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 Medicaid-compliant annuity can turn a couple’s savings into income and shield the healthy spouse from a nursing-home spend-down
Married couples face a stark financial threat when one spouse needs nursing-home care: Medicaid’s spend-down rules can force the healthy partner to exhaust nearly all...
An FBI program has warned nearly 9,000 cryptocurrency-fraud victims mid-scam, heading off about $562 million in losses
Nearly 9,000 people across the United States were contacted by the FBI while they were actively losing money to cryptocurrency-investment fraud, and roughly three out...
People 60 and older lost $4.35 billion to cryptocurrency scams last year, more than a third of all such losses reported nationwide
Americans 60 and older lost $4.35 billion to cryptocurrency scams last year, accounting for more than a third of all such losses reported nationwide. Three...
The IRS lets you spread a big tax bill over months with an installment agreement, heading off a lien
Taxpayers facing a large IRS balance they cannot pay in full now have a clear, statute-backed path to break that bill into monthly chunks, and...
A spouse caring for your young or disabled child can draw a Social Security check without shrinking your own
Families with a stay-at-home parent caring for a young or disabled child can tap into a Social Security benefit that pays the caregiving spouse on...
Remarry and you usually lose any claim to an ex-spouse’s Social Security
Widows, widowers, and surviving divorced spouses who remarry before turning 60 generally forfeit their right to collect Social Security survivor benefits tied to a former...
The three months of inflation data that set Social Security’s 2027 raise just began, with the running estimate near 3.8%
About 67 million Social Security recipients are now watching a three-month inflation window that will determine their 2027 cost-of-living adjustment. The July 2026 Consumer Price...
Moffitt Cancer Center leaves Humana’s Medicare Advantage network this month, forcing its patients to switch plans or pay out of network
Cancer patients enrolled in Humana Medicare Advantage plans who receive treatment at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa face a forced choice this month: switch to...
Florida’s Save Our Homes cap limits a homesteaded senior’s assessment increase to 3% a year, shielding long-time owners
Long-time Florida homeowners who locked in their homestead exemption years ago pay property taxes on assessed values that can be a fraction of what their...
A Medicare Advantage plan’s doctor network can change every January, so last year’s physician may be out this year
Millions of Medicare Advantage enrollees face a recurring disruption each January: the doctor they saw all year may no longer be in their plan’s provider...
Employers can now steer your 401(k) match into a Roth, where it grows tax-free but counts as income the year you get it
Workers whose employers match their 401(k) contributions now face a new tax decision they did not have to think about before. Under Section 604 of...
Disney streaming subscribers can claim a $50 million settlement share by August 27
Subscribers to Disney’s streaming platforms face a hard deadline to file claims in a $50 million antitrust settlement tied to the case Biddle et al....
$19,000 is the most you can gift one person in 2026, tax-free
Anyone planning to write a large check to a child, grandchild, or friend in 2026 now has a firm number to work with: $19,000. That...
A disabled widow or widower can begin collecting Social Security survivor benefits as early as 50, years before the usual 60
A surviving spouse living with a disability can start collecting Social Security survivor benefits at age 50, a full decade before the standard eligibility age...
Over 20 burn-pit and Agent Orange illnesses now qualify veterans for disability pay without proving the cause
Veterans diagnosed with certain cancers, blood disorders, and chronic conditions tied to burn-pit smoke or Agent Orange can now receive disability compensation from the Department...
Social Security now blocks about 70,000 fraudulent attempts a year to reroute someone’s deposit, and it no longer takes bank changes by phone
The Social Security Administration now stops roughly 70,000 fraudulent attempts each year to reroute beneficiary payments to unauthorized bank accounts. The agency ended routine phone-based...