Main Street Dollars

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A pay raise arrived for millions of workers this year without a single boss signing off on it. Nearly 20 states set higher minimum wages in 2026, most of them on the first day of January, and the increases reach far more people than the workers earning exactly the old floor. When a state lifts…

Workers without a plan at work could get up to $1,000 a year from a coming federal match

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in 401(k) & IRA

A first-of-its-kind federal match for retirement savers is set to begin in 2027, and it is aimed squarely at the workers who have long been left out of employer retirement perks. Called the Saver’s Match, it puts government money directly into the retirement accounts of lower- and middle-income savers, including people whose jobs offer no…

Delaying Social Security past full retirement age grows the check about 8% a year

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Few financial decisions carry as much weight as when to start Social Security, and one of its most powerful features rewards patience. For each month a worker holds off claiming past full retirement age, the eventual monthly check grows. Over a few years the increase is large, permanent, and adjusted for inflation, which makes waiting…

Losing a Medicare Advantage plan can open a guaranteed right to buy Medigap coverage

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in Medicare

Losing a Medicare Advantage plan is unsettling, but it can also unlock a protection that is otherwise hard to get. Federal rules give people whose Advantage coverage ends through no fault of their own a limited window to buy a Medigap policy without a health screening. That window is time-sensitive, and enrollees who do not…

A divorced spouse married at least 10 years can claim up to half an ex’s Social Security

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A long marriage that ended in divorce can still count toward retirement income. Social Security lets a divorced person collect a benefit built on an ex-spouse’s earnings record, and for many people who spent years out of the paid workforce or earned far less than a former husband or wife, that check can be larger…

Tipped workers can now deduct up to $25,000 in tips through 2028

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in Credits & Deductions

Servers, bartenders, hairstylists, and other tipped workers have a new line on their federal tax return that did not exist a couple of years ago. Under the tax law enacted last year, eligible workers can deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips each year, temporarily removing that income from their federal income-tax calculation. It is…

Taking six months of Social Security back pay as a lump sum permanently shrinks your monthly check

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There is a feature of Social Security that sounds like a windfall and quietly acts like a trade. A retiree who claims after full retirement age can ask for up to six months of back benefits paid at once, as a lump sum. The catch is that Social Security does not treat that money as…

A new Senate bill would stop the government from garnishing Social Security checks over old student loans

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Some retirees are opening their Social Security statements this year to find a chunk missing, taken to pay down a federal student loan that went into default decades ago. That is legal under current rules, and it restarted after a long pandemic pause. Now a group of senators wants to end the practice outright with…

Full retirement age is now 67 for everyone born in 1960 or later, and claiming at 62 cuts the check about 30 percent

Aug 25, 2026

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For everyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age for Social Security is now 67 — and claiming at the earliest possible age of 62 permanently cuts the monthly benefit by about 30 percent. That reduction is not temporary and does not reverse when you get older; it locks in for life. The decision…

A transfer-on-death deed can pass your home to heirs without probate

Aug 25, 2026

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