Main Street Dollars

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November 9 is the date federal employees and annuitants can start choosing their 2027 health, dental and vision coverage, and December 14 is the last day. The Office of Personnel Management states in its 2027 plan-year highlights that the Federal Benefits Open Season runs “from November 9 through December 14, 2026.” The window falls in…

Eligible federal employees can choose a card in 2027 for pharmacy, dental and vision bills

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Federal employees who run a health care flexible spending account will have a new way to pay for it starting with the 2027 plan year. The Office of Personnel Management says eligible employees can select a FSAFEDS Visa FSA Card as part of their election, to pay for health care, pharmacy, dental and vision expenses…

Federal annuity payments for October arrive on November 2

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Monday, November 2, 2026, is the day the Office of Personnel Management’s rule points to for the payment covering October. OPM does not print that date anywhere. It follows from two things OPM does state, a first-business-day rule and an accrual rule, together with the fact that November 1 falls on a Sunday. The distinction…

Verifying a Social Security number for a third party now costs $74

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The Social Security Administration has put a price tag of $74 on one specific service: manually verifying a Social Security number for a third party. The fee applies to requests SSA receives on or after October 1, 2026, which means it is already in effect as of this article’s October 6 check. The amount comes…

Supplemental Security Income lets a recipient keep $100,000 in an ABLE account

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in Social Security

Two numbers sit side by side in the Social Security Administration’s rules for Supplemental Security Income, and they look like they contradict each other. A person on SSI can hold no more than $2,000 in countable resources. Yet the same agency says up to $100,000 in an ABLE account does not count at all. Both…

Supplemental Security Income does not reach Puerto Rico, Guam or the Virgin Islands

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in Social Security

Federal law gives Supplemental Security Income a map, and Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands are not on it. A resident of San Juan, Hagåtña or Charlotte Amalie who is aged, blind or disabled with almost no income cannot draw SSI, and a person who receives it on the mainland can lose it…

The Equifax credit-score settlement goes before a judge in Atlanta on January 22, 2027

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in Settlements & Claims

Chief Judge Leigh Martin May will hold the final approval hearing for the Equifax credit-score settlement on January 22, 2027, at 2:00 p.m. in Atlanta. The hearing decides whether a $100 million deal over a 2022 coding error becomes final. The dates that matter to most households arrive earlier, because the opt-out and objection deadline…

California adds a natural gas credit to residential bills starting in February 2027, alongside the electric credit it already applies automatically

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in Utilities & Energy

February 2027 is the month the California Public Utilities Commission’s fact sheet gives for the first natural gas credit on residential bills. It will sit beside the electric credit that already arrives without an application. The sheet, dated April 30, 2026, describes the whole program as “an automatic direct credit on residential energy bills” and…

Food stamps waive the general work rules for six groups, including anyone caring for a child under six or studying at least half-time

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Who has to meet SNAP’s work rules, and who does not? The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s SNAP work requirements page, last updated July 16, 2026, answers with a list of exactly six general exemptions. Food stamp recipients who fall into any of the six are excused from the general work rules, and two of the…

In a state that adds its own money, a working recipient’s $878 Supplemental Security Income check becomes $893

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