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Dear Liz: If someone is currently receiving Social Security disability payments, does the monthly dollar benefit change when they reach age 62 or at full retirement age?
Answer: Social Security disability payments convert to a retirement benefit when the recipient reaches their full retirement age, which is currently 67. The dollar amount doesn’t change, although recipients continue to get cost-of-living adjustments.
Dear Liz: My wife and I are well over 70 and receive Social Security. We pay for Medicare Part B as well as IRMAA (Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount) for Part B and Part D via deductions from our monthly checks. We just received our annual notice from the Social Security Administration of the 2.8% cost-of-living increase for 2026. At the same time, our Medicare deductions were increased such that we ended with a monthly $20 increase in Social Security for my wife and $80 for me. That hardly goes along with the sentence in the standard letter from the SSA that the COLA helps us keep up with the cost of living. Are we just lucky that our monthly checks from the government did not actually decrease?
Answer: In a word, yes.
The cost of healthcare and healthcare insurance typically rises faster than the general rate of inflation. Medicare costs haven’t increased as quickly as those for private insurance. However, it’s still not unusual for higher Medicare premiums to wipe out Social Security cost-of-living increases for the year.
Fortunately, you have other resources to help you cope with inflation. IRMAA is a Medicare surcharge that kicks in for people with modified adjusted gross incomes over $109,000 if single or $218,000 if married filing jointly. The surcharge is determined by your income tax return from two years ago, so your 2026 IRMAA is based on your 2024 filing.
This week’s top story: Smart Money podcast on using AI to budget and save and debit vs. credit card pros and cons. In other news: What the 2024 Social Security COLA could mean for your retirement, what parents of college students need to know about new FAFSA, and first-time home buyer affordability report.
Smart Money Podcast: Using AI to Budget and Save and Debit vs. Credit Card Pros and Cons
Learn how to use AI for help with budgeting and saving money, then learn whether credit cards or debit cards are safer.
What the 2024 Social Security COLA Could Mean for Your Retirement
Social Security benefit amounts adjust for inflation every year; here’s how to make the most of those changes for 2024.
New FAFSA: What Parents of College Students Need to Know
The new 2024-25 FAFSA will have a greater impact on divorced parents, undocumented parents and those with multiple kids in school.
First-Time Home Buyer Affordability Report — Q3 2023
High mortgage rates sidelined home buyers and sellers alike in the third quarter, making the already lofty financial goal of homeownership potentially unattainable for would-be first-timers.