Your Social Security Claiming Age Can Change What You Pay for Medicare

When you start collecting Social Security, up to 85% of your benefit gets added to your Modified Adjusted Gross Income. That matters because Medicare uses your income to set your Part B and Part D premiums through a system called IRMAA. Cross the wrong threshold, and your premiums can jump by hundreds of dollars per person per month.

There's also a two-year lookback: Medicare uses income from two years ago to set your current premiums. That makes the timing of when you claim Social Security more consequential than most people realize.

Use this tool to:

• See which IRMAA tier you fall into, with and without Social Security income
• Calculate your current or projected Medicare Part B and Part D premiums
• See the full IRMAA tier table and exactly how far you are from the next threshold
• Understand how delaying SS keeps it out of your MAGI during early retirement years
• Get planning strategies for IRA withdrawals, Roth conversions, and the LCE appeal process

How to use it:

• Enter your filing status, age, non-SS income, tax-exempt interest, and your monthly SS benefit
• Select your SS claiming status to compare premiums with and without SS income
• Click "Calculate My Medicare and IRMAA Impact" to generate your full analysis
• Review the tier table, the scenario comparison, and the proximity warning if you're close to the next threshold

This tool is completely private. No personal information is required, and nothing is stored or shared.