Flyinhigh

I have been retired from FedEx for about 16 months and have learned that this getting old is not for the faint of heart. I have been amazed at the number of things I have had to keep up with over the past year. First, the transition from a company sponsored health care/dental/vision plan to a combination of Medicare and private insurance (Medicare Supplement and a dental plan) took a lot of planning to get the right combination of coverage. There were several visits to the Social Security Office to make sure they understood that a lot of my income for 2012 and 2013 were "one time" payments (vacation buy back and nonqualified lump sum payment) and should not be counted in computing my Medicare costs. Finally got all that straightened out but it was an adventure. The next area to investigate was drawing down our qualified plans (401 and IRA) in a logical manner to reduce our tax exposure and keep our Modified Adjusted Gross Income under the Medicare threshold for increased premiums. In a few years we will be forced to take Required Minimum Distributions from these plans and will have no control over the amount of income we will receive. I don't want them to grow to a point where the RMD will put us in a higher tax bracket or impact Medicare costs. So, while I know what the tax rates are for this year and hopefully next year we have decided to draw down the 401/IRA funds a little bit and leave the Roth and after tax funds alone. This was somewhat of an adventure also and took several phone calls to Vanguard and lots of forms to get filled out and notarized before the first payment arrived. And finally, a lot of the automatic deductions and automatic deposts for dental and Medicare Supplements that come from our checking account have to be renewed every January. It has been quite a learning experience. I would love to hear from some of the other retirees on this forum and see how you are dealing with all of this "stuff."

badflaps

Sadly when you are on the PBGC, those problems don't exist. Good on you though, you did it right.

Flyinhigh

I can't imagine the emotions that a lot of folks caught up in these situations must feel. Just the shock of realizing that what you thought was your dream job is about to go under has to be overwhelming. Then to get caught up in the Catch 22 that one branch of the government says you have to quit at age 60 and another branch says you quit early so you can't collect a full benefit. Insult to injury!!! Hope everything works out for you. This whole airline business is just one big crap shoot.