A 68-year-old retiree built her income around municipal bonds for a simple reason: the interest is free of federal income tax. She pulls in roughly $40,000 a year in muni interest, files a clean…
A Big Payday With a Hidden Medicare Bill Attached Picture a 64-year-old business owner who has spent decades building something worth selling. A buyer is at the table with an offer around $900,000. He…
The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on June 17 during Chairman Kevin Warsh’s first policy meeting at the helm of the central bank. But forecasts revealed a more hawkish outlook among policymakers.…
There’s been a lot of pressure on recently appointed Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh to cut interest rates. But with inflation moving in the wrong direction, the obvious move during today’s Fed policy…
Picture a married couple, both about 67, both newly on Medicare. She taught middle school for three decades. He spent his career as a firefighter. Between them, two solid public-sector pensions bring in roughly…
Even if you plan well for retirement, there’s a sneaky factor that could drive your costs up over time — inflation. Thankfully, Social Security benefits are protected from inflation. Each year, benefits are eligible…
One of the toughest financial decisions you might have to make in your lifetime is figuring out when to sign up for Social Security. Your filing age, coupled with your earnings history, will have…
When a Diagnosis Rewrites the Retirement Plan He spent years planning to wait until 70 for the biggest possible monthly check. Then a doctor’s diagnosis shortened his life expectancy, and the spreadsheet stopped making…
Sometimes, when government agencies are slow to release information, there’s a reason for it. It’s unclear as to why the most recent Social Security Trustees Report was so late, but that’s not such a…
As part of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged to do away with taxes on Social Security benefits. He didn’t quite pull that off. But in the interim, a lot of seniors are getting…
Picture a couple, both 62, who retired this spring after decades of work. Their 401(k) shows roughly $600,000, the number they had spent years circling on the spreadsheet. Then the markets turned ugly, their…
A 63-year-old single man has read the same advice as everyone else: wait until 70 for a bigger check. An illustrative $1,750 a month is sitting there if he files now, and every finance…
A 72-year-old retiree moves a chunk of cash into certificates of deposit, locks in a safe yield, and sleeps better at night. Then tax time arrives. The CDs threw off about $3,500 in interest,…
She turned 67, started drawing Social Security, and figured the hard part was over. A part-time job came up at about $22,000 a year, three days a week, mostly to stay busy and cover…
After the September 11 August CPI report held annual inflation steady at 3.4%, TSCL revised its 2027 COLA forecast down to 3.5%, Mary Johnson moved up to 3.5%, and AARP raised its estimate to…
