Author: Brian Lund
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Some banks are quietly cutting savings rates, so locking a one-year CD near 4.4% now can protect your yield
The best savings rates in years have been quietly slipping, and the accounts paying them are usually the ones that let you walk away anytime. That flexibility is nice until the rate drops out from under you. For savers who do not need every dollar liquid, locking part of a cushion into a one-year certificate…
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Unemployment benefits are taxable, but you can have 10% withheld upfront
Losing a job is stressful enough without a surprise tax bill the following spring, yet that is exactly what catches many people who collect unemployment. The benefits feel like a lifeline, not a paycheck, so it is easy to forget that the federal government treats them as taxable income. There is a simple way to…
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Tipped workers can deduct up to $25,000 of tips through 2028
For millions of servers, bartenders, hairstylists, and delivery drivers, tips are not a bonus, they are the paycheck. A new federal tax break aims squarely at that money, letting many tipped workers deduct up to $25,000 of tips a year. It will not show up as a bigger tip jar, but it can meaningfully cut…
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As Walmart, Intel and Verizon file August layoff notices, a laid-off worker can keep health coverage for up to 18 months through COBRA
Layoff headlines tend to focus on the corporate body count, but for the person losing the job, the first practical fear is often about the doctor’s office, not the paycheck. A wave of August cuts at large employers is a useful moment to spell out a right many workers do not realize they have: if…
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Fake unpaid-toll texts helped push government-impersonation scams up 40%, and forwarding them to 7726 flags the sender
If a text has ever told you that you owe a few dollars for an unpaid toll, with a link to settle it right now, you have met one of the fastest-growing scams in the country. These messages are not from any toll agency, and they have helped drive a sharp jump in scams that…
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Louisiana households can still get help paying summer cooling bills through September 30
A Louisiana summer turns air conditioning from a comfort into a necessity, and the electric bill that comes with it can crowd out other essentials for households already stretched thin. There is still time to get help. A federally funded program is taking applications for cooling-bill assistance through the end of September, and the aid…
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A letter saying your hospital left your Medicare Advantage plan can open a 63-day Medigap window
A letter that reads like bad news might actually be a door opening. When a hospital system or a Medicare Advantage plan parts ways and you lose your coverage through no choice of your own, federal rules can hand you a limited-time right to buy a Medigap policy without answering a single health question. Missing…
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Medicare’s Part B premium is projected to reach $209.50 a month in 2027
A Social Security raise feels smaller once Medicare takes its cut, and next year that cut is projected to grow again. Federal projections point to the standard Medicare Part B premium climbing to $209.50 a month in 2027. It is not yet official, but for retirees trying to gauge how much of their cost-of-living increase…
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The $6,000 senior deduction shrinks once income tops $75,000, or $150,000 for couples
A new $6,000 tax deduction for people 65 and older has been promoted heavily, and it is real. What gets mentioned far less is the income line where it starts to disappear. For a single filer, the break begins shrinking once income passes $75,000, and for a married couple the line sits at $150,000. Knowing…
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The average savings account pays 0.38% while the best CDs still top 4%, a gap quietly draining savers
Two savers can hold the exact same $10,000 and earn wildly different amounts on it, and the only difference is where the money sits. The typical savings account in America pays a rate so low it barely registers, while the best certificates of deposit still pay more than ten times as much. That spread is…
