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For workers who reached their 50s with a thinner retirement balance than they had hoped, the tax code offers a deliberate second wind. Beginning in the year a saver turns 50, the government allows extra contributions to workplace plans and individual retirement accounts on top of the normal annual limits. These “catch-up” contributions are designed…

Parents of a child with a disability often face a painful tradeoff when they think about an inheritance. Leaving money directly to a son or daughter who relies on Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid can accidentally push that person over strict asset limits and cut off the very benefits that pay for housing, health care,…

Leaving a job before age 65 opens a coverage gap that catches many workers off guard: the employer health plan usually ends, but Medicare has not started. A federal law known as COBRA lets a departing worker keep that same job-based plan for a stretch of time, which can be a lifeline for someone with…

A life insurance policy is often the largest single sum a family receives after a death, and how that money is treated by the tax code and the courts can matter as much as the amount itself. For most beneficiaries, the payout arrives with two quiet advantages: the federal government generally does not tax it…

Many older Americans skip the food-assistance program entirely, convinced their Social Security check puts them over the line. What they miss is that the benefit is not based on gross income alone. The federal SNAP program lets certain expenses be subtracted before the monthly benefit is set, and two of those deductions, one for high…

One of the strongest consumer protections in Medicare is also one of the least understood, and it saves the poorest enrollees real money every time they see a doctor. People enrolled in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program, known as QMB, have no legal obligation to pay the deductibles, coinsurance, and copays that Medicare normally leaves…

For families whose largest asset is the house, one long stay in a nursing home can threaten the inheritance they hoped to leave. An irrevocable trust is a well-known tool for shielding a home from those costs, but it comes with a clock that trips up people who wait too long. Medicaid looks back five…

When one spouse needs a nursing home and the other is still living independently, families often fear that qualifying for Medicaid means going broke first. That fear is out of date. A set of federal protections written in 1988 is designed to keep the healthy spouse from being pushed into poverty by the cost of…

Among the benefits older Americans most often leave on the table is a monthly payment aimed squarely at the widows and widowers of wartime veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs runs a needs-based Survivors Pension, and for those who need help getting through the day it adds a second layer, called Aid and Attendance, that…

One of the most expensive risks in retirement is also one of the least insured. Extended help with daily living, whether at home or in a facility, can run thousands of dollars a month, and many households assume Medicare will step in when the time comes. It will not. That gap leaves private long-term care…