The financial news that actually matters
Millions of older Americans bought life insurance decades ago to protect a spouse or pay off a mortgage, then filed the policy away and rarely thought about it again. A newer generation of coverage asks that policy to do something term insurance never could: pay out while the insured is still living, to cover the…
Many older Americans hesitate to hand money to children or grandchildren because of a persistent fear: that a large gift will saddle someone with a tax bill. For the vast majority of families, that worry is misplaced. Federal law lets a person give a set amount to each recipient every single year — with no…
A retiree who has held the same stock or fund for decades often sits on a large paper gain — and a large tax bill waiting to be triggered the moment those shares are sold. There is a legal way to move that gain to someone who will owe far less on it, sometimes nothing…
A career can leave a trail of old jobs, and sometimes an old pension gets left behind with them. A company closes, merges, or ends its pension plan; an employee moves, changes their name, or simply forgets a benefit earned decades earlier. The money does not vanish. In many cases it sits waiting under a…
For a household on a fixed income, the winter heating bill and the summer cooling bill are the two months that break the budget. A retiree who can comfortably cover an electric or gas bill in April can be staring at a figure two or three times as large in January. Budget billing, offered by…
At farmers markets across the country, the tables of ripe tomatoes, peaches, and fresh greens can feel out of reach for an older shopper counting every dollar of a fixed income. A little-known federal benefit was built for exactly that gap. The Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program hands eligible low-income seniors coupons or checks they…
A federal recall of roughly 1.5 million rechargeable hand warmers has landed a popular cold-weather gadget on the government’s danger list, and the notice carries an unusually grim detail: one owner has died. The devices, sold under the OCOOPA brand, can overheat and catch fire because of the lithium-ion batteries packed inside them. For older…
Buying a home comes with a stack of fees at closing, and one of the least understood is title insurance. Unlike the policies that protect against a future fire or storm, title insurance guards against the past — a defect in the chain of ownership that already exists on the day of purchase but has…
Homeowners insurance renewals have been arriving with jarring numbers, as premiums climb across much of the country and some carriers quietly drop policies they no longer want. Many retirees simply pay the higher bill and move on, assuming loyalty earns a fair price. It usually does not. Insurers reprice risk constantly and rarely reward a…
Homeowners who have paid premiums faithfully for decades often assume their policy stands behind them for any disaster. Flood is the great exception. A standard homeowners policy does not pay for damage from rising water, and the gap tends to surface at the worst possible moment — after a storm surge or an overflowing creek…