Andy | Saving to Invest

5 Places to Get Free Tax Advice, Guidance, and Help

If you don't want to pay a preparer or a software subscription fee, there are several genuinely free ways to get your taxes done or get expert help along the way. Here's where to look, and who actually qualifies for each option. Subscribe here to get the latest tax and…

When Can I File and Check My State Tax Refund? 2026 State-by-State Status Tracker Links

Most of the refund attention every season goes to the federal IRS refund, but over 40 states also collect income tax — and every one runs its own processing schedule, its own refund tracker, and its own delays. State refunds routinely take 2 to 12 weeks, often landing after your…

2026–2027 Maximum Weekly Unemployment Insurance Benefits and Weeks By State – Latest Updates and News

Listed in the table below are the latest maximum weekly unemployment insurance benefit amounts by state, current as of July 2026. The Unemployment Compensation (UC) program is designed to provide benefits to individuals out of work or in between jobs, through no fault of their own. Note that the table…

2026-2027 Saver’s Tax Credit Income Limits and How to Claim It

The Saver's Credit gives lower- and moderate-income workers a direct tax credit — not just a deduction — for contributing to a retirement account. For 2026, the income limits increased across all filing statuses, so more people now qualify than in prior years. The IRS confirmed these thresholds in Notice…

529 Plan Rules for 2026: Contribution Limits, State Tax Deductions, and the New Roth IRA Rollover

Anyone can put up to $19,000 a year into a 529 plan for a single child without touching the federal gift tax exclusion — $38,000 for a married couple. Want to front-load it? You can "superfund" up to $95,000 in one year ($190,000 joint) by treating it as five years…

2026 Average IRS and State Tax Refund — $3,676 Nationally, All 50 States, and Processing Times

The average federal tax refund as of March 6, 2026 was $3,676 — up 10.6% from $3,324 at the same point in 2025. By early April the average settled to $3,462, still up 11.1% year-over-year. The IRS has paid out $241.7 billion in refunds through early April, compared to $211.1…

2026 Monthly Budget Comparison – Big City vs. Small Town

One of the biggest financial decisions many people face isn't about a specific purchase — it's about where to live. The gap between big-city and small-town costs of living can be enormous, and it's worth breaking down where that gap actually comes from before assuming one option is automatically "better."…

Pension Payout Choice in 2026 — Monthly Annuity or Lump Sum Rollover to an IRA?

If you're lucky enough to have a traditional pension — and fewer than one in five private-sector workers are these days — you'll eventually face one of the bigger money decisions of your life: take it as a monthly annuity for as long as you live, or take a lump…

2027 SSI Maximum Payment: $1,029 a Month, Plus the 2027 Payment Dates

The maximum federal SSI payment for 2027 is $1,029 a month for an individual and $1,544 a month for a couple. The Social Security Administration set those amounts on October 14, 2026, with the 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). That's a $35 raise for individuals and $53 for couples. You'll see…

2026 Medical Expense Deduction: The 7.5% AGI Floor and What You Can Actually Write Off

I get asked about this deduction every tax season, usually from someone who just had a rough year medically and wants to know if any of it comes back at tax time. The honest answer: sometimes, but the bar is higher than most people assume. The rule itself is simple.…

3-Fund Portfolio in 2026: Vanguard vs Fidelity vs Schwab — Which Index Funds to Use

After a year of stock-picking and sector ETF trading that took more time than it was worth, I switched to a simple 3-fund index portfolio — and I haven't looked back. The strategy is straightforward: hold one US total market fund, one international fund, and one bond fund. Rebalance quarterly.…

Mortgage Rates and Home Prices: The 30-Year Tops 7% Again — What to Expect in 2027

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 7.28% this week (Freddie Mac, October 1, 2026) — the highest since November 2023. Yet the median existing home still sold for $429,100 in August, up 1.6% from a year ago. Rates have more than doubled since 2021, and they just jumped again.…

2026–2027 ACA Marketplace Health Insurance Subsidies: The Enhanced Tax Credits Are Gone — Here’s What You Actually Pay Now

If you bought ACA marketplace coverage for 2026 and your premium jumped — sometimes by hundreds of dollars a month — you're not imagining it. The enhanced premium tax credits that made Obamacare coverage cheap for millions of people expired at the end of 2025, and Congress hasn't renewed them.…

How to Pay for College in 2026: Financial Aid, Scholarships, and Alternatives to a 529

A 529 plan is the best-known college savings tool, but it's rarely the whole answer. Between financial aid, scholarships, work-study, and a few savings vehicles most people overlook, there's usually more room to close the gap than families assume. I've written separately about choosing a 529 plan in detail, so…