This is what Medicare Part B covers and doesn’t cover.
Influenza (flu) vaccine. Medicare normally covers one flu shot per flu season. You pay nothing for the flu shot if the doctor or other qualified health care provider accepts assignment.
Hepatitis B is a serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver. Medicare covers these shots for people at medium or high risk for Hep B. Some risk factors include hemophilia, End Stage Renal Disease, diabetes, if you live with someone who has Hep B, or if you’re a healthcare worker and have frequent contact with blood or body fluids. Check with your doctor to see if you’re at medium or high risk for Hepatitis B. You pay nothing for the shot if the doctor or other qualified health care provider accepts assignment.
Pneumococcal Shots. Medicare covers this shot to help prevent pneumococcal infections (i.e., types of pneumonia). Medicare also covers a different 2nd shot if it’s given 1 year (or later) after the 1st shot. Talk with your doctor to see if you need one or both shots. You pay nothing for these shots if the doctor or other qualified health care provider accepts assignment for giving the shot.
Shingles Shots. Shingles are caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes Chicken Pox. After a person recovers from Chicken Pox, the virus stays dormant in the body (the reason is unknown) and the virus can reactivate years later, causing Shingles.
Shingles is a VERY painful rash that usually develops on one side of the body, often the face or torso. The rash consists of blisters that typically scab over in 7 to 10 days and clears up within 2 to 4 weeks. Some people describe the pain as an intense burning sensation and
can last for months or even years after the rash goes away. This long-lasting pain is called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), and it is the most common complication of Shingles. Your risk of getting Shingles and PHN increases as you get older.
A new Shingles vaccine called Shingrix (recombinant zoster vaccine) was licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017. The CDC recommends that healthy adults 50 years and older get two doses of Shingrix, 2 to 6 months apart.
Shingrix provides strong protection against Shingles and PHN. Shingrix is the preferred vaccine, over Zostavax®, a Shingles vaccine in use since 2006.
The Shingles shot is not covered by Part Aor Part B. There are some Medicare prescription drug plans (Part D) that cover the Shingles shot. Contact your Medicare drug plan for more information about coverage. It will be subject to your plan’s annual deductible and copays, depending on the tier level on your specific Part D plan.
Sources: Center for Disease Control (CDC); Medicare.gov
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Help, our Part B is expensive 2018
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Help! Our Part B is really expensive!
Joe and Nancy called our office soon after signing up for their Medicare plans. They were concerned that they had been billed for more than the monthly $134 each for their Part B of Medicare. It was a whopping $267.90 a month each!
We assured them there was a logical answer and proceeded to ask questions. We reminded them that in our prior meeting we had asked if their income was more than $170,000 a year, filing joint on their taxes. They had told us “no”. If your income is below the $170,000 filing joint, everyone pays the $134 for Part B. What they didn’t tell us was that Joe had gotten a retirement check the year before, and for that year their adjusted gross income was way above the $170,000.
When Medicare is establishing your Part B and Part D monthly premiums, they check your last two years IRS returns and base your Part B premium on those amounts. Since their income the year before was about $250,000 it resulted in $267.90. “Is there anything we can do?” they exclaimed? Yes! File an appeal with Medicare that informs them that you had a life event and retired, and your yearly income will be much lower, and below the $170,000 threshold per year.
They were happy with the instructions we offered, but keep in mind that even with an appeal it is not certain their Part B premium will be reduced. It’s never a sure thing when dealing with Medicare.
Medicare will automatically review your Part B premium amount each year when you file your taxes with the IRS. Medicare will then automatically adjust up or down your monthly Medicare Part B premium. You must keep in mind that Medicare, the IRS, and Social Security are really good friends and they each know everything about you, especially your yearly income!
$$ Filing Single $$ Filing Jointly You Pay Monthly *IRMAA Part D IRMAA**
$85,000 or Less $170,000 or Less $134 $0
$85,000 to $107,000 $170,001 to $214,000 $187.50 $13.00
$107,001 to $133,500 $214,001 to $267,000 $267.00 $54.20
$160,001 to 214,001 $320,001 to $428,000 $428.60 $74.80
*IRMAA Income Relate Monthly Adjustment Amount for Part B Medicare **Same for Single or Joint
Refer to the chart for 2018 and see where your income will fall and then see the corresponding Part B premium you will be responsible for.
Also, Medicare will automatically deduct the monthly Part B premium right out of your Social Security monthly benefit check. If you are not taking your Social Security check because you are letting it grow, Medicare will bill you quarterly. If you are billed you can pay with a check, credit card, or set up autopay out of your bank checking account.
*Source: www.medicare.gov
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Are Mutual Funds a Good Buy 2018
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Are Mutual Funds a Good Buy?
Well, that’s a loaded question. 401(k)s are almost all filled with mutual funds. It’s the easiest way for an employer to assist you in diversifying your portfolio. There are also fees that can be passed on to the employees (you). Money Magazine has an annual list of the top mutual funds. Portfolio managers are getting celebrity status, till they fail.
