Insurance & Protection
Health insurance, auto insurance, life insurance, homeowner’s and renter’s insurance, disability coverage, and how to evaluate policies and claims.
Latest in Insurance & Protection
A disabled adult can save in an ABLE account without losing Medicaid or SSI, sheltering up to $19,000 a year plus its earnings
Disabled adults who receive Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid now have a federally protected way to build savings without triggering benefit cuts. An ABLE account,...
A funeral with burial now runs about $8,300, and a payable-on-death account can cover it without tying up your family’s cash
When someone dies, the bills start before the grief settles. Funeral homes, cemeteries, and casket suppliers expect payment within days, and families that rely on...
Home-insurance premiums for older homeowners are climbing faster than Social Security’s raise, and insurers are quietly stripping the loyalty discounts that held them down
Retirees counting on Social Security to keep pace with rising household costs face a widening gap on one of their biggest fixed expenses. The 2.8...
A homeowner can keep up to $752,000 in home equity, and over $1.1 million in some states, and still qualify for nursing-home Medicaid
Families planning for long-term care face a stark divide depending on where they live. Federal law allows states to set their own home-equity ceilings for...
$129,000 a year is what a private nursing-home room now costs, one of the fastest drains on a retirement nest egg
Families facing a nursing-home stay for a parent or spouse now confront a median annual bill of roughly $127,750 for a private room, a cost...
A defensive-driving course can shave hundreds off a retiree’s car insurance
Retirees watching their auto insurance bills climb have a concrete, state-backed way to cut costs: completing a defensive-driving course. In New York, the discount is...
Veterans who lose a limb, their sight, or need daily aid can collect special monthly compensation on top of the 100% disability rate
Veterans rated at 100% disability by the Department of Veterans Affairs often assume they have reached the ceiling of their benefits. They have not. Federal...
CHAMPVA covers health care for a totally disabled veteran’s spouse and children
Families of veterans rated permanently and totally disabled from service-connected conditions can receive health care coverage through CHAMPVA, a Department of Veterans Affairs program authorized...
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...
In many states Medicaid will pay a family member to care for a parent
Families caring for aging parents at home can, in many states, receive Medicaid payments for that work through self-directed personal assistance programs. The federal legal...
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...
$4,400 fills a single person’s health savings account in 2026, or $8,750 for a family, plus $1,000 at 55
Workers with high-deductible health plans can stash up to $4,400 in a health savings account for 2026 if they have self-only coverage, or up to...
Health insurance premiums are set to more than double for 22 million Americans as boosted ACA subsidies expire, hitting people in their late 50s and 60s hardest
Roughly 22 million Americans enrolled in Affordable Care Act marketplace plans face premium increases of 100 percent or more starting in 2026 if Congress does...
Medicaid looks back five years at a senior’s gifts and transfers before approving nursing-home coverage, and violations bring a penalty period
A senior who gave money to a grandchild or transferred a home to a family member within the past five years faces a direct penalty...
The VA helps cover burial and funeral costs for eligible veterans
Families of eligible veterans can receive federal reimbursement for burial and funeral costs through the Department of Veterans Affairs, but the benefit is not automatic....
Medicaid lets a healthy spouse keep the family home and one car when a partner enters a nursing home
Married couples face a stark financial threat when one partner needs nursing-home care: Medicaid requires applicants to spend down most of their assets before coverage...
A durable power of attorney lets a trusted person manage your money if illness leaves you unable
Millions of Americans already handle money or property for a family member who can no longer do it alone, and the single document that keeps...
Wartime veterans and their surviving spouses can qualify for an Aid and Attendance pension worth up to roughly $2,900 a month
Wartime veterans who can no longer dress, bathe, or feed themselves without help, along with their surviving spouses, stand to collect a VA pension of...
Assisted living now runs a median $6,200 a month, and Medicaid steps in only after your savings run down
Families searching for assisted living face a national median price tag of $6,200 a month, a 5 percent jump in a single year that pushes...
If a former employer’s pension plan shut down, the federal PBGC may hold a benefit waiting in your name
Workers who changed jobs years ago and lost track of a former employer’s pension plan could have retirement money sitting unclaimed at a federal agency....