The financial news that actually matters
A 52-year-old worker paying $1,800 a year for long-term care insurance just got a new way to cover that bill: pull the money straight from a 401(k), skip the usual 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty, and keep the policy in force. The catch is that the annual limit is $2,500, the withdrawal is still taxed as…
For the average retired worker, the 2026 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment adds roughly $56 a month to their check. That sounds like breathing room until you look at what Medicare is expected to take back. The 2025 Medicare Trustees Report projects the standard Part B premium will rise to $218.60 per month in 2027, a…
Right now, a married couple who both earned top wages and waited until 70 to claim Social Security can collect roughly $122,000 a year, based on the Social Security Administration’s published maximum monthly benefit of $5,108 at age 70 in 2025. Within seven years, that income could drop by nearly a quarter overnight, with no…
A $6,200 car repair bill is what finally broke the seal for one 38-year-old warehouse supervisor in Ohio. He had never touched his 401(k), but with $900 in checking and a credit card already near its limit, he filed a hardship withdrawal request on a Tuesday and had $8,000 pulled from his retirement account by…
Picture a 62-year-old warehouse supervisor in Ohio who, after 30 years of work, has $14,000 in a retirement account she opened just five years ago when her employer finally added a 401(k). Now picture a 35-year-old software engineer in Seattle whose balance just crossed $200,000. Both are real composites of the people behind the data,…
Somewhere in the United States, a 70-year-old retiree who earned top wages for 35 straight years is collecting a Social Security check north of $5,000 a month. That person exists, but statistically, you almost certainly are not that person. The average retiree deposits about $2,071 a month from Social Security, according to the Social Security…
For nearly 20 years, Medicare Advantage moved in only one direction: up. More seniors enrolled every fall, more insurers expanded into new counties, and the program’s share of total Medicare enrollment climbed past 50 percent. In 2026, that streak ends. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services projects that Medicare Advantage enrollment will fall to…
Turn 67 this month, file for Social Security, and the check that lands in your bank account will average about $2,071. That figure comes straight from the Social Security Administration’s 2026 COLA fact sheet. Now set it next to what a typical American in their late 60s actually spends: the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer…
Medicare Advantage has grown every single year for more than two decades. In 2026, that streak is expected to break. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services projects that total Medicare Advantage enrollment will slip from 34.9 million beneficiaries to roughly 34.0 million next year, a net loss of about 900,000 people. At the same…
Two numbers released in the spring of 2026 tell opposite stories about American finances. The first sounds like good news: the average 401(k) balance reached roughly $146,400, a record, according to Fidelity Investments, which manages more than 49 million workplace retirement accounts. The second number is harder to celebrate. The personal saving rate fell to…