Warren Cohen, Author at The Financial Wire

To claim the refundable part of the child, earned-income, adoption or college tax credits, filers would have to swear under penalty of perjury they are citizens or legal residents.

Warren Cohen5 days ago5 days ago011 mins

A tax-season formality could soon carry real legal weight for millions of families that claim the government’s largest refundable credits. Under a rule proposed by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service, anyone seeking the refundable portion of the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit, the adoption credit or the American Opportunity…

Beyond My Ken - CC BY-SA 4.0/Wiki Commons

A federal agency has stopped publishing consumer complaints about banks and lenders, removing a free tool people used to vet them.

Warren Cohen5 days ago6 days ago07 mins

For years, anyone weighing a bank, credit card, mortgage servicer, or debt collector could read what other customers had said about it, free of charge, on a public federal website. That window is closing. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced it will stop publishing the consumer complaint narratives and data visualizations that had let…

Laptop documents and finance with a senior couple busy on a budget review in the home together Accounting taxes or investment planning with a mature man and woman looking at insurance or savings

Medicare Savings Programs can cover a lower-income retiree’s Part B premium, yet many who qualify never apply.

Warren Cohen5 days ago6 days ago07 mins

For a retiree living on a tight fixed income, the standard Medicare Part B premium of about $202.90 a month is a meaningful chunk of a Social Security check. What many do not realize is that the government runs programs designed to pay that premium for people who qualify, and a large share of those…

Electric and gas rate hikes are reaching more than 100 million customers across 49 states, adding $40 or more a month in some.

Warren Cohen5 days ago6 days ago08 mins

Utility bills have quietly become one of the fastest-growing costs for American households, and the reach of the current wave of increases is striking. A running tally of electric and natural gas rate changes shows that the great majority of the country is now facing higher bills, with a large share of customers already paying…

Elderly couple and laptop with document for financial planning investment or paperwork for retirement Senior man woman and tech with budget for online banking account or savings in home

Retirement savings from old jobs often go unclaimed, and free federal databases can reunite workers with a forgotten 401(k) or pension.

Warren Cohen5 days ago6 days ago07 mins

Americans change jobs often, and a retirement account left behind at a former employer is easy to lose track of. A 401(k) started at a job held two decades ago, a small pension from a company that was later bought or shut down, a rollover that never got completed: any of these can sit unclaimed…

Young man buying groceries at the supermarket Other customers in background Consumerism concept

A new SNAP rule changes how utility costs are counted, and about 600,000 households will see smaller food benefits.

Warren Cohen5 days ago6 days ago09 mins

A quieter change to food assistance is set to shrink the monthly benefit for hundreds of thousands of households, and it has nothing to do with the widely reported work requirements. Instead, it changes the accounting behind how much help a family receives, by altering how utility costs are factored into a SNAP calculation. The…

Finance problem and couple with laptop with bills stress and internet banking issue in debt Home payment due and anxiety from mortgage tax audit or invoice with conversation about savings

Scammers are forging deeds to steal paid-off homes, and many owners only learn of it when a foreclosure or sale notice arrives.

Warren Cohen5 days ago6 days ago09 mins

A home that has been paid off is supposed to be the safest asset an older household owns, but a growing fraud is turning that security into a target. Criminals are forging deeds to record fake transfers of property ownership, then selling, mortgaging, or renting out homes that still belong to someone else. The cruelest…

Laptop senior couple and finance documents in home for budget savings or taxes in house Computer retirement and man and woman with paperwork for financial planning insurance or bills with coffee

Insurers quietly switching older roofs to depreciated cash value are cutting what longtime homeowners collect after a claim.

Warren Cohen6 days ago6 days ago07 mins

For a homeowner who has paid premiums faithfully for 20 or 30 years, the assumption is simple: if a storm wrecks the roof, insurance buys a new one. That assumption is quietly breaking down. Many carriers are shifting older roofs onto a settlement method that pays only the depreciated value of the aging shingles, not…

Customers caught in the Doxim data breach can claim up to $100, but the window closes October 13.

Warren Cohen6 days ago6 days ago09 mins

A data breach at a behind-the-scenes financial software vendor has produced a $5.5 million settlement, and the people whose personal information was exposed have until October 13, 2026, to claim a cash payment. Many of those affected are credit union members who never dealt with the company directly and may not realize their names, account…

a large amount of gold bars stacked on top of each other

A courier posing as a U.S. Marshal was arrested after collecting $137,000 in gold bars from an older woman and pressing her for $429,000 more.

Warren Cohen6 days ago6 days ago010 mins

Federal prosecutors in Hawaii say a single arrest in Honolulu has exposed the mechanics of a scam that has been quietly draining the life savings of older Americans across the country. According to the Justice Department, a 25-year-old man working as a courier picked up more than $137,000 in gold bars from an elderly woman…

Warren Cohen

To claim the refundable part of the child, earned-income, adoption or college tax credits, filers would have to swear under penalty of perjury they are citizens or legal residents.

A federal agency has stopped publishing consumer complaints about banks and lenders, removing a free tool people used to vet them.

Medicare Savings Programs can cover a lower-income retiree’s Part B premium, yet many who qualify never apply.

Electric and gas rate hikes are reaching more than 100 million customers across 49 states, adding $40 or more a month in some.

Retirement savings from old jobs often go unclaimed, and free federal databases can reunite workers with a forgotten 401(k) or pension.

A new SNAP rule changes how utility costs are counted, and about 600,000 households will see smaller food benefits.

Scammers are forging deeds to steal paid-off homes, and many owners only learn of it when a foreclosure or sale notice arrives.

Insurers quietly switching older roofs to depreciated cash value are cutting what longtime homeowners collect after a claim.

Customers caught in the Doxim data breach can claim up to $100, but the window closes October 13.

A courier posing as a U.S. Marshal was arrested after collecting $137,000 in gold bars from an older woman and pressing her for $429,000 more.

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