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
$750 a month is the least the government must leave you when it garnishes Social Security for old student loans
Older Americans living on Social Security can lose a share of their monthly benefit when the federal government collects on defaulted student loans, but the...
Buyers of new U.S.-built cars can deduct up to $10,000 of auto-loan interest a year, even without itemizing
Millions of Americans who finance a new vehicle assembled in the United States can now subtract up to $10,000 in auto-loan interest from their taxable...
Lower-income workers can claim up to $1,000 back, $2,000 for couples, just for funding a retirement account
Millions of lower-income workers across the United States are leaving money on the table by not claiming a tax credit designed specifically to reward them...
$250,000 of home-sale profit stays tax-free, $500,000 for couples, a limit Congress hasn’t raised since 1997
Homeowners who sell their primary residence can shield up to $250,000 of profit from federal capital-gains tax, or $500,000 for qualifying married couples filing jointly....
Workers 50 and up earning over $150,000 must now make 401(k) catch-up contributions as after-tax Roth money
Starting in 2026, Americans age 50 and older who earned more than $150,000 in prior-year FICA wages from their plan sponsor will no longer have...
$24,500 is the 401(k) contribution limit in 2026, with an extra $8,000 for workers 50 and older
Workers saving for retirement through a 401(k) or similar employer plan can set aside up to $24,500 in 2026, a $1,000 increase over the prior...
Roth 401(k) accounts no longer force withdrawals during your lifetime
Retirees and workers with designated Roth accounts inside 401(k) and 403(b) plans no longer face mandatory annual withdrawals during their lifetimes. The change, rooted in...
Earning $7,560 in 2026 banks all four Social Security credits for the year
Part-time workers, gig earners, and anyone with irregular income face a concrete deadline built into the Social Security system each year: earn enough in covered...
Social Security is phasing out paper checks this year, moving remaining recipients to direct deposit or a prepaid card
Social Security beneficiaries who still receive paper checks are running out of time. Executive Order 14247 directed the Treasury Department to stop issuing paper checks...
A shared nursing-home room now averages $119,340 a year, and Medicaid only helps after your savings run down
A year in a shared nursing-home room now costs an average of $119,340, a price tag that has climbed well past what most retirement savings...
Medicare will cap out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100
Medicare’s annual cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug spending is set to rise to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026, according to figures compiled...
A widow can take a survivor benefit first and switch to her own larger Social Security check at 70
A Social Security rule that catches many widows and widowers by surprise allows a surviving spouse to start collecting a deceased spouse’s survivor benefit as...
Seniors earning under $23,475 can cut their Medicare drug copays to about $5 through the Extra Help program
Prescription drug costs remain one of the biggest strains on a fixed retirement income, and a federal program built specifically for lower-income Medicare enrollees is...
A federal audit found 5,367 widows lost $113.8 million by claiming Social Security survivor benefits too early
A federal watchdog review has put a hard number on a mistake that has quietly drained retirement income from thousands of widows: claiming a Social...
More hospital systems are dropping UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage for 2027, including Minnesota’s Fairview Health
A growing list of hospital systems is walking away from UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage network, and the latest to join is Fairview Health Services, one of...
Social Security’s 2027 raise could reach 4.7%, an analyst says, the biggest since 2023
Early forecasts for next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment are starting to circulate, and one independent analyst is putting the number well above recent years....
A free federal database holds unclaimed pensions for about 80,000 workers, some worth up to $7,789.77 a month
A federal agency is sitting on retirement money that roughly 80,000 people have never picked up, and there is no cost to check whether any...
Original Medicare covers no routine dental, vision or hearing, a gap that surprises many the year they retire
Many people spend their working years assuming that once Medicare begins, their major health needs are handled. Then the first dental bill arrives, or a...
The average 401(k) balance fell 4% to $141,000 as more workers raided their accounts, Fidelity says
Retirement savers saw their account balances shrink at the start of 2026, and a growing number of workers pulled money out early to cover financial...
A widow can start a smaller survivor benefit now and switch to her own Social Security later if it grows larger
Losing a spouse forces a series of financial decisions at the worst possible time, and Social Security is one of the more confusing pieces to...