Retirement & Social Security Archives - Page 70 of 153

More insurers are pulling Medicare Advantage plans for 2027 after Medicare set just a 2.48% payment raise, and dropped members must switch by December 7

David Keller4 weeks ago4 weeks ago08 mins

Millions of older Americans choose a private Medicare Advantage plan for the extra benefits and low upfront premiums it advertises. For 2027, more of those plans are disappearing. Insurers are trimming and exiting Medicare Advantage markets after Medicare finalized a modest payment increase that many companies say falls short of their rising costs, and members…

Image Credit: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States - CC BY-SA 2.0/Wiki Commons

About 3.2 million retired teachers, police officers and firefighters are now owed bigger Social Security checks, plus back pay to 2024, after Congress repealed two benefit-cutting rules

David Keller4 weeks ago21 hours ago09 mins

For decades, many retired teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public workers watched their Social Security checks come in far smaller than they expected, or vanish entirely, because of two rules most people had never heard of. That changed with the Social Security Fairness Act. The law wiped out both rules, and it did so…

An inherited IRA usually must be emptied within 10 years or face penalties

David Keller4 weeks ago4 weeks ago09 mins

Inheriting an IRA used to come with decades to spread out withdrawals and the tax bill that comes with them. For most people who inherit one today, that flexibility is gone. Under the rule that took hold with the SECURE Act and was locked in by IRS final regulations, most beneficiaries who are not the…

Enroll in Medicare and you can no longer fund a health savings account

David Keller4 weeks ago4 weeks ago09 mins

Signing up for Medicare closes a door that many workers do not realize is open in the first place: the ability to keep putting pre-tax money into a health savings account. The rule catches people who work past 65 while covered by an employer’s high-deductible health plan, because Medicare’s enrollment rules can reach backward in…

The Saver’s Credit can hand lower-income workers back up to $1,000 for retirement contributions

David Keller4 weeks ago4 weeks ago08 mins

Millions of lower- and moderate-income workers who put money into a 401(k) or IRA are eligible for a federal tax credit worth up to $1,000 that goes largely unclaimed, either because filers don’t know it exists or assume tax credits like this are reserved for people with children or larger incomes. The Saver’s Credit, formally…

A six-month retroactive Social Security lump sum permanently lowers the monthly check that follows

David Keller4 weeks ago4 weeks ago010 mins

A one-time cash windfall from Social Security sounds like a pure bonus, but the fine print behind it makes the trade less obvious than it first appears. Retirees who wait past full retirement age to file can request up to six months of retroactive benefits in a single lump-sum payment — and in exchange, Social…

Take a 401(k) as a check instead of a rollover and lose 20% upfront

David Keller4 weeks ago4 weeks ago09 mins

A worker who leaves a job with money sitting in a 401(k) has choices to make, and one of the costliest mistakes is asking the plan to simply cut a check. The moment a retirement-plan balance is paid directly to the account holder instead of moving straight into another retirement account, the plan is required…

Sign up for Medicare Part B late and a lifelong penalty follows

David Keller4 weeks ago4 weeks ago09 mins

A seven-month window that opens around a 65th birthday determines what a retiree pays for Medicare Part B for the rest of their life. Miss it without a qualifying reason, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services adds a permanent surcharge to the monthly premium — not a one-time late fee, but an increase…

Medicare Savings Programs can cover your Part B premium if you qualify

David Keller4 weeks ago4 weeks ago09 mins

A monthly bill that many retirees assume is fixed — the Medicare Part B premium, deducted automatically from a Social Security check — is not fixed for everyone. A little-known set of state-run programs called Medicare Savings Programs can pay that premium entirely for enrollees who fall under certain income and asset limits, and in…

A charitable gift straight from your IRA after 70½ skips the tax

David Keller4 weeks ago4 weeks ago09 mins

An IRA owner who has reached 70½ has a tool available that most people never use: sending money straight from the IRA to a charity, rather than taking the distribution personally and writing a separate check. Done correctly, that gift is excluded from taxable income entirely, even though the same withdrawal taken as cash would…

Category: Retirement & Social Security

More insurers are pulling Medicare Advantage plans for 2027 after Medicare set just a 2.48% payment raise, and dropped members must switch by December 7

An inherited IRA usually must be emptied within 10 years or face penalties

Enroll in Medicare and you can no longer fund a health savings account

The Saver’s Credit can hand lower-income workers back up to $1,000 for retirement contributions

Take a 401(k) as a check instead of a rollover and lose 20% upfront

Sign up for Medicare Part B late and a lifelong penalty follows

Medicare Savings Programs can cover your Part B premium if you qualify

A charitable gift straight from your IRA after 70½ skips the tax

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