Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Minnesota is cutting roughly 800 providers from its Medicaid rolls in one of the most sweeping integrity crackdowns the state has attempted, a move that aims squarely at systemic fraud but inevitably reshapes where and how patients get care. The purge targets inactive and high‑risk providers, signaling that access to public insurance dollars will increasingly…
For a generation of savers, the 4% rule has been treated as a hard ceiling on what they can safely spend in retirement. Now the rule’s creator, financial advisor Bill Bengen, is arguing that many especially early retirees may be leaving meaningful money on the table if they cling to that limit without looking at…
Baby boomers heading into the final stretch of their working years face a narrowing window to lock in the strongest possible Social Security foundation before 2025 ends. With a widely discussed funding cliff approaching and Washington gridlock unresolved, the most effective response is a clear, personal checklist that turns uncertainty into concrete action. I focus…
Social Security’s finances are deteriorating just as a politically explosive fix lands with a thud: a proposal that would require workers to pay more than $2,600 a year in extra payroll taxes to keep full benefits flowing. The math behind that idea is straightforward, but the public’s reaction, and Washington’s reluctance to touch it, show…
Senator Rand Paul is using the looming fight over Affordable Care Act subsidies to press for a deeper rewrite of how Americans buy coverage, shifting the focus from federal aid toward new kinds of insurance markets and savings accounts. His plan would not simply trim Obamacare subsidies, it would redirect the system toward group purchasing,…
For many savers, hitting $1 million in a retirement account feels like crossing a finish line. In reality, it is the starting point for a new kind of math, where portfolio size has to be translated into a sustainable monthly paycheck that can withstand inflation, market swings and a retirement that could last three decades…
Retirees are streaming back into the labor market in noticeable numbers, and the stakes go far beyond a few extra paychecks. Their decisions are reshaping how economists read the business cycle, how employers fill open roles, and how older Americans think about the very idea of retirement. Whether this wave of “unretirement” signals economic strength…
Campaign slogans promise retirees “no tax on Social Security,” but the Internal Revenue Code does not work in slogans. Federal law still treats a portion of many retirees’ monthly checks as taxable income once they cross specific thresholds, and those rules survived the latest rewrite of the tax code. The gap between the political catchphrase…
Social Security’s annual inflation boost is on the chopping block, and the stakes are enormous for retirees who rely on every cost-of-living increase to keep up with rising prices. A proposal to cap future adjustments would shrink benefits for millions over time, with the steepest dollar losses falling on higher earners even as lower-income seniors…
Gen Z is looking at the Social Security math and choosing a path that many retirees will find jarring: cut today’s benefits rather than raise tomorrow’s taxes. Faced with a program they increasingly doubt will be there for them, younger Americans are signaling that they are not willing to shoulder a bigger tax bill to…