Paperback
Large format, 8.5 × 11 — room to actually write. Your enrollment calendar is bound right in.
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The Peace of Mind Series · Book Three · 2026 Edition
Miss one deadline, and you pay for it for life.
Not for a year. For life. That is how Medicare's late enrollment penalty works.
2026 Edition. The numbers chapter is rebuilt every year, with the source for every figure printed in the book.
Social Security & Medicare
Social Security and Medicare are not hard because the rules are complicated. They are hard because nobody explains them in order. You get glossy mail and a phone call from someone who wants to sell you a plan. What you do not get is a plain list of your own decisions and your own dates.
This book is that list. Sixteen short chapters that explain every decision in the order you actually face it — and the pages to write your own answers down. No jargon. No sales pitch.
A look inside
Twenty seconds, and you'll know if this book is for you
A 22-second look at what this book does. Press play for the film with soft guitar music.
Read the film transcript & credits
Miss one deadline, and you pay for it for life. That is how Medicare’s late enrollment penalty works. Every window, from your birthday, and the penalties that never go away. When to claim, as arithmetic: what waiting is really worth. Extra Medigap rights in 23 states, plus the free SHIP counselor’s number for every state. Social Security & Medicare. Paperback, hardcover and Kindle. ellisfamilyguides.com.
Music: “Solo Acoustic #3” by Jason Shaw / Audionautix, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Edited and mixed for this film. Paper sound: xkeril, CC0. Illustrative scenes include AI-generated imagery.
Three ways to read it
The same book, in the form that fits your kitchen table
Hardcover
The same book at 8.25 × 11, in a hard case — for the shelf your family will one day go looking on.
View on Amazon.comKindle ebook
Reads on any device. The guide and the fifty-state appendix, with each chapter ending in the points to note down for yourself.
View on Amazon.comDownload numerical updates → Later figures to supplement your book, at no additional cost and without registration.
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What the book actually does
Your decisions, your dates
Every window, counted from your birthday
Not a generic table. The book counts the enrollment windows from your own date of birth — and names the penalties that never go away.
When to claim, as arithmetic
What waiting is really worth, the honest case for claiming early, and the decision most couples get wrong: how one spouse's timing sets the survivor's income for life.
The honest plan comparison
Original Medicare with Medigap, or Medicare Advantage — including the door that only swings one way. Part D picked by your medication list, not by the premium.
All 50 states at a glance
The Medigap switching rights that 23 states give you and nobody mentions, plus the free SHIP counselor's number for every state and the questions to ask when you call.
“A comprehensive guide that will provide answers… a step-by-step guide that explains the entire process, from what you may claim to how to go about it. Ellis describes the rules, warns of the possible pitfalls, and demystifies the complexities… a valuable reference work for years to come.”
Leonard Smuts for Readers’ Favorite, five stars
Inside the book
Sixteen short chapters, in the order you face them
- When to claim — what waiting is really worth, and the honest case for claiming early
- The two traps that catch people who are still working at 65
- IRMAA — why your income from two years ago sets your premium, and the seven events that let you appeal it
- Medigap — which letter plan, the six-month window you only get once, and why the cheapest quote at 65 is often the most expensive at 80
- The mail decoder — the Medicare Summary Notice, the ANOC letter and every Social Security notice, so official mail stops being scary
- Your countdown from 62 to 70, and the fall review that keeps it current in one evening a year
- My Medicare & Social Security File — the eight things someone else needs when you cannot make the call yourself
This book is an independent educational guide. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Social Security Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or any government agency.
Free, for everyone
The Companion Pack
Printable PDFs for the whole series: the Quick-Start Checklist, the fifty-state tables with the statute cited beside every figure, organizer worksheets, the Yearly Estate Check-up, and fifteen free official resources your family may need one day.
No sign-up, no email address, no strings.
Open the Companion Pack →The series it belongs to
Four books—find the guide that fits
Three focused guides, plus one volume for wills, trusts and estate planning that combines Books One and Two. Find the book that fits your next step.
Read the film transcript & credits
Make things clearer for the people you love. Put your affairs in order. Understand living trusts. Make sense of Social Security & Medicare.
Three focused guides, in paperback, hardcover and Kindle. Find your guide. Three in one: wills, trusts and estate planning. Books One and Two, combined, plus extra resources, in paperback and hardcover. ellisfamilyguides.com.
Music: “Solo Acoustic #3” by Jason Shaw / Audionautix, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Edited and mixed for this film. Paper sound: xkeril, CC0. Illustrative scenes include AI-generated imagery.