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
The number of 401(k) millionaires slipped 3% to 645,000 after a rocky first quarter
Roughly 645,000 Americans held at least $1 million in their 401(k) accounts at the end of the first quarter, a 3 percent drop from the...
Humana is pulling Medicare Advantage plans from 194 counties for 2026, and UnitedHealth and Aetna are cutting too
Roughly 560,000 Medicare Advantage members are losing their current Humana plans for 2026 after the insurer pulled out of 194 counties it deemed unprofitable, according...
New twice-a-year Medicaid eligibility checks start in December, and even people who work could lose coverage
Millions of adults who gained Medicaid coverage through state expansion programs face a new threat to their health insurance starting in December, when states begin...
Oregon is returning a record kicker tax-surplus rebate to taxpayers this year
Oregon taxpayers are set to receive the largest kicker tax credit in the state’s history during the current filing season. The Oregon Department of Revenue...
Both parties warn Social Security’s trust fund will fall short in 2032
The government’s own actuaries now project that Social Security’s main retirement trust fund will only be able to pay full benefits until late 2032, and...
Adding a payable-on-death beneficiary to a bank account lets it skip probate and pass straight to your heirs
Adding a payable-on-death beneficiary to a checking or savings account can decide whether a family waits through probate or receives money almost immediately. California has...
UnitedHealth denied 71% of seniors’ long-term-care requests, far above the rate at smaller plans
Federal investigators say one of the country’s largest Medicare Advantage insurers denied 71 percent of seniors’ requests for long-term hospital-level care, a rate far higher...
Money the earnings test holds back before full retirement age comes back later as a permanently higher check
Millions of Social Security retirees who keep working before full retirement age see their checks reduced when they earn above annual limits. That money is...
Social Security is ending paper checks this year, and Fifth Third Bank is taking over the Direct Express card
Millions of Social Security recipients who still receive paper checks face a hard deadline: the federal government set September 30, 2025, as the cutoff for...
Medicare now caps your out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,100 a year
Millions of Medicare beneficiaries who rely on prescription drugs will pay no more than $2,100 out of pocket for covered medications in 2026, a $100...
Original Medicare started requiring prior approval for some procedures in six states this year
Medicare beneficiaries in six states now face a new step before receiving certain medical services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the...
Who can get their entire $202.90 Medicare Part B premium paid for them? Limited-income seniors who join a Medicare Savings Program
Seniors living on tight budgets will pay $202.90 each month for Medicare Part B in 2026, a cost that can consume a sizable share of...
About 2 million seniors skip $11.4 billion in Medicare Extra Help drug savings
An estimated two million seniors eligible for Medicare’s Extra Help program never apply, collectively forgoing roughly $11.4 billion in annual prescription drug savings. The program,...
Social Security can now withhold half of a monthly check to recover an overpayment unless you request a lower rate within 90 days
Millions of Social Security beneficiaries who receive overpayment notices mailed on or after April 25, 2025, now face a default withholding rate of 50 percent...
Workers ages 60 to 63 can put an extra $11,250 into a 401(k) this year, well above the standard catch-up
Americans turning 60, 61, 62, or 63 this year can stash an extra $11,250 into a 401(k) as a catch-up contribution, a $3,750 bump over...
Millions of taxpayers have until July 10 to claim COVID-era refunds the IRS charged as late
Tens of millions of taxpayers who paid penalties and interest on balances the IRS treated as overdue during the COVID-19 federal disaster period may be...
Retirees whose income dropped after they stopped working can appeal a high Medicare premium using Form SSA-44
Retirees who left the workforce in 2024 or 2025 are now receiving Medicare premium bills based on their peak earning years, not their current, lower...
One new estimate puts the 2027 Social Security raise as high as 4.7%, the biggest cost-of-living bump in over a decade
Retirees and disabled workers collecting Social Security could see their monthly checks jump by as much as 4.7 percent starting in January 2027, which would...
Divorced spouses married at least ten years can claim up to half an ex’s Social Security, and it never reduces the ex’s own check
Divorced Americans who were married for at least a decade can collect up to 50 percent of a former spouse’s Social Security retirement benefit, and...
Heirs inherit a home and investments at their value on the day you die, erasing the tax on a lifetime of gains
Every year, families across the United States inherit homes, brokerage accounts, and other assets whose value grew for decades under a prior owner. When that...