Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Federal tax rules on retirement benefits are shifting in ways that could dramatically shrink how many older Americans owe anything on their Social Security checks. A new senior-focused deduction, layered on top of existing thresholds, is poised to push a large majority of retirees out of the federal tax net on those benefits, even as…
Retirees have only one chance to get Social Security right, yet the same costly mistakes keep surfacing in surveys and expert warnings. I have pulled together eight recurring errors that show up in recent reporting, from claiming too early to underestimating bureaucratic delays, to help readers protect a benefit that may anchor their entire retirement…
Donald Trump’s advisers are quietly debating whether to pursue cuts of up to 20 percent in disability-related spending, a shift that would touch one of the most sensitive parts of the federal safety net. I want to unpack what that kind of reduction could realistically target, how it would ripple through Social Security Disability Insurance…
Your Social Security number is the master key to your financial life, so handing it out in the wrong place can invite identity theft, ruined credit and even stolen benefits. I focus on 10 everyday situations where experts say you should refuse to share it, and I explain how each one fits the broader pattern…
Social Security has always been politically untouchable in theory, yet in 2025 it became the focus of some of the most aggressive policy tinkering in years. President Donald Trump reshaped how benefits are delivered, how they interact with the tax code, and how the system verifies who gets paid, all while insisting he was protecting…
President Trump has promised to protect Social Security, but the fine print of his agenda points to a very different outcome for retirees, workers, and people with disabilities. Independent analysts now warn that his approach could speed up the program’s financial crunch, reshape how benefits are delivered, and quietly trim support for some of the…
Retirees who rely on Social Security are staring at a potential shock: monthly checks could shrink by hundreds of dollars if Congress allows a key trust fund to run short. The projected hit, roughly $462 per month for a typical couple, would not be a slow erosion but an abrupt cut triggered by existing law…
Thousands of air traffic controllers who kept planes moving during the recent federal shutdown are still waiting for money they were explicitly promised, turning what was billed as a “thank you” into a fresh source of anger. Instead of a morale boost, the stalled shutdown bonus has exposed how fragile the system is when the…
For decades, Americans have been told that “full retirement age” is the finish line, the moment when Social Security benefits finally match a lifetime of work. Suze Orman is pushing back on that assumption, arguing that even this official benchmark may come too early for many households. I see her warning as part of a…
Retirement spending rules are supposed to make life simpler, yet most people end up more confused than confident. I see the real need as a practical, “common man” framework that helps you decide what you can safely spend each year without a PhD in finance or a spreadsheet obsession. The goal is not to chase…