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.
Tens of millions of Social Security recipients could see their monthly checks jump by the largest amount in years if current inflation trends hold through the summer. Forecasters tracking the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, the specific price gauge that determines annual benefit adjustments, now project the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment…
People searching online for Medicare enrollment or health insurance quotes are landing on sites designed to harvest their personal data, and federal regulators are treating the problem as an industry-wide pattern rather than a string of one-off scams. The Federal Trade Commission sent warning letters to healthcare plan marketers and lead generators in December 2024…
Fraudsters who break into a beneficiary’s my Social Security account can swap the direct deposit routing in minutes, sending monthly payments to bank accounts they control. Between January 2013 and May 2018, $33.5 million in Social Security benefits was successfully redirected from 20,878 beneficiaries through unauthorized online changes, while another $23.9 million was caught and…
Medicare beneficiaries who end up in the hospital for longer than 60 days in a single benefit period face a sharp financial cliff: a daily coinsurance charge of $434 starting on day 61, with no annual cap on total out-of-pocket spending under Original Medicare. For patients battling serious illness or recovering from major surgery, that…
Retirees who shift traditional IRA balances into Roth accounts during a year when their income drops can permanently shrink the tax bill on those savings. The strategy hinges on a simple timing advantage: Roth IRAs carry no required minimum distributions, so every dollar converted escapes the forced taxable withdrawals that traditional accounts eventually demand. Converting…
People turning 60, 61, 62, or 63 this year can put as much as $11,250 in additional catch-up contributions into their 401(k) plans, according to IRS limits for 2026. That figure replaces the standard $8,000 catch-up cap that applies to workers aged 50 and older, giving those in the narrow four-year window a 40 percent…
Retirees with unpaid federal tax debt could see up to 15% of their Social Security benefits withheld through a continuous IRS levy, a mechanism that applies even if the remaining check drops below $750. The Federal Payment Levy Program, run jointly by the IRS and the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, targets Social…
Millions of Americans with Roth IRAs can access the money they contributed at any point, without owing taxes or facing early-withdrawal penalties. That access applies regardless of age or how long the account has been open, a distinction that separates Roth contributions from nearly every other tax-advantaged retirement vehicle. The rule, grounded in IRS ordering…
Medicare beneficiaries face another premium increase next year. The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report, published by the Boards of Trustees and the CMS Office of the Actuary, projects the standard Part B monthly premium will rise from $202.90 in 2026 to $209.50 in 2027 under intermediate assumptions. That $6.60 monthly jump, drawn from Table V.E2 of…
Retirees carrying past-due federal debts such as defaulted student loans face a renewed threat to their monthly Social Security checks, but a longstanding federal rule shields the first $750 of each payment from collection. The protection means the smallest benefits will pass through untouched, while retirees receiving slightly more than $750 a month stand to…