Thanks, Rory.
Unfortunately, I learned too late about the penalty.
Medicare has a great website, but they really do need to tell folks that you need to have a prescription drug plan when you are 65, even if youre not taking any prescriptions. Some, which is why insurance companies have prescription plans built in already. We have Anthem, but it dropped the prescription plan in 2026, so I never thought about it until now. I’m either going to get hit with a one-year penalty or a 5-year penalty from Medicare. And the penalty gets charged every year. An expensive lesson to learn that I don’t want others to be hit with a penalty.

Kim,
If your husband has insurance, then you don’t need to worry about it yet. But when the time comes that you need insurance, get an insurance broker if you can. They give you a lot of options for insurance.
For Medicare, you can sign up online because this is from the government.

You mentioned licensed Medicare advisors…how is the best way to find one? I worry that the people holding themselves out as Medicare advisors are determined to sell a particular plan that might not work for us.