The financial news that actually matters
Probate is the court process that settles a deceased person’s estate, and for a house held in one person’s name it can take months and generate legal and filing costs before an heir ever holds title. A transfer-on-death deed offers a way around that delay for the family home. Recorded while the owner is alive…
The mass data breach that swept through the MOVEit file-transfer software in 2023 has produced another payout, this one tied to Bank of America customer records. A class-action settlement now lets affected individuals claim a flat cash payment without documenting a loss, along with two years of identity-theft protection. The catch is a firm deadline…
Speed is the selling point of instant payment services, and it is also their central risk. A Zelle transfer or a bank wire moves money directly out of one account and into another with no middle step that can later pull it back. That design makes the transaction feel as final as counting bills into…
Bank failures are rare, but they have arrived at an unusually steady pace this year. Four federally insured banks have now closed and been placed under Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation receivership in 2026, already double the number recorded in all of 2025. For anyone who keeps a large balance parked in a single institution, each…
Social Security benefits carry strong protections against most creditors, and that leads many retirees to assume the monthly check is untouchable. It is not when the debt is owed to the federal government. The IRS has a standing tool to reach retirement benefits for unpaid taxes, and it can start reducing a check without ever…
Many people reach 65 assuming Medicare will cover the health costs that matter most, only to find three of the biggest ones sitting outside the program. Original Medicare pays for a wide range of medical care, but routine dental work, hearing aids, and long-term custodial care fall through gaps that have persisted for decades. Each…
As the fall Medicare enrollment season approaches, the guardrails around how plans and agents can sell to seniors have been loosened rather than tightened. A federal rule finalized this spring stripped out several of the procedural protections that governed Medicare sales meetings, and the changes take effect just before the annual window opens. The result…
The scale of the Medicare Advantage retreat came into focus with a single figure. Roughly 2.6 million enrollees lost their plan for 2026 as insurers withdrew from counties they had decided were no longer worth serving, about double the number pushed out a year earlier. The pullback has not run its course, either, with additional…
Charitable giving and mandatory retirement withdrawals usually sit in separate corners of a retiree’s finances. A provision in the tax code lets them do the same job at once, turning a required withdrawal that would otherwise raise taxable income into a gift that never touches the tax return. The mechanism is available to IRA owners…
The menu of investments allowed inside workplace retirement plans is set to widen, and the new options come with tradeoffs retirees will want to understand before embracing them. A presidential order has directed federal regulators to open 401(k) and similar plans to alternative assets such as private equity and cryptocurrency, investments long kept off most…