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Health Line
4 hours ago
- Business
- Health Line
5 Things To Do When You Turn 65
By age 65, you may wish to take some important medical and financial steps. These involve Medicare, preventive health screenings, Social Security, taxes, and other legal considerations. Usually, if you're 65 years or older or younger and living with specific disabilities or conditions, you qualify for Medicare. If you're living with a qualifying disability, you'll be automatically enrolled in Original Medicare. However, if you're eligible because of your age, you'll need to sign up yourself. In addition, if you haven't already, you may wish to take this time to consider various social security and other legal decisions. Follow this guide for five things to do about Medicare, Social Security, and more when you reach 65. 1. Understand and enroll in Medicare To know which part or plan to enroll in, you'll need to understand the various benefits and costs. Generally, your Medicare enrollment options are: Original Medicare (parts A and B) Medicare Advantage (Part C) stand-alone Medicare Part D Medigap Both Healthline and this guide from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) go into detail about the benefits of each part of Medicare. In most cases, you won't pay a premium for Part A, but you must meet a deductible. Part B does have a premium and covers 80% of eligible expenses after you meet the deductible. Note that Original Medicare costs will change in 2026. Medigap can help you with your remaining out-of-pocket costs, but this requires paying an additional premium, and you can't use the plan with Part C. Private insurers manage Parts C and D, which means their costs vary by plan. Your out-of-pocket drug costs also depend on the specific plan's formulary. To cut your costs further, consider looking into whether you might be dually eligible for Medicaid or if you're eligible for Medicare Savings Program (MSP) or Extra Help. After enrollment, be aware that Medicare Part B covers a one‐time ' Welcome to Medicare ' preventive visit if you schedule it within 12 months of enrolling. You're also eligible for an annual wellness visit every 12 months. It's a good idea to take advantage of both of these visits and schedule any other preventive tests your doctor recommends. Long-term care insurance Long-term care insurance can help you manage your daily routines if you can no longer do so yourself at home, in a nursing home, or in an assisted living facility. But Medicare usually doesn't cover this. If you need this now or think you or a spouse may need this in the future, you may consult with a broker, look into State Partnership Programs, or check out your employer benefits if you're still working. 2. Set up a healthcare proxy If you haven't already, you might want to consider setting up a healthcare proxy. This will allow someone you trust to make medical decisions for you if you're ever unable to do so yourself. In addition, you can fill out a form to give the person access to your Medicare records and allow them to speak with providers on your behalf. Both of these can be really important if you have significant health issues that might affect your ability to make decisions or you're concerned that you might in the future. If you're married, it's a good idea to designate one another as proxies. Alternatively, or in addition, it may be a good idea to create or refresh your estate plan or issue a power of attorney to someone on your behalf. Depending on your goals, these legal moves could also replace designating a healthcare proxy while allowing the person you choose to manage your financial affairs. To decide on the best path for you, you may wish to consult with an attorney. 3. Make your home safer As you age, your physical needs may increase, and mobility around your home can become more challenging. You may prefer to stay in your home for as long as possible, but you may also have concerns about your safety. That said, there are things you can do to help make your home safer and protect yourself from injury in your home. These include: Adding grab bars or handrails on stairs, in bathrooms and showers, or anywhere you might need more support. Making sure your lighting is good and up to date in every room. Putting nonslip strips on stairs or fitting carpet on other slippery surfaces. Durable Medicare Equipment (DME) If you need it, you may be able to get mobility devices like walkers, wheelchairs, or scooters for use at home through Medicare Part B. 3. Understand retirement benefits You can begin receiving Social Security benefits as early as age 62, although you'll only get the full benefits once you reach the designated full retirement age. You can check when you're eligible for full benefits on Note that if you wait to get full benefits past full eligibility, your payments could increase by up to 8%. In addition, if you've been married for at least 10 years, you might be eligible for spousal benefits, which can also boost your payments. That said, depending on your situation, you may need your retirement benefits sooner. That's why it's important to know when you're eligible and how much you'll be able to get. 4. Review retirement savings Whether you're retiring this year or not, it's wise to review your retirement accounts to ensure your portfolio aligns with your retirement objectives. If you're currently still working and your employer provides a retirement savings option like a 401(k), make sure you're making the maximum possible contributions. Additionally, you can invest up to $7,000 annually into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). Each of these retirement account types has its own benefits and drawbacks, and you might have one or both. There are also different rules on when and how you can withdraw money from these accounts. For this reason, consulting a financial advisor can be beneficial to ensure you're managing these correctly and contributing the right amounts. 