‘M’ Retirement Terms

Marital Trust: "A fiduciary relationship between a trustor and trustee for the benefit of a surviving spouse and the married couple's heirs. Also called an "A" trust, a marital trust goes into effect when the first spouse dies. Assets are moved into the trust upon death and the income generated by the assets goes to the surviving spouse. Under some arrangements, the surviving spouse can also receive principal payments. When the second spouse dies, the trust passes to its designated heirs."

Master Trust: "A collection of funds from individual investors that are pooled together in order to obtain wholesale prices and rates unavailable for regular investors."

Matching Contribution: "A type of contribution an employer chooses to make to his or her employee's employer-sponsored retirement plan. The contribution is based on elective deferral contributions made by the employee."

Matured RRSP: "A Canadian retirement savings vehicle that is registered with the Canadian government and is being used to produce retirement income for the beneficiary."

Medicaid: "A joint federal and state program that helps low-income individuals or families pay for the costs associated with long-term medical and custodial care, provided they qualify. Although largely funded by the federal government, Medicaid is run by the state where coverage may vary."

Medicare: "A U.S. federal health program that subsidizes people who meet one of the following criteria: 
1. An individual over the age of 65 who has been a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident for five years. 
2. An individual who is disabled and has collected Social Security for a minimum of two years. 
3. An individual who is undergoing dialysis for kidney failure or who is in need of a kidney transplant. 
4. An individual who has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). 
Medicare helps out people at a time in their lives when they may have serious health problems but lack the funding for treatment."

Medicare and Medicaid Fraud: "Illegal practices aimed at getting unfairly high payouts from government-funded healthcare programs. There are many types of Medicare and Medicaid fraud, including billing for services that weren't provided (phantom billing, upcoding), performing unnecessary tests or giving unnecessary referrals (ping-ponging), charging separately for services that are usually charged at a package rate (unbundling) and many more."

Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 (MCCA): "A government bill designed to improve acute care benefits for the elderly and disabled, which was to be phased in from 1989 to 1993. The Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 was meant to expand Medicare benefits to include outpatient drugs and limit enrollees' copayments for covered services. It was the first bill to significantly expand Medicare benefits since the program's inception."

Medicare Doughnut Hole: "A range of total prescription drug spending in the Medicare Part D program where all of the costs must be covered out-of-pocket. As a result of the Medicare doughnut hole, Medicare Part D participants are forced to choose between paying higher insurance premiums, or potentially paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to bridge the coverage gap. Many lower-income participants in Medicare are unable to afford either option."

Medicare Hold Harmless Provision: "A legal statement prohibiting an increase to Medicare B premiums for the vast majority of American citizens. The Medicare hold harmless provision ensures that Medicare B premiums cannot rise more than the previous year's cost of living increase in Social Security benefits."

Medicare Part B Premiums: "A monthly fee that Medicare participants pay for medical insurance to cover services not covered in Medicare Part A. By contrast, Medicare Part A, or hospital insurance, does not require most people to pay a premium."

Medicare Part D: "A prescription drug benefit program that was created through the U.S. Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. The "D" stands for "drugs". The program gives Medicare recipients these basic choices: stay in traditional Medicare without signing up for the prescription drug benefit outlined in the Act, stay in traditional Medicare and enroll in a Medicare drug plan, enroll in other Medicare plans, or enroll in a comprehensive private health plan (which may or may not cover prescription costs). The program began providing coverage for users on Jan 1, 2006."

Medicare Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI): "Health insurance sold by private insurance companies meant to top up an original Medicare plan. Medicare supplementary medical insurance, commonly known as Medigap, covers additional healthcare costs that may not be covered under the traditional Medicare plan, such as emergency room services and ambulatory surgical procedures."

Medicare Wages: "An employee's earnings that are subject to a U.S. payroll tax known as the "Medicare tax." Similar to the other U.S. payroll tax - Social Security - the Medicare tax is used to fund the government's Medicare program, which provides subsidized healthcare and hospital insurance benefits to retirees and the disabled. Medicare and Social Security taxes are levied on both employees and employers. "

Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI): "The amount of income that determines how much of an individual's IRA contribution is deductible. The modified adjusted gross income is found by taking the individual's adjusted gross income and adding back certain items such as foreign income, foreign-housing deductions, student-loan deductions, IRA-contribution deductions and deductions for higher-education costs."

Money-Purchase Pension Plan: "A pension plan to which employers and employees make contributions based on a percentage of annual earnings, in accordance with the terms of the plan. Upon retirement, the total pool of capital in the member's account can be used to purchase a lifetime annuity. The amount in each money-purchase plan member's account will differ from one member to the next, depending on the level of contributions and investment return earned on such contributions. 
Also known as a defined contribution plan."

Monthly Income Plan (MIP): "A type of investment vehicle that provides a specified monthly payment to the investor. This monthly payment is intended to be a stable form of income and is therefore typically suited for retired persons or senior citizens without other substantial sources of monthly income."

Municipal Investment Trust: "A type of unit investment trust (UIT) that invests solely in municipal securities. Municipal investment trusts allow individuals to invest in a diversified pool of municipal bonds, which passes through tax-free income. Municipal investment trusts are designed for higher-income investors seeking tax-free income."

Mutual Will: "A type of will, usually executed by a married or seriously committed couple, that is mutually binding. After one party dies, the remaining party is bound by the terms of the mutual will. The purpose is often to make sure property passes to one's children rather than to a new spouse. Because of state differences in contract law, a mutual will should be established with the help of a legal professional. 
Though the terms sound similar, a mutual will should not be confused with a joint will."

MyRA: "A new tax-advantaged retirement account introduced by President Barack Obama in January 2014 as a way for lower-income workers to save for retirement. Workers can open an account with as little as $25 and contribute as little as $5 per month, and employers will deduct their employees' contributions automatically from their paychecks. The maximum balance for a MyRA is $15,000."