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
Workers can now put $24,500 into a 401(k) for 2026
The basic 401(k) employee contribution ceiling is $24,500 for 2026, up $1,000 from the prior year. That number governs the salary workers can elect to...
Social Security taxes now reach wages up to $184,500
The 2026 Social Security wage ceiling moved to $184,500, exposing another $8,400 of earnings to the program’s payroll tax compared with 2025. The change matters...
Medicare’s 2027 drug-cost proposal claims $1.15 billion in patient savings
CMS estimates that a proposed change in how Medicare pays hospitals for certain discounted outpatient drugs would reduce beneficiary payments by $1.15 billion in 2027....
Medicare’s drug-payment plan can split annual costs into monthly bills
Medicare’s Prescription Payment Plan can replace a large pharmacy charge with a series of monthly bills from a Part D plan. It changes when covered...
Medicare surcharges start above $109,000 and can push Part B to $689.90
Medicare’s standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026, but higher-income beneficiaries can pay far more through the income-related monthly adjustment amount. The...
Home sellers can shield $250,000 of profit from federal tax
A qualifying home seller can exclude as much as $250,000 of gain from federal taxable income, and many married couples filing jointly can exclude up...
October 15 is the federal filing deadline for most tax extensions
Most individual taxpayers who obtained a six-month federal extension must file their 2025 return by October 15, 2026. The extension moved the paperwork deadline, not...
Tax debt above $66,000 can put a passport at risk in 2026
Owing more than $66,000 to the federal government can put a passport in jeopardy in 2026, but the balance alone does not trigger immediate revocation....
An IRS bank levy freezes existing money for 21 days
An IRS bank levy does not usually sweep an account the instant the bank receives it. The institution identifies money available at that moment, freezes...
Sanders proposes a $2,400 Social Security raise funded by earnings above $250,000
Bernie Sanders is renewing a Social Security expansion plan built around two linked numbers: a $2,400 annual benefit increase and new payroll-tax collections on earnings...
UnitedHealthcare exits CalPERS basic plans, forcing some Medicare families to switch carriers
CalPERS is removing two UnitedHealthcare Basic health plans for 2027, creating a carrier decision for households that pair a non-Medicare family member with a Medicare...
Early retirees can avoid the 10% penalty with 72(t) payments lasting at least five years
Section 72(t) can turn retirement savings into penalty-free income before age 59½, but it does so by replacing flexibility with a rigid payment schedule. A...
$24,150 is the 2026 standard deduction for heads of household
Head-of-household filers receive a $24,150 standard deduction for tax year 2026, an amount between the deductions for single and joint filers. The larger deduction is...
Medical deductions begin only after eligible expenses exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income
The federal medical-expense deduction does not begin with the first eligible dollar. An itemizer can deduct only the portion of unreimbursed qualifying costs above 7.5%...
Social Security taxes can begin above $25,000 single or $32,000 jointly
Federal income tax can reach Social Security benefits at combined income above $25,000 for many single filers or $32,000 for married couples filing jointly. Those...
$15 million is the federal estate-tax threshold for 2026 deaths
Federal estate-tax exposure begins at a much higher level for deaths in 2026: the IRS lists a $15 million basic exclusion amount. The threshold means...
$19,000 is the 2026 gift-tax exclusion for each recipient
The federal annual gift-tax exclusion remains $19,000 for each recipient in 2026, giving a donor room to transfer cash or property without using lifetime exemption....
Medigap’s six-month enrollment window blocks health-based denials and higher prices
Medigap buyers receive one unusually powerful federal protection: a six-month period when medical history cannot be used to shut them out or inflate the premium....
An aged widow or widower receives an estimated $1,919 monthly on average in 2026
Social Security estimated that an aged widow or widower receiving benefits alone would average $1,919 a month after the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment. The number is...
$4,152 is Social Security’s 2026 maximum at full retirement age
Social Security’s maximum monthly retirement benefit for a worker claiming at full retirement age in 2026 is $4,152. Reaching it requires far more than waiting...