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’s 2027 raise is now estimated near 3.6%, up from this year’s 2.8%, with the official number due October 14
The most closely watched number in retirement planning has been sliding for weeks, and it landed at an estimated 3.6% for 2027, up from this...
A September 14 report could force the Senate into a rare session to vote on rescuing Social Security
A bipartisan group of eight senators wants to put Social Security’s funding shortfall on a fixed clock, using a bill that would force an independent...
A power of attorney ends at death, when the named executor takes over an estate
A power of attorney is one of the most useful documents in financial caregiving, letting a trusted agent pay bills, manage accounts, and handle property...
A Medicare Advantage plan’s yearly out-of-pocket maximum caps what you pay for covered care
Original Medicare has no ceiling on what a beneficiary can pay out of pocket in a bad year — a long hospital stay or a...
Medicare covers diabetes self-management training to help control the disease
Medicare Part B pays for structured diabetes self-management training, a benefit built for beneficiaries living with the disease, covering hands-on instruction in blood-sugar monitoring, medication...
A living will and health-care proxy direct your care when you cannot speak for yourself
A living will and a health-care proxy answer the same unsettling question in different ways: who decides on medical treatment when the patient cannot decide...
Bunching two years of medical bills into one can clear the deduction floor
Itemizing medical expenses on a federal tax return only pays off once total qualifying costs for the year exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income, a...
A 401(k) loan avoids taxes and penalties as long as it’s repaid on time
A 401(k) participant who borrows from their own retirement account is not making a taxable withdrawal at all, as long as the loan follows the...
Spreading a required IRA withdrawal across the year can smooth a retiree’s tax bill
Retirees who own traditional IRAs and most workplace retirement accounts must begin required minimum distributions the year they turn 73, and the total owed for...
A grandparent raising a grandchild may be able to claim a benefit on a Social Security record
Grandparents who step in to raise a grandchild full time sometimes assume Social Security has nothing to offer them beyond their own retirement check. That...
Applying for SSI can also open the door to state supplements and automatic Medicaid
A single application for Supplemental Security Income does more than establish a monthly federal payment. In most states, that same application functions as a Medicaid...
SSI’s asset limit can end a low-income senior’s monthly federal check once savings top the cap
Supplemental Security Income exists for people with limited income and limited savings, and the Social Security Administration enforces the second half of that test just...
A federal retiree’s survivor annuity continues for a spouse only if the worker elected it
A federal employee who retires under CSRS or FERS does not automatically guarantee their spouse a monthly income after they die. The survivor annuity that...
A special-needs trust preserves government benefits for a disabled heir
Leaving money directly to a disabled heir who receives Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid can backfire badly: those programs cap how much a recipient can...
Gifting up to the annual exclusion each year quietly shrinks a taxable estate
The federal government lets anyone give away a set amount of money to as many people as they want every year, with no gift tax...
Medicaid’s estate recovery can be waived when repaying would cause an heir real hardship
Medicaid is not free once its recipient dies. States are required by federal law to try to recover what they paid for a deceased enrollee’s...
A community-spouse allowance lets the healthy spouse keep income and assets when the other needs a nursing home
When one spouse needs nursing-home-level care and applies for Medicaid to pay for it, federal law does not force the other spouse to spend down...
A durable power of attorney lets a trusted person handle your finances if you can’t
A power of attorney is a one-page legal fix for a problem most families only discover mid-crisis: someone needs to pay a parent’s mortgage, sign...
A revocable trust can name someone to manage your money if illness leaves you unable
A revocable living trust does more than route money to heirs after death. Written correctly, it also names a backup manager — a successor trustee...
Naming a minor directly as a beneficiary can force a court guardianship a trust would avoid
A parent or grandparent who lists a child directly as the beneficiary on a life insurance policy or retirement account is choosing the option that...