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My wife turns 65 in February. They are going to charge us up the yazoo if we sign up (or so we're told) because I am still working and plan to keep on doing so.

Why shouldn't I? I'm making decent money and (mostly) enjoy the work?

But we did go to one of those Medicare seminars (independent agents put them on from time to time to drum up business) and learned a couple of interesting things:

AARP basically teams with another plan (including United) and marks them up for using the AARP marketing muscle. You are better off going to United (or whomever) by yourself or with an independent agent who doesn't operate in the dishonest fashion of AARP.
The government pays whatever plan you are on about $800 per person per month to do the admin work. This is exactly why they offer perks like no deductible, no co-pay, no-premium and even gym memberships if you sign up with them.

“”My wife turns 65 in February. They are going to charge us up the yazoo if we sign up (or so we’re told) because I am still working and plan to keep on doing so.””

I have no idea why that would be true. If she applies for SS for February (she wants to apply at least 3 months before then), she will automatically be enrolled in Part A and her choice to take Part B at the same time which she should do as there is a penalty for doing it later... She can choose or not a Medicare Advantage plan if that’s her choice after she’s gets enrolled. Is there some penalty if you continue to work and she’s retired? I have never heard of such a thing and that would surprise me..

As for you continuing to work, I would recommend it. My husband and I both applied on our 65th birthdays in 2001 and continued working until age 70.. So I reveal how old I am - big deal. Some of the young whippersnappers here who enjoy cussing at me need to know that I am old enough to be their great grandmother and I AM NOT A MALE who would think nothing of it.

We were given credit on our SS earnings every year that we worked so our benefits continued to grow each year. There is a sticking point with that somewhere but I forget just what - maybe if someone takes SS at an earlier age and they keep on working, their continued earnings don’t count? I know it used to be 62 but I don’t know what they consider early now.

“”You are better off going to United (or whomever) by yourself or with an independent agent who doesn’t operate in the dishonest fashion of AARP.””

I’ve steered away from United because of AARP...Is it possible to deal with them separately? I’m shopping and I keep running into AARP....

Medicare part A is automatic, part B is “voluntary”, but if you don’t sign up for part B, you will be charged extra for life for every month you delay. My mom paid extra for close to 30 years (she died at 99) because she didn’t know she had to enroll in B. She tried for years to appeal the decision to no avail. The charge for B is taken out of your Social Security payment. If your SS isn’t enough, they send you a bill once a year.

I don’t think Medicare cares whether you’re working or not, unless you are making really big money, in which case they’ll charge you more.

A visit to the Social Security office (assuming you aren’t waited on by a gov’t drone) will get you the answers you need. Trying anything on the phone is an exercise in frustration. Good luck to both of you.