Category: Government Rebates and Payments

The General Schedule (GS) pay scale sets base pay for roughly 1.5 million civilian federal employees. This page tracks confirmed raises and the latest proposals for each year. The 2026 raise is confirmed at 1%. The 2027 picture is wide open — Trump's budget proposes a freeze, Congress has offered…

Data last verified: June 2026. Subscribe or follow us to get these and related updates. The maximum SNAP benefit for a Michigan (MI) family of four is $994 per month in fiscal year 2026 — up from $975 last year. Benefits load onto your Bridge Card (EBT) 3rd–21st. But 2026…

The maximum SNAP benefit for a Texas family of four is $994 per month in fiscal year 2026 — up from $975 last year. Benefits load onto your Lone Star Card between the 1st and 28th of each month, depending on your case number. But 2026 is a more complicated…

With rising inflation many states are raising the minimum wages for workers, often above the mandated federal minimum. This is good news for lower-income workers, where the minimum wage is barely enough to survive on. Note that the federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 and remains unchanged this year. However…

[Updated for projected 2024 Increase] Soaring inflation and related Fed rate hiking actions had a silver lining for many eligible recipients in 2023, with a 8.7% increase (~$145 p/month) in Social Security (SS) benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in 2023. The 2024 increase however is expected to much smaller as inflation cools,…

This page tracks Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustments year by year — confirmed figures and the latest forward estimates. The 2026 COLA is confirmed at 2.8%, effective January 2026. The 2027 COLA is currently tracking around 3.8%, after briefly spiking toward 4.7% in June. I've also added what the latest Trustees…

Tax season 2022 is well underway and despite widely reported IRS backlogs and delays, some people say they’ve already received their refunds from the IRS. The average tax refund to date is just over $2200 for the current tax season. However this is still the minority and many news outlets…

A few weeks ago several members of my extended family posted on our family chat group that they were exhibiting COVID like symptoms. Given we just had met many of these family members at Thanksgiving I was alarmed when I read the message and like many in that group rushed…

Millions of families and households got use to getting a monthly dependent payment from the IRS in the second half of 2021. This payment, known as the advance child tax credit, was generally claimed via tax return filings in prior years. As part of Biden’s ARPA stimulus bill to provide…

On November 15th, 2021, President Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law.  Officially named the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, this bill contains a wide variety of measures intended to stimulate the economy, make improvements to the infrastructure system (think transportation systems, telecommunications networks, utilities, etc.), and provide…

Wherever you stand on the COVID-19 vaccination debate, there is little doubt that after January 4th the updated White House Guidelines around mandatory vaccinations will hit unvaccinated workers personal finances -whether they stay with their employer or quit. With more than 745,000 Americans having died from COVID and over 70,000…

The 2022 tax year will be quite different from 2021 given the number of expiring provisions, which will see reduced refunds for many Americans in 2023. This article will cover some of the main tax changes, so you don’t miss out on any of the major tax credits or deductions…

The SSA released the final figure for the 2022 COLA increase which affects nearly 70 million Americans collecting social security and SSI benefits. The 2022 raise was 5.9%, which translates to an extra $92 in retirees’ average monthly benefit next year. It was nearly 5 times last years increase. See…