Tyler Foster
Latest Articles by Tyler Foster
A free credit freeze blocks scammers from opening new accounts in your name
A credit freeze is one of the few fraud defenses that is both free and close to airtight, and federal regulators single it out as...
Debit-card fraud can empty your account, while a credit card caps your loss at $50
Two plastic cards can sit in the same wallet and carry wildly different protection when they fall into the wrong hands. Federal law caps a...
Months after the first checks, AT&T’s data-throttling refunds are reaching holdouts through Zelle
Former AT&T customers who never collected an earlier refund are getting another chance, this time by direct deposit. The Federal Trade Commission is sending payments...
Electricity prices are near record highs around 18 cents a kilowatt-hour, straining fixed incomes
Residential electricity is on track to average about 18 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2026, according to federal forecasters, near the highest level on record and...
Mortgage rates near 6.65% are sitting close to a one-year high, squeezing retirees who hoped to downsize
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage stood at 6.65% in the week of August 20, 2026, down two basis points from the prior...
A federal audit found $106 million in dead beneficiaries’ Social Security overpayments never recovered, and estates can be billed
A Social Security Administration inspector general audit released on August 12, 2026, concluded the agency could still recover an estimated $106 million in benefits that...
You need 40 credits — about 10 years of work — to draw Social Security retirement
The number that decides whether an American can ever collect Social Security on their own record is not an age — it is 40. That...
Original Medicare covers 80% of a doctor’s bill, leaving you the other 20% without Medigap
The 80/20 split at the heart of Medicare Part B sounds manageable until the bills grow large. After a beneficiary meets the annual deductible, Part...
Original Medicare sets no cap on your out-of-pocket costs; Advantage plans do
One of the largest gaps in Original Medicare is the one that gets the least attention until a serious illness arrives. Parts A and B...
Once you enroll in Medicare, you can no longer add money to a health savings account
Health savings accounts are one of the few retirement tools that hand out three separate tax breaks, yet the door closes the moment Medicare begins....
Medicare’s 2027 plan prices post in late September, before Open Enrollment opens October 15
Medicare beneficiaries get their first concrete look at 2027 coverage in September, weeks before they can act on it. Plan-specific premiums, deductibles, and drug lists...
Original Medicare pays nothing toward routine dental, vision or hearing care
Three of the most routine health expenses in later life fall almost entirely outside Original Medicare. Cleanings and dentures, eye exams for glasses, and hearing...
A surviving spouse who remarries after age 60 still keeps a late partner’s Social Security survivor benefit
A widow or widower who finds love again after 60 does not have to choose between a new marriage and a late spouse’s Social Security....
Google device owners have until August 27 to file for part of a $68 million privacy settlement
A $68 million class-action settlement over how Google Assistant handled private voice recordings is entering its final stretch, and the window to file a claim...
Claim Social Security too early? You can undo it within 12 months by paying the money back
Social Security offers a rarely used reset for retirees who claim their benefit and quickly regret it: a full withdrawal of the application within 12...
Working before full retirement age costs $1 in Social Security for every $2 you earn over the limit
Claiming Social Security while still on the job, and before reaching full retirement age, comes with a catch that blindsides many early retirees: the agency...
