Retirement & Social Security Archives - Page 5 of 21

A 65-year-old couple will spend an average $373,000 in out-of-pocket medical costs over their retirement — and original Medicare doesn’t cover most long-term care or routine dental

David Keller1 week ago1 week ago015 mins

When Linda and Jim Kowalski retired in 2022, they figured Medicare would handle the heavy lifting on medical bills. Within two years, Jim needed daily help bathing and dressing after a stroke, and Linda learned that the three crowns her dentist recommended would run more than $4,500 out of pocket. Original Medicare covered neither. Their…

women's red button-up collared long-sleeved shirt

Medicare drug-price negotiations take effect on 10 major drugs in 2026 — saving patients an estimated $1.5 billion out of pocket this year on Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, and seven others

Warren Cohen1 week ago1 week ago013 mins

A Medicare patient filling a 30-day supply of Eliquis, the blood thinner prescribed to millions of Americans with atrial fibrillation, used to face a list price north of $500 a month. As of January 1, 2026, the federal government’s negotiated price for that same prescription is $231. That single reduction, applied across the roughly 3.7…

A stethoscope calculator and clipboard closeup

The 2025 Medicare Trustees Report just moved hospital trust-fund insolvency up to 2033 — triggering an automatic 11% cut to Part A payments and tighter coverage on inpatient stays

Warren Cohen1 week ago1 week ago012 mins

A year ago, the federal government told hospitals they had roughly 11 years before Medicare’s main payment account ran dry. That estimate just shrank to eight. The 2025 Medicare Trustees Report, released this spring, projects that the Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund will be depleted by 2033, three years sooner than the 2036 date published…

The IRS penalty for missing a required minimum distribution just dropped from 50% to 25% — and to 10% if corrected within two years of the missed deadline

Warren Cohen1 week ago1 week ago012 mins

Picture a 73-year-old retiree who spent a career saving diligently in a traditional IRA, only to learn that a single missed withdrawal triggered a penalty equal to half the amount she should have taken out. For decades, that was the reality: the IRS imposed a 50% excise tax on any required minimum distribution shortfall, one…

a large building with a flag on top of it

Rolling a 401(k) into a traditional IRA loses the federal lawsuit protection built into ERISA — IRA balances can be seized in most state bankruptcies, while 401(k)s generally can’t

Warren Cohen1 week ago1 week ago015 mins

A worker leaves a job, gets a glossy mailer from a brokerage, and rolls a $300,000 401(k) into a traditional IRA before the week is out. The new account may offer cheaper index funds and a slicker app. What it no longer offers is the federal creditor shield that Congress attached to workplace retirement plans…

Senior caucasian couple spending time at home together, sitting in kitchen, the man looking at paperwork and the woman holding a cup. isolating during coronavirus covid 19 quarantine lockdown.

Foreclosure or eviction is now the No. 1 reason workers drain retirement savings early — a record 6% of Vanguard’s 401(k) participants tapped hardship withdrawals in 2025

David Keller1 week ago1 week ago013 mins

For years, the most common reason a worker cracked open a 401(k) under hardship rules was a medical bill. That is no longer the case. Preventing a foreclosure or eviction has become the top qualifying emergency cited by participants in Vanguard’s retirement plans, according to the firm’s 2025 How America Saves report, which tracks roughly…

Parent PLUS borrowers have 34 days to consolidate — after June 30, they permanently lose access to every income-driven repayment plan

David Keller1 week ago1 week ago012 mins

As of May 27, 2026, Parent PLUS borrowers who have not yet consolidated their federal loans have roughly 34 days to file paperwork that will determine whether they can ever access income-driven repayment. After June 30, the door closes for good. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, eliminates…

US Congress and Capitol in Washington DC with cash and social security card to illustrate budget problems as a result of coronavirus

Senate Democrats just filed a bill to add $200 a month for six months to every Social Security, SSI, and veterans benefit check — $1,200 per person total

David Keller1 week ago1 week ago011 mins

A bill that would add $200 a month to every Social Security, SSI, and veterans benefit check for six months has been sitting in a Senate committee since last October, and as of early June 2026, not a single dollar has gone out the door. The Social Security Emergency Inflation Relief Act (S.3078), introduced by…

Senior man at workplace at electoral district

A bipartisan Senate bill would lock veterans’ disability and survivor benefits to the 2027 Social Security COLA — forecast at 3.9%, roughly $81 more a month

David Keller1 week ago1 week ago011 mins

For the past several years, Congress has made veterans wait. Each fall, as Social Security recipients learn their automatic cost-of-living adjustment, roughly 5.3 million veterans drawing disability compensation and hundreds of thousands of surviving military families have had to hope that lawmakers would pass a separate bill granting them the same inflation protection. Some years,…

Close up on senior couple while learning

The Social Security earnings test withholds $1 for every $2 earned above $23,400 in 2026 — quietly reducing checks for retirees who work and claim before full retirement age

David Keller1 week ago1 week ago012 mins

A 63-year-old retiree who claimed Social Security early and still works part-time earning $30,000 a year might assume both a paycheck and a full monthly benefit will land in the same bank account. In 2026, they will not get both. The Social Security Administration will withhold $2,760 of that retiree’s annual benefits, suspending entire monthly…

Category: Retirement & Social Security

A 65-year-old couple will spend an average $373,000 in out-of-pocket medical costs over their retirement — and original Medicare doesn’t cover most long-term care or routine dental

Medicare drug-price negotiations take effect on 10 major drugs in 2026 — saving patients an estimated $1.5 billion out of pocket this year on Eliquis, Jardiance, Xarelto, and seven others

The 2025 Medicare Trustees Report just moved hospital trust-fund insolvency up to 2033 — triggering an automatic 11% cut to Part A payments and tighter coverage on inpatient stays

The IRS penalty for missing a required minimum distribution just dropped from 50% to 25% — and to 10% if corrected within two years of the missed deadline

Foreclosure or eviction is now the No. 1 reason workers drain retirement savings early — a record 6% of Vanguard’s 401(k) participants tapped hardship withdrawals in 2025

Parent PLUS borrowers have 34 days to consolidate — after June 30, they permanently lose access to every income-driven repayment plan

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