Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Most workers know that claiming Social Security later can mean a bigger check, yet a striking 90% still plan to do the opposite and file early. That choice may feel like the safe move, but the data show it can quietly erase tens of thousands of dollars over a lifetime. I want to unpack why…
Retirees walking into this tax season are facing one of the most consequential years in recent memory, with new breaks for older filers layered on top of inflation-driven changes to the basic rules. The difference between casually filing and using a deliberate playbook can mean thousands of dollars kept in a nest egg instead of…
Market optimism has carried many retirement savers to record balances, but the same forces that inflate 401(k) statements can quickly turn into a threat when sentiment reverses. With warnings about a potential 2026 downturn growing louder, it is worth asking whether your nest egg is positioned to ride out a serious shock rather than be…
For many Americans, selling a longtime home after 63 is supposed to unlock freedom, not new bills. Yet a big profit on that sale can quietly push your income into a zone where Medicare premiums spike for at least a year. The shock often arrives as a terse notice from Social Security, long after the…
For a growing share of Americans in their late 60s and early 70s, retirement is not a clean break from work but a balancing act around one stubborn number: roughly $70,000 of annual income. That is the level where part-time jobs, delayed savings, and Social Security rules collide, turning what looks like a comfortable paycheck…
Social Security beneficiaries are being told to brace for a different kind of hit to their monthly checks, one that will not show up in headline benefit tables. While 2026 brings a modest cost-of-living increase, new earnings limits, shifting retirement age rules and rising health costs are combining into what advocates describe as a stealth…
Housing costs are crushing first-time buyers, and the idea of tapping retirement savings to finally get the keys to a home can sound like a lifeline. The catch is that turning a 401(k) into a down payment tool risks solving one crisis by quietly supercharging another: a shortfall in retirement that you cannot fix in…
Millions of savers are heading toward a 2027 tax shock they never planned for, as new required minimum distribution rules collide with already swollen 401(k) balances. The combination could easily strip away 20% or more of a nest egg over time, not because of market losses, but because the tax code will finally come to…
For a 65-year-old retiree with $1.2 million in a traditional IRA and Social Security already in pay status, the Roth question is really about timing and tradeoffs, not eligibility. The tax code still allows conversions at this age, so the real issue is whether shifting part of that balance into a Roth can improve lifetime…
Retirees who thought their Social Security checks were predictable are discovering that the government can suddenly demand tens of thousands of dollars back, often for mistakes they did not know existed. The resulting clawbacks are leaving older Americans scrambling to cover rent, medicine, and groceries while they argue with a bureaucracy that may have miscalculated…