Tyler Foster
Latest Articles by Tyler Foster
In the year you retire, a monthly earnings test lets you collect a full Social Security check even after a high-earning start
A worker who earns $37,000 in the first half of 2026 and stops working might assume Social Security will withhold every remaining check, since the...
Social Security’s special minimum benefit lifts checks for long, low-wage careers
For a shrinking group of retirees who spent decades in low-paying jobs, Social Security has built in a backstop most beneficiaries never hear about: the...
Higher-income retirees pay an extra Medicare drug-plan surcharge set by their tax return from two years earlier
Fewer than one in ten Medicare beneficiaries pays more for prescription drug coverage than the sticker price listed by their plan, but for that minority...
A special Medicare plan for people on both Medicare and Medicaid can wipe out most out-of-pocket costs
Federal law makes it illegal for a doctor’s office, hospital or pharmacy to bill certain Medicare patients for anything at all, yet regulators keep issuing...
Medicare’s telehealth coverage is not ending September 30 — the rules are funded through 2027
A September 30 deadline has been circulating among Medicare beneficiaries as the day telehealth coverage disappears, but that date has nothing to do with virtual...
Fake security-alert scams are draining older Americans’ life savings, with reports of $100,000-plus losses up nearly sevenfold since 2020
Reports of business and government impersonation scams costing older Americans more than $100,000 apiece climbed nearly sevenfold between 2020 and 2024, according to a federal...
State officials are warning that “tariff rebate” texts promising a $2,000 check are a scam, because no such payment has been approved
State officials in Idaho are warning residents that text messages promising a $2,000 “tariff rebate” check are fraudulent, timed to exploit real political chatter about...
A bill would let disabled workers collect Social Security during the five-month wait that now leaves them with no check
A bipartisan bill introduced in both chambers of Congress this year would let Social Security Disability Insurance recipients start collecting benefits immediately after approval, instead...
Medicare will post the full 2027 plan prices in mid-to-late September, the first real chance to compare next year’s costs before open enrollment
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will publish the complete slate of 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D plan prices in mid-to-late September, the...
The letter that spells out your 2027 Medicare changes lands by September 30, and ignoring it can lock you into a costlier plan
One envelope lands in every Medicare Advantage and Part D enrollee’s mailbox no later than September 30, and what it says determines whether 2027 coverage...
Comcast is paying Xfinity customers up to $10,000 over a data breach, or a flat $50 with no receipts, if they claim by September 14
Comcast will pay eligible Xfinity customers as much as $10,000 apiece, or a no-paperwork $50 flat rate, after a federal judge approved a $117.5 million...
A Medicare drug plan’s formulary can change each January, dropping a covered medication
Every Medicare Part D plan maintains its own formulary — the specific list of drugs it covers — and that list is not fixed for...
A dependent parent can qualify for a Social Security benefit on a worker’s record
Social Security’s survivor benefits are widely understood to cover a worker’s spouse and minor children, but a third, far less publicized category exists: a dependent...
A senior property-tax exemption can trim a homeowner’s yearly bill
Property taxes are the one major homeownership cost that rises automatically with a home’s assessed value, regardless of whether the owner’s income has kept pace,...
Budget billing spreads a household’s seasonal energy costs evenly across the year
A household’s electric or gas bill can swing by hundreds of dollars between a mild spring month and a peak summer or winter one, even...
Many older Americans qualify for SNAP food aid but never apply
A retired household living on Social Security, a small pension, or disability payments often assumes it earns too much, or has too much saved, to...
