Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Nearly three million Medicare Advantage enrollees could have their current plan discontinued or materially changed for the 2026 contract year, based on estimates that pair CMS plan crosswalk files with CMS enrollment data. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized payment updates for the coming contract year, and insurers are also updating…
The Social Security Administration released its 2025 Annual Trustees Report on June 18, projecting that the retirement and survivors trust fund will be exhausted by 2033 and the combined Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance reserves will run out by 2034. Under the report’s most pessimistic economic assumptions, that combined depletion date accelerates to…
The Social Security Administration announced plans to restore a 100% default withholding rate on overpayments, a policy shift that could erase an entire monthly benefit check for some retirees. For a beneficiary receiving $2,000 a month, even the agency’s more moderate 50% recovery rate would cut that payment to $1,000, while a lesser withholding percentage…
On March 7, 2025, the Social Security Administration quietly announced a policy change that could halt monthly benefit checks entirely for recipients flagged with overpayments. The agency said it would raise the default withholding rate on overpaid Title II benefits to 100%, meaning affected retirees and disabled beneficiaries would receive nothing until their debts were…
The Social Security Administration has completed a massive wave of retroactive payments to more than 3.1 million people, distributing $17 billion in back pay tied to the repeal of two provisions that had reduced benefits for public sector workers for decades. The payments, which cover the period from January 2024 through June 2025, arrived ahead…
Rising costs across the United States are pushing middle-class retirees to look abroad, but the cheapest destination is not always the safest one. A growing number of Americans are weighing safety data, cost-of-living indices, and Social Security portability before choosing where to spend their retirement years. Six countries stand out when those three filters are…
Claiming Social Security benefits at age 62 locks in the steepest possible reduction to monthly payments, a permanent cut that compounds over decades and can drain tens of thousands of dollars from a retiree’s lifetime income. For anyone born in 1960 or later, whose full retirement age is 67, filing at the earliest eligible moment…
For workers within three years of retirement, the single most consequential 401(k) rule is not about contribution limits or investment allocation. It is the Required Minimum Distribution mandate, which forces account holders to begin withdrawing money from tax-deferred accounts starting at age 73 or face steep penalties. Getting the timing wrong on even the first…
The 2025 Social Security Trustees Report projects that the program’s combined trust funds will be able to pay full scheduled benefits only until 2034, one year sooner than the previous estimate. After that date, incoming payroll taxes would still cover approximately 81 percent of scheduled benefits. Yet a wide body of government research shows that…
Americans 65 and older may be able to subtract up to $6,000 from their taxable income through a temporary Enhanced Deduction for Seniors, described as effective for the 2025 through 2028 tax years. The provision is already built into 2025 filing-season forms, yet confusion about who qualifies, how the phaseout works, and what the deduction…