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
A 13-member commission proposed by Tom Cole and Tom Suozzi would get one year to make Social Security solvent for 75 years
Thirteen people — eight picked by party leaders in the House and Senate, four chosen by the top Republicans and Democrats on the tax-writing committees,...
Treasury and the IRS want to cut off refundable child tax credit and earned income credit payments to non-citizens, with a hearing set for October 14
On August 19, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service proposed a rule that would treat the refunded share of four tax credits as...
Trump’s drug-pricing platform says it has saved patients $700 million, and weight-loss shots that once ran past $1,000 a month now start at $149
Prescription drug prices fell 3.1 percent over the twelve months ending in July 2026, the steepest annual drop the Bureau of Labor Statistics has recorded...
Six insurers are leaving the Obamacare marketplace for 2027, forcing about 650,000 people across a third of states to find new coverage
Six health insurers have confirmed they are leaving the Affordable Care Act marketplace for the 2027 plan year, a wave that will force roughly 650,000...
An inventory of every account spares heirs from losing track of money
When an account holder dies, the money in bank, brokerage and insurance accounts does not automatically find its way to the family. Heirs can only...
An irrevocable trust moves assets out of an estate to shield them from care costs
Medicaid pays for long-term nursing home care only after an applicant has spent down nearly all countable assets, and that spend-down is what can consume...
A step-up in basis erases the tax on a lifetime of gains when heirs inherit a home or investments
When someone inherits a house or a brokerage account, the tax code performs a quiet erasure. The asset’s cost basis — the figure used to...
A low-cost index fund’s tiny fee leaves far more in a retiree’s account than an active fund over time
Every mutual fund and exchange-traded fund charges an annual operating cost, expressed as a percentage of assets called the expense ratio, and it is deducted...
A bond ladder staggers maturities so a retiree never has to sell at a loss
A bond ladder answers a specific problem that surfaces whenever interest rates rise: a bond bought earlier at a lower rate loses market value, and...
Pulling a free credit report from all three bureaus each year catches errors that quietly raise borrowing costs
Federal law gives every consumer the right to one free credit report a year from each of the three nationwide bureaus — Equifax, Experian and...
A credit card’s grace period skips interest when you pay the full balance
The grace period is the single feature that lets a credit card be used without ever paying interest, yet it is widely misunderstood as automatic....
A Miller trust can qualify someone over a state’s Medicaid income limit for coverage
In a set of states known as income-cap states, an applicant whose monthly income sits even a few dollars above the Medicaid long-term-care limit can...
Long-term-care insurance bought earlier in life can spare a family from spending down savings for a nursing home
Long-term-care insurance is one of the few tools that can keep a nursing-home stay from draining a household’s savings, but it works on a narrow...
A veteran can restore full VA home-loan entitlement after a sale and buy again with no down payment
A veteran who sells a home financed with a VA-backed mortgage does not forfeit the zero-down benefit that made the first purchase possible. The Department...
The children of a permanently disabled or deceased veteran can get up to 36 months of education money through Chapter 35
A veteran does not have to survive military service, or even to have died, for a benefit to reach the next generation. Through the Survivors’...
Special monthly compensation adds VA money for severe losses like a limb or blindness
The Department of Veterans Affairs pays some disabled veterans extra money each month on top of their regular compensation when their injuries involve the most...
