Tyler Foster
Latest Articles by Tyler Foster
SIPC coverage protects a brokerage account up to $500,000 if the firm fails
Five hundred thousand dollars is the number most investors associate with SIPC, but the Securities Investor Protection Corporation’s own guidance narrows that figure considerably: it...
COBRA can keep employer health coverage for up to 18 months after leaving a job
Eighteen months is the federal floor most workers picture when they hear the word COBRA, and the Department of Labor confirms that figure applies to...
Medicare’s General Enrollment Period runs January through March for those who missed sign-up
Every January 1 through March 31, Medicare opens a narrow, once-a-year door for people who missed their chance to sign up for Part A or...
Medicare Part A is premium-free with 40 work credits; those short of that pay a monthly premium
Roughly ten years of qualifying work stands between a Medicare Part A premium of zero and a monthly bill that can run several hundred dollars...
A disabled adult child can collect on a parent’s Social Security record for life
Most Social Security dependent benefits for children have a hard stop: they end at 18, or 19 for a full-time high school student. One category...
A retiree’s minor child can draw a monthly Social Security benefit on the parent’s record
When a worker starts collecting Social Security retirement benefits, the payment isn’t necessarily limited to that one person. Under the program’s Family benefits rules, an...
Homeowners can appeal an assessment to cut a property-tax bill that outran the home’s value
More than 40% of properties in the United States are assessed high enough that a formal challenge could shave $100 or more off the annual...
Many states let older homeowners defer property taxes until the home is sold
A homeowner on a fixed income who sees their property tax bill climb faster than their Social Security check has an option that many people...
A my Social Security account guards against a scammer diverting your benefits
A free my Social Security account closes off a specific fraud pattern the Social Security Administration has warned about for years: an identity thief who...
A bank must give provisional credit for a disputed debit charge within about 10 business days
Federal banking rules do not give a bank unlimited time to sit on a customer’s money while it investigates a disputed debit-card charge. Once a...
A fraud alert placed with one credit bureau automatically covers all three
Placing a fraud alert with any one of the three national credit bureaus sets off a legal notification requirement that automatically covers the other two,...
Freezing your credit is free at all three bureaus and blocks a thief from opening accounts in your name
A federal law that took effect in September 2018 made it free, nationwide, to freeze a credit report at each of the three major credit...
Opting out of debit-card overdraft coverage stops a bank from charging about $35 when a purchase overdraws
A federal rule requires a bank to get a customer’s explicit opt-in before it can charge an overdraft fee on a debit-card purchase or ATM...
Home sellers are cutting prices at the fastest pace of 2026 as demand cools and rates near a one-year high
Home sellers cut asking prices on 20.4% of active listings in August, according to Realtor.com’s latest housing report, the highest monthly share so far in...
Credit-card interest rates are stuck near 22%, the most expensive consumer-debt cycle on record
The interest rate on credit card balances that actually accrue a monthly finance charge averaged 22.15% in the second quarter of 2026, according to the...
A retiree past full retirement age can claim up to six months of Social Security in one back payment
A worker who waits past full retirement age to file for Social Security retirement benefits doesn’t have to choose between filing today or losing the...
