Daniel Harper
Daniel is a finance writer covering personal finance topics including budgeting, credit, and beginner investing. He began his career contributing to his Substack, where he covered consumer finance trends and practical money topics for everyday readers. Since then, he has written for a range of personal finance blogs and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, straightforward content that helps readers make more informed financial decisions.
Latest Articles by Daniel Harper
Low-income retirees can sell investments in the 0% capital-gains bracket and owe nothing
The federal tax code holds a bracket that surprises even longtime retirees: a 0% rate on long-term capital gains, and it isn’t a rounding trick...
The IRS is ending paper refund checks, so refunds now require a bank account
The Internal Revenue Service stopped issuing most individual paper refund checks after Sept. 30, 2025, carrying out Executive Order 14247’s mandate to move federal payments...
The saver’s credit can hand lower-income workers back up to half of what they save for retirement
A federal tax break already lets lower-income workers recover as much as half of what they put into a retirement account, yet it remains one...
Your first required retirement withdrawal can wait until April 1, but doubling up can spike taxes
The IRS lets savers postpone their very first required minimum distribution past age 73, pushing the deadline to April 1 of the following year instead...
Skip a required retirement withdrawal after 73 and the penalty can reach 25%
Retirees who miss a required withdrawal from a traditional IRA, 401(k) or similar retirement account face one of the tax code’s steepest automatic penalties: an...
After a Medicaid recipient dies, the state can bill the estate and claim the family home
Since 1993, federal law has required every state Medicaid program to recover certain costs from the estates of enrollees who received long-term care before they...
A health savings account can quietly become a tax-free retirement fund for medical bills
The IRS confirmed this year that someone with self-only coverage can contribute up to $4,400 to a health savings account in 2026, and $8,750 for...
The new tax law lets workers deduct tip and overtime pay, though the break shrinks at higher incomes
The tax law that took effect for 2025 does not erase federal income tax on tips and overtime pay, despite the “no tax on tips”...
Who qualifies for the new $6,000 senior deduction, and why it disappears once income tops $175,000
A new federal deduction worth up to $6,000 is now open to anyone 65 or older, but qualifying for the full amount depends on rules...
Taking more than $10,000 out of your bank triggers a federal report, and splitting it up is itself a crime
Withdraw or deposit more than $10,000 in cash at a bank in a single business day, and the bank does not ask permission first. It...
The government’s own estimate says 2.3 million people will lose Medicaid in 2027 under the new work rule
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services projects that its new Medicaid work requirement will strip coverage from about 2.3 million people in fiscal year...
Google is automatically paying 102 million app buyers through PayPal or Venmo, with no claim to file
A federal court in the Northern District of California granted final approval on April 30, 2026, to a $700 million settlement resolving a five-year antitrust...
The Federal Reserve meets September 15 as forecasters split on holding or hiking, keeping savings and CD rates in flux
The Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting, set for Sept. 15-16, has forecasters split between holding interest rates steady and raising them further — not between...
A restored federal rule set the overtime salary threshold back to $684 a week, so fewer salaried workers get time-and-a-half
The federal salary threshold that determines which salaried workers must be paid overtime is $684 a week, or $35,568 a year, according to the Department...
New Jersey has begun paying seniors up to $6,500 to offset property taxes under its Stay NJ program
New Jersey has started sending its latest round of Stay NJ property-tax payments to seniors, with benefits capped at $6,500 a year for the lowest-income...
A Casely power-bank recall follows a reported death, and owners can get a free replacement
Casely will send a free replacement power bank to owners of about 429,200 recalled MagSafe wireless chargers, an offer that has stayed open since mid-April...
