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
Social Security disability checks convert automatically to retirement checks at full retirement age, with no drop in the amount
People who rely on Social Security disability payments often approach retirement age bracing for a cut, assuming their benefit will shrink the way an early...
Turning 65 and enrolling in Part B opens a one-time six-month window to buy any Medigap policy with no health questions
Turning 65 and signing up for Medicare Part B starts a clock that most new enrollees never hear about until it has run out. For...
Medicare’s QMB program bars doctors from billing enrolled seniors, yet many still get charged
Federal law is unusually blunt about the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program: a provider may not bill an enrollee for Medicare deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments, at...
A widow or widower can claim a survivor benefit as early as 60, though the check is permanently reduced
When a spouse dies, Social Security offers the survivor an early lifeline that many do not realize exists: a benefit built on the deceased partner’s...
Skip Medicare Part D or other creditable drug coverage for 63 days and you can owe a late penalty for life
Skipping Medicare’s drug coverage can feel harmless for a healthy retiree who takes no prescriptions, but the decision carries a penalty that never goes away....
Hospital observation status, not admission, can cost thousands and block Medicare’s nursing-home coverage
A hospital stay can last three nights, involve a bed, medication, and a battery of tests, and still not count as an admission. Under a...
Medicare’s Extra Help erases the Part D deductible and caps brand copays at $12.65
Prescription drugs are among the least predictable costs in retirement, swinging with each new diagnosis and formulary change. A federal subsidy called Extra Help removes...
After a senior dies, Medicaid can bill the estate for nursing-home care, though a surviving spouse or disabled child can block a claim on the home
When a parent who spent their final years in a nursing home dies, the family often braces for a letter from the state Medicaid program...
Suspend your Social Security at full retirement age and each month you wait adds about 8% a year in credits until 70
One of the few guaranteed, risk-free raises left in retirement comes from doing nothing with a Social Security benefit for a while longer. For anyone...
A Trump executive order clears the way for private equity and crypto inside 401(k) plans holding $12 trillion
A single executive order has reopened one of the longest-running fights in retirement policy: whether ordinary 401(k) savers should be steered toward private equity, cryptocurrency...
Workers can deduct up to $25,000 in tips and $12,500 in overtime on their 2026 return using the new Schedule 1-A
A new federal deduction lets workers who earn tips or overtime subtract a large slice of that pay before their income is taxed, and the...
The Social Security Fairness Act restored bigger checks for about 3.2 million retired teachers, firefighters and public workers, with back pay to 2024
For more than four decades, a pair of formulas buried in Social Security law quietly shrank or erased the benefits of people who spent their...
UnitedHealth is cutting Medicare Advantage PPO coverage for about 600,000 members as insurers pull 2027 plans
UnitedHealthcare, the country’s largest Medicare Advantage insurer, will drop plans covering roughly 600,000 members for the 2027 plan year, a retreat concentrated in the preferred-provider...
Social Security can now withhold up to half of a monthly check to recover an overpayment, but a form filed within 30 days freezes it
Social Security has revived one of its most painful collection tools, and many beneficiaries will not grasp what changed until a check arrives cut in...
Who can get their entire $202.90 Medicare Part B premium paid? Limited-income seniors who join a Medicare Savings Program
The standard Medicare Part B premium rises to $202.90 a month in 2026, a charge pulled straight from Social Security before the deposit ever lands....
Medicare’s out-of-pocket costs for weight-loss drugs still won’t count toward the $2,400 cap under the $50 pilot
Medicare’s new $50-a-month deal on weight-loss drugs comes with a catch buried in the fine print of how Part D counts spending. The flat copay...
Social Security averages your highest 35 years, so one more working year can replace a zero and lift your check
A Social Security retirement benefit is not built from a worker’s final salary or a lucky peak year. It is an average of the 35...
A transfer-on-death deed passes your home to heirs without going through probate
A transfer-on-death deed lets a homeowner name who inherits the house and then hand it over at death without the property ever passing through probate....
About $2.1 trillion sits in lost retirement accounts, and a free federal database helps reunite you with yours
An estimated $2.1 trillion in retirement savings has been left behind in old employer plans, forgotten by the workers who earned it and waiting in...
A federal audit found 5,367 widows lost $113.8 million by claiming survivor benefits early
A federal watchdog has concluded that thousands of widows and widowers gave up a fortune in Social Security by claiming too early. The Social Security...