Worked examples
A calculator gives you a number. These pages show the whole chain — which figure comes from which rule, in what order, and why one input moves the answer more than another.
Illustrative worked example. The household is hypothetical; every figure is computed by the same verified engines and rule packs the calculators use.
A Roth Conversion That Crossed an IRMAA Threshold
A hypothetical single retiree converts $6,000 from a traditional IRA in a year their other income is $104,000. The conversion is modest, the tax on it is manageable, and it carries their income a short way past an IRMAA edge. The Medicare bill for that arrives two Januarys later.
Medicare Costs · updated 2026-08-03
When Two Social Security Checks Become One
A hypothetical couple receive $2,600 and $1,300 a month from Social Security. When one of them dies, the survivor does not keep both benefits — they keep the larger one, and the smaller one stops. This is what that does to the household's income, and the one decision that changes it.
Social Security · updated 2026-08-03
Claiming at 62 Against Waiting Until 70
A hypothetical retiree born in 1962 has a benefit of $2,400 a month at full retirement age. Claiming at 62 starts the money eight years sooner and permanently smaller; waiting until 70 does the reverse. Here is where the two cross, and what that crossing point does not tell anyone.
Social Security · updated 2026-08-03
What a Year of Care Costs, and What Medicare Pays Toward It
A hypothetical household in Ohio compares a nursing home, assisted living, and thirty hours a week of help at home. The figures come from a cost-of-care survey. The share of them Medicare pays, once the care is long-term rather than skilled, is nothing at all.
Paying for Care · updated 2026-08-03