Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Your 60s are the final stretch before retirement, and how your 401(k) stacks up against others in your age group can shape decisions about when to stop working, how aggressively to save, and whether catch-up contributions are worth the squeeze. For 2026, new IRS contribution limits give workers in their early 60s an unusually large…
SECURE 2.0 gave millions of American workers two new ways to pull emergency cash from their retirement plans without the usual 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty. One option lets participants take up to $1,000 a year for urgent personal expenses. The other creates a sidecar savings account attached to a 401(k) with a $2,500 cap and…
The Internal Revenue Service announced on November 13, 2025, in Washington that the standard 401(k) contribution ceiling will rise to $24,500 for 2026, while IRA limits climb to $7,500. But the bigger story is not the higher caps. A new mandatory Roth requirement for catch-up contributions will force higher-earning workers over 50 to pay taxes…
Retiring on a single Social Security check sounds like a stretch, but a handful of Southern cities make the math surprisingly workable. The estimated average monthly retirement benefit for January 2026 sits around $1,900, and in the right ZIP code, that figure can cover rent, groceries, healthcare premiums, and still leave a small cushion. I…
Reaching $75,000 in annual retirement income sounds like a clean, comfortable number. But the gap between that target and what most retirees actually spend, earn from Social Security, and need from savings is wider than many planning tools suggest. Federal data on benefits and household spending points to a more grounded way to size a…
New federal regulations are about to reshape how millions of Americans save for retirement through their 401(k) plans, and the changes will hit higher earners hardest. The Treasury Department and IRS have finalized rules under the SECURE 2.0 Act that force certain workers to route their catch-up contributions into after-tax Roth accounts, while a separate…
Millions of Americans in their 60s roll funds out of employer-sponsored 401(k) plans every year, often aiming to consolidate savings into an Individual Retirement Arrangement for broader investment choices. Yet one specific version of that transfer, the indirect rollover, quietly ruins retirement plans when the process goes sideways. The tax consequences of a botched rollover…
Billionaire Mark Cuban built his fortune through a mix of sharp timing and disciplined spending habits, and several of his plainest money rules apply directly to retirees trying to protect a fixed income. Cuban’s financial advice, drawn from his own blog and multiple interviews, centers on eliminating the small, recurring costs that quietly drain savings….
Warren Buffett’s decision to step down from Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025 carries a message that extends well beyond corporate succession. For anyone within a few years of retirement, the combination of Berkshire’s disclosed financial risks and Buffett’s own defensive cash positioning amounts to the clearest caution he has ever issued about the…
Millions of Americans reach their mid 60s with little or no money in retirement accounts, yet they still manage to leave full‑time work. The reason is simple: Social Security checks arrive every month whether or not someone ever built a large nest egg. The harder question is whether relying mainly on that check is sustainable…