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
Social Security now requires a second security step to log in online, and users who don’t set it up can be locked out of the account that guards their benefits
The Social Security Administration cut off its own username-and-password login system, and anyone who has not set up a second verification step through a third-party...
Bunching several years of donations into a donor-advised fund can push you over the standard deduction in one year
Millions of taxpayers who give a few thousand dollars to charity each year lost their ability to claim a federal deduction after the standard deduction...
An elderly Hawaii woman handed a courier nine gold bars worth $137,000 before scammers pushed her to drain $429,000 more, and one arrest followed
An elderly Hawaii woman handed nine gold bars worth $137,000 to a courier in Kaneohe after scammers posing as government officials directed her to liquidate...
Reinvested fund dividends raise your cost basis, cutting the tax when you sell
Investors who reinvest mutual fund and stock dividends instead of taking cash are quietly building a higher cost basis with every distribution, and that higher...
People swept into the Alta Resources data breach can claim up to $2,000, or $50 without proof, by August 17
People affected by the Alta Resources Corp. data breach have a narrow window to file claims worth up to $2,000 with documented losses or $50...
Retirees can collect Social Security in most countries abroad
Americans who retire overseas face a sharp dividing line: in most countries, their Social Security checks keep arriving without interruption, but in a smaller set...
A dependent parent can claim up to 82.5% of a late child’s Social Security
A parent who depended financially on an adult child can, after that child’s death, collect monthly Social Security benefits equal to 82.5 percent of the...
Front-load five years of gifts into a 529 at once, up to $95,000 per child, without owing gift tax
Parents and grandparents looking to accelerate college savings can deposit up to $95,000 per child into a 529 plan in a single year without triggering...
A brokerage account carries up to $500,000 in SIPC protection, beyond FDIC
Investors holding stocks, bonds, and cash in a brokerage account carry protection of up to $500,000 through the Securities Investor Protection Corporation if their broker-dealer...
The fix is free on more than 1 million recalled Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators that can catch fire, even parked in the driveway
Owners of more than a million Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators face a fire risk that does not require the engine to be running or the...
Past full retirement age, Social Security stops docking your check for earnings
Americans who keep working past full retirement age no longer lose a portion of their Social Security check to the earnings test, a protection signed...
Municipal bond interest escapes federal tax, and often state tax too
Investors in every income bracket who hold state or local government bonds benefit from a tax break written directly into federal law, one that can...
No government agency will ever tell you to move your money into a “safe account” to protect it, the FTC warns
Scammers posing as federal employees are draining bank accounts by telling people to move their money into a “safe account,” and the Federal Trade Commission...
An adult disabled before 22 can draw Social Security on a parent’s record for life
Families with an adult son or daughter who has lived with a disability since childhood often do not realize that federal law entitles that person...
CHAMPVA covers health care for a totally disabled veteran’s spouse and children
Families of veterans rated permanently and totally disabled from service-connected conditions can receive health care coverage through CHAMPVA, a Department of Veterans Affairs program authorized...
Veterans rated 100% disabled get VA health care with no premiums or copays
Veterans who hold a 100% service-connected disability rating pay nothing out of pocket for VA health care. No premiums, no copays for office visits, no...