Personal Finance and Investing

I am on early retirement at 62 Social Security. Being on BadgerCare (Medicaid in Wisconsin) my out of pocket health care cost is $12/year.
No cost for an annual physical and labs and 3 prescriptions, 4 times a year. If I were at where I am now when I am eligible for Medicare I would be a Qualified Medicare Beneficiary and what Medicare doesn't cover, BadgerCare will. The bottom line is that rolling over the pension will blow the asset level for Badgercare now and for QMB when I get Medicare. Taking the pension puts me above the income level.

With a lump sum payoff I would pay taxes, there's no way around that but I could use the money immediately for much needed things now and then be back to only having my SS as monthly income and with an asset level of under $2000. The company is Bimbo (queue the laugh) Bakeries which is the largest bakery in the U.S. (they bought Sara Lee which is who I worked for) so I reckon they would be around for the pension--they just would like to get rid of as many of us who are liabilities for them as they can.