What happens when a retirement journalist signs up for Medicare?
I decided that 2022 would be the big year for me. Here's how it went.
As a journalist covering retirement, I’ve written dozens of stories over the years about the ins and outs of Medicare enrollment. But when the time came to sign myself up I found there was still plenty left for me to learn. And let me just say this: the whole thing was quite a project.
As a freelancer with no employer-provided health insurance, I’ve been fortunate to have coverage through my wife’s employer. But I became Medicare-eligible two years ago, and I was looking forward to signing up. Medicare consistently receives high marks from enrollees for its breadth of coverage and reasonable cost, and I had decided that 2022 would be my year to make the big switch.
The process generally went smoothly, but it served as a disquieting reminder of the complexity of all of our retirement systems, which call for a level of knowledge and navigational skill beyond what is reasonable to expect from the average person.
Learn more in my latest column for Reuters Money.
The retirement landscape for 2022
The trends to watch next year on retirement can be boiled down to just three percentage figures: 5.9%, 14.5% and 25%. Each is tied to the key pocketbook challenge that retirees will be dealing with in 2022: inflation.
The economic fits and starts of recovery from COVID-19 produced some very hot inflation figures this year. Many experts still regard the trend as temporary - but it now seems clear that consumer prices will continue to rise sharply at least through part of 2022.
Retirees tend to worry more than working people about inflation, and with good reason. Wage income tends to be adjusted over time to reflect changes in the cost of living, and we’re seeing some signs that is happening now. But retirees live on fixed incomes, so it comes as no surprise that surveys of retirees show that the impact of inflation is a top concern.
Where do those three numbers figure in? Well, they all relate to inflation.
In October, we learned that the faster pace of inflation translated into a historic 5.9% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2022 - the largest since 1982.
But the net COLA will be reduced by a whopping 14.55% increase ($21.60) in the standard Medicare Part B premium - the biggest since 2010.
And U.S. equities are up about 25% since the trough of the pandemic-driven trough in March, 2020. Equities are not really an inflation hedge, but gains like that have the potential to at least smooth out what otherwise looks like a bumpy environment for retirees. The question now, of course: how long can that trend continue?
Learn more in my 2022 retirement outlook at Morningstar.com.
Who are the top influencers in aging?
Every year since 2015, Next Avenue has run a list of the top Influencers in Aging, honoring people driving change in how Americans approach growing older. This year, the editors decided to focus on influencers working in five key areas: Taking on aging, reimagining health care, caregiving champions and connecting the generations. Read all about the top influences of 2021 here.
Bill McKibben’s Third Act
Author and climate activist Bill McKibben recently launched Third Act, a new effort to activate older Americans as a force for social good. His reasoning? People over 60 often have the time, money and skills to do the work -- and the planet needs their experience.
A big part of Third Act’s strategy lies in partnering with youth leaders and activists of all ages who are working on climate change, voting rights and social justice — finding new and innovative ways to lift their voices and support their efforts.
Later today, Encore.org will host a free virtual conversation with McKibben about the new initiative. Click here to register and attend.
What I’m reading
Omicron threatens the old - nursing homes must act now . . . The pros and cons of direct indexing (WSJ, subscription required) . . . Older generations require media coverage, too: An interview with Paul Kleyman of Generations Beat Online . . . Market and political pressures grow on skilled nursing facilities . . . New Social Security proposal would improve finances and modestly enhance benefits . . . When the eye on older patients is a camera . . . Half of Americans with retirement accounts have taken an early withdrawal . . . The key to marketing to older people? Don’t say “old.”