Category: Taxes and Retirement

The average savings account still pays just 0.38% APY, largely unchanged for over a year. The top high-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) right now pay up to 4.21%, and top CDs pay up to 4.25% — both over 10 times more than average, with zero additional risk either way. If you're…

The IRS Free File AGI limit for 2026 is $89,000 — the highest it's ever been. If your adjusted gross income lands at or below that number, free guided filing is available through 8 partner software companies. Above it, you're paying. Here's what's worth using this year and what's changed.…

Two separate reporting requirements tend to get conflated by landlords and anyone with money outside the U.S.: issuing 1099s to contractors you pay for property work, and disclosing foreign financial accounts to the Treasury. Both have real deadlines and real penalties, and both changed meaningfully under recent legislation. 1099 Reporting…

As the year winds down, a few hours reviewing your tax situation can save you real money. Not every move here will apply to you — some are for itemizers, some are for retirees, some are specific to your income level. But there's almost always something worth acting on before…

The safest way to move money from an old 401(k) to an IRA is a direct, trustee-to-trustee transfer — the funds never touch your hands, so none of the deadlines or withholding rules below even come into play. Do it the other way, where the check gets sent to you…

Boosting retirement savings isn't about finding one clever trick — it's mostly about using the accounts and incentives already available to you more fully than you currently are. Here are ten concrete ways to do that in 2026. 1. Get Your Full Employer Match If your employer offers a 401(k)…

Pull money out of a traditional 401(k) or IRA before you turn 59½, and the IRS adds a 10% penalty on top of whatever income tax you already owe. That's the headline rule everyone knows. What fewer people know is just how many exceptions exist. Some have been on the…

The honest answer to "how long should I keep this?" depends entirely on what kind of record it is and what happened on your return. The IRS's retention rules are tied directly to how long it (or you) can still legally act on a given tax year — called the…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…