Main Street Dollars

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A gift of savings is a decision with a price tag in SSI. Social Security’s 2026 resources guide says that giving away a resource, or selling it for less than it is worth, may make a person ineligible for SSI benefits for up to 36 months. What the rule covers The wording in the resources…

Obamacare shoppers 30 and older with incomes above 250 percent of poverty can qualify for catastrophic plans in 2027, and some plans can run up to 10 years

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in Insurance

Catastrophic health plans, which HealthCare.gov offers to people under 30 and to people with an exemption, are opening to more older shoppers in the Obamacare marketplace. A federal rule from the Department of Health and Human Services lets people 30 and older buy one if they get a hardship exemption because their income puts them…

Working retirees can get a Social Security raise in December, back-dated to January

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Nobody files a form for this raise. Each year, Social Security reviews the records of beneficiaries who kept working, and when the latest year of pay turns out to be one of a worker’s highest, the agency “refigures” the benefit and pays the increase on its own. SSA’s April 2026 publication How Work Affects Your…

Merrill Edge retirement savers whose cash sat in Merrill’s sweep program from late 2016 to March 2020 would share a proposed $39 million settlement with no claim form

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in Settlements & Claims

Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay $39 million to settle claims that it paid almost nothing in interest on cash swept out of Merrill Edge retirement accounts, and no one has to file a claim form to be included. The stipulation of settlement was filed September 30 in federal court in Manhattan, and InvestmentNews reported…

SSI recipients in Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia get no state supplement on top of the federal payment, Social Security’s list shows

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In six states, the federal SSI rate is all that Social Security’s benefit list shows. Arizona, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, Tennessee and West Virginia do not add a state supplement to the payment, and neither does the Northern Mariana Islands. The federal base and who adds to it The SSI benefits page says that effective…

Workers’ 2026 W-2 forms, due by Feb. 1, 2027, must show reported tips and qualified overtime under new box 12 codes TP and TT

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in Rule Changes

The 2026 Form W-2 adds two new codes in box 12: TP for tips and TT for overtime. Employers have to hand workers their 2026 W-2s by Feb. 1, 2027, and file them with the Social Security Administration the same day, so the first forms that separate out tips and qualified overtime reach workers early…

SSI recipients have nine months to spend a back-benefit lump sum and 12 months for an earned income tax credit refund before either counts as savings

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Two clocks start running the day certain money reaches an SSI recipient. Social Security’s 2026 resources guide gives retroactive SSI or Social Security benefits nine months before they count toward the savings limit, and earned income tax credit payments 12 months. Why a lump sum is a problem for a $2,000 limit SSI is built…

Treasury estimates about 96 percent of children in participating states, 30 so far, could qualify for the new tax-credit scholarships when the credit launches Jan. 1

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in Credits & Deductions

Treasury and the IRS say about 96 percent of children in participating states would be eligible to receive scholarship money funded by a new federal tax credit. The estimate comes from an Oct. 1 announcement, IR-2026-117, which also set out how the credit works: up to $1,700 for an individual, up to $3,400 for a…

SSI can pay the full state maximum to people in a public shelter for up to six months in any nine-month period, and no address is required, Social Security says

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Losing a home does not end SSI. Social Security’s 2026 guide to SSI living arrangements says a person who is homeless has the benefit figured the same way as someone living in their own house, and that the payment does not depend on having a street address. Six months out of nine at the full…

Starting Jan. 1, only green-card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants and COFA migrants among lawfully present immigrants can get Obamacare savings

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