Author: Elizabeth Blessing
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A judge kept RealPage and three landlords in the government’s rent-pricing case
RealPage and three of the country’s large landlords will have to answer the government’s rent-pricing lawsuit. A federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina refused to dismiss the case, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Oct. 2, and ordered RealPage and its landlord co-defendants to respond to the complaint. The three landlords still…
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Obamacare enrollment fell from 21.8 million to 19.2 million after extra subsidies expired
Obamacare enrollment shrank by 2.6 million people in a year. It fell from 21.8 million in 2025 to 19.2 million in 2026, a 12 percent drop and the first decline in seven years, according to a KFF analysis of federal data. The enhanced premium tax credits that had lowered costs for millions of enrollees expired…
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Stores could round cash totals to the nearest nickel, rounding 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents down and 3, 4, 8 or 9 up, under a penny bill Congress passed
Cash totals at the register could be rounded to the nearest nickel under a bill Congress has passed. The measure is the Common Cents Act, H.R. 10167, which ends production of the penny for general circulation and lets sellers round cash totals to a multiple of five cents. The House passed it by voice vote…
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Disney World’s top annual pass now costs $1,749, up from $1,629
A year of Walt Disney World admission with no blockout dates now costs $1,749 on the Disney Incredi-Pass, which Mickey Visit calls the resort’s top-tier annual pass. That is $120 more than the $1,629 the same pass cost in October 2025, about 7 percent. Disney’s own annual pass page lists the $1,749.00 price for guests…
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Workers can take up to $2,600 this year from a 401(k)-type plan to pay for long-term care insurance without the 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty, if their plan allows it
A worker with a 401(k) or similar plan can take money out this year to pay for long-term care insurance and skip the 10 percent additional tax that normally hits early withdrawals, as long as the plan allows it. IRS Notice 2026-33 sets the 2026 dollar limit at $2,600. The rule comes from section 334…
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IRS automatic penalty relief is replacing First Time Abate starting with 2025 tax-year returns, but tax and interest remain due
The IRS has started replacing First Time Abate, its long-standing request-based penalty waiver, with an automatic one. Taxpayers with a clean three-year filing and payment record are no longer asked to call or write: the agency applies the relief itself and sends a notice saying so. The tax and the interest on it are still…
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Public-sector retirees who never applied after the Windfall Elimination Provision repeal can generally get only six months of Social Security back pay
Retroactive checks have a short reach for public-sector retirees who never applied after Congress ended the Windfall Elimination Provision. Social Security says on its Social Security Fairness Act page that back pay for some retirement and survivor’s benefits is “generally limited to six months before the month in which the benefit application is filed.” The…
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Social Security checks withheld from working retirees come back as a bigger benefit later
SSA’s own example starts with a $910 monthly check claimed at 62 in 2026. A person who takes that check and keeps working can have benefits withheld, and the agency’s April 2026 publication How Work Affects Your Benefits says what comes next: “The amount that your benefits are reduced, however, isn’t lost.” The benefit rises…
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A retired couple both on Social Security averages $3,208 a month in 2026 and a widowed mother with two children $3,898, SSA estimates
The $3,898 that Social Security lists for a widowed mother with two children is a family total, and the $3,208 for an aged couple covers two checks, not one. Both come from SSA’s 2026 cost-of-living fact sheet, which estimates average monthly benefits payable in January 2026 after the 2.8% raise. The fact sheet’s figures are…
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Wartime veterans’ low-income surviving spouses with no children can get up to $11,699 yearly from VA, or $18,697 with Aid and Attendance
A widow or widower of a wartime veteran can draw a VA pension of up to $11,699 a year, and up to $18,697 if Aid and Attendance applies, as long as the household income is low enough. Those are the maximum annual rates for a surviving spouse with no dependent child, according to the Department…