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
Medicare’s old Part D “donut hole” coverage gap is gone, so drug costs no longer spike partway through the year
For nearly two decades, Medicare drug coverage carried a notorious trap: the “donut hole,” a mid-year coverage gap that left many older Americans suddenly paying...
Medicare’s free yearly wellness visit is not the full physical many retirees expect
The words “yearly wellness visit” lead many retirees to book what they think is a free head-to-toe physical, then leave puzzled that no one drew...
Medicare Advantage plans are set to trim dental, vision and gym perks for 2027 after insurers called their raise too thin
The extra perks that sold millions of retirees on Medicare Advantage, the dental coverage, vision exams, gym memberships, and grocery or over-the-counter allowances, are heading...
Two nights in the hospital under observation can cost thousands and block nursing-home coverage
A patient can lie in a hospital bed for two, three, even four nights and still never be admitted in the eyes of Medicare. That...
Original Medicare pays nothing toward long-term custodial care averaging over $9,000 a month
Millions of older Americans assume Medicare will catch them if they ever need help bathing, dressing, or eating on their own. It will not. Original...
Social Security disability checks convert to retirement checks at full retirement age, with no drop in the amount
Reaching full retirement age changes almost nothing for a Social Security disability recipient — and that is the point. Disability benefits automatically convert to retirement...
A bill in Congress would let homeowners 65 and older shield up to $1 million in home-sale profit from capital-gains tax
A home that was bought for a modest sum decades ago and is now worth well over a million dollars can hand its owner a...
A surviving divorced spouse can still collect on an ex who has died, as long as the marriage lasted at least 10 years
Divorce ends a marriage, but under Social Security’s rules it does not always end a claim to a former spouse’s earnings record. When an ex-spouse...
Suspend Social Security at full retirement age and each month adds a delayed credit worth about 8% a year until 70
The single largest raise many retirees will ever get from Social Security is one almost nobody claims: waiting. For anyone born in 1943 or later,...
“No tax on Social Security” is really a $6,000 senior deduction that phases out above $75,000 and ends in 2028
The phrase “no tax on Social Security” was one of the most repeated promises in recent tax politics, and it landed in the law that...
A private nursing-home room now tops $10,000 a month, and Medicaid steps in only after savings fall below $2,000
The most expensive line item most families never budget for is long-term care, and its price keeps climbing. The national median cost of a private...
Skip direct deposit and the IRS can now freeze your tax refund for weeks under its new paper-check phase-out
The default way millions of retirees receive a tax refund is being switched off. Under Executive Order 14247, the IRS is phasing out paper refund...
Insurers are dropping Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, and nearly 3 million older Americans may be forced to switch
A second straight year of Medicare Advantage retreat is taking shape, and this time the numbers are large enough to reshape open enrollment. Humana has...
Social Security will no longer change your direct deposit by phone, a fraud block you now clear online or in person
The phone call that once fixed a Social Security direct deposit no longer works. Under an anti-fraud tightening the Social Security Administration put in place...
A spouse who never worked can still collect up to half of a partner’s Social Security at full retirement age
A lifetime spent raising children, running a household, or caring for family instead of drawing a paycheck does not leave a person shut out of...
Medicare’s Extra Help program can wipe out drug-plan premiums and deductibles for lower-income seniors
A federal subsidy called Extra Help can erase the recurring costs of a Medicare drug plan, the monthly premium and the annual deductible, and then...
Original Medicare covers up to 100 days in a skilled nursing facility, then the full cost falls on you
Families often assume Medicare will cover a nursing home stay for as long as it is needed. It will not. Original Medicare pays for skilled...
Your heirs inherit your home and investments at their date-of-death value, erasing tax on a lifetime of gains
An asset held for decades can carry an enormous embedded tax bill: the capital gains tax owed on all the appreciation since it was bought....
A transfer-on-death deed passes your home to heirs without probate, avoiding thousands in court costs
Probate can consume months and thousands of dollars in court and attorney fees before heirs ever take title to a house, and in some states...
The 2027 Social Security raise is tracking near 3.6%, the biggest cost-of-living bump in four years
Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment for 2027 is currently tracking near 3.6%, according to the latest estimate from The Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group that...