Andy | Saving to Invest

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: 2027 Outlook, Current 2026 Amount Up to $720/Week

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. That's a locked-in 2026 number; whether 2027 brings another jump depends on how much Kentucky's average weekly wage keeps…

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…

IRS Transcript Codes 290 and 291 Explained: Additional Tax Assessed or Refund Adjustment

If you've been waiting on your tax return processing and refund status for a while, you may see transaction codes 290 and 291 appear on your free IRS tax transcript once the IRS moves your case forward. Code 290 is generally accompanied by the line "Additional tax assessed," along with…

Latest 2027 COLA Estimate and Raise

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 estimate has narrowed to 3.4%–3.6% after July's inflation data came in, down from the 3.6%–3.8% range I was tracking…

IRS Notices CP11, CP12, CP13 and CP14 — Refund Adjustments, Balance-Due Letters, and Your 60-Day Rights in 2026

If the IRS finds a calculation error on your return, it doesn't audit you — it fixes the math itself and mails you a notice in the CP11–CP14 series telling you what changed. Depending on which one you get, your refund went up, went down, disappeared, or turned into a…

Can My Congressman Help With a Delayed Tax Refund or Missing Government Payment? How Casework Works in 2026

Yes — and with IRS phone lines answering only about 21% of calls last filing season, this old-school escalation path is getting a workout. Every congressional office runs casework: staff whose entire job is prying constituent problems loose from federal agencies, including the IRS, Social Security Administration, VA, and state…

Are Treasury I-Bonds a Good Investment? Current 2026 Rates, Purchase Limits, and Tax Rules

So after seeing a lot of buzz around the amazing yields being paid on Treasury Series I Savings Bonds (I-Bonds), I decided to take the plunge and buy some for my wife and I as a place to park some cash while the stock market gyrates and inflation remains stubbornly…

1099-K Rules Are Back to Normal: OBBBA Restores the $20,000 Threshold — What Sellers and Side Hustlers Need to Know for 2026

If you sell on eBay or Etsy, drive for a rideshare app, or get paid through PayPal or Venmo, the 1099-K rules that caused years of confusion are finally settled — and in your favor. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), payment platforms only send you (and the…

Where’s My Amended Tax Return? Checking Your 1040-X Status and Refund Timeline for 2026-2027

While the IRS aims to process regular season tax returns and refunds within 21 days for the vast majority of filers, amended returns take quite a bit longer. The IRS's own current guidance is to allow 8 to 16 weeks for a Form 1040-X to process. In practice, it's often…