Most folks only see one other, costly, alternative; individual stocks. Yes, in order to mimic a mutual fund you would have to buy individual stocks and bonds (50 to over a hundred) and have the time and skill to actively manage the portfolio. Both can be costly, but mutual funds are definitely easier without having to manage the stocks and bonds inside of the funds. The issue is the fees. Mutual funds are not cheap. Even those highly touted no-load funds. Yes, even those have fees built in. You do have to go over the prospectus with a fine-tooth comb to find them but they can, and do, go up to 3% or more. Some advisors even have to charge a management fee for a portfolio of mutual funds. No kidding! They actually sell you a portfolio of funds that each charge a management fee of upwards of 3 percent and then the representative charges you another 1 to 3 percent on top of that to manage the portfolio of an already managed portfolio! **
Some think that if they buy several different mutual funds, they will have greater diversity in the portfolio. Maybe not; for example, two fidelity funds, Large Cap and Large Cap Growth Enhanced, actually contain 107 of the same holdings resulting in the Large Cap Growth Fund being held in the Large Cap Growth Enhanced Fund. If, in an attempt to diversify and manage risk, a mutual fund investor-owned both the Value and the Growth funds, that investor could actually be increasing risk!
Another issue with Mutual funds is that if you would like to sell one, you won’t know what the net price will be until the market closes. Do you like unpredictable outcomes? Wouldn’t it be nice if advisors were fee conscious? What if portfolios were designed with safety, fees, and taxes in mind, as well as your dreams, goals, and aspirations at heart? So, what do we prefer for the actively managed portion, instead of mutual funds? We use a well thought-out and revisable portfolio of Exchange Traded Funds (not to be confused with mutual funds). These ETFs have no internal fees. They are static investments that trade like a stock while the market is open. We like ETFs that are relatively stable and throw off higher than average dividends. For the larger portfolios, we will extend the holdings to an individual stock, typically Blue Chip stable companies that, again, throw off higher than average dividends. We understand that most of our clients are in the income phase of life and for that reason, we recommend tools with predictable income See a theme? Safety, low fees, actively managed, and seeking higher than average yields. Together with guaranteed, no risk investments, we create, employ, and actively manage a winning combination.
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August Hot Time 2018
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It’s this time of year every summer when the kids start realizing summer is almost over and time to get ready to go back to school (groans). Adults are happy they are going back to school (yea!). Band and football practice camps have already started, and teachers are getting their curriculums written and approved for the new school year. The kids don’t realize it yet, but, compared to the rest of their lives they will look back and think these were the easy years for most of them.
Looking back, would you go back and repeat those years? Some say with a degree of enthusiasm, absolutely! While others would not want to repeat their years of puberty for all the tea in China!
But remember those lazy summer days where you had no responsibilities and could just play all day? Riding bikes, swimming, playing ball, etc. You’d take a quick break and eat some lunch and then you’d be right back to playing? The smells associated with summer like fresh cut grass, and the tinkling music of the ice cream truck, where you could get a cold popsicle or ice cream sandwich for a nickel. Maybe there was some fishing or camping involved.
Summer vacations in the mountains or at the beach? A Sunday at your grandparents’ house with a big family meal with some homemade ice cream? Did you take your turn at cranking the ice bucket and the cream turned into a delicious frozen concoction?
Fresh peach or maybe strawberry flavored with real fruit? Or maybe it was something a little simpler with just a hotdog off the grill, potato chips, and a cold Coca-Cola… ahhhh…. Those were hot and easy days of summer.
As we got into our teen years, those easy summer lazy days turned into a summer job to earn some extra cash for school. Or maybe you were saving up for that first car? Did you and your friends go to a drive-in movie? Visit the local indoor ice or skating rink? Or maybe you were the local bowling champ? Sometimes an indoor activity was just what we needed to get out of the heat!
Our Arizona summer days are filled with heat and then we get our local monsoon season with wind storms and sudden, and often violent, rain. We all have memories of a sudden downpour of several inches of rain that quickly turned our streets into dangerous flood zones. Did you have to rescue someone who drove into a flood zone that had a sign “Do Not Enter When Flooded”? And they, of course, entered anyway? They made the six o’clock news with a picture of them sitting on top of their automobile, drenched, with water up past their car windows?
So be safe, be cool, and follow directions! … Remember, Fall is just around the corner with cooler weather!
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Bad Language 2018
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Bad Language
Hmmmm… ever had your Mom threaten to wash your mouth out with soap, and then actually did because you said whatever it was just to defy her? I remember that soap tasted horrible, but it did the trick. It wasn’t the soap so much as the fact that I realized not to push my Mom because my Mom would follow through with any threat or promise she made. Raising three boys by herself didn’t give her an option so she set the rules pretty early, and even as grown men there is always the “Yes, Mama” that follows any direction or request. Sometimes depending on the situation, it was a required “Yes Ma’am”. So, when did you experience your first situation with bad words? Was it a dirty joke, or something scrawled on a bathroom wall? Somewhere while growing up you experienced your first exposure to curse words and that experience made you…. you!
