The financial news that actually matters
About 74 million Americans will receive Social Security payments in May 2026, with the first round of retirement deposits scheduled to hit bank accounts on Wednesday, May 13. The remaining two waves follow on May 20 and May 27, depending on the recipient’s date of birth. For retirees who maxed out their earnings over a…
A child born in the United States today will soon have something no previous generation of American newborns has had: a federally funded investment account with their name on it. While some city and state governments have created children’s savings programs in the past, this is the first such program established and funded at the…
Starting July 4, 2026, the federal government will begin funding investment accounts for every U.S.-citizen child born since January 1, 2025. Each account opens with a $1,000 deposit from the Treasury Department, and families can add up to $5,000 per year of their own money. The funds are invested in S&P 500 index funds. The…
Maria works split shifts at two small restaurants in Phoenix. She has no 401(k), no employer match, and no pension. Neither does the freelance graphic designer in Atlanta billing clients through three gig platforms, nor the home health aide in rural Ohio employed by a five-person agency. Bureau of Labor Statistics data from March 2023…
The first Social Security deposits of May 2026 hit bank accounts next week, starting a four-date disbursement cycle that will put money into the hands of 74 million Americans. Retirees, disabled workers, survivors, and Supplemental Security Income recipients will all see payments that include the 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment that kicked in this past January….
Somewhere between $55 and $79 a month. That is the gap separating the low end and high end of early forecasts for the 2027 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, and for the roughly 72 million Americans who depend on those checks, the difference is not abstract. It is a tank of gas, a week of groceries,…
President Donald Trump stood before Congress during his 2026 State of the Union and made a promise that sounded almost too generous: open a retirement account, save a little, and the federal government will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year. For the roughly 57 million American workers who lack access to an…
A worker who spent 35 years paying the maximum into Social Security and waited until age 70 to file currently collects roughly $58,500 a year. Under a plan from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, that annual payout would drop to about $50,000, and the ceiling would tighten further with every passing year. The…
Roughly 57 million American workers have no access to a 401(k) or any employer-sponsored retirement plan, according to estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For decades, most of them have been left out of the tax breaks that make saving for retirement easier. That is set to change in 2027, when the federal government…
Social Security’s three-Wednesday payment cycle rolls through May 2026 starting on May 13, delivering retirement checks to roughly 70 million Americans, including retirees, survivors, and disability beneficiaries. For a small slice of retirees who earned at or above the taxable maximum for 35-plus years and waited until age 70 to file, those deposits can reach…