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.
Workers born in 1960 or later who file for Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 will receive a monthly check that is 30 percent smaller than what they would collect at their full retirement age of 67. That reduction is permanent, applies to every payment for the rest of the recipient’s life, and compounds…
The U.S. Department of Justice charged 455 defendants in connection with more than $6.5 billion in false health care claims, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services responded by suspending 1,079 providers and revoking billing privileges for 1,403 others. The 2026 National Health Care Fraud Takedown represents one of the largest coordinated enforcement actions…
Workers who borrow from their 401(k) plans in 2026 face an interest rate near 8 percent, a five-year repayment clock, and the risk that any unpaid balance converts into a fully taxable distribution. With the bank prime loan rate recently hovering around 7 percent and most plans pegging their loan rate at prime plus one…
Roughly 72 million Americans who depend on Social Security checks face a widening gap between competing forecasts for their 2027 cost-of-living adjustment. Estimates now range from 3.8 percent to 4.7 percent, a spread of nearly a full percentage point that translates into hundreds of dollars a year for a typical retiree. The disagreement traces back…
Workers who leave a job and take a 401(k) distribution as a paper check face a hard 60-day deadline to deposit those funds into an IRA or another eligible retirement plan. Miss that window, and the entire amount counts as taxable income, potentially triggering a 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty for anyone under 59 and a…
Workers nearing retirement hold more than 14 times as much in their 401(k) accounts as the youngest employees just entering the workforce. Baby boomers average $260,300 in their workplace retirement plans, while Gen Z workers hold roughly $18,000, according to Fidelity’s Q1 2026 Retirement Analysis released May 28, 2026. The gap reflects decades of compounding…
Workers between the ages of 60 and 63 can now set aside up to $11,250 in catch-up contributions to their 401(k) plans, a higher tier created by the SECURE 2.0 Act that took effect in 2025 and holds steady for 2026. That amount is 150% of the standard catch-up limit available to employees aged 50…
Workers saving for retirement watched their account balances shrink last quarter even as they funneled record amounts of money into their plans. The average 401(k) slipped 4% to $141,000, a decline driven by equity-market losses that overwhelmed historically strong contribution levels. At the same time, wages and salaries kept climbing across the U.S. economy, raising…
Single-income married couples can now set aside up to $7,500 in a spousal IRA for 2026, even when one partner earns nothing on their own. The IRS confirmed the higher limit through Notice 2025-67, part of a broader set of cost-of-living adjustments that also raised the 401(k) ceiling to $24,500. For households where one spouse…
Older workers just got more room to save for retirement. Starting in 2026, employees aged 50 and older can contribute an extra $8,000 in catch-up contributions to their 401(k) plans, up from $7,500 in 2025. Combined with a new base deferral limit of $24,500, that means eligible savers can set aside up to $32,500 next…