Category: Taxes and Retirement

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 is about $2,170 a month starting January 2027, after the 3.6% COLA. But where you live tells a different story: Connecticut retirees average about $2,418, while Mississippi retirees average about $1,980. That's a gap of more than $400 a month, or close to $5,000…

If an SSA letter says you were overpaid, the clock starts the day the letter is dated, not the day you open it. SSA's default recovery rate is 50% of your monthly benefit, and it starts automatically if you don't respond within 90 days. That 50% is the result of…

If you get Medicaid through your state's Affordable Care Act (ACA) expansion, mark January 1, 2027. That's when the federal work requirement in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) takes effect nationwide. Roughly 20 million adults in 43 states plus DC will need to show 80 hours a month of…

If your federal student loans are in default, the government can legally take up to 15% of your monthly Social Security benefit through the Treasury Offset Program, but never below $750 a month. Right now that's paused, so check the status below before assuming it's happening to you. This isn't…

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 watch now is December 11, 2026 — not because benefits are scheduled to stop, but because that's when the stopgap funding bill Congress passed in September runs out. October 1 came and went without a funding lapse. Here's what happened the last time…

The median American household has a net worth of $215,900, according to the Federal Reserve's new 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, released October 9, 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…

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…

The average Social Security benefit for a widow or widower living alone rises to about $2,005 a month in January 2027, after the 3.6% COLA. A widowed parent with two children averages about $4,074 as a household. What you get depends on the worker's record, your age when you claim…

SSDI back pay usually lands as a single lump sum about 60 days after approval. But the amount depends on three separate pieces: the application-to-approval gap, up to 12 months before you applied, and a five-month waiting period that is never paid. The terminology alone (back pay, retroactive benefits, waiting…

USDA has approved SNAP food-restriction waivers in 23 states, but the number actually in effect just went down, not up. As of October 2026, only 8 of those 23 restrictions are active — South Carolina and North Dakota's bans, both live as of last month, got pulled back to a…