5. Check your taxes Filing tax returns can be complex. When you're working on your tax return, it's important to pay extra attention to avoid losing out on deductions that you're owed due to errors. Be especially aware that once you turn 65 years old, you can get a larger deduction on your federal tax returns. If you or your spouse has a visual impairment, you may qualify for a bigger standard deduction. In addition, you might be able to get additional state deductions based on the specific rules in your state. If you need to, consider speaking with a tax consultant to make sure you're filing your taxes correctly and getting the right deductions. Takeaway Generally, people who are 65 years or older, as well as younger individuals with certain disabilities, qualify for Medicare. If you live with an eligible disability, you'll be automatically enrolled in Original Medicare, but if you qualify by age, you need to enroll on your own. Before you enroll in Medicare, consider the program's structure, the plans that best suit your needs and their associated costs, and the key enrollment periods. Other things to consider around age 64 are your plans for your future healthcare needs, your Social Security benefits, the status of your retirement benefits, changes in tax exemptions, home safety, essential legal documents, and more.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Health
- Reuters
US FDA approves Moderna's next-gen COVID vaccine for adults 65 or older
May 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Moderna's (MRNA.O), opens new tab next-generation COVID-19 vaccine for all individuals aged 65 and above, the company said on Saturday, the first endorsement since the regulator tightened requirements. The vaccine has also been approved for individuals aged 12 to 64 with at least one or more underlying risk factors, Moderna said in a statement.
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
The VERY surprising kitchen chore that raises risk of dementia
Scientists have warned that placing plastic items in the dishwasher could raise the risk of dementia. They found that mechanical dishwashing of plastic plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery leads to the release of toxic microplastics, which can then contaminate other utensils. Microplastics are small enough to breach biological barriers such as the blood-brain barrier, raising concerns about their potential impact on human health. These particles have been linked not only to dementia, but also to cancer, heart disease, and fertility issues. The study found that a single dishwasher cycle involving plasticware can release nearly a million particles. Researchers estimate that this equates to around six milligrams of microplastics accumulating in the human body per year — roughly a quarter of a grain of rice. The release of microplastics is primarily driven by the dishwasher's heat. During a typical cycle, plastic items are exposed to chemical, thermal, and abrasive cleaning processes, with temperatures reaching up to 158°F, along with detergent and rinse cycles. 'Even routine household activities, like dishwashing, can have significant environmental consequences,' Dr Elvis Okoffo from the University of Queensland said in a statement. 'We demonstrated that plastic containers and utensils washed in dishwashers release plastic particles.' In 2025, the US has seen an estimated 7.2 million people aged 65 and older living with Alzheimer's dementia. However, this number is projected to rise to nine million by 2030 and nearly 12 million by 2040. While microplastics have not been definitely linked to the cognitive issue, a recent study of 54 brain samples found that dementia patients had significantly higher concentrations of microplastics than those without dementia. The team at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences, Albuquerque found levels were up to 10 times higher in some cases. For the new study, researchers collected 13 different plastic items and simulated typical dishwasher cycles to assess how much plastic is shed into the water. Now only do the particles contaminate other dishes, but they are released into wastewater that flows into the environment. While the results may seem alarming, study author Elvis Okoffo said: 'Despite the high number of particles released, the total mass released from plastic containers is low and is minor compared to other known sources of plastic pollution.' Scientist found microplastics in the brain for the first time last September, warning the plastics are infiltrating and potentially changing cells, adding that there 'can be no further doubt' about the dangers posed to human health. Researcher from the University of São Paulo observed plastic fibers and particles in the brains of eight out of 14 deceased individuals studied. The microplastics were identified in part of the brain known as the olfactory bulb, which are above the nasal cavities which process information about smells and relay it to other parts of the brain. They were also present in the nose, reinforcing the idea that this is a major point of entry to the brain. Researchers fear levels of smaller nanoplastics, which pass into the human body with greater ease, will be even higher. Professor Thais Mauad, lead researcher from the University of São Paulo, said: 'This study finds that the olfactory pathway is a potential major entry route for plastic into the brain, meaning that breathing within indoor environments could be a major source of plastic pollution in the brain. 'With much smaller nanoplastics entering the body with greater ease, the total level of plastic particles may be much higher. 'What is worrying is the capacity of such particles to be internalised by cells and alter how our bodies function.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How Social Security benefits are calculated
