Highlights for September 29 Your Safe Money Show

For this weeks (September 29) Your Safe Money Show, we’ll give you ideas on how to find a lost insurance policy. You’d be surprised how many policies go unclaimed.
Financial terminology can be like speaking another language sometimes, and it’s helpful to know what those words mean when discussing your finances. We’ll have kind of a vocabulary lesson on financial terms.
And with elections coming up there’s a real need for poll workers and we’ll have how to serve and assist the voting process.
Listen at 7:30 a.m. Saturdays at 95.5 FM KBEK. They stream live at kbek.com.
Hear recent shows by going to the podcast page at yoursafemoneyshow.com.

Limit confusion with medical bills

Medicare coordinating with employer health care

If you’re still working and have job-based health insurance and your turning age 65, how do you handle Medicare? In most cases, you should only delay enrollment in Medicare if your job-based insurance is the primary payer (meaning it pays first for your medical bills) and Medicare is secondary. Having job-based insurance does allow you to delay Medicare enrollment without penalty and delay paying the Medicare Part B premium. However, it’s important to know whether your job-based insurance will pay primary or secondary to Medicare. Job-based insurance is primary if it is from an employer with 20 or more employees. Medicare is secondary in this case, and some people in this situation choose not to enroll in Medicare Part B so that they don’t have to pay the monthly premium. Job-based insurance is secondary if it is from an employer with fewer than 20 employees; Medicare is primary in this case. If you work at an employer this small and delay Medicare enrollment, your job-based insurance may provide little or no coverage. That’s why you should enroll in Medicare Part B to avoid getting high costs for your care. There’s an enrollment period and penalties can happen if this is mishandled. Before you turn 65 talk with your HR department at your job or call me for an appointment. 320-679-5183. 

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New healthcare booklet

Our new booklet called "Health Insurance Made Easy" is available now. 
Get a better understanding of health insurance from MnSure to Medicare and more.
Get your free copy by messaging us here at our page, go to yoursafemoneyshow.com, or call 855-22money. 

Highlights for September 22 Your Safe Money Show

Sure hope you can tune in this Saturday September 22 for Your Safe Money Show. 
We'll start with a big overview of retirement trends. We have information from Catherine Collinson, one of the sharpest retirement researchers in the world. We’ll see what she’s found and how we can use that information in our own retirement planning.
Also, being power of attorney for someone is a daunting task and not everyone is suited to handle the responsibility. We’ll have how to say “no” if you’re not able to do that.
And we all know how important your credit score is for your finances. I’ll have ways to boost your credit score.
Listen at 7:30 a.m. at 95.5 FM KBEK. They stream live at kbek.com.Hear recent shows at the podcast page at yoursafemoneyshow.com.

Social Security protection

What can you do to protect yourself from Social Security benefit theft? Back in the day, it was easier to know if your Social Security payments were stolen because benefits were sent in a physical check. These days, however, those payments are generally made by direct deposit, so unless you're manning your bank account, you may not know whether yours have gone missing. 
The best way to ensure that you're not missing any of your benefits is to figure out your payment schedule and make a point of checking your account each time you expect that money. Of course, it's easier to determine when your benefits have been stolen once you're already receiving them. But what if you've yet to file a benefits claim? In that case, someone could, conceivably, file for Social Security in your name, divert your payments to an account he or she can control, and then collect those payments while you're none the wiser.
So, if you're at an age when you're eligible for benefits (meaning 62 or above) but haven't yet filed, create a Social Security account online and monitor it for activity. If you see activity you didn't initiate, contact the Social Security Administration (SSA) at once by calling (800) 772-1213.

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Highlights for September 15 Your Safe Money Show

You don't want to miss this Saturday's Your Safe Money Show. We have a quiz called “Are you covered”? Using typical homeowners, auto and health insurance policies we’ll see what you know about your coverage's. 
We always get questions about if you have health insurance with your employer, and your age 65, how does Medicare coordinate with your employer’s plan?
And on the lighter side today we’ll have classic and unique retirement gift ideas to pass along. 
Tune in at 7:30 every Saturday morning at 95.5 FM KBEK. They also stream live at kbek.com.
To hear recent shows go to the podcast page at yoursafemoneyshow.com.

Homeowners insurance for older Americans

Forgetting to take RMD's

If you have a retirement account that has RMD’s, required minimum distributions, you must start paying those the year you turn 70 and a half. If the year you turn 70½ passes without you taking an RMD, no problem: The deadline for the first year's payment is April 1 of the following year. The deadline after the 71st birthday and all following birthdays is Dec. 31 of the year the birthday occurs. In the event the Dec. 31 due date for an RMD passes without the RMD being taken, the next step is filing an IRS 5329 form. You file the tax form with a letter of explanation and take your required minimum distribution when you file your tax form. However, if you fail to pay RMD’s the penalty comes to half the amount not withdrawn that year, plus whatever taxes are due. And every year that goes by without an RMD, it’s another 50 percent of what the distribution should have been for each year.
This can be confusing if you have questions call 320-679-5183.

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Highlights for September 8 Your Safe Money Show

Make plans to listen this Saturday morning (September 8) at 7:30 for Your Safe Money Show.
I saw a headline “Having children can ruin your retirement”. Now I know that sounds terrible, but it did catch my attention, we’ll dig into what that really means.
Sometimes we have no choice, we have to tap into retirement accounts early, and that means penalties. Well in some cases you can avoid or reduce those penalties. I’ll explain how that works.
And were always talking about ways to save “before” retirement, today we’ll see how to save “after” retirement.
Go to 95.5FM KBEK, they stream live at kbek.com.
You can listen to recent shows at the podcast page at yoursafemoneyshow.com.

Letter about cost plans and Medicare

We are continuing to get calls about a letter that was sent about losing cost plans with Medicare and going to Advantage plans.
There are people in counties in Minnesota that this is happening to. 
However, there are folks in 21 Minnesota counties that are NOT affected by this change for 2019. The letter was sent by accident to people in Kanabec and Pine counties, that we are aware of. The CMS has now sent follow up letters to people in the counties NOT affected by this change explaining their error. 
Open enrollment for Medicare starts October 15 and runs through December 7th. If you would like help with looking at plans and finding what works best for you call for an appointment at 320-679-5183.

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Sjoberg & Holmstrom closed on Labor Day

Sjoberg & Holmstrom Financial Services in Mora will be closed on Monday September 3rd, for Labor Day.
 We will open at 8 a.m. on Tuesday September 4th.