Medicare and the surcharge that could surprise you

By Mike Switzer

Published June 10, 2025 at 6:30 AM EDT

Abby Mason, certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Columbia, S.C.

If you are nearing retirement or enrolled in Medicare, you may think that your healthcare costs will stabilize. But our next guest says that some retirees may be caught off guard by an unexpected charge showing up on their Medicare bill called IRMAA, which stands for Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount. Mike Switzer interviews Abby Mason, a certified financial planner with Abacus Planning Group in Columbia, SC.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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