Social Security benefits have always been a crucial part of retirement planning, and Americans rely on their monthly benefit check as a key source of income during their retirement years. According to the National Academy of Social Insurance, Social Security is the sole source of income for roughly 20 percent of Americans aged 65 and older, while more than 80 percent of people in this age group receive Social Security benefit checks each month. Experts often say that a retirement plan is like a three-legged stool, with the legs of the stool being Social Security, employer-sponsored retirement benefits and personal savings. Considering how important Social Security is for retirees, it's vital to know exactly how your benefit will be calculated. Social Security has two main criteria for whether you earn retirement benefits and how much they are if you do qualify: You must earn a minimum number of credits to even qualify for retirement benefits. Your retirement benefits depend on how much you've paid into the system over your 35 highest-earning years. Here's how each of these elements is calculated by Social Security. (This Bankrate calculator can help estimate your Social Security check.) In order to qualify for Social Security benefits, you need to accrue 40 credits, if you were born after Jan. 2, 1929. To earn one credit in 2025, you must have wages and self-employment income of $1,810. You may earn up to four credits per calendar year. In a single year, you must earn $7,240 to get the full four credits, and you have the full year to earn that much, though you can earn it in any period of that tax year. So to earn 40 credits, you'll need to meet the minimum wage or self-employment income in at least 10 years, though they need not be consecutive. And don't sweat it if you're self-employed and run your own business. 'If you are self-employed, you earn Social Security credits the same way employees do,' says certified financial planner Alexey Bulankov, private client advisor, East West Bank. Once you earn the 40 credits, earning more credits won't increase your benefit payment. Instead, your retirement benefit is based on how much you earned during your working years. (Here's the average Social Security check.) The amount you would receive at your full retirement age, which ranges from age 65 to 67, depending on the year you were born, is called the primary insurance amount, or PIA. The formula for calculating your PIA is based on the average indexed monthly earnings, or AIME, in your 35 highest-earning years after age 21, up to the Social Security wage base. In 2025, the base is $176,100, an increase of $7,500 from last year. The wage base is the maximum amount of income on which Social Security taxes must be paid. Employees must pay 6.2 percent of their wages up to that income level, while employers kick in another 6.2 percent. If you're self-employed, you pay both portions of this payroll tax to fund Social Security. 'If a person works (fewer) than 35 years, missing years are filled in with zeros. If they have worked more than 35 years, only the highest-earning years will be considered,' says Charles C. Scott, founder and president of Pelleton Capital Management, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Earnings from a worker's 35 highest-earning years are tallied and indexed for inflation, resulting in the AIME, Bulankov says. The AIME is 'divided into three segments, called bend points (which are adjusted each year for inflation), giving you the worker's PIA,' says Scott. Here are the bend points for calculating a worker's benefits in 2025. The benefit is the sum of the following elements: 90 percent of the first $1,226 of averaged indexed monthly earnings 32 percent of earnings between $1,226 and $7,391 15 percent of earnings above $7,391 For example, a 62-year-old born in 1963 whose total indexed earnings over her 35 highest-earning years were $2.5 million would have an AIME of $5,952.38 ($2,500,000 / 420 work months = $5,952.38). The first bend point, $1,226 of the AIME, is multiplied by 90 percent, resulting in $1,103.40. This worker then earned an incremental $4,726.38 (or $5,952.38 minus $1,226). This figure is multiplied by 32 percent, resulting in $1,512.44. The worker had no earnings above $7,391, so there's no benefit at this level. Add those figures up, and they come to $2,615.84. Benefit amounts are rounded down to the next-lowest dime, so this worker's PIA, which is the amount she would receive if she waits until her full retirement age (67 years) to collect Social Security, is $2,615.80. However, if this retiree opts to retire early, this amount can decline by as much as 30 percent – so it's vital to understand the best age to take benefits. Bend points and formulas are set annually by the Social Security Administration. Certain factors can change the amount to which you are entitled, such as electing to receive benefits before full retirement age or delaying benefits past your full retirement age. Government workers receiving pension benefits may not be eligible to receive Social Security. You can file for benefits as early as age 62, but you'll receive a reduced benefit if you claim benefits before full retirement age. If you wait until after full retirement, your monthly benefit check will increase, up to age 70. 'Claiming Social Security early results in a permanent pay cut from what your benefit would be at full retirement age,' warns Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate chief financial analyst. 'Better still is that each year you delay Social Security after your full retirement age and up until age 70 results in an 8 percent increase — a permanent pay raise, if you will, above the benefit you'd have received at full retirement age,' McBride says. Calculating your Social Security check can be complicated, but understanding how your benefit is determined can help you plan for retirement. The Social Security retirement estimator can help you figure out your benefits. And you can receive a full accounting of your earnings if you go to the Social Security website, set up an account and review your personal statement. – Bankrate's Rachel Christian contributed to an update of this article. Libby Wells and Georgina Tzanetos contributed to a previous version of this article.
