The financial news that actually matters
American grocery shoppers heading to the meat counter in 2026 face a widening gap between what they pay for beef and what they spend on the rest of their cart. Beef and veal prices are forecast to climb 5.5% this year, more than outpacing the 3.1% rise projected for overall food-at-home costs. That split, roughly…
Millions of long-term homeowners across the United States face a growing tax penalty when they sell, thanks to a capital-gains exclusion that Congress set in 1997 and has never adjusted. The exclusion caps tax-free profit at $250,000 for single filers and $500,000 for joint filers, thresholds that made sense when median home prices were a…
Retirees with unpaid federal tax debt could see up to 15% of their Social Security benefits withheld through a continuous IRS levy, a mechanism that applies even if the remaining check drops below $750. The Federal Payment Levy Program, run jointly by the IRS and the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, targets Social…
Millions of Americans age 65 and older filing their 2025 federal tax returns can now subtract an extra $6,000 from taxable income, a benefit that stacks on top of the existing standard deduction and the longstanding additional deduction for age. Signed into law in 2025 under P.L. 119-21, the provision runs through the 2028 tax…
Americans who separate from an employer at age 55 or older can pull money from that company’s 401(k) plan without paying the 10% early-withdrawal penalty that normally applies before age 59 and a half. The provision, rooted in federal tax code Section 72(t), is sometimes called the Rule of 55, and it applies only to…
Families with newborns and young children now have a new federal savings vehicle that pairs a one-time $1,000 government deposit with the option to add up to $5,000 per year in private contributions. The Treasury Department and IRS rolled out guidance through Notice 2025-68 and a draft version of Form 4547, spelling out how parents…
Retirees and inherited-account holders who fail to withdraw their full required minimum distribution from an IRA or qualified retirement plan by December 31 will owe the IRS an excise tax equal to 25 percent of the shortfall. That rate, cut from a prior 50 percent penalty under the SECURE 2.0 Act enacted in December 2022…
Americans born in 1960 or later who file for Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 permanently lose 30 percent of their monthly payment compared to waiting until their full retirement age of 67. That five-year gap translates to 60 months of early claiming, and the reduction follows them through every future cost-of-living adjustment for…
Workers across the United States are losing jobs to artificial intelligence at a pace that outstrips anything recorded in prior years, with employer announcements attributing roughly one in six domestic job cuts in 2025 to AI-related restructuring. The figure, drawn from private-sector trackers that compile public layoff statements, has put pressure on federal labor agencies…
Seniors searching online for Medicare plan options face a concrete risk: the first result they click may belong to a company that federal regulators have already caught faking government affiliation to harvest personal data. The FTC settled charges against two lead-generation firms, Assurance IQ and MediaAlpha, for $145 million after finding they ran false or…