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
Naming a charity as your IRA beneficiary passes the account free of income tax
A traditional IRA is unusual among inherited assets in that it arrives with a tax bill attached. The money inside was never taxed on the...
A surviving spouse can claim a partner’s unused federal estate-tax exemption through portability
When one spouse dies, the survivor can inherit not only the couple’s property but also whatever slice of the deceased partner’s federal estate-tax exemption went...
The IRS can pause collection when paying would leave you short on basic living costs
When a tax debt collides with the cost of rent, food, and utilities, the Internal Revenue Service has a formal way to stand down. It...
The IRS will settle some tax debts for less than owed through an Offer in Compromise
The Internal Revenue Service does accept less than the full balance on some tax debts, settling the account through a program called an Offer in...
Tariff refunds have grown so large that the duties turned into a net cost, yet little is reaching shoppers
The tariffs that added roughly $30 billion a month to federal coffers for a year have flipped into a drain on the Treasury, as refunds...
Wall Street is now leaning toward a Federal Reserve rate hike in September, and top CDs still pay close to 4%
Traders who spent the summer betting the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates have reversed course, and the futures market is now pricing in the...
The U.S. is readying a new 7.5% tariff on Chinese goods before a Trump-Xi summit, a cost that can reach store shelves
The next tariff aimed at China is being measured in single digits, not the triple-digit figures that defined earlier trade fights. The administration is preparing...
Medicaid’s new 80-hour work rule reaches 44 states on January 1, and millions must prove the hours or lose coverage
Starting January 1, Medicaid stops being an automatic benefit for millions of adults in 44 states and becomes a benefit that must be earned in...
New 50% U.S. tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian goods just took effect, raising costs on liquor, clothing and building materials
A 50% tariff wall went up on roughly $20 billion of Canadian imports at midnight, and the goods behind it read like a shopping list:...
Gifting an appreciated home to children can hand them a big capital-gains tax bill
A parent who signs the family home over to a child during life often believes it is the generous, tax-smart move. It can be the...
A living will and health proxy keep a family out of court if you can’t speak for yourself
A sudden stroke, a bad fall, or the slow arrival of dementia can leave an older person unable to say what care they want. When...
A brokerage account with a transfer-on-death registration skips probate for your investments
Stocks and mutual funds are among the assets most likely to get stuck in probate, and among the easiest to route around it. A brokerage...
Filing a beneficiary form on every account keeps money out of a slow, costly probate
A carefully drafted will can still send a family through months of probate court, but a one-page beneficiary form quietly sidesteps the whole process. Banks...
A free VITA program prepares taxes at no cost for lower-income and older filers
Paying a preparer to file a simple return can cost more than the refund is worth, and for many older and lower-income households that fee...
An old debt can pass its statute of limitations, but one payment can restart the clock
An old debt does not disappear because it is old, but its legal teeth can. Every state sets a statute of limitations — a window...
Retirees can dodge an underpayment penalty by using a quarterly \”safe harbor\”
An underpayment penalty is one of the easier tax charges to trigger in retirement, because income can jump in a year without any employer automatically...
