Category: Taxes and Retirement

If your income crosses one of six specific lines, Medicare charges you more — sometimes a lot more — for the exact same Part B and Part D coverage everyone else gets. That surcharge is called IRMAA, and I get more confused emails about it than almost any other Medicare…

Parent PLUS loans changed in a big way on July 1, 2026: parents can now borrow only $20,000 a year and $65,000 total per student, down from an effectively uncapped amount tied to the school's full cost of attendance. Grad PLUS loans disappeared entirely for anyone starting a new graduate…

If a caller says they're "transferring" you to Social Security, you're already talking to a scammer. No retailer, tech support line or other agency can route a call into SSA's phone system. SSA recently warned about this "fake call transfer" script, and it's one piece of a wider wave of…

Social Security's Compassionate Allowances list grew to 314 conditions in August 2026, up from 300, after SSA added 14 diagnoses that qualify for near-automatic, fast-tracked disability approval. For someone with one of these conditions, the difference can be a decision in weeks instead of the months, sometimes years, a standard…

Medicare's open enrollment for 2027 coverage runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, and whatever you pick takes effect January 1, 2027. The 2027 plans themselves show up earlier: insurers can publish their premiums, drug lists and networks starting October 1, so you can shop for two weeks before you…

A Continuing Disability Review (CDR) is a routine, legally required check that you still meet SSA's medical definition of disability. For most people it ends with benefits continuing unchanged. A CDR letter is not an accusation, and it doesn't mean SSA thinks you were dishonest. Here's how often reviews happen,…

Utilities asked state regulators for $18.6 billion in electricity rate increases in just the first six months of 2026 — already more than half of all of 2025's record $29 billion in requests, with the year not even over. Residential electricity rates are up 7.3% nationally over the past year,…

If you drive for DoorDash, Uber, Lyft, or Instacart and lose other income, there's a good chance a straightforward unemployment claim based on that gig work alone will get denied. That's not a glitch in the system, it's how unemployment insurance is built. Regular state unemployment programs are designed around…

Where you live changes what you owe in ways that have nothing to do with your federal return. Nine states charge no personal income tax at all in 2026, but the same nine states often make up the difference through property tax, sales tax, or both. There's no single "best"…

If you're waiting on a property tax break in 2026, the size and shape of it depends entirely on your state — there's no federal program here. Six states have made real news this year: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, New York, Georgia, and Florida, and each one works completely differently.…

An initial SSDI decision averaged 186 days in July 2026, down from 220 a year earlier. But if your case reaches an administrative law judge, about 362,000 other people are in the same queue. Here's what SSA's own numbers show at each stage, using the most recent data SSA has…

VA disability compensation rises 3.6% for 2027, matching the Social Security COLA that SSA announced on October 14, 2026. A veteran rated 100% with no dependents goes from $3,938.58 to about $4,080.37 a month, roughly $142 more. The new rates take effect December 1, 2026. Because VA pays a month…

A $150-$200 pre-purchase inspection is the cheapest insurance you'll ever buy on a used car. Skip it, and the average undisclosed problem - a bad transmission, hidden frame damage, a flood-damaged interior - runs $500 to $3,500 to fix after the sale is final and the seller is long gone.…