The financial news that actually matters
Covers retirement planning, Social Security benefits, pension systems, and long-term financial security. It helps readers understand how to prepare financially for retirement.
A retired school aide in Ohio. A former truck driver in Florida. A grandmother in Texas who co-signed a loan for a grandchild who never finished college. Across the country, millions of Americans over 55 are heading toward retirement with almost nothing saved, and a federal debt-collection mechanism that was dormant for years is now…
Fill up your tank this summer and you are, in a roundabout way, helping to set the size of next year’s Social Security raise. Federal inflation data through April 2026 points to a 3.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment for January 2027, which would add roughly $81 a month to the average retired-worker benefit and mark the…
For the first time in decades, the federal tax code includes a standalone deduction built specifically for Americans 65 and older, and it is worth up to $6,000 per qualifying filer. A married couple filing jointly where both spouses meet the age requirement can claim $12,000. The benefit was created by Section 70103 of the…
Millions of Social Security recipients woke up to their May deposits this morning, May 20, 2026, only to find that the raise Congress promised them in January is already underwater. If your birthday falls between the 11th and 20th of any month, today’s payment includes the 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment the Social Security Administration announced…
Somewhere between $81 and $87 a month. That’s the gap separating two early forecasts for the 2027 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. Based on the current average retired-worker benefit of about $2,081 per month, 3.9 percent yields roughly $81 per month and 4.2 percent yields roughly $87 per month. The variable driving the disagreement is one…
A rival plan to save Social Security would tax every dollar earned above $250,000 – closing most of the shortfall without cutting a single check Social Security’s clock is ticking. The program’s combined trust funds are on track to run dry by 2035, according to the 2024 Trustees Report, the most recent available projection as…
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…
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…