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"In 2021, Part B increased 2.70% to $148.50 monthly from $144.60. Annually that was a $47 increase."
That is correct, but remember that the 2021 was supposed to be four times this amount or $15.60 ($3.90 x 4). It was limited to 25% by the law that was passed to help with Covid (can't remember the law's official name).
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stillers: As my wife likes to say, "Good remembering!" Here's an article about that from 09/21/20:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/congress-may-limit-medicare-part-b-premium-increase-for-2021-.html
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It is my understanding that this will be deducted this year in addition to the new calculated amount for 2022, so whatever this year's amount calculates out to, this $11.70 ($3.90 x 3) will be added as well. Of course, this assumes that your particular SS benefit increase exceeds this Medicare increase, otherwise you are held harmless.
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stillers: Not sure how that's your "understanding " of that. I've never seen that written but I could have missed it. Do you have a reference/link? Having worked in other areas of the Program for a coupla decades, it would knock me off my chair to learn that was correct, or even contemplated as something that could pass, or pass-through, as it were. But I digress.
All that aside, and cutting to the chase, here's medicareresources.org's take on it as of 10/05/21:
https://www.medicareresources.org/faqs/how-much-does-medicare-part-b-cost/
Excerpts:
Medicare Part B costs: key takeaways
Standard Part B premiums are $148.50/month in 2021; projected to be $158.50/month in 2022...
...As described below, the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment can sometimes limit the increase in Part B premiums, but that’s not expected to be the case for 2022, as the COLA is expected to be historically large.
The Part B premium increase from 2020 to 2021 was smaller than initially projected, thanks to a short-term government spending bill that was enacted in the fall of 2020, and that included a provision to cap the increase in the Part B premium for 2021.
That ($158.50-148.50 or) $10 increase is in line with some other estimates I've seen and does not quite compute with what you posted.
And in relation to the subject of my post, a response to another poster's comment, "Medicare will eat it anyhow," even if correct, the absolute Medicare Pt B increase in 2022 will be small relative to the SS COLA increase for the vast majority of recipients.
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Just my two cents worth
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stillers: As we used to say in the bizness, "Noted."
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I remembered my parents were buying CDs that pay double digit dividends. The inflation was very high in the 70-80's. This year the 10-year treasury has been steady rising over 1.50% as inflation way exceeded the 2% threshold. The consumer price is considerable higher than 2%.Volcker raised the federal funds rate, which had averaged 11.2% in 1979, to a peak of 20% in June 1981.
While a negative yield is less than ideal, their short-term bond holdings have probably held up better than many other bond sleeves in recent quarters. That type of allocation is probably why this fund has less volatility. Works for some, not for others.Check out WBALX for a solid 30%- 50% alloc fund.
I did quickly, and while the equity part of WBALX may be "solid", I question the performance of the bond portion in the current rising interest rate environment. It makes up 42% of the fund's portfolio, and of that 67% consists of short term US Treasuries and AAA bonds. It's the only balanced fund I have come across where the SEC dividend yield is negative, according to M*.
The majority of the fund's bonds may actually be a detractor from its future performance, unless management makes a change. Holding cash instead may actually be a better choice in the current environment.
My other question is why a "solid" fund like WBALX has accumulated only $223 million in assets over the past 18 years? What am I missing?
Fred
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