Retirement & Taxes
Long-term financial planning, retirement accounts, government benefits, tax law, and IRS rules. Covers the intersection of policy and personal finance that affects how people save, invest, and plan ahead.
Latest in Retirement & Taxes
E-filing with direct deposit gets most tax refunds out within 21 days, versus weeks for a paper check
Taxpayers who file electronically and choose direct deposit can expect their refunds within 21 days in more than nine out of ten cases, according to...
Skip a required IRA withdrawal after age 73 and the IRS can take 25% of what you missed
Retirees who turn 73 and forget to pull money from a traditional IRA or 401(k) face a federal excise tax that claims one quarter of...
After 70½ you can send over $100,000 a year from an IRA straight to charity, tax-free
IRA holders who have reached age 70½ can direct up to $100,000 per taxable year straight from their retirement accounts to charity and exclude the...
Anyone 50 or older can add an extra $1,000 to an IRA each year
Workers aged 50 and older can stash an extra $1,000 per year in a traditional or Roth IRA on top of the standard contribution cap,...
The beneficiary form on your 401(k) overrides your will
A single form buried in an employer’s HR portal can override years of estate planning. When a 401(k) account holder dies, the retirement plan’s beneficiary...
Medicare’s Part B premium rose to $202.90 a month this year, with a $283 deductible
Millions of Medicare enrollees are paying more for outpatient medical coverage in 2026 after the standard Part B premium climbed to $202.90 a month, up...
Converting part of a traditional IRA to a Roth in a low-income year can cut the lifetime tax on your savings
Retirees and pre-retirees who experience a temporary drop in earnings, whether from a job change, a gap year, or an early retirement transition, face a...
Waiting to claim Social Security past full retirement age raises your check about 8% for every year, up to 70
Retirees who delay claiming Social Security beyond their full retirement age stand to collect roughly 8 percent more per year in monthly benefits, with gains...
Medicare’s annual wellness visit and most preventive screenings cost you nothing — as long as it’s billed as preventive
Medicare beneficiaries can walk into a doctor’s office for their annual wellness visit and most preventive screenings without paying a dime out of pocket, but...
The IRS lets most households file federal taxes free, yet millions still pay for software they don’t need
Millions of Americans hand over money to commercial tax software companies every filing season to prepare returns they could file for free. The IRS provides...
Workers aged 60 to 63 can add $11,250 to a 401(k) this year
Americans turning 60, 61, 62, or 63 this calendar year can now stash $11,250 in catch-up contributions to their 401(k) plans, a figure that exceeds...
Workers earning over $150,000 must now make 401(k) catch-up contributions in a Roth, with after-tax dollars
Workers age 50 and older who earned more than $150,000 in the prior year can no longer shelter their 401(k) catch-up contributions from income tax...
A non-working spouse can still fund a $7,500 IRA
Married couples filing jointly can double their retirement savings even when one spouse earns nothing. Under a longstanding but widely overlooked provision of the tax...
Lower- and middle-income savers can claim up to $1,000 back, double for couples, just for funding a retirement account
Workers earning lower and middle incomes can collect up to $1,000 from the federal government, or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly, simply by putting...
The federal pension agency is holding unclaimed money for tens of thousands who never collected a pension they earned
Tens of thousands of Americans have earned pension benefits they have never collected, and the federal agency responsible for safeguarding those benefits is sitting on...
Medicare’s yearly cap on out-of-pocket drug costs holds near $2,100 in 2026, and the old “donut hole” stays gone
Medicare beneficiaries filling expensive prescriptions in 2026 will hit a hard ceiling on what they owe out of pocket: $2,100 for the full year, up...
Taxpayers 65 and older can claim an extra $6,000 deduction through 2028, but it phases out above $75,000 in income
Millions of Americans age 65 and older gained access to a new $6,000 federal tax deduction when the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act became law...
Social Security is ending paper checks this year — about 280,000 people still getting one must switch to direct deposit or a prepaid card
About 280,000 Social Security recipients who still receive paper checks face an abrupt deadline: the federal government plans to stop mailing those payments this year,...
Heirs who inherit an IRA usually have just 10 years to empty the account
Millions of Americans who stand to inherit a traditional or Roth IRA from a parent, sibling, or other non-spouse relative face a hard deadline that...
A tax-filing extension buys you more time to file, but not more time to pay what you owe
Millions of taxpayers who requested extra time to submit their federal returns still owe the IRS money, and the clock on interest charges has been...