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
Moffitt Cancer Center dropped Humana’s Medicare Advantage plans on July 1, leaving patients to switch coverage or pay out of network.
Cancer patients who relied on Moffitt Cancer Center through Humana Medicare Advantage plans lost in-network access to one of the country’s leading treatment facilities when...
Your heirs inherit your home and investments at their value on the day you die, erasing tax on a lifetime of gains.
Every year, families across the United States inherit homes, stock portfolios, and other assets with their tax basis quietly reset to fair market value on...
Workers 50 and older whose 2025 pay topped $150,000 must now make 401(k) catch-up contributions in a Roth, with after-tax dollars.
Starting in 2026, workers age 50 and older who earned more than the inflation-indexed $145,000 threshold in the prior year will lose the option to...
Medicare will now offer certain GLP-1 weight-loss drugs for $50 a month through 2027 under a new federal program.
Millions of Medicare Part D enrollees can now fill prescriptions for certain GLP-1 weight-loss medications at a flat $50 copay per month, a price point...
$3,938.58 a month now goes to a veteran rated 100% disabled with no dependents, tax-free, under 2026 VA rates.
A veteran with a 100% disability rating and no dependents now receives $3,938.58 per month in tax-free compensation under the 2026 VA schedule. That single...
Senate Democrats have reintroduced a plan to add $200 a month to Social Security and SSI checks, but Congress must still act.
Millions of Americans who rely on Social Security and Supplemental Security Income would see an extra $200 added to their monthly checks for six months...
Medicare’s Part D drug deductible rises to $700 in 2027.
Medicare beneficiaries who rely on Part D prescription drug coverage will face a higher out-of-pocket threshold before their plans begin paying for medications in 2027....
A surviving divorced spouse can still collect Social Security on an ex who has died, if the marriage lasted at least 10 years.
Millions of Americans who ended long marriages assume their divorce severed every financial tie to a former spouse. That assumption can cost them thousands of...
A federal audit found thousands of widows lose money each year by claiming Social Security survivor benefits too early.
Thousands of surviving spouses lose tens of thousands of dollars in lifetime Social Security income because they claim benefits at the wrong time, according to...
Scammers can reroute your Social Security deposit online, and locking your my Social Security account blocks them in about two minutes.
Millions of Americans who depend on Social Security payments face a specific, documented threat: someone else can log into a my Social Security account and...
The state-and-local tax deduction cap jumped to $40,000, letting homeowners in high-tax states write off far more than the old $10,000.
Millions of homeowners in states like New York, New Jersey, and California can now write off up to $40,000 in state and local taxes on...
When a Medicare Advantage plan drops you for 2027, you gain a guaranteed right to buy any Medigap policy.
Medicare Advantage enrollees who receive nonrenewal notices for contract year 2027 will gain a federally protected right to purchase any Medigap policy without medical underwriting....
Single filers 65 and older get an extra $2,050 standard deduction for 2026.
Single filers who are 65 or older will be able to claim an extra $2,050 on top of the regular standard deduction when they file...
Who owes Medicare’s high-income surcharge in 2027? Retirees whose 2025 income topped about $111,000.
Retirees who earned roughly $111,000 or more as single filers in 2025 will face higher Medicare Part B and Part D premiums starting in January...
Medicare’s Part B premium is projected to climb to $209.50 a month in 2027, up from $202.90 now.
Millions of Medicare beneficiaries will pay more for outpatient coverage next year if federal projections hold. The 2026 Medicare Trustees Report, released on June 9,...
Your Medicare plan’s 2027 change notice arrives by September 30, and ignoring it can lock you into a costlier plan.
Millions of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Advantage or Part D plans will receive a document in September that spells out every cost and coverage change...
Full retirement age has finished its climb to 67, and claiming Social Security at 62 now locks in a check about 30% smaller for life.
Americans born in 1960 and later now face the steepest early-claiming penalty in Social Security’s history. The full retirement age has completed its decades-long climb...
A surviving spouse can collect 100% of a late husband or wife’s Social Security by waiting until survivor full retirement age.
Widows and widowers who claim Social Security survivor benefits before reaching their full retirement age permanently reduce their monthly payments to as little as 71.5%...
Social Security’s 2.8% raise added about $56 a month in 2026, but higher Medicare premiums claw part of it back.
Retired workers collecting Social Security started 2026 with a 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment that adds roughly $57 a month to the average benefit. That gain,...
After a senior dies, Medicaid can bill the estate for nursing-home care it paid, though the family home is sometimes shielded.
Families who inherit a home after a parent or grandparent dies on Medicaid can face a bill from the state for every dollar spent on...