Andy | Saving to Invest

Tax-Loss Harvesting Before December 31, 2026: My 3-Step Process

Every December, I go through the same three-step process on my taxable brokerage accounts: figure out where my realized gains and losses stand, decide what to sell to offset them, and recheck the numbers before December 31. It's one of the simplest, most repeatable tax moves available to any investor…

2026 Update: TurboTax Review — Great Tax Software With Live Support for a Premium Price

TurboTax is still the most widely used tax software in the country. For tax year 2025 (filed in 2026), it has made some real changes worth knowing before you pay — or decide to go elsewhere. The product lineup has been simplified, there are new deductions under the One Big…

Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Rises to $1,500-$3,000 in 2026 Under OBBBA

If you've been claiming the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) at the reduced post-pandemic level for the past few years, there's good news: it just went up again, and this time it's meant to stay. Starting with the 2026 tax year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)…

State Energy Assistance Programs in 2026: LIHEAP Funding, Income Limits, and How to Apply

Home energy costs keep climbing, and for households on the lower end of the income scale, that's not an abstract budgeting problem — it's a choice between heating the house and paying for something else. The good news is that federal and state energy assistance programs exist specifically to help.…

Don’t Panic – Understand IRS Reference Code 1242 and Get Your Refund on Track

After submitting your tax return, you may see a message referencing code 1242 and Tax Topic 151 when you check your IRS refund status. Naturally, this can cause stress and worry about what happens next. Here's what it means, next steps, and the expected timeline. Get the latest money, tax…

2026 Federal Poverty Level Guidelines: The Income Numbers That Decide Medicaid, SNAP, and ACA Eligibility

The 2026 federal poverty guideline is $15,960 for a single person and $33,000 for a family of four, effective January 13, 2026. These numbers, published annually by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), are what determine eligibility for a wide range of federal and state benefit programs —…

Grocery Benefits for Seniors in 2026-2027 with Medicare Advantage Food Cards, SNAP, and What Changed

If you've seen ads for "free Medicare grocery cards" — or had one and lost it this year — here's the straight story for 2026: those benefits got much harder to get. The federal pilot program (VBID) that let many Medicare Advantage plans hand out grocery allowances based on income…

How to Maximize Your Tax Refund in 2026: What Actually Moves the Needle

"Maximize your tax refund" gets searched every filing season, but it's worth being precise about what that actually means. A refund is just the IRS returning money you already overpaid through paycheck withholding or estimated payments — getting a bigger one isn't really a win if it means you gave…

Kentucky Unemployment Benefits in 2026: Up to $720/Week for 26 Weeks, Partial UI Rules, Taxes, and What Else Is Available

Kentucky's unemployment insurance program — managed by the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet (KEWES) — increased its maximum weekly benefit significantly to $720 in 2026, up from $552 in 2025. This $168 increase reflects Kentucky's rapidly rising average weekly wage as the state's economy has grown. Kentucky's flat income…

Where Is My Business Tax Refund in 2026? Current IRS Processing Times and How to Check Status

Business owners still don't get a "Where's My Refund"-style tracker the way individual filers do. If you're waiting on a business tax refund in 2026, the IRS's own guidance is unchanged from prior years: call the Business and Specialty Tax Line at 800-829-4933 (or +1 267-941-1000 from outside the U.S.)…

How to Reduce Your Tax Bill in 2026: Lowering Taxable Income and Claiming More Deductions

A few years back I ended up owing taxes when I filed my return — a tax liability I could have avoided or shrunk if I'd made a few moves earlier in the year. That's still the core lesson here: most of the strategies below only work if you act…

IRS Tax Transcript Code 810 Refund Freeze and What It Means When Followed By Code 811

Transaction codes are used on IRS tax transcripts to show filers what has happened with their return processing, reasons for potential delays, when a refund will be paid, or why it's delayed. Given ongoing challenges in getting through to a live IRS agent, many taxpayers are turning to their free…

2026–2027 Minimum Wage by State: Federal Rate Stays $7.25 While 19 States Index for Inflation

The federal minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour in 2026 — unchanged since July 2009, the longest stretch without an increase since the federal minimum wage was created in 1938. Where you actually stand depends entirely on your state. Washington, D.C. now has the highest minimum wage in the…

Stuck on Hold With the IRS? Here’s How to Get Help In Person Instead

When "Where's My Refund?" just says "still processing" for months and the phone lines go nowhere, an in-person visit to a local IRS office can genuinely break the logjam — but only if you go in prepared and with realistic expectations about what an agent can actually tell you. Appointments…