Main Street Dollars

UnitedHealthcare is weighing whether to stop offering some of its Medicare Advantage plans in 34 counties spread across 12 states for the 2027 plan year, according to an early exit list that surfaced this month. Nothing is final. The company has not filed binding non-renewal notices, and the map could still shrink or grow before…

Medicare open enrollment runs October 15 to December 7, the one window to change or drop a plan

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For most people on Medicare, the chance to change coverage comes just once a year, and that window opens October 15 and closes December 7. During those weeks, enrollees can switch, join, or drop a Medicare Advantage plan or a Part D drug plan, and any change made takes effect January 1. Missing the deadline…

A new way of counting utilities is cutting SNAP benefits for about 600,000 households

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in Government Programs

Behind the headlines about SNAP’s new work rules sits a quieter change that will shrink grocery benefits for hundreds of thousands of families without any change in whether they qualify. A revision to how utility costs are counted in the SNAP benefit formula is lowering monthly payments for roughly 600,000 households. It works not by…

A new Trump order lets 401(k) plans add private equity and crypto to workers’ retirement savings

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in 401(k) & IRA

For decades, the menu inside a typical 401(k) looked much the same from one employer to the next: a handful of stock and bond mutual funds, maybe a target-date option, and a stable-value or money-market fund. A 2025 executive order, paired with guidance that federal regulators are still rolling out, is now clearing the way…

Workers without a plan at work could get up to $1,000 a year from a coming federal match

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in 401(k) & IRA

A first-of-its-kind federal match for retirement savers is set to begin in 2027, and it is aimed squarely at the workers who have long been left out of employer retirement perks. Called the Saver’s Match, it puts government money directly into the retirement accounts of lower- and middle-income savers, including people whose jobs offer no…

A Medicare Savings Program can cover the Part B premium for lower-income enrollees

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Millions of Medicare enrollees pay their Part B premium out of pocket every month without realizing a state program could cover it for them. Medicare Savings Programs are designed to do exactly that for people with limited income, yet they remain one of the most under-claimed forms of help in the Medicare system. For a…

Delaying Social Security past full retirement age grows the check about 8% a year

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in Social Security

Few financial decisions carry as much weight as when to start Social Security, and one of its most powerful features rewards patience. For each month a worker holds off claiming past full retirement age, the eventual monthly check grows. Over a few years the increase is large, permanent, and adjusted for inflation, which makes waiting…

Social Security now offers five-year repayment plans so an overpayment need not gut your monthly check

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in Social Security

An overpayment notice from Social Security can read like a demand for money the recipient does not have. For years, the agency’s approach could mean an entire monthly check disappearing until a supposed debt was repaid. That has changed. Social Security now gives beneficiaries several ways to soften how an overpayment is recovered, and none…

Losing a Medicare Advantage plan can open a guaranteed right to buy Medigap coverage

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