Fox News
20-05-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Trump FDA overhauls COVID-19 vaccine approval to focus on older populations, high-risk individuals
The Food and Drug Administration is shifting its annual COVID-19 vaccine approval policies to focus on Americans older than age 65 and other "high-risk" individuals, while increasing the standard of evidence to approve COVID vaccines for low-risk individuals. "The FDA will approve vaccines for high-risk persons and, at the same time, demand robust, gold-standard data on persons at low risk," FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research chief, Vinay Prasad, and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine Tuesday. "These clinical trials will inform future directions for the FDA, but more important, they will provide information that is desperately craved by health care providers and the American people." Americans over the age of 65 and those considered at high-risk of contracting the virus will be able to receive an annual COVID-19 vaccine this fall, the essay outlined, while vaccines for low-risk Americans will likely face stricter scientific analysis before they are made available to the public. The FDA estimated that about "100 million to 200 million Americans" older than age 65 or considered at high-risk will still have access to vaccines. Prasad and Makary said in their essay that the U.S. will move away from a "one-size-fits-all" paradigm that promoted COVID-19 vaccines for the vast majority of Americans, stretching from children to the elderly. The shift, they said, will bring America's policies more in line with guidelines in European nations. "While all other high-income nations confine vaccine recommendations to older adults (typically those older than 65 years of age), or those at high risk for severe Covid-19, the United States has adopted a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework and has granted broad marketing authorization to all Americans over the age of 6 months," the health leaders wrote in the New England Journal. "The U.S. policy has sometimes been justified by arguing that the American people are not sophisticated enough to understand age- and risk-based recommendations," they wrote. "We reject this view." The FDA's policy shift will include requiring vaccine manufacturers to gather clinical trial data to justify rolling out new COVID-19 vaccines for Americans at low risk of contracting the virus. Prasad and Makary held a roundtable discussion on the framework outlined in their medical essay Tuesday afternoon to walk Americans through the policy shift. Prasad explained that health officials under the Trump administration are taking into account that Americans have balked at the FDA's guidance under the Biden administration to receive multiple booster shots, while other Americans demand access to the vaccines. "We have to admit to ourselves that America is deeply divided on the policy issue of repeat COVID 19 vaccine doses or boosters," he said. "There are some Americans out there who are worried that the FDA has not fully documented and interrogated the safety harms of these products, and they are categorically opposed to these products. There are also some Americans we also have to recognize, who are desperate for additional protection, and they demand these products. But the truth is that most doctors and most of the public are entirely uncertain, and that is reflected in low vaccine uptake of these products." The pair added during the roundtable that Americans' trust in the scientific community has cratered since the pandemic. "Survey after survey shows trust in institutions like the FDA and scientists in general, it's rock bottom," Prasad said during the roundtable. "I mean, we have lower trust than Congress, and that's saying something, you know. And we need to rebuild that trust. And part of rebuilding that trust is having conversations like this, writing articles like we've done in the New England Journal, and having a common-sense evidence-based framework for rebuilding that trust." The pair cited in their article in the New England Journal that "public trust in vaccination in general has declined," including for "vital immunization programs such as that for measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccination, which has been clearly established as safe and highly effective."
