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 teacher in Texas who spent 30 years in a classroom and a decade in private-sector jobs before that might have seen her Social Security check cut by hundreds of dollars a month. A former firefighter in Ohio collecting a state pension could have watched his spousal benefit disappear entirely. For decades, two federal…
The raise looked decent on paper. When the Social Security Administration locked in a 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment for 2026, the average retired worker stood to gain roughly $57 a month. Then Medicare took its cut. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services raised the standard Part B premium by $17.90 per month for 2026,…
Turn 67 in 2025, file for Social Security with a perfect earnings record, and the government will send you $4,018 a month. That is the absolute ceiling for a worker who earned at or above the taxable maximum for 35 straight years and claimed right at full retirement age. After a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment,…
Somewhere in the United States, a 70-year-old retiree who spent 35 years earning near the top of the pay scale and strategically delayed claiming Social Security is collecting roughly $5,200 a month. Under a proposal to cap individual benefits at $50,000 per year, that check would shrink by more than $12,000 annually. The idea comes…
Right now, a Medicare enrollee who fills a Wegovy prescription without supplemental coverage faces a list price north of $1,300 a month. Starting July 1, 2026, a new federal program will cap that cost at $50. The program is called the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will operate…
The first paychecks of 2026 delivered a jolt to millions of older workers who earn six figures. Take-home pay dropped, even though salaries stayed the same. The culprit: a new federal rule that forces higher-earning employees to make their 401(k) catch-up contributions on an after-tax Roth basis, wiping out an upfront tax deduction many had…
For the past three years, a 72-year-old Medicare beneficiary with obesity and heart disease has had two options when it comes to GLP-1 medications: pay roughly $1,350 a month out of pocket, or go without. Starting July 1, 2026, a third option arrives. Under a new federal program called the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge, qualifying seniors…
Walk into certain Social Security field offices without an appointment and you might wait well over two hours before sitting down with a staff member. At one office, the peak wait for a walk-in visitor hit 2 hours and 23 minutes, according to internal agency planning documents. That figure has been cited in federal oversight…
A 62-year-old worker earning $120,000 can now put up to $35,750 into a 401(k) in 2026. That is roughly $4,250 more than the same worker could have contributed last year, and it reflects the largest single-year expansion of late-career retirement saving capacity in more than a decade. The jump comes from two changes landing at…
A baby born on the Fourth of July last year already has $1,000 waiting in a savings account she has never seen. So does every other child born in the United States since that date. The money is real, it is federally funded, and starting July 4, 2026, parents will finally be able to access…