David Keller, Author at The Financial Wire

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Self-employed and gig workers have until this Monday, June 15, to pay second-quarter taxes before the IRS adds 6% interest, compounding daily

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago09 mins

Self-employed workers, freelancers, and gig economy earners face a hard deadline this Monday, June 15, to submit their second-quarter estimated tax payments. Missing that date triggers an underpayment interest charge set at 6%, compounding daily on any unpaid balance until it is paid in full. For workers without employer withholding, the penalty clock starts the…

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Summer cooling will average $778 this year, up 8.5%, with one in six households already behind on the electric bill

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago09 mins

American households face an average summer cooling bill of $778 this year, an 8.5 percent jump that lands as roughly one in six households already report falling behind on electric payments. The collision of rising retail electricity prices, hotter weather forecasts, and existing payment stress puts millions of family budgets on a direct path toward…

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SNAP rolls have shrunk by about 5 million people in a year as the new 80-hour-a-month work rule takes hold

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago09 mins

Roughly 5 million fewer people are receiving SNAP benefits compared to a year ago, a decline that accelerated after the federal government tightened enforcement of the 80-hour-a-month work rule for able-bodied adults without dependents. The contraction follows a USDA memorandum sent to state agencies in April 2025 directing stricter scrutiny of waiver requests, combined with…

Money put into a Roth IRA can be withdrawn anytime, tax- and penalty-free

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago09 mins

Savers who contribute to a Roth IRA hold a distinct advantage over those using traditional retirement accounts: the money they put in, which has already been taxed, can come back out at any time without triggering income tax or the 10% early-distribution penalty. That flexibility is built into federal tax regulations and confirmed by IRS…

A 30-year mortgage now averages 6.52%, about a third of a point cheaper than a year ago

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago09 mins

Homebuyers shopping for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage are paying an average of 6.52 percent, a drop of 32 basis points from the 6.84 percent recorded a year earlier. That decline, tracked through Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, has not translated into a rush of refinancing activity or a meaningful shift in housing affordability. The…

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This year’s 2.8% Social Security raise is largely offset by the $17.90 jump in the Medicare Part B premium

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago09 mins

Tens of millions of Social Security recipients will see a 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment in their checks starting January 2026, but much of that raise will never reach their wallets. The standard Medicare Part B premium is climbing $17.90 per month in the same period, rising from $185.00 to $202.90. For retirees who have Part…

Grocery prices rose 3.1% over the past year, with beef up 14.5% and coffee climbing nearly 20%

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago08 mins

American grocery shoppers are paying 3.1 percent more for food at home than they did a year ago, but two staples are rising far faster: beef and veal prices jumped 14.5 percent and coffee climbed nearly 20 percent over the same period, according to Consumer Price Index data the Bureau of Labor Statistics published on…

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Original Medicare now requires prior authorization for some procedures in six states under a new federal pilot

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago010 mins

Medicare beneficiaries in six states now need their doctors to get advance approval before certain procedures, a requirement that Original Medicare has largely avoided for decades. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction Model, known as WISeR, on January 1, 2026, introducing an AI-assisted prior authorization process in…

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The Social Security payroll tax now applies to the first $184,500 of wages in 2026

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago09 mins

Workers earning above $176,100 will see a bigger bite taken from their paychecks starting in January 2026, when the Social Security payroll tax begins applying to the first $184,500 of wages. The $8,400 increase in the taxable maximum, set by the Social Security Administration through its annual wage-index formula, means higher earners will pay up…

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Tens of millions of taxpayers can still reclaim IRS penalties paid from 2020 to 2023, but the paper-only Form 843 claim must be filed by July 10

David Keller4 months ago4 months ago09 mins

Taxpayers who paid failure-to-file or failure-to-pay penalties on returns from 2020 through 2023 face a hard deadline of July 10 to claim refunds, and the only way to do so is by mailing a paper Form 843 to the IRS. The National Taxpayer Advocate has warned that tens of millions of people may qualify for…

David Keller

Self-employed and gig workers have until this Monday, June 15, to pay second-quarter taxes before the IRS adds 6% interest, compounding daily

Summer cooling will average $778 this year, up 8.5%, with one in six households already behind on the electric bill

SNAP rolls have shrunk by about 5 million people in a year as the new 80-hour-a-month work rule takes hold

Money put into a Roth IRA can be withdrawn anytime, tax- and penalty-free

A 30-year mortgage now averages 6.52%, about a third of a point cheaper than a year ago

This year’s 2.8% Social Security raise is largely offset by the $17.90 jump in the Medicare Part B premium

Grocery prices rose 3.1% over the past year, with beef up 14.5% and coffee climbing nearly 20%

Original Medicare now requires prior authorization for some procedures in six states under a new federal pilot

The Social Security payroll tax now applies to the first $184,500 of wages in 2026

Tens of millions of taxpayers can still reclaim IRS penalties paid from 2020 to 2023, but the paper-only Form 843 claim must be filed by July 10

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