SSRB
SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, AND PRESCRIPTION DRUG RETIREMENT BENEFITS: WHAT EVERY BABY BOOMER NEEDS TO KNOW NOW

As the baby boomer generation approaches retirement, financial and tax planners can expect increased demand for strategies that dovetail Social Security with other retirement objectives. This course provides tax and financial planning professionals with both the background information on the Social Security system and the strategies clients will need in dealing with it.

Major Topics

• Legislative developments
• A full chapter devoted to determining the best new planning options for maximizing joint Social Security benefits
• Retirement benefits: What the amount of benefits is in various circumstances; how the amounts are distributed within the family unit
• Qualification: Has the client retired? How business entities may be used for Social Security advantage
• Income taxation of Social Security: avoidance tactics
• Spousal benefits: Should a spouse return to work? What benefits does a spouse have and when and how do they relate to benefits decisions by the client?
• Hiring the spouse: When is it effective?
• Disability benefits
• Going on Social Security: advantages and disadvantages at ages 62, 66, and 70
• Coordinating benefits: should you take Social Security first and higher-balance IRA distributions later, or take IRA balance first and enhanced Social Security benefits later?
• Pensions: Distribution strategies; how to use the minimum distribution rules in concert with Social Security benefits
• IRAs: Is it time to convert to a Roth?
• Medicare and Part D prescription drugs: what the retiree needs to know

Learning Objectives

• Identify who is entitled to retirement benefits and in what amounts
• Be aware of what factors must be considered in determining when to take benefits
• Understand the taxation of Social Security benefits and how this impacts other income tax planning
• Be aware of Medicare and prescription drugs

Designed For: Practitioners who have baby boomer clients with significant wages or earned income.

Level of Knowledge: Basic