Tyler Foster
Latest Articles by Tyler Foster
Applying for SSI can also open the door to state supplements and automatic Medicaid
A single application for Supplemental Security Income does more than establish a monthly federal payment. In most states, that same application functions as a Medicaid...
SSI’s asset limit can end a low-income senior’s monthly federal check once savings top the cap
Supplemental Security Income exists for people with limited income and limited savings, and the Social Security Administration enforces the second half of that test just...
Medicaid’s estate recovery can be waived when repaying would cause an heir real hardship
Medicaid is not free once its recipient dies. States are required by federal law to try to recover what they paid for a deceased enrollee’s...
A community-spouse allowance lets the healthy spouse keep income and assets when the other needs a nursing home
When one spouse needs nursing-home-level care and applies for Medicaid to pay for it, federal law does not force the other spouse to spend down...
A transfer-on-death registration passes a brokerage account to heirs without probate
A transfer-on-death registration is a one-line addition to a brokerage account that does something a will alone cannot: it moves the stocks, bonds, and funds...
Recasting a mortgage lowers the monthly payment without a full refinance
A homeowner sitting on a lump sum of cash and a mortgage payment they’d like smaller doesn’t have to choose between refinancing, with its new...
Homeowners can drop private mortgage insurance once their equity reaches 20%
Private mortgage insurance is one of the few recurring costs on a mortgage statement with a built-in expiration date, and federal law gives homeowners two...
A homestead exemption shields part of a home’s value from creditors and can cut property tax
The phrase “homestead exemption” quietly covers two separate legal protections that happen to share a name and a common purpose: keeping more of a primary...
A lady bird deed keeps a home out of probate while the owner keeps full control
A homeowner who wants a house to pass to an heir without a court proceeding, but doesn’t want to give up any say over that...
A SIM-swap scam hijacks a phone number to break into a bank or brokerage account
A phone that suddenly loses all service, no calls, no texts, no data, can be the first sign that a scammer has just taken over...
A verbal password on a bank account can block a scammer who spoofs the bank’s number
Caller ID showing a bank’s real name and number no longer proves a call is genuine, because scammers can fake, or “spoof,” that same information...
Open enrollment for 2027 marketplace coverage starts November 1, and skipping it can forfeit any subsidy
Open enrollment for 2027 Affordable Care Act marketplace coverage begins November 1 and runs through January 15, and anyone who lets the window close without...
The July jobs report showed the economy shed 23,000 jobs, with prior months revised down 103,000
The U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, and the government simultaneously erased another 103,000 jobs it had already counted for May and June, the...
Medicare covers part of outpatient mental-health therapy visits
Depression and anxiety don’t retire when a person turns 65, and Medicare’s coverage for outpatient mental health treatment is broader than many beneficiaries assume, extending...
Medicare’s Part D now covers shingles and other adult vaccines at no cost
For years, the shingles vaccine sat in an awkward gap in Medicare coverage: recommended for nearly everyone over 50, but priced high enough out of...
Medigap plans are standardized by letter, so identical coverage can cost wildly different premiums
Two people can buy a Medicare Supplement Insurance policy carrying the exact same letter, from two different insurance companies, and pay premiums that differ by...
