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 Saver’s Credit hands lower-income workers up to $1,000, or $2,000 per couple, for retirement contributions
The federal tax code quietly rewards lower- and moderate-income households for setting money aside for retirement, yet the break remains one of the least-claimed lines...
Medicare covers 100 days of skilled nursing care, but pays fully for only 20
Many families first learn Medicare’s limits on nursing care in the middle of a crisis, after a parent leaves the hospital and needs weeks of...
A Medicaid-compliant annuity turns a couple’s excess savings into income and speeds a spouse’s coverage
When one spouse needs nursing-home care and the other remains at home, the couple’s savings can become the obstacle to getting help paying for it....
Medicaid’s five-year look-back penalizes seniors who gave away money before applying for nursing-home care
Older adults who move money to their children or into gifts before applying for long-term-care Medicaid often assume the transfers are a private matter. They...
Medicare’s high-income surcharge looks back two years, so a 2025 spike can raise your 2027 premium
Medicare premiums are widely assumed to track a retiree’s current income, but the program’s surcharge for higher earners runs on a built-in delay. The extra...
A Medicare Savings Program can also cover your Part A and Part B deductibles
Many people assume the help Medicare offers with the cost of coverage begins and ends with premiums. In fact, a set of programs run through...
Original Medicare has no out-of-pocket cap, so one illness can bring unlimited bills
One feature of traditional Medicare catches many people off guard the first time a serious illness strikes: there is no ceiling on what the program...
Social Security’s earnings limit jumps to $65,160 the year you reach full retirement age
Working while collecting Social Security does not automatically shrink a retiree’s benefit, but earning above a certain threshold can trigger withholding under a rule known...
A widow can claim a reduced survivor benefit at 60, then switch to her own at 70
A widow who loses a spouse in her early 60s often faces a choice that looks like an either-or decision but is really a matter...
Claiming Social Security early forces you to take spousal benefits at the same time
A common piece of Social Security folklore holds that a married person can claim a small retirement check early, let it run for years, and...
A spouse caring for a worker’s young child can draw Social Security at any age
Most people assume Social Security spousal benefits are locked behind an age gate, available only once a husband or wife reaches the early-claiming floor of...
A subsidy that capped Medicare drug-plan premiums ends in 2027, raising costs for about half of enrollees
A behind-the-scenes federal payment has quietly held down what many Medicare beneficiaries pay for stand-alone drug coverage over the past two years. That support is...
Medicare’s Extra Help erases the Part D deductible and caps brand-drug copays at $12.65 for low-income seniors
A retiree on a fixed income can face a stark choice at the pharmacy counter when a prescription’s price climbs past what the monthly budget...
Medicare Advantage insurers are cutting 2027 plans; a fall letter says if yours survives
Millions of older Americans open a plain envelope from their insurer each fall and set it aside without a second look. For a growing number...
If a 401(k) plan offers it, a newer law lets workers pull up to $1,000 for an emergency without the usual penalty
Workers can use a newer federal exception to take as much as $1,000 from a 401(k) or another eligible retirement plan for an immediate personal...
The PBGC insures a failed company pension up to $93,477 a year for a 65-year-old retiree
A private company’s failure does not necessarily erase a traditional pension. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation takes over covered single-employer plans and pays benefits within...
Your first required IRA withdrawal can wait until April 1, but doubling up two withdrawals can spike your taxes
The first required minimum distribution carries an unusual choice: an IRA owner can take it during the year it belongs to or delay it until...
A bigger single-life pension can leave a surviving spouse with nothing
A pension election can trade a larger monthly check today for the disappearance of that income at the retiree’s death. The single-life option pays only...
Filed a tax extension? Your 2025 return is due October 15, though any tax owed was due back in April
The federal extension gave most calendar-year individual filers six additional months to finish a 2025 return, but it did not provide six interest-free months to...
Itemizers can deduct qualified medical costs above 7.5% of adjusted gross income, including Medicare and age-limited long-term-care premiums
A retiree’s largest recurring medical bills may be tax-deductible, but the federal rule applies only after two gates. The expense must qualify and remain unreimbursed,...