Tyler Foster
Latest Articles by Tyler Foster
SSI recipients get no deposit in August — the payment arrived July 31, and the next lands September 1
Millions of people who rely on Supplemental Security Income will look for a payment in August and find none arriving. The reason is a quirk...
A defensive-driving course can shave hundreds off a retiree’s car-insurance premium
Older drivers often watch their car-insurance premiums drift upward with age, yet one of the reliable ways to push the bill back down sits almost...
Many states bar utilities from shutting off heat or air conditioning in extreme weather, protecting seniors behind on the bill
In much of the country, a utility cannot legally cut off a household’s power during a dangerous heat wave or a hard winter freeze, even...
A federal program pays part of a low-income household’s summer cooling bill
As summer electric bills climb into triple digits across much of the country, a federal program stands ready to cover part of the tab for...
Homeowners 65 and older can cut hundreds off property taxes with a circuit-breaker rebate
Hundreds of dollars in property-tax relief slip past older homeowners every year, unclaimed by people who qualify for a “circuit breaker” and never file for...
No court or government agency will ever tell you to pay a bill or fine through a Bitcoin ATM
No legitimate court, tax agency, utility company, or police department accepts payment through a Bitcoin ATM. That single fact is worth more to a retiree’s...
Port-out scammers steal your phone number to intercept the codes guarding your bank
The money at stake in a phone-number takeover is roughly everything a bank account will let a thief move in a single afternoon. Criminals who...
A program called PACE blends Medicare and Medicaid to keep frail seniors at home instead of a nursing facility
When a parent grows frail enough to qualify for a nursing home, most families assume the facility is the only place that level of care...
A handful of states let you change Medigap plans each year around your birthday with no new health questions
For most people on Medicare, changing a Medigap policy after the first six months means answering health questions and risking a denial or a steep...
Losing a Medicare Advantage plan for 2027 opens a penalty-free window to switch
When a Medicare Advantage plan tells its members it will not renew for the coming year, the letter can read like a dead end. It...
Miss your Medicare Part B sign-up window and the late penalty can raise your premium for life
The penalty for signing up late for Medicare Part B is not a one-time fee that a person pays and forgets. It is a surcharge...
Medicare’s Part B premium could reach $209.50 in 2027, about $6.60 more a month
The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report projects that the standard Part B premium could rise to about $209.50 a month in 2027, roughly $6.60 more than...
Enroll in Medicare and you must stop funding a health savings account, or the IRS adds a tax penalty
A worker who keeps a job past 65 and stays on a high-deductible health plan often assumes the health savings account can keep filling up...
A retiree hit with a high Medicare premium after a one-time income spike can appeal it with Form SSA-44
Medicare bases its premium surcharges on a tax return that is nearly two years old, and for a newly retired household that lag can trigger...
Medicare’s QMB program bars doctors from billing enrolled seniors, yet many still get charged
A federal safeguard called the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program is built to make one thing impossible: a doctor, hospital, or pharmacy sending an enrolled beneficiary...
Medicare covers a yearly wellness visit at no cost, but it isn’t the full physical many expect
Medicare pays the full cost of a yearly wellness visit, with no copayment and no deductible for the beneficiary, which is one of the more...