Social Security Benefits Including Medicare

The 2018 Edition of Social Security Benefits Including Medicare provides a concise but helpful explanation of the complex rules governing the Social Security retirement, survivors, and disability benefits programs.

This booklet pays particular attention to retirement benefits and Parts A, B, C and D of the Medicare program. It details eligibility requirements, explains the calculation of monthly benefits, and discusses the effect of early retirement and delayed retirement on benefits. It reflects benefit amounts, the taxable earnings base and other variables set forth by the Social Security Administration for the upcoming year, which will enable retirees to compute the amount of their benefits.

In addition, Social Security Benefits Including Medicare provides retirees with an understanding of the tax treatment of their benefits, factors that can reduce benefits, and retirement decisions that can increase benefits. Finally, the discussion contains numerous examples, all of which have been updated to reflect 2017 figures and rules, including the substantial increase in the taxable wage base, the increase in the full retirement age, and additional Medicare taxes that may be imposed on high earners.

The 2018 Edition has been updated to include:

• Expanded discussion and illustration of the impact on Social Security benefits of life events, such as marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, remarriage, or disability
• Additional illustrations of the effect of early retirement on Social Security benefits, including the ramifications of withdrawing a an application for benefits
• Analysis of the continued viability of the "file and suspend" and "restricted application" retirement planning strategies after restriction by the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015
• Detailed discussion of the treatment of same-sex spouses and the repudiation of the "domicile rule" which had been relied upon by the Social Security Administration to deny benefits to same-sex couples
• Updated examples and charts to reflect all 2017 cost of living adjustments including an increase in the Medicare Part B premium
• Expanded discussion of the additional 0.9% Medicare tax and the 3.8% Medicare tax on investment income
• Expanded discussion of the reduction of benefits at early retirement and the credit for delayed retirement
• And more

Previous Edition: Social Security Benefits Including Medicare, 2017 Edition, ISBN 9781454885351