Understanding Social Security & Medicare Deadlines | SafeMon

By Brent Meyer — SafeMoney.com Founder & Editor Reviewed by Licensed Financial Professionals  |  SafeMoney.com — Trusted Since 2011  |  Updated Regularly Quick Answer: Learn the importance of Social Security and Medicare enrollment deadlines for your retirement planning. Stay informed and secure your benefits today. If you think choosing when to start claiming Social Security benefits can be confusing , you’re right. But did you know there is even more to consider when deciding when to start collecting those benefits? If you are approaching or planning for retirement , you need a Medicare enrollment strategy that synchronizes with your Social Security claiming strategy in order to: Reduce your risk of losing benefits, Prevent you from incurring penalties, and Maximize your benefits from both programs for the rest of your life. Medicare and Social Security are programs that “talk to each other.” Missed deadlines or poorly-timed benefit claims could mean as much as thousands of dollars of lost income.  What we don’t know can hurt us. So, here’s a quick look at why you must verify deadlines and information for each program so everything is done right. What is “Deemed” and Why Should You Care? Before the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, there were 567 ways that a couple could take Social Security benefits, including “file-and-suspend.” Even with file-and-suspend eliminated by that legislation, there are still multitudes of ways to claim benefits and “deemed” is taking precedence in Social Security law. When you claim your Social Security benefits , you will be “deemed” to have filed for ALL available benefits, both spousal and retirement, and be paid the higher of the two, explains Mary Beth Franklin, a contributing editor to InvestmentNews. So, taking benefits on a spouse’s earning record before your Full Retirement Age (FRA) means you will be forced to take your own benefit as well. Social Security will pay the higher amount, starting with your own benefit and layering any excess spousal amount on top of it, if it’s larger than your own, she adds. Benefits claimed before FRA are permanently reduced for early claiming, greatly affecting your future income. (Survivor benefits are exempt from deeming rules.) And when you claim any type of Social Security benefits — retirement, spousal or survivor — before FRA you are subject to earnings restrictions should you continue to wor