Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Rising health costs in 2026 are colliding with a complicated tax code, and many households are trying to figure out whether their medical premiums can meaningfully reduce what they owe the IRS. The answer is that some premiums do qualify, but only in specific situations and often with strict limits. Understanding where premiums fit into…
Tax filing season opens Monday, and for once the headlines about refunds are not just wishful thinking. A mix of new tax law changes, inflation adjustments and targeted credits means many households are poised to see significantly larger checks than they did in recent years. If you plan carefully, your own refund could be one…
More than a million service members who received President Donald Trump’s patriotic “warrior dividend” this winter will not owe federal income tax on the money. The Internal Revenue Service has now confirmed that the $1,776 checks sent to troops count as a special military benefit, keeping the full amount in recipients’ pockets. The decision locks…
President Donald Trump is pushing a fresh round of homeowner-focused tax changes that could shift thousands of dollars a year back into household budgets, especially in high-cost, high-tax states. Between a revamped property and income tax deduction, a permanent cap on mortgage interest write-offs, and a provocative new idea to treat homes more like businesses…
Vivek Ramaswamy is running for Ohio governor on a sweeping promise to wipe out state income taxes and sharply cut property taxes, casting himself as a crusader against what he portrays as a bloated government. Critics have responded by branding him an “anti-tax fairy,” arguing that his numbers do not come close to adding up…
The Internal Revenue Service is giving a quiet head start to millions of taxpayers this year, effectively opening a back door to file before the official start of tax season. Anyone who earned $89,000 or less in 2025 can use the agency’s Free File system to submit a return early, potentially locking in a refund…
President Donald Trump is signaling that the next frontier in his tax agenda could be the family home, hinting that a lucrative business write off might soon be available to ordinary homeowners. By floating the idea of letting people depreciate their primary residences, he is effectively inviting voters to imagine a world where the tax…
President Donald Trump’s signature tax package, The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, is quietly reshaping how retirees are taxed, from their Social Security benefits to the deductions they can claim. The law layers new breaks on top of existing rules, but many of the most generous provisions are temporary, which means waiting to adjust your…
Pulling more than $5,000 in cash out of a checking or savings account feels like a simple errand, but inside the banking system it flips a series of quiet switches that can slow you down. I am looking at what actually happens when you ask for that kind of money, from branch cash shortages to…
President Trump has turned immigration enforcement into one of the defining projects of his presidency, and the scale is now visible on streets, in detention centers, and deep inside the federal budget. His signature tax and spending cuts package quietly unlocked a vast stream of money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, creating what critics describe…