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
Americans have left $1.65 trillion sitting in forgotten 401(k)s — the average lost account holds nearly $70,000, and a free federal database now finds yours by Social Security number
In 2022, a 54-year-old teacher in Ohio named Margaret Rowell discovered she had a 401(k) worth $43,000 sitting with a recordkeeper she had never heard...
You can gift up to about $19,000 a year to each person completely tax-free — no IRS form required, a break most families never realize they have
Your daughter is scraping together a down payment on her first home. You have the savings to help. You write her a check for $19,000,...
Parents can run up to $5,000 of daycare and after-school costs through a pretax account — cutting a four-figure tax bill most working families never set up
A family with two working parents and a toddler in full-time daycare can easily spend $14,000 or more on childcare in a single year. What...
One in five workers who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit never claim it — worth up to $8,000, it’s the most overlooked refund in the tax code
Every April, the federal government quietly keeps billions of dollars that low-income workers were entitled to receive. Not because Congress cut a program or an...
A giant tax refund means you lent the IRS your money interest-free all year — adjusting one form puts that cash back in every paycheck instead
Last spring, the IRS reported that the average federal tax refund through early April 2025 was roughly $3,100, according to the agency’s filing season statistics....
Low- and middle-income savers can claim up to $2,000 back just for funding a retirement account — but only about 6% of eligible filers ever take the credit
Put $2,000 into a Roth IRA this year while earning $35,000, and the federal government will knock $1,000 straight off your tax bill. File jointly...
A stay-at-home spouse with no paycheck can still put $7,000 into an IRA this year — a spousal account most couples don’t realize the tax code allows
Sarah Chen left her marketing job three years ago to raise her twin toddlers in suburban Denver. Her husband, James, maxes out his own 401(k)...
Paper Social Security and tax checks are being phased out for good — nearly half a million recipients still getting one must switch to direct deposit or a prepaid card
Sometime after September 30, 2025, the last batch of paper checks from the U.S. Treasury will drop into American mailboxes. After that, they stop for...
Leftover money in a child’s 529 college fund can now roll into their Roth IRA — up to $35,000, tax-free, instead of taking the old withdrawal penalty
You saved diligently in a 529 plan for 18 years, and then your kid earned a scholarship that covered half the bill. Great news for...
The Child Tax Credit is now $2,200 per child — but it phases out for higher earners and leaves out many of the lowest-income families who need it most
A single mother earning $15,000 a year and a married couple bringing home $350,000 both have children who qualify for the Child Tax Credit. But...
A married couple earning under about $96,700 pays zero federal tax on long-term investment gains in 2026 — a 0% bracket most investors don’t realize they qualify for
A married couple in their early 50s earns a combined $120,000 in wages. They sell a stock held for three years and pocket a $15,000...
Workers can stash $7,000 in an IRA this year — and anyone 50 or older can add another $1,000 that most eligible savers never bother to claim
If you turned 50 this year and have an IRA, the IRS is offering you an extra $1,000 in tax-advantaged contribution room on top of...
The standard deduction climbs to $32,200 for married couples in 2026 — meaning the first $32,200 a couple earns is now completely shielded from federal income tax
For millions of married couples filing their 2026 federal tax returns, the first $32,200 they earn will not be taxed at all. That is not...
Skip your required retirement withdrawal at 73 and the IRS can claw back 25% of the amount you missed — one of the harshest penalties in the tax code
A 73-year-old retiree sitting on $500,000 in a traditional IRA owes roughly $18,900 in required minimum distributions this year. If that money doesn’t leave the...
Medicare negotiated prices on 10 of its costliest drugs for the first time — seniors on some will pay less than half, and insulin is capped at $35
A Medicare enrollee filling a monthly prescription for Eliquis, one of the most commonly prescribed blood thinners in the country, has been paying a price...
The tax break on home-sale profits hasn’t risen since 1997 — and now a growing share of ordinary sellers owe capital gains tax just for selling their own house
A couple in Denver who bought their house for $180,000 in 1998 could sell it for north of $650,000 today, based on Colorado’s FHFA House...
A family can now shield $8,750 a year from taxes in a health savings account — and after age 65 it works like a second 401(k) most workers never open
The 2026 health savings account limits are now in effect, and for the first time, a family on a high-deductible health plan can contribute up...
Student loan forgiveness is taxable again in 2026 — borrowers who finally get their debt erased could owe the IRS thousands on “income” they never actually received
Imagine making student loan payments for 20 years, watching your balance barely budge, and finally reaching the finish line where the federal government promises to...
Insurers are about to drop nearly 3 million seniors from Medicare Advantage plans — the first enrollment decline since 2010, even as average premiums fall to $14
For 15 consecutive years, Medicare Advantage enrollment moved in only one direction: up. Every year since 2010, more seniors chose the privately run alternative to...
High earners will pay up to $649 a month for Medicare Part B this year — more than triple the standard $202.90, thanks to income surcharges most retirees never expect
Picture a retired corporate vice president opening her first Medicare billing notice. She expected to pay $202.90 a month for Part B, the same figure...