The Part B paperwork mistakes that hold up your coverage
Medicare enrolment is not hard. It is just unforgiving about small things, and the feedback loop is terrible, because a form that goes wrong in March does not announce itself…
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Why your home insurance policy might not cover water in the basement
Water in a basement is the claim I denied most often, and it was never because the damage was not real. It was because of which direction the water came from.
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Signing up for Social Security when you have a government pension
If you are a retired teacher, firefighter, police officer or federal employee under the old civil service system, and someone told you years ago that your government pension would…
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How your auto insurance deductible affects windshield claims
A chip in a windscreen is one of the few insurance questions where the right answer is often to not make a claim at all, and the arithmetic takes about a minute.
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How to actually reach a person when you call Medicare
The Medicare helpline is open around the clock, every day of the year. That fact is printed everywhere and it is close to meaningless, because being open is not the same as being…
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How to trace a pension from a company that went out of business
A company going under does not take your pension with it. That is the first thing to understand, because most people assume the opposite and never look.
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Why you received a nonrenewal notice from your home insurance company
A nonrenewal is not a cancellation. That distinction matters and it is the first thing to understand when the letter arrives.
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When to contact Social Security if your spouse passes away
The funeral home will ask you for the Social Security number of the person who died. Hand it over and let them make the report. That one step, which takes them about a minute,…
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Choosing between a single life and joint pension payout
This is the one decision in your retirement paperwork that cannot be undone. Not after a year, not after a week in most cases. You sign the election form, the payments start, and…
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How to correct an error on your annual pension statement
Read the annual statement when it comes. All of it, not just the number at the bottom.
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The difference between pending transactions and your actual bank balance
Your bank shows you two numbers and only one of them is real money you can spend today. Confusing the two is behind a large share of the declined cards and surprise fees I dealt…
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Why your Medicare Part B premium might be higher than your neighbor’s
Two people on the same street, both 68, both on original Medicare, and one of them is paying nearly three times what the other pays for exactly the same coverage. Nothing is…
