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
IRA contribution limits rose to $7,500 for 2026, plus a $1,100 catch-up after 50
The 2026 IRA increase creates $8,600 of contribution room for someone at least 50 by year-end, but that room is shared across traditional and Roth...
Workers ages 60 to 63 can make an $11,250 retirement-plan catch-up contribution in 2026
A four-year window now allows many workplace-plan participants to add $11,250 beyond the regular 2026 deferral limit, creating the largest catch-up just before traditional retirement...
Interest on a qualifying new car loan can create a federal deduction up to $10,000
Federal law has reopened a deduction for personal vehicle interest, but only for a narrowly defined loan on a newly purchased, U.S.-assembled vehicle. The annual...
Qualified overtime can unlock a $12,500 deduction, or $25,000 for joint filers
The new overtime deduction is built around a surprisingly small slice of an overtime paycheck: the premium required by the Fair Labor Standards Act, not...
Workers can deduct up to $25,000 in qualified tips on 2026 federal returns
A new federal deduction can remove as much as $25,000 of qualifying tip income from taxable income for 2026, but it does not make every...
The 2026 standard deduction climbed to $16,100 single and $32,200 married filing jointly
The basic federal deduction rises again for 2026, sheltering a larger slice of income before tax rates apply. The change does not create a matching...
The IRS is automatically testing penalty relief for some taxpayers with clean filing histories
The IRS is moving a common penalty waiver from a taxpayer request to the return-processing system, using prior compliance as the eligibility test. The new...
Who qualifies for the new $6,000 senior tax deduction, and when does it phase out?
The new senior deduction can remove as much as $6,000 per eligible person from taxable income, but it is neither a $6,000 refund nor a...
The FTC is mailing 9,419 checks after a deceptive marketing case
The FTC’s Trend Deploy refund is unusual because affected buyers do not have to discover a settlement website and submit a claim. The agency is...
Maine is mailing $300 inflation checks, and eligible couples get two
Maine’s new affordability payment is built around people, not tax returns. The state is mailing $300 paper checks beginning in late July, and a married...
New Jersey mailed $220 million in Senior Freeze checks to more than 188,000 residents
New Jersey has mailed the first major wave of 2025 Senior Freeze reimbursements: more than $220 million split among over 188,000 older and disabled residents....
A new Social Security 2100 bill would raise checks and tax income above $400,000
Social Security 2100 is back with an unusually direct bargain: expand benefits, then collect more revenue from affluent households to help pay for them. The...
A bipartisan bill would force Congress to confront a projected 22% Social Security retirement cut
Congress has spent years debating Social Security’s financing gap without choosing how to close it. The bipartisan PROMISE Act takes aim at that stalemate rather...
Moffitt Cancer Center dropped Humana’s Medicare Advantage plans on July 1, leaving patients to switch coverage or pay out of network.
Cancer patients who relied on Moffitt Cancer Center through Humana Medicare Advantage plans lost in-network access to one of the country’s leading treatment facilities when...
Your heirs inherit your home and investments at their value on the day you die, erasing tax on a lifetime of gains.
Every year, families across the United States inherit homes, stock portfolios, and other assets with their tax basis quietly reset to fair market value on...
Maine is mailing $300 affordability checks this month to residents who filed a 2025 return and earn under the limit.
Hundreds of thousands of Maine residents will receive a one-time $300 check from the state this month, part of a relief program tied to the...