Main Street Dollars

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A surviving spouse’s monthly VA survivor payment includes a specific dollar boost tied to how long, and how severely, the veteran was rated disabled before death. Basic Dependency and Indemnity Compensation pays one flat rate in 2026, but a rule tied to eight years of total disability adds more on top of it. The exact…

A 100%-disabled veteran gets $201.41 more monthly for a spouse needing aid and attendance

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Aid and attendance is usually described as a benefit for the veteran. VA rules also pay extra when it is the veteran’s spouse who needs the help, and the figure has an exact dollar value attached in 2026. A veteran with a 100% combined disability rating whose spouse needs assistance with everyday tasks gets a…

A veteran rated 50% disabled receives $1,132.90 a month from the VA in 2026, or $1,241.90 with a spouse

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Two lines on a VA disability award decide whether a veteran rated 50% disabled sees $1,132.90 or $1,241.90 land in the bank each month, and only one dependent status separates them. Both figures come from the compensation rates the Department of Veterans Affairs put into effect on Dec. 1, 2025. The gap between the two…

Claiming a spousal benefit at 62 cuts it 35% for spouses born after 1959

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in Social Security

Two people can file for the same size spousal Social Security benefit at the same age and receive different percentages of it, depending only on the year they were born. For anyone born in 1960 or later, whose full retirement age is 67, claiming a spousal benefit at the earliest age, 62, cuts the payment…

The White House says Trump’s Medicaid drug-price deals will save the federal government $36.6 billion

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The White House says a new Medicaid drug-pricing arrangement covering all 50 state programs will save the federal government $36.6 billion over the next decade, according to a fact sheet the administration published September 18, 2026. The savings come from a rebate program built around Most Favored Nation pricing, in which participating drug manufacturers agree…

Mailing a holiday package by USPS Ground Advantage can cost up to $7.50 more from October 4 to January 17

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in Cost of Living

The U.S. Postal Service will raise prices temporarily on retail Ground Advantage packages this holiday season, adding as much as $7.50 to the cost of mailing a package in the heaviest weight tier. The increase applies to shipping zones 5 through 9, the longer-distance zones, and runs from Oct. 4, 2026, through Jan. 17, 2027.…

Workers could put pretax paycheck money into a child’s Trump Account through an employer plan under Treasury’s proposed rules

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in 401(k) & IRA

Treasury and the IRS have proposed a rule that would let an employer allow workers to set aside part of a paycheck, before taxes, into a child’s Trump Account, using the same payroll structure many workers already use for a health or dependent-care flexible spending account. The rule, published Aug. 11, is still a proposal,…

About 100,000 more people will be uninsured by 2034 as Medicaid eligibility ends October 1 for refugees and asylees, CBO estimates

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Beginning October 1, 2026, certain lawfully present immigrants, including refugees and asylees without a green card, will no longer qualify for federally funded Medicaid or CHIP coverage, under a restriction Congress enacted in last year’s reconciliation law. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the change will leave about 100,000 more people uninsured by 2034, a figure…

A 70%-disabled veteran with a spouse collects $1,961.45 a month in 2026

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A veteran with a single service-connected disability rated 70% receives a different monthly check depending on one line in the paperwork: whether a spouse is listed as a dependent. Under the compensation rates the Department of Veterans Affairs put into effect on Dec. 1, 2025, that line is worth $153 a month, and VA pays…

A widow or widower who claims survivor benefits at 60 starts at 71.5% of the late spouse’s Social Security check

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