Andy | Saving to Invest

The Four Deadly Credit Card Mistakes You Can Avoid Now (2026 Update)

The average credit card now carries north of 21% APR — above 23% on new accounts — so the cost of a credit card mistake is higher in 2026 than it's been in decades. Banks make billions a year in fees and interest, and nearly all of it comes from…

IRS Audit Triggers and Red Flags in 2026 — Why Returns Get Pulled and How to Avoid It

Most taxpayers, myself included, share the same dread of getting audited. In reality, the odds aren't that high for most filers, and recent IRS staffing cuts have pushed them even lower — though not evenly across income levels. The IRS audits well under 0.5% of the more than 150 million…

Good Debt vs. Bad Debt in 2026 — Taking Charge of Your Finances

The average credit card now carries north of 21% APR — higher on new accounts, per the Federal Reserve — while a 30-year mortgage runs closer to 6%. That gap alone tells you most of what you need to know about labeling debt "good" or "bad," but it's not quite…

10 Frivolous Tax Arguments the IRS Has Already Shot Down — And the $5,000 Penalty for Trying

Each year the IRS updates its official rebuttal of the most common arguments made by people who claim they aren't required to pay federal income tax. It's called The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments, and filing a return based on one of these positions carries a $5,000 penalty per return…

Your Marginal Tax Rate Isn’t What You Actually Pay — Here’s Your Real 2026 Effective Rate

A single filer earning $150,000 in 2026 has a 24% marginal tax rate — but their actual effective tax rate works out to about 16.5% of gross income, after the standard deduction and the progressive bracket structure. That's the most common tax misunderstanding I run into: people conflate the bracket…

2026-2027 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Income Limits and Qualification Rules

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest refundable federal tax credit for working families and individuals. For tax year 2026 — the income you'll report on the return you file in early 2027 — the maximum credit rises to $8,231 for families with three or more qualifying children.…

How to Choose a Tax Preparer in 2026 — What’s Actually Required (and What Isn’t)

Every paid tax return preparer in the U.S. must have a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) for the current filing year — the 2026 PTIN renewal fee is $18.75. More than half of taxpayers use a paid preparer rather than filing themselves, so knowing what actually separates a qualified…

IRS Standard Mileage Rate 2026: Why It Jumped to 76 Cents Mid-Year (Plus a 2027 Outlook)

If you drive for work, the IRS standard mileage rate you can deduct just changed twice in one year. It started 2026 at 72.5 cents per mile for business use, then jumped to 76 cents per mile effective July 1 — a mid-year increase the IRS almost never makes. Here's…

401(k) Loans vs. Hardship Withdrawals: What Changed Under SECURE 2.0 (2026 Guide)

If you're staring at your 401(k) balance wondering how to get at it before retirement, you've got three real options: a loan, a hardship withdrawal, or one of several penalty exceptions Congress has added over the years. They work very differently, and mixing them up is an expensive mistake. I…

Selling Your Home in 2026? The $250,000/$500,000 Tax Exclusion Hasn’t Moved Since 1997

If you sell your main home in 2026, you can still exclude up to $250,000 of gain from your taxable income if you're single, or $500,000 if you're married filing jointly. That number hasn't changed since the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 — nearly thirty years, no inflation adjustment, ever.…

2026–2027 Updates: Eight Things NOT to Do With Your 401(k) and IRA

Everyone who has a 401(k) or IRA has read the standard playbook: invest regularly, diversify, keep costs low. Good advice, all of it. But knowing what not to do is just as important — and some of the most expensive mistakes are the ones that feel reasonable in the moment.…

How to Save and Make Money With Credit Cards in 2026

Here's the rule that makes everything below actually work: pay your card in full every month. At an average APR above 21% in 2026, a single month of carried interest wipes out most of what a cash-back or rewards card can earn you. With that out of the way, here's…

When to Claim Social Security in 2026: The Real Math for Singles, Couples, and Late Filers

Claim Social Security at 62 and you lock in about 70% of your full benefit for life. Wait until 70, and you lock in 124% instead. That's the single biggest financial decision most retirees make, and unlike almost everything else in retirement planning, you don't get a do-over. I get…

TIPS in 2026 — Current Real Yields and Whether They Still Make Sense

10-year TIPS were yielding a real, after-inflation return of roughly 2.3% as of July 2026, according to Federal Reserve data. That's a genuinely positive real return — a different environment than 2020-2022, when TIPS yields were negative or barely positive. Here's how TIPS actually work, what today's yields mean in…