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
Converting traditional IRA money in the low-income early-retirement years trims the tax on future required withdrawals
The years after a paycheck ends but before Social Security and required minimum distributions fully begin can create a temporary valley in taxable income. Moving...
A widow or widower often jumps to higher single tax brackets the next year, a costly survivor’s penalty
The death of a spouse can reduce household income without reducing it by half, yet the federal tax system may soon treat the survivor as...
Many nonspouse heirs must empty an inherited IRA within 10 years, and some owe yearly withdrawals along the way
An inherited IRA can carry two clocks at once. Many adult children and other nonspouse beneficiaries must drain the account by the end of the...
A spouse with no paycheck can still fund a spousal IRA
A year outside paid employment does not have to become a blank year in a married person’s retirement record. Federal law lets a couple use...
Taxpayers 65 and older get a bigger standard deduction on top
Turning 65 changes the federal deduction calculation even when a taxpayer has no new medical bill, retirement-account withdrawal or Social Security decision. For 2026, the...
Workers aged 60 to 63 can put an extra $11,250 into a 401(k) in 2026, a super catch-up that shrinks at 64
A four-year age band now carries the largest 401(k) catch-up limit in the tax code. Workers who turn 60, 61, 62, or 63 during 2026...
A “Medicare flex card” ad may promise grocery money, but the benefit is plan-specific and can carry eligibility limits
A card pictured beside groceries can make a Medicare advertisement look like a federal cash benefit. It is not. Spending cards are tools some private...
Go 63 days without Part D or other creditable drug coverage and Medicare may add a late penalty for as long as you have Part D
Employer prescription coverage protects against Medicare’s Part D late penalty only when the plan is “creditable,” meaning it is expected to pay at least as...
A high-deductible Medigap Plan G may trade a lower premium for more upfront cost
High-deductible Medigap Plan G keeps the broad benefit design of standard Plan G but delays the insurer’s payments until the policyholder has absorbed a large...
Original Medicare pays nothing toward long-term custodial care, which has a national median cost above $9,500 a month
The largest health expense in later life can sit outside Original Medicare altogether. When a nursing-home stay is custodial—help with bathing, dressing, eating, transferring, or...
After 65, health savings account money can pay for anything, taxed like an IRA
An HSA changes character at 65 without losing its most valuable tax benefit. Money used for qualified medical expenses remains tax-free, while withdrawals for groceries,...
Medicaid can bill an estate after death, but a surviving spouse or disabled child can block recovery on the home
Medicaid can pay years of nursing-home or home-care bills and later seek repayment from a recipient’s estate, placing the family home at the center of...
When one spouse enters a nursing home on Medicaid, the at-home spouse can keep up to $4,066.50 in monthly income
A nursing-home admission does not automatically give Medicaid the at-home spouse’s entire household income. Federal spousal-impoverishment rules create an income allowance for the husband or...
Losing job coverage opens an 8-month window to enroll in Part B penalty-free
The end of employer health insurance starts a Medicare clock that is generous enough to prevent an immediate penalty but short enough to punish a...
Some Medicare Advantage plans refund part of your $202.90 Part B premium
The standard Medicare Part B premium is $202.90 a month in 2026, but some Medicare Advantage plans return part of that cost through a Part...
The 2027 Social Security raise is tracking near 3.8%, and the September inflation report completes the final calculation in October
The next Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is still an estimate, but the latest widely followed forecast puts it near 3.8%. That number can move because...
For eligible beneficiaries, the hold-harmless rule stops a rising Medicare Part B premium from shrinking a Social Security check
Medicare Part B premiums and Social Security benefits rise on separate tracks, creating a risk that a large premium increase could consume an entire cost-of-living...
One worker’s record can pay the worker, spouse and children up to about 180% of the worker’s Social Security
A Social Security record can support more than the worker who earned it. A spouse and eligible children may receive family benefits, but the combined...
Social Security stops adding delayed-retirement credits at 70, so waiting past your 70th birthday raises your check by nothing
Delayed Social Security claiming has a firm finish line. Retirement benefits can grow for each month a worker waits after full retirement age, but the...
Suspend your Social Security at full retirement age and each month adds a delayed credit worth about 8% a year until 70
A worker who already claimed Social Security is not necessarily locked into that payment for life. After full retirement age and before 70, retirement benefits...