Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Social Security and Medicare,2E

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although this book covers a lot of ground and is fairly readable, two misstatements and one key omission may actually lead to some bad decisions:
a) The book says there is a 10% tax penalty for withdrawals from a qualified plan (such as 401k) under age 59.5 unless one of a list of exceptions apply..one of which is "leaving a job involuntarily after you reach age 55". But there is no penalty for withdrawals under those circumstances if you leave voluntarily and the rule is that you turn 55 that year (you can retire earlier than your birthday).
b) The book says "when you decide on an age for retirement...there is no going back". Actually if you file a "withdrawal of claim" and pay back the benefits you've recieved, you get a fresh start.
c) A very important option for married couples: if a dependent (i.e. lower earning) spouse wants to start collecting the spouse benefit but the primary earner wants to defer collecting, that can be done (the primary earner has to "file and suspend" for his benefit). A couple of recent studies have demonstrated that this is oftern the best option.

In combination, I think these defects really impair the usefulness of the book.

The second edition of SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE is a top pick any public library will want to include in their collection. It updates all information on rules, coverage, benefits and more, providing tips on everything from timing retirement benefits to understanding how divorce and death affects social security benefits. An ever-increasing population of baby boomers will find it useful.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

With 65 approaching, I had many questions about Medicare and all the issues that accompany this difficult subject. Instead of "reading" the book, I used it as a reference for specific questions, and it provided the answers which brought the subject of Medicare into focus. The chapters were named very simply making it easy to navigate through the book without getting involved in the minutiae of these complicated subjects.

A book I would recommend for anyone approaching 65.

I bought this book to learn more about Medicare. To my disappointment, it only contains several chapters on Medicare. The book is really about retirement with chapters on making the most of your benefits and living on your retirement income...that sort of thing. The content on Medicare is superficial and at this point out of date (the copyright is 2006). DEFINITELY not for a professional who wants detailed information on the program!

I found the Idiot's Guide to be very informative. It answered most of my questions, and told me where to find to answers to those questions that it didn't answer.

Not as extensive as I thought it would be. Good explanations, however. Somewhat useful for a first book on Social Security.

While the book seems relatively current regarding procedures its examples are out of date. The book didn't answer a lot of my questions.

This is a Guide chock full of information on the
title subjects. I found it to be easy to read
and understand. It didn't make all the decisions
for me,but gave me plenty of options to think
about. I'm glad I bought it.

This book was totally worthless - poorly organized, rambling, and basically unhelpful. I wasted $ on this ridiculous book based on other reviews. I will be far more careful in the future. I had to give it at least one star in order to post this review (which makes the whole review system somewhat suspect!) but it doesn't deserve even one star!

The book was a reasonable introduction but lacked detail. I was frequently put off by the partisan information that was presented as fact. The author is certainly entitled to her political beliefs, but if she is compelled to share them she should label them as opinion rather than historical facts.