A Fund Payout Can Raise 2028 Medicare Costs

A retired US couple near $205K MAGI could see a $30K fund distribution push income to $235K and lift 2028 premium surcharges.
For these surcharges, MAGI includes AGI plus tax-exempt interest, and taxable-account fund payouts count even if investors neither sold shares nor rebalanced.
Only ~8% of beneficiaries pay these surcharges, but households within $20K-$30K of a bracket are where one unexpected payout can move the needle.
An appeal form generally will not help here: investment distributions are not listed among qualifying life-changing events for premium adjustment requests after filing.
Before year-end, check estimated fund payouts, harvest losses when appropriate, and gradually shift higher-distribution active funds into tax-deferred accounts over time to limit later surcharges.