The financial news that actually matters
Losing a spouse brings a wave of financial changes, and one of the least anticipated arrives at tax time. After the initial year, a surviving spouse frequently has to file as a single taxpayer, and that shift alone can raise the tax bill on income that has not changed at all. Understanding the timeline in…
A market yardstick that Warren Buffett popularized decades ago is flashing one of the most extreme readings in its history, and commentators have revived a warning he attached to it long ago. For retirees whose savings sit largely in stocks, the number is worth understanding, not because it predicts the next move, but because it…
The federal government’s latest accounting of fraud carries an uncomfortable message for people in and near retirement. Older Americans are not just losing money to scams; they are losing far more of it than younger adults, and the gap is wide. The figures come from the agency charged with tracking consumer fraud nationwide, and they…
Social Security is usually pictured as income for the worker who earned it, and perhaps for a spouse. But a retiree who still has young or dependent children can trigger a second set of monthly checks, payments made to the children themselves and drawn on the same earnings record. It is an easily overlooked benefit…
On a fixed income, the slow leaks in a budget can matter as much as the big-ticket expenses, because they repeat every single month and rarely draw attention to themselves. Two of the quietest are bank fees that come out automatically and savings that sit earning almost nothing while inflation chips away at their value….
For millions of Americans, a traditional company pension is the closest thing to a guaranteed paycheck for life. Those promises, though, depend on the employer and its pension fund staying solvent. When a plan runs out of money and shuts down, a federal backstop steps in to keep the checks coming, and for most retirees…
The order in which investment returns arrive can matter as much as the returns themselves. A retiree forced to sell stocks or funds during a market slump to cover living expenses locks in losses that a still-working investor could simply wait out. That single vulnerability — spending from a portfolio at the worst possible moment…
Handing money to children or grandchildren is one of the simplest ways older Americans pass on wealth while they are still around to see it enjoyed. Many hold back out of a vague fear of a “gift tax,” picturing a bill from the government in return for their generosity. In practice, ordinary family giving almost…
Financial exploitation of older adults often unfolds quietly, one transfer at a time, while the account holder insists everything is fine — sometimes because a scammer has convinced them it is. To give brokerages a way to intervene before the money is gone, regulators created a simple, free safeguard: the trusted contact person. Adding one…
A stroke, advancing dementia, or a sudden hospitalization can leave an older adult unable to pay bills, manage investments, or handle a bank account — often with little warning. When that happens, the question of who is legally allowed to step in becomes urgent. A durable financial power of attorney answers it in advance, and…