Bad words. It seems we are surrounded by more and more ugly things and it doesn’t matter if it’s on TV, radio, movies or just out in public. I hear the “F” word being spoken by kids as young as 9 or 10 and it’s not just the boys, as sometimes the girls are just as bad or worse.
Even in politics, we are hearing more and more foul language coming from political leaders. There was a time not too long ago where your fanny would get sent to the principal’s office just for the mere utterance of a foul mouth word. When that happened, while in confession, how many Hail Mary’s were required as penance?
Our moral compass was set pretty good while growing up, as our Mom made sure we were in church every time the door was open and there was a threat you would burn in hell for any sins that included foul language. We even had a lecture one time that even the use of a harmless word, if it was used in intent as foul language, was just as bad. We kids thought that was funny and walked around for weeks shouting “Double Fudge Brownie” if we had a misstep, accident, or hit our finger with a hammer and needed some verbal relief.
This using normal words as curse words developed into a sort of game for us boys and we got creative about it. We even came up with a routine. “Got down off of my horse, fell into a pile of shifting sand, picked up a damp stick and beat the health out of my horse, slipped down and broke my aspirin bottle.” You must put the right emphasis on the words that start like a curse word but end up being something else. We thought it was funny. What’s not funny is that in the current times it appears we have lost our dignity. Local newspapers and TV personalities make fun of our President with vulgarity, everyone is a victim, it’s not my fault, and if you don’t agree with me I’ll get violent. What happened to manners? Civility? More importantly, some good old common sense?
When friends ask me how I deal with this issue I always say the same thing, “Let it begin with me”. I’ll be the civil one, I’ll be the polite one, I’ll be the example and help each person equally regardless of race, creed, or color. But I also know I have a “three strikes and you’re out” rule to keep folks from taking advantage of me. If more of us in the silent majority made it a point not to put up with this deviant behavior and simply not tolerate it, we might be able to save this thing called civility. So, what were your experiences? Who was there, what was being discussed? What was said that you found offensive? Did it affect your personal behavior and set boundaries on your language? Whatever it was, it made you …. you!
Language sometimes can be misconstrued, or just plain hard to comprehend. Got language in your medical plan, retirement, or financial statements that you don’t understand?
Call us! We’ll be glad to interpret and help you make the right decision for you!
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Some like it hot 2018
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Some like it Hot
It sure is humid in Arizona! You know the nice thing about living in the desert, the weather. I like the hot. I’m the guy who goes and sits in the car, that’s been baking in the sun, and just sits for a few minutes to soak up the heat. Yes, then I turn on the air.
Many folks think I’m nuts because I usually have a contrarian viewpoint to just about everything. Sometimes it’s actually pretty lonely because I choose not to participate in conversations that I have no actual knowledge about. Conversely, it’s not that I want to argue, I don’t. I really hate conflict. I just prefer a deep understanding of a subject before I engage. Many of my acquaintances, colleagues, and friends are avid viewers of FOX news. Some are glued to CNN. We even change the channel on the lobby Television based on our client’s preferences before they arrive. It’s kind of funny to me how the conversations are exactly the same. Both are pushing an agenda. I prefer to watch Bloomberg and the BBC if I get the chance. For whatever reason, they seem to report on a story with more in-depth information and less of a political bias. I’m actually a reader. I read 2-3 hours a day and more on weekends. Mostly curated RSS feeds. Some are the government’s official information releases, so I can read the proposed and implemented legislation directly from the source. I toss in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and USA Today, and most recently, Variety. Oh yeah, don’t forget…Atlantic magazine.
These days it’s really difficult to understand the underlying focus of our political leadership. I do know one thing. The current president loves to stir the pot. Not just our pot of congress people and senators, but the pots of our closest allies and enemies. Someone once said keep your friends close by and your enemies even closer. Perhaps that’s what he is really doing. Russia, China, and North Korea are not close military allies; they are the enemy that NATO defends against. Have you ever heard the term “FRENEMY”? I’m not sure who coined the phrase but it’s a good one.
Where do we get most of our manufactured goods? Most manufactured goods we consume in the United States are made in China. Some of our cool stuff comes from South Korea (KIA, Samsung, LG). So, what really happens if we have a spat with North Korea? They mess with their neighbors to the south and interrupt the manufacture of cool stuff we need, like hard drives, which are now in everything we use. What if we REALLY have a spat with China. They will hold us hostage for our inexpensive gizmos, gadgets, and they may even remove their BILLIONS of dollars stored in US Treasuries. Then there is Russia. By land mass they are huge! They have more untapped natural resources (oil, gas, minerals) than just about any country. If you were wondering, the US has the planet’s largest oil reserves, tapped and untapped, on the planet; we just choose to use up the Middle East’s resources first. Just a little FYI.
The markets are doing well. Bond rates are increasing. Banks are starting to pay interest on savings. Mortgages are getting more expensive and existing home inventories decrease. Gold (and silver) is down, as it is supposed to be when stock markets are up. Hmmm, are things becoming more predictable? More normal? Is the economy actually growing? Is employment at an all-time high? Are new home construction starts increasing?
“What the heck is going on? I’m enjoying the ride, how about you?”
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