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
A new federal Saver’s Match will deposit up to $1,000 into some workers’ retirement accounts
A change buried in the SECURE 2.0 retirement law will turn a little-used tax break into something more tangible: cash the federal government deposits directly...
A surviving spouse can keep filing taxes jointly for the year a spouse dies
Losing a spouse is followed, often within weeks, by a stack of financial paperwork nobody wants to think about — and buried in it is...
Workers in their early 60s can now make a larger catch-up retirement contribution
Retirement savers have long been allowed to put away extra once they turn 50, a catch-up contribution meant to help workers make up ground in...
Roth conversions have no income limit, letting high earners move money into tax-free growth
There are two ways money reaches a Roth account, and they follow very different rules. Contributing directly is barred for high earners once income tops...
A step-up in basis can erase capital-gains tax for heirs who inherit appreciated assets
An investment held for decades carries a hidden tax the whole time it grows. The gap between what was paid and what the asset is...
A qualified charitable distribution lets retirees give from an IRA and count it as their RMD, tax-free
Once a saver reaches the age when the government requires withdrawals from a traditional retirement account, that money lands on the tax return as ordinary...
Required withdrawals from retirement accounts now start at 73, rising to 75 in 2033
Tax-deferred retirement accounts come with a bill that eventually comes due. The government lets savers postpone taxes on traditional IRAs and 401(k)s for decades, but...
Medicare pays for a yearly wellness visit and many preventive screenings at no charge
Free is the word that gets people in the door and, sometimes, the word that leaves them holding a bill they did not expect. Medicare’s...
A Medicare Advantage member can demand a fast appeal, and many denials get overturned
A Medicare Advantage plan that denies a test, a treatment or a hospital stay is not the last word, and the gap between what plans...
Some Medicare Advantage plans hand back part of your Part B premium each month
Every month, the standard Part B premium comes out of a retiree’s Social Security payment before the deposit ever arrives, a deduction that never appears...
Medicare Part A hospital coverage is premium-free once you’ve worked 40 quarters
Most people reach Medicare age expecting to pay for their coverage, and for the doctor-visit and drug portions they do. Hospital insurance is the exception....
Medicare covers shingles, flu and other vaccines at no cost under the drug benefit
The shingles shot used to come with a price tag that stopped people at the counter. The two-dose vaccine that guards against a painful, sometimes...
Hospital “observation status” can leave a Medicare patient with a surprise bill
Two patients can lie in identical beds, on the same hall, receiving much the same care, and walk out owing very different amounts. The difference...
Medicare covers a skilled-nursing stay up to 100 days after a qualifying hospital admission
The moment a hospital says a patient is ready to leave but not ready to go home, a family collides with one of Medicare’s most...
Miss your one-time Medigap window and an insurer can charge more or turn you down
The most valuable window in Medicare opens once and closes on a fixed schedule, and many people do not notice it until it is over....
A life-changing event lets you appeal Medicare’s high-income premium surcharge
Medicare’s premiums are not the same for everyone. Higher-income enrollees pay a surcharge on top of the standard Part B and Part D premiums, a...
Medicare caps the cost of insulin at $35 a month for enrollees
Before the cap, the pharmacy counter was where many diabetics did the math out loud. A single vial or pen of insulin could run well...
Extra Help can wipe out most of a lower-income enrollee’s Medicare drug costs
Prescription costs are the expense retirees feel most sharply, because they recur every month and climb with the number of conditions a person manages. For...
Survivor benefits let a widow or widower step up to the higher of two checks, not both
A married couple drawing two Social Security checks is quietly exposed to a loss that has nothing to do with markets or inflation. When one...
Up to 85% of Social Security can be taxed, and a new senior deduction can trim that bill
Retirees who assume Social Security arrives untaxed often learn otherwise the first time they file. Federal law counts a portion of benefits as taxable income...