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 health savings account can pay Medicare premiums tax-free once you turn 65
Turning 65 unlocks a rarely used feature of a health savings account: after that birthday, its funds can pay Medicare premiums with no tax and...
The Saver’s Credit hands lower-income workers up to $1,000 for retirement contributions
The Saver’s Credit can return as much as $1,000 to a lower-income worker’s federal tax bill, or up to $2,000 for a married couple, in...
Social Security’s Ticket to Work lets disability recipients test a job without losing benefits
Fear of losing a disability check keeps many recipients from ever testing whether they can work again. Social Security’s Ticket to Work program is built...
A new law set the estate-tax exemption at $15 million, so almost no family owes the tax
The federal estate-tax exemption climbed to $15 million per person on January 1, 2026, and a married couple can now shield $30 million from the...
Medicare covers a one-time Welcome to Medicare visit free in your first year of Part B
Medicare hands every new enrollee a free medical appointment in the first year of Part B, and most let it expire unused. The one-time Welcome...
Homeowners 65 and older in Texas can now shield $60,000 of value from school taxes
Texas homeowners who are 65 or older can now exempt $60,000 of their home’s value from school district property taxes, a sixfold jump from the...
The 1099-K tax form now kicks in at $20,000 again, not the $600 once planned
Payment apps and online marketplaces will again send a tax form only to sellers who clear more than $20,000 in payments and more than 200...
No tax on car-loan interest lets buyers deduct up to $10,000 on a new U.S.-assembled vehicle
Buyers of a new car assembled in the United States can now deduct up to $10,000 of the interest they pay on the loan, a...
Medicare’s 2027 out-of-pocket drug cap holds near $2,400, after which covered prescriptions cost nothing
A cornerstone of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act carries into 2027: a firm ceiling on what a Medicare drug plan member pays out of pocket...
Medicare’s income surcharge is set by your tax return from two years earlier
The premium a Medicare enrollee pays this year is often decided by a tax return that is already two years old. The income-related monthly adjustment...
Social Security disability carries a five-month wait for checks and two years for Medicare
Approval of a Social Security disability claim does not start the money. A five-month waiting period sits between the date the Social Security Administration fixes...
Remarrying generally ends your right to claim on a living ex-spouse’s Social Security
A divorce does not necessarily sever a person’s claim to Social Security on a former spouse’s record — but a second marriage usually does. Someone...
Qualifying for a Medicare Savings Program automatically enrolls you in Extra Help with drug costs
One approval can unlock two separate forms of help with Medicare costs, and most people who qualify never realize the second one is automatic. Getting...
The 2026 Social Security raise was 2.8%, about $56 more a month for the average retiree
Social Security benefits rose 2.8 percent in 2026, adding roughly $56 a month to the average retired worker’s check. The adjustment lifted the typical monthly...
Medicare Part A is free only with 40 work credits; fall short and you pay a monthly premium
Medicare Part A carries no monthly premium for most people, but that free hospital coverage is earned, not automatic. The dividing line is roughly forty...
Most states don’t tax Social Security benefits, and the short list that does keeps shrinking
For the large majority of retirees, a Social Security check arrives untouched by any state income tax. Only a small group of states still counts...
A family maximum limits how much a household can draw on one worker’s Social Security record
When a spouse and children collect Social Security on one earner’s record at the same time, the household does not simply add up every benefit....
Medicare now covers every recommended adult vaccine at no cost
Every vaccine an older adult is advised to get now arrives without a copay or a deductible, a change that quietly removed one of the...
Your online Social Security account is the fastest way to catch earnings-record errors that lower your check
A Social Security retirement benefit is built from a lifetime of reported earnings, and a single missing or wrong year can quietly shrink the eventual...
Medicare pays nothing for care outside the United States
A retiree who assumes Medicare travels with them across a border is in for an expensive correction. Original Medicare almost never pays for medical care...