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.
Financial advisors have long warned that borrowing from a 401(k) to fund a home down payment can solve one money problem by creating a bigger one later. The move can look sensible when buyers are scrambling to assemble cash in an expensive housing market, especially if a retirement plan loan seems cheaper or easier than…
For millions of Generation X workers, retirement at 65 is starting to look less like a milestone and more like a luxury. Americans born roughly between 1965 and 1980 are slowly moving toward a Gen X retirement crisis. That is because they are approaching retirement age with too little saved, less access to traditional pensions…
Workers who want the biggest possible Social Security retirement check in 2026 need more than a high salary in a single year. To qualify for the maximum benefit, they generally must earn at or above Social Security’s taxable wage cap for about 35 years, because the program bases benefits on a worker’s 35 highest-earning years…
Social Security’s financing problem is no longer an abstract debate for future lawmakers. The latest official projections show the program moving closer to the point where it can no longer pay full scheduled benefits from its trust fund reserves, putting pressure on Congress to act before automatic cuts become the default outcome. The warning is…
Retirees who must take required minimum distributions from IRAs and 401(k) plans face a choice that rarely gets enough attention: withdraw the full amount in one shot or spread it across monthly payments. The timing decision does not change how much must come out of the account each year, but it can meaningfully shift the…
Retirees who finished their working years with substantial nest eggs often describe their success in less glamorous terms than many younger investors expect. They do not usually point to one life-changing stock pick, a perfectly timed trade, or an uncanny ability to spot the next market darling before everyone else. What they talk about instead…
A bipartisan Senate proposal is taking aim at one of the quieter barriers in the U.S. retirement system: the rule that still lets many workplace plans keep younger employees on the sidelines until age 21. The measure, called the Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act, would require many employers that offer 401(k) plans to…
Retirees who packed up for Sun Belt states expecting lower costs and year-round sunshine are increasingly reversing course, and federal migration data helps explain why. A U.S. Census Bureau report on older Americans’ moving patterns, designated P23-218, tracked net migration gains and losses by state for people aged 65 and older, revealing that several popular…
A 67-year-old retiree spending $6,500 a month faces a simple but uncomfortable math problem: Social Security was never designed to cover that entire bill. Federal data on both sides of the equation (what retirees spend and what benefits actually pay) show a gap that ranges from manageable to severe depending on earnings history and claiming…
Older Americans who claim Social Security before reaching full retirement age got a little more room to keep working in 2026 without triggering benefit withholding. The annual earnings test limit for beneficiaries who remain below full retirement age for the entire year rose to $24,480, up from $23,400 in 2025. That change may not sound…