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
Senate Democrats reintroduced the Social Security 2100 Act to lift 71 million checks by 2%, but it must clear the Senate
Congressional Democrats have again put a 2 percent across-the-board raise for Social Security on the table, reviving the long-running Social Security 2100 Act in the...
Bernie Sanders is moving to block a new garnishment that could take 15% of Social Security checks for old student loans
Decades-old student debt is once again reaching into retirees’ monthly Social Security checks, and Senator Bernie Sanders is moving to stop it. As the federal...
Skip direct deposit and the IRS can now freeze your tax refund for weeks under its new paper-check phase-out
The default way millions of retirees receive a tax refund is being switched off. Under Executive Order 14247, the IRS is phasing out paper refund...
Trump’s promised $2,000 tariff checks aren’t coming, and the Supreme Court wiped out the tariffs meant to pay for them
The $2,000 check that President Trump floated as a tariff dividend has no money behind it. On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court struck down...
Airlines must automatically refund cash for a canceled or badly delayed flight when you decline a rebooking
A canceled or badly delayed flight no longer forces travelers to fight for their money or settle for a voucher they never wanted. Under federal...
A VA program can pay a family caregiver to look after an aging veteran at home
Families caring for an aging or disabled veteran often absorb the cost quietly: a daughter cuts her hours, a spouse leaves a job, and the...
Your heirs inherit your home and investments at their date-of-death value, erasing tax on a lifetime of gains
An asset held for decades can carry an enormous embedded tax bill: the capital gains tax owed on all the appreciation since it was bought....
A transfer-on-death deed passes your home to heirs without probate, avoiding thousands in court costs
Probate can consume months and thousands of dollars in court and attorney fees before heirs ever take title to a house, and in some states...
Medicaid can bill your estate after death, but a surviving spouse or disabled child can block a claim on the home
A retiree who spends years on Medicaid-funded nursing care can leave heirs an unwelcome surprise: a bill from the state, sent after death, seeking repayment...
A free national database can uncover a deceased relative’s forgotten life-insurance payout
More than $10 billion in life insurance and annuity money has been reunited with families through a single free service since 2016, and the sums...
An overdraft fee is back near $27, but turning off debit overdraft can save it entirely
The typical overdraft fee is hovering right around $27, close to where it has sat for years, after a federal rule that would have capped...
Medicaid is cutting retroactive coverage from three months to two for seniors starting in 2027
A little-noticed provision in the 2025 federal budget law will shorten the safety net that protects seniors from crushing medical bills incurred just before they...
New food-stamp rules make adults 55 to 64 work 80 hours a month, though caregivers stay exempt
A change buried in last year’s sweeping budget law is now reaching people in their late 50s and early 60s who had never faced a...
A Senate bill would send $600-per-person tariff rebates, but it still hasn’t moved in Congress
Talk of tariff “rebate” or “dividend” checks has circulated for months, and a Senate proposal would put a concrete number on it: at least $600...
Wartime veterans and surviving spouses can qualify for an Aid and Attendance pension worth up to about $2,900 a month
The maximum Aid and Attendance pension for a married wartime veteran now reaches $34,488 a year, or about $2,874 a month, after a 2.8% cost-of-living...
Starting in 2027 the government will deposit up to $1,000 a year into low- and middle-income retirement accounts
A federal retirement perk that has existed only as a modest tax credit is about to turn into real cash landing directly in savings accounts....
