Tyler Foster
Latest Articles by Tyler Foster
A surviving divorced spouse can still collect on an ex who has died, as long as the marriage lasted at least 10 years
Divorce ends a marriage, but under Social Security’s rules it does not always end a claim to a former spouse’s earnings record. When an ex-spouse...
Suspend Social Security at full retirement age and each month adds a delayed credit worth about 8% a year until 70
The single largest raise many retirees will ever get from Social Security is one almost nobody claims: waiting. For anyone born in 1943 or later,...
Lock your my Social Security account to block a deposit-rerouting scammer in minutes
Social Security direct-deposit theft usually leaves no broken lock and no missing card. A thief who has gathered enough personal information can try to reroute...
Minimum wage will rise in more than 20 states in 2027, led by California at $17.40 while the federal floor stays $7.25
The gap between the highest and lowest minimum wage in America is about to widen again. On January 1, 2027, more than 20 states will...
A private nursing-home room now tops $10,000 a month, and Medicaid steps in only after savings fall below $2,000
The most expensive line item most families never budget for is long-term care, and its price keeps climbing. The national median cost of a private...
Insurers are dropping Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, and nearly 3 million older Americans may be forced to switch
A second straight year of Medicare Advantage retreat is taking shape, and this time the numbers are large enough to reshape open enrollment. Humana has...
Social Security will no longer change your direct deposit by phone, a fraud block you now clear online or in person
The phone call that once fixed a Social Security direct deposit no longer works. Under an anti-fraud tightening the Social Security Administration put in place...
A spouse who never worked can still collect up to half of a partner’s Social Security at full retirement age
A lifetime spent raising children, running a household, or caring for family instead of drawing a paycheck does not leave a person shut out of...
Medicare’s Extra Help program can wipe out drug-plan premiums and deductibles for lower-income seniors
A federal subsidy called Extra Help can erase the recurring costs of a Medicare drug plan, the monthly premium and the annual deductible, and then...
Americans owe $459 billion on home-equity credit lines, a variable-rate debt secured by the house
Americans now owe $459 billion on home-equity lines of credit, the highest total in more than a decade and the seventeenth consecutive quarter that the...
Original Medicare covers up to 100 days in a skilled nursing facility, then the full cost falls on you
Families often assume Medicare will cover a nursing home stay for as long as it is needed. It will not. Original Medicare pays for skilled...
Amazon Flex drivers who never cashed an FTC refund check are now being paid again by Zelle
The Federal Trade Commission is making another pass at getting money to Amazon Flex drivers, this time by depositing Zelle payments straight into the bank...
The 2027 Social Security raise is tracking near 3.6%, the biggest cost-of-living bump in four years
Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment for 2027 is currently tracking near 3.6%, according to the latest estimate from The Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group that...
Jean Joseph got 20 years for running a $50 million Ponzi scheme from inside a federal prison
A Boca Raton man who kept a $50 million investment fraud running while sitting in a federal prison cell was sentenced this month to 20...
Social Security averages your highest 35 years, so one more working year can replace a zero and lift your check
Social Security does not reward a long career and a short one the same way, and the reason sits in a single mechanic: the benefit...
Social Security disability checks convert to retirement checks at full retirement age with no drop in the amount
People who have spent years on Social Security disability often brace for a shock as full retirement age approaches, worried the payments will shrink or...
