Retirement Educators (PSRE), a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendors to the
Federal Government
> Affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants
> His goal is to guide individuals into retirement with safe, and predictable choices for stability using forward thinking ideas and concepts.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) grew 8.9% over the past 12 months to an index level of 284.575 (1982-84=100). 

Before seasonal adjustment, the index climbed 0.5% in April.

Estimated 2023 COLA Trend (FERS / CSRS / Social Security)

The calculation of the 2023 COLA estimate

The Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for each year is calculated by comparing the change in the CPI-W from year to year using the average of the third-quarter months of July, August, and September. For the third quarter of 2021, the average CPI-W was 268.421.

The amount of a COLA is calculated by the percentage change in the base quarter price index from the prior year to the year the COLA is to take effect (the final value is adjusted to the closest 1/10th of 1%).

The trend toward a 2023 COLA as of April 2022 is: (284.575 – 268.421) / 268.421 x 100 = 6.018 (adjusted to the closest 1/10th of 1% = 6%)

The May Consumer Price Index (CPI) is set to be issued on June 10, 2022.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) will publish the official 2023 COLA in mid-October 2022. The SSA will compute the percentage change in average prices between the third quarter of this year (ending September 30) and the prior year’s third quarter.

Contact Information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 2178542386

Bio:
Bill and his associates of Faith Financial Advisors have over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
He has been a Federal Employee (FERS) independent advocate and an affiliate of PSRE, Public Sector Retirement Educators, a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendor to the Federal Government, also an affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants.
Bill will help you understand the FERS Benefits and TSP withdrawal options in detail while also helping to guide you in your Social Security choices.
Our primary goal is to guide you into your ment with no regrets; safe, predictable, stable and for life using forward thinking ideas and concepts.

Bullet points:
> Financial Services consultant since 1984
> FERS independent advocate and an affiliate of Public Sector Retirement Educators (PSRE), a Federal Contractor and Registered Vendors to the
Federal Government
> Affiliate of TSP Withdrawal Consultants
> His goal is to guide individuals into retirement with safe, and predictable choices for stability using forward thinking ideas and concepts.