Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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Nearly 49,000 tabletop fire pits are recalled for burn dangers, with full refunds offered
A popular tabletop fire pit sold under the Brookstone name is being pulled from homes across the country after reports that it can erupt in flames, and the company is offering full refunds. Federal safety regulators announced the recall of nearly 49,000 of the small decorative fire pits, warning they can shoot flames or spread…
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A man is accused of draining more than $1 million from a 90-year-old
Federal prosecutors say a Pennsylvania man talked his way into an elderly woman’s life savings and walked off with more than $1 million, using it to buy property and equipment for himself. The case, announced this month, is a textbook example of the kind of elder fraud that targets older people through someone they were…
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A family of four can get up to $994 a month in food stamps this year
For a family stretching a grocery budget, it helps to know the ceiling on food assistance. This year, the most a family of four can receive in SNAP benefits, the program still widely called food stamps, is $994 a month in most of the country. That figure sets the top of the scale, and while…
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Car insurance now averages about $2,256 a year, and it keeps climbing
Car insurance has quietly become one of the fastest-rising fixed costs in the household budget, and 2026 offers little relief. The typical U.S. driver is on track to pay about $2,256 a year for auto coverage, and premiums are still climbing in most of the country. For a two-car household, that trend can add several…
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Traditional IRA withdrawals now must start at 73, or the IRS charges a penalty
For decades you are told to leave your retirement savings alone and let them grow. At a certain age, the government flips that advice and requires you to start taking money out, whether you need it or not. For traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, those required withdrawals now begin at age 73, and missing one triggers…
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A Medicare program called Extra Help can cut a senior’s drug costs by about $5,900 a year
There is a Medicare program that can slash what a senior pays for prescription drugs, and Social Security estimates it is worth about $5,900 a year to those who qualify. It is called Extra Help, and despite that hefty value, many people who are eligible never sign up, often because they have never heard of…
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Your children and a spouse caring for them can also draw on your Social Security
Most people think of Social Security as a check for the retired worker and maybe a spouse. But the program can also pay benefits to a worker’s minor children and to a spouse who is caring for those children, on top of the worker’s own benefit. For a family with young or dependent children and…
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Modest-income savers can claim a retirement tax credit worth up to $2,000
There is a tax break for retirement savers that pays you for money you were setting aside anyway, and a lot of the people who qualify never claim it. It is called the Saver’s Credit, and it is worth up to $1,000 for a single filer or $2,000 for a married couple. Unlike a deduction,…
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Another bill would skip the tariff checks and raise your standard deduction instead
The idea of returning tariff money to households has produced more than one plan in Congress, and they do not all work the same way. Alongside proposals to mail rebate checks, there is a competing bill that would skip the checks entirely and instead cut your taxes by raising the standard deduction. It is a…
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The standard deduction jumps to $16,100 for singles and $32,200 for couples on 2026 taxes
The standard deduction is the most-used number on the entire tax return, and it is going up again for 2026. For the coming tax year the IRS has set it at $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly, with heads of household at $24,150. Nearly nine in ten filers take the…
