Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Social Security beneficiaries are being told that a larger cost-of-living adjustment is on the way for 2026, but the headline number hides two serious warning signs for retirees who rely on those checks. The official increase looks decent on paper, yet a mix of higher healthcare costs and structural flaws in how inflation is measured…
Higher 401(k) limits give savers more room to shelter income from taxes, but rushing to max out contributions can backfire if it starves your cash flow or ignores other priorities. I see the new thresholds as an opportunity to be more deliberate, not more frantic, about how workplace retirement savings fit into your broader financial…
Retirement planning has shifted from a vague hope into a hard math problem, and the stakes are rising as lifespans lengthen and traditional pensions fade. The real question most workers face is not how to become rich, but how much they must realistically have set aside so they do not outlive their savings. To get…
Social Security’s looming shortfall is often framed as a distant problem for retirees, but the math behind the program is already reshaping the finances of workers, businesses, and state economies. The gap between what the system promises and what it can pay is widening fast enough that every generation, from new graduates to current beneficiaries,…
Affluent seniors and upper-middle retirees may look similar from the outside, yet their financial lives diverge in clear, measurable ways. Drawing on recent survey data, these 10 money markers show how the top 10 percent of older households separate themselves from comfortable but not truly wealthy peers. I focus on concrete thresholds, from net worth…
Millions of Americans who rely on federal benefits are about to see something unusual on their bank statements in December: one group will receive two Social Security-related payments in the same month. The extra money is not a bonus from Washington, but the result of a calendar quirk that shifts one of next year’s checks…
Retirees who have long watched a slice of their monthly checks go back to the government may finally see relief. A new federal proposal would wipe out income taxes on Social Security benefits for most retirees, reshaping how older Americans plan for everything from rent to prescription drugs. The stakes are high, not only for…
For most workers, the default retirement move is to shovel as much as possible into a 401(k) and hope compounding does the rest. Preston Seo argues that is exactly where the path of high earners and the truly wealthy starts to diverge. In his view, affluent investors treat the 401(k) as a temporary tool, then…
Retirement is supposed to be a long-awaited break, yet the same money mistakes keep turning that promise into anxiety. I see people repeat a familiar pattern: underestimating costs, overreacting to markets and ignoring how financial stress can damage health. By understanding the most common errors and the stakes attached to each one, it becomes much…
Retirees have long complained that the federal government taxes the very Social Security benefits they spent decades earning, and a new proposal in Congress aims to shut that practice off for good. The “You Earned It, You Keep It Act” would permanently end federal income taxes on Social Security benefits, reshaping how retirement income is…