Category: Taxes and Retirement

If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, don't assume it'll automatically be there again next year. Insurers have been pulling out of unprofitable markets at an unusual pace, and the pattern is continuing into 2027 — millions of enrollees are getting non-renewal notices this fall, many of them in rural…

Since December 20, 2024, there's been no federal program to pay back SNAP recipients whose benefits are stolen through EBT card skimming. As of August 2026, Congress still hasn't brought it back. That matters because the theft itself hasn't slowed down. Propel, which surveyed more than 8,000 EBT cardholders in…

The average Social Security retirement check nationally was $2,083/month as of May 2026. But that number hides a surprisingly wide spread depending on where retirees live — the gap between the highest-paying and lowest-paying states runs close to $400 a month. Here's how your state stacks up, and why the…

If a letter from the Social Security Administration says you were overpaid, the clock starts the day it's dated — not the day you open it. SSA's current default rate for clawing back that money is 50% of your monthly benefit, and it starts automatically if you don't respond within…

If you're on Medicaid through your state's Affordable Care Act expansion, mark January 1, 2027 on your calendar. That's when a new federal work requirement — part of Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) — takes effect nationwide, and roughly 20 million adults will need to document 80 hours a…

If you're behind on federal student loans and collecting Social Security, here's the number that matters: 15%. That's how much of your monthly benefit the government can now take through the Treasury Offset Program if your loans are in default — down to a floor of $750 a month, but…

If you're on Medicare and drug costs are eating into a fixed income, there's a federal program that quietly covers a lot of that gap — and a meaningful number of people who'd qualify never apply, often because they've never heard of it or assume their income is too high.…

If you get SNAP, the date to actually watch this year is October 1, 2026 — not because benefits are guaranteed to stop, but because that's when the current funding that's protected SNAP all year runs out. Here's what happened last time this played out badly, what's genuinely different heading…

The median American household has a net worth of about $192,700 in 2026. If that number feels either way too low or suspiciously high compared to what you'd guess, you're not alone — most people have never seen this broken out by age, and the "average" figure everyone quotes ($1.06…

For every dollar the federal government spent in fiscal year 2026, about 22 cents went to Social Security and 16 cents went to Medicare. That's before a single cent goes to defense, interest on the debt, or anything else. Total federal spending in FY2026 runs about $7.4 trillion — 23.3%…

If you receive Social Security, SSI, or VA benefits on a Direct Express prepaid debit card, you may get a letter or a new card in the mail this year from a bank you've never heard of before: Fifth Third Bank. This is real, not a scam — but it's…

When someone who worked and paid into Social Security dies, their spouse, ex-spouse, children, or dependent parents may be able to claim a monthly payment based on that person's earnings record. The rules around who qualifies and how much they get are more layered than most people expect. Here's how…

If Social Security approves your SSDI claim, don't expect the money to land as a single simple number. Back pay calculations have more moving parts than most people expect, and the terminology alone — back pay, retroactive benefits, waiting period, onset date — trips people up before they even get…