At the risk of red down arrows, enough complaining about IRMAA and writing about strategies to lower or avoid those premiums.
The median income for retirees age 65+ is $47,000 – $55,000 annually. 
The median HOUSEHOLD income at all ages is about $84,000
IRMAA premiums start at a single person income of $109,000.

If you are retired and required to pay IRMAA premiums, you are doing quite well. As the saying goes,

My wife Suzie has a particular look she reserves for my more idiotic ramblings. I noticed the look developing as I started to discuss the tax implications of my engaged daughter’s announcement for a possible wedding date. I’ve been married a long time and have developed a survival instinct. I closed my mouth and decided to listen with rapt attention as my daughter and future son-in-law explained their reasoning for the possible date for the big day…apparently February flowers are delightful.

I am on schedule to retire in 18 months, at the age of 65.  But I have decided to allocate our assets now.  The stock market indexes are near/at all-time highs, so why put it off?   Within all of our necessary accounts, we have put 5 years worth of projected expenses into cash/cash equivalents.  5 years of spending and taxes in my Traditional retirement accounts.  5 years of Medicare/medical expenses in our HSA accounts.  5 years of QCDs in my wife’s Traditional IRA for charitable giving. 

 
In some situations thousands of tax dollars can be saved by using the married filing separate filing status. However, doing so can trigger a larger income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA) to your Medicare premium.
For example, the monthly adjustment for a single taxpayer with modified adjusted gross income of $109,000 is $81.20 per month. A married taxpayer filing separately with the same income will have a monthly adjustment of $446.30. In that situation it will most likely be better to file a joint tax return and pay the extra income tax.

No one describes themselves as average at anything. We’re above-average drivers. Above-average parents. Above-average judges of character.
Statistically, that can’t be true—but it’s how we think.
Investing is no different. The average investor almost always believes they are above average. They read. They pay attention. They try to make smart decisions.
And yet, year after year, investors as a group earn returns that fall short of the market itself.
That raises a simple but uncomfortable question:
What’s the difference between earning the market’s average return and earning the return of the average investor?

This discussion (at least the first 2 points) recently came up on the Retirement and IRA Show podcast and I was curious how you all view it.
I suspect most of us view IRMAA on the cost side of the ledger, as either a tax or a fee that is applied, in cliff fashion, to that one extra dollar as defined by our federal government.
The discussion on the show opened my mind to the fact that Medicare has a base cost and unless you are making a ton of income,

I admit it, I am addicted to social media. I read Threads, X, Facebook and even TruthSocial every day. It is a bad, frustrating and depressing habit. 
There are those who say just ignore them, what is said does not matter in the real world. I wish that were true, but I think that widespread distribution of lies, and misinformation is very harmful to individuals and society. When I read an absolute falsehood about Social Security or Medicare and see hundreds of agreeing comments and thousands of likes,

Isn’t it great? We’ve had forum posts from five new contributors recently! It’s wonderful to see fresh voices joining the conversation. Keep it up into the new year, people—I’m loving the new perspectives you’re bringing!
Who else has a story or an idea to share? We’d love to hear from you!

I’m considering a Fixed Indexed Annuity (FIA) as a short-term parking spot for part of my money—only for 3 years with a guaranteed 6% return, not a lifetime annuity play. There is no management fee, only surrender fees if taken before the 3-year mark.
For those who’ve used an FIA this way (or evaluated it and passed), what were your results and your takeaways?
What should I watch most closely—surrender charges,

When did you retire (what age), and what was the deciding factor that made you retire at that time—finances, health, job satisfaction, family needs, benefits timing (pension/SS/healthcare), or simply “I was done”?
Looking back, was it the right age for you, and would you do it the same way again?
 
Jeff

If you could go back to 5 years before you retired, what’s the one decision you’d change that would have made the biggest difference in your first 1–3 years of retirement and what do you wish you’d done sooner? Examples:
When to claim Social Security?
How you structured withdrawals/taxes
Whether you carried a mortgage?
Where you lived?
How you planned for healthcare/long-term care?
thanks,
Jeff

I’m planning a new home build as I head into retirement, and I’m considering carrying a mortgage and keeping the payment at no more than 18%-20% of my total retirement income floor, with a term of 10 years or less (with an early payoff).
For those who’ve done something similar (or chose not to), does that sound like a reasonable plan in real life—and what should I stress-test or watch out for?
Jeff

Dan’s recent post about the risk of cuts in Social Security benefits only seven or so years away got me thinking.

This title isn’t serious,  but I wonder if my unconventional SS strategy has once again helped me fall on greener grass? Actually I hope not because 60 million people would be harmed.
I took and saved SS at FRA while still working, my benefit wasn’t reduced and our combined benefits were invested in tax free bond funds for several years.

I’ve been reading HumbleDollar for the past few years, and I wanted to share a brief reflection and invite discussion.
Like many here, my thinking about money has been shaped by a mix of books, websites, and experience. One thing I’ve appreciated about HumbleDollar—and Jonathan Clements’ writing more broadly—is the consistent emphasis on simplicity, behavior, and long-term thinking. The idea that saving rate, costs, and consistency matter more than complexity or clever strategies has stayed with me.

BEFORE THE YEAR ENDS, I wanted to cover a great concept – tax-loss harvesting. It’s a strategy to lower your tax liability by selling investments and repurchasing a similar one. The loss can be used to cancel out gains from other investments, which helps reduce the taxes you owe. Or you can use up to $3,000 of those losses each year to lower your taxable income if you don’t have any gains.
Here’s the key goal of the tax-loss harvesting strategy:
Swap assets into similar,