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
The IRS quietly killed the dreaded $600 Venmo and PayPal tax-form rule — the threshold is back to $20,000 and 200 transactions, freeing most casual sellers
For four years, millions of Americans who sell the occasional item on eBay, take freelance payments through PayPal, or offload used furniture on Facebook Marketplace...
If your 401(k) holds your own company’s stock, the usual rollover can overtax it — a special “NUA” move taxes the gains at lower capital-gains rates
Imagine spending 25 years at a company whose stock price tripled during your career. Your 401(k) now holds $300,000 in employer shares, but the plan...
Some 401(k)s let you stash up to about $70,000 a year and convert it to a Roth — a “mega backdoor” move most plans allow but few employees use
A 45-year-old software engineer in Seattle maxes out her 401(k) every year, funds a backdoor Roth IRA, and still has money left over to invest....
Leave your job at 55 or later and you can tap that 401(k) penalty-free — but roll it into an IRA first and you lose the break for good
Picture this: a 56-year-old worker clears out her desk for the last time, knowing her 401(k) holds $400,000 and she needs $30,000 to bridge the...
Most taxpayers can file federal returns for free through IRS Free File or Direct File — yet millions still pay $150 or more for software that’s free for them
A married couple in Ohio earning $85,000 a year could file their federal tax return for free this season. So could a single freelance graphic...
A losing stock can still cut your tax bill — sell it, deduct up to $3,000 against your income, and carry the rest forward for years
You bought a stock that is now worth half what you paid. Every time you open your brokerage app, it sits there in red, a...
A surviving spouse can switch to the higher earner’s Social Security check — and timing the switch right can mean hundreds more a month for life
A 63-year-old widow collecting $1,100 a month on her own Social Security record could, at full retirement age, switch to a survivor benefit worth $2,800...
A new $6,000 tax deduction for everyone over 65 can wipe out the tax on your Social Security — but it shrinks once income tops $75,000
A retired teacher collecting $22,000 a year in Social Security and drawing another $55,000 from a pension might have owed federal income tax on a...
Three Medicare programs will pay your $202.90 Part B premium in full and save you $2,400 a year — yet millions who qualify never sign up
Picture this: you’re 72, living on $1,200 a month in Social Security, and every four weeks Medicare takes $202.90 off the top before you’ve bought...
Working before full retirement age can shrink your Social Security check — but that money isn’t gone; benefits are recalculated upward once you reach full retirement age
Picture this: a 63-year-old who filed for Social Security early opens a pay stub and discovers the government withheld hundreds of dollars from the monthly...
Your first required retirement withdrawal can be delayed to April — but that forces two taxable withdrawals into one year and can spike your Medicare premiums
If you turned 73 in 2025 and hold a traditional IRA, the IRS technically gives you until April 1, 2026, to take your first required...
Claimed Social Security too early? You get one 12-month do-over — repay what you’ve received and restart later for a permanently bigger check
Every month, thousands of Americans file for Social Security at 62 and lock in a benefit roughly 30% smaller than what they would collect at...
Earning too much to fund a Roth IRA doesn’t actually lock you out — a “backdoor” contribution is legal and most high earners don’t use it
Every April, high-earning Americans file their taxes, glance at the Roth IRA section, and skip it. They assume their income disqualifies them. For 2025, the...
A 1% fee on your 401(k) can quietly cost six figures over a career — yet most savers have never checked their funds’ expense ratios
Somewhere inside your 401(k) account, a number you have probably never looked at is shaving money off your retirement balance every single day. It is...
After 70½ you can send up to about $108,000 a year from your IRA straight to charity — tax-free, and it counts toward your required withdrawal
A 74-year-old retiree who owes $45,000 in required minimum distributions this year has two choices: pull the money out, add it to taxable income, and...
Old 401(k)s from past jobs often sit in high-fee default funds — rolling them into a low-cost IRA can save tens of thousands over time
Somewhere in the records of a former employer’s retirement plan, $30,000 is quietly losing a race against fees. If that balance sits in a default...
A spouse who never worked can still collect up to half of your Social Security — a spousal benefit many married couples don’t realize they can claim
After 35 years of marriage, Linda and Robert Garcia sat down at their kitchen table in Tucson to plan retirement. Robert had worked as an...
The beneficiary form on your 401(k) and IRA overrides your will — an outdated one can send your savings to an ex instead of your family
In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court settled a case that still catches divorcing Americans off guard. A DuPont employee had split from his wife, and...
The federal pension agency is holding unclaimed benefits from shut-down plans — search by your name and the last four of your Social Security number
More than 80,000 people have retirement money sitting in a federal database, and most of them probably have no idea. That figure comes from the...
Drawing down taxable accounts before tax-deferred ones and Roth last can stretch retirement savings for years — a sequence most retirees get backwards
Picture a married couple, both 65, walking out of their offices for the last time in June 2026. Between them they have $400,000 in a...