The financial news that actually matters
Workers who spent a career accumulating their employer’s stock inside a 401(k) face a tax decision most retirees never encounter. A provision called net unrealized appreciation lets that company stock leave the plan and have most of its value taxed at long-term capital-gains rates — which are lower than the ordinary-income rates that otherwise apply…
Divorce ends a marriage, but it does not automatically end a person’s claim on a former spouse’s Social Security record. A surviving divorced spouse whose marriage lasted at least 10 years can collect survivor benefits after the ex-spouse dies, a rule that surprises many people who assume the split severed every financial tie. For an…
Most savers learn early that pulling money out of a 401(k) before age 59½ triggers a 10% penalty on top of ordinary income tax, a deterrent that keeps retirement accounts locked up. Fewer know about the exception that can unlock that money years sooner. Under a provision often called the rule of 55, a worker…
Losing a spouse rarely comes with a manual for the money that follows, and one of the most valuable rules in the Social Security system is also one of the least understood. A surviving spouse is generally entitled to two different benefits that do not have to be claimed at the same time: a survivor…
Signing up for a Medicare Advantage plan trades the wide-open access of Original Medicare for a managed network, and one feature of that trade routinely catches retirees off guard: prior authorization. In most Advantage plans, a doctor cannot simply order a scan, a hospital stay, a rehab admission, or a costly drug and expect the…
A retiree who assumes Medicare simply comes along on an overseas trip is set up for one of the most expensive surprises in the program. With only a narrow set of exceptions, Original Medicare stops at the border of the United States, leaving a traveler who falls ill or is injured abroad to cover the…
For a retiree splitting a fixed income among rent, groceries, and a shelf of prescriptions, the cost of Medicare drug coverage can be the line item that never quite fits. A federal program can erase most of it, covering the monthly premium, the deductible, and much of the price at the pharmacy counter for people…
Homeowners bracing for another jump in their insurance bill are likely to get one. Industry projections put the average U.S. home insurance premium on track to rise about 4% in 2026, reaching roughly $3,057 a year, the fifth straight year of increases. In California, where wildfire losses have gutted the market, the projected increase is…
Millions of borrowers who were parked in the Biden-era SAVE repayment plan are now on a countdown clock. After federal courts struck the plan down, the U.S. Department of Education began notifying enrollees in July that they have 90 days to move to a legal repayment plan, or be switched automatically into one that can…
A push that began in the White House is reshaping what can sit inside a workplace retirement account. An executive order signed in August 2025, followed by a string of actions at the U.S. Department of Labor, is clearing the way for 401(k) plans to offer private equity, real estate and cryptocurrency — asset classes…