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The Money Overview

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Tyler Foster

Latest Articles by Tyler Foster

Social Security & Medicare

Reach full retirement age and you can suspend Social Security to grow each future check 8% a year, up to age 70

Americans who have already filed for Social Security retirement benefits but no longer need the monthly check can hit pause and watch their future payments...

Insurance & Protection

Replacement-cost home insurance rebuilds at today’s prices, not a depreciated value

Homeowners who suffer a total loss from fire or storm face a sharp financial divide based on a single policy detail: whether their coverage pays...

Insurance & Protection

Many life-insurance policies let a terminally ill policyholder draw cash from the death benefit while still alive

A terminally ill policyholder facing mounting medical bills and lost income can often tap cash from the same life-insurance policy that was supposed to pay...

Tax Changes & Deadlines

Owe the IRS $50,000 or less? You can set up a monthly payment plan online in minutes

Taxpayers who owe the IRS $50,000 or less in combined tax, penalties, and interest can skip the paperwork and set up a monthly installment agreement...

Budgeting & Saving

4.26% is what Series I savings bonds pay through October, adjusting with inflation

The U.S. Bureau of the Fiscal Service announced that Series I savings bonds purchased from May 1 through October 31, 2026, will earn a 4.26%...

Insurance & Protection

Many veterans can get VA health care with no monthly premium and low or no copays, depending on income and service

Veterans across the United States can enroll in VA health care without paying a monthly premium, but what they owe in copays, if anything, depends...

Social Security & Medicare

Every state offers free SHIP counseling to help you choose Medicare coverage

Medicare beneficiaries across the country can access free, one-on-one counseling to sort through their coverage options, thanks to a federally funded network that operates in...

Insurance & Protection

Nonprofit hospitals are required by law to offer charity care, and many will wipe out bills for patients under set income limits

Patients earning below certain income limits can have their entire hospital bill erased, not as a favor, but because federal and state laws require nonprofit...

Fraud & Scams

Signing up for free USPS Informed Delivery shows you photos of incoming mail so you can spot a stolen check or card

Federal prosecutors charged three Philadelphia-area men for allegedly stealing checks from USPS collection boxes and washing them for redeposit, while the FBI warned that mail-theft...

Social Security & Medicare

$750 a month is the most the government must leave you, no matter how much of a Social Security check it garnishes for old student loans

Retirees with defaulted federal student loans can lose a share of their Social Security benefits every month, but the government must leave them with at...

Tax Changes & Deadlines

A widow or widower raising a child can keep filing at the lower married-couple tax rates for two years after a spouse dies

Families who lose a spouse while still raising children face an immediate financial blow, but federal tax law offers a specific cushion: a surviving parent...

Bank Accounts & Fees

A payable-on-death beneficiary on a bank account skips probate entirely

When a bank account holder dies with a payable-on-death designation in place, the named beneficiary can walk into the branch with a death certificate and...

Social Security & Medicare

Anyone in Extra Help pays no more than $12.65 per covered prescription in 2026

Low-income Medicare beneficiaries who qualify for Extra Help will pay no more than $12.65 for each covered brand-name prescription in 2026, a cost cap that...

Insurance & Protection

$2,874 a month, tax-free, can go to wartime veterans who need daily help

Wartime veterans who cannot dress themselves, stay clean, or avoid daily hazards without help can receive up to $2,874 a month in tax-free pension payments...

Economy & The Fed

The Fed left interest rates at 3.5% to 3.75%, and 9 of its 17 officials now expect a hike this year rather than a cut

Nine of the Federal Reserve’s 17 officials now project at least one interest rate increase before the end of 2026, a sharp turn from earlier...

Tax Changes & Deadlines

Many states let homeowners 65 and older freeze their property taxes

Senior homeowners on fixed incomes across the United States face a growing squeeze as assessed property values climb, but programs in Tennessee, Oregon, Missouri, Pennsylvania,...

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