Category: Benefits & Retirement
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Waiting past full retirement age adds 8% to a Social Security check for each year until 70
Deciding when to start Social Security is one of the biggest money choices most retirees make, and waiting can pay off in a way few other decisions do. For every year you delay claiming past your full retirement age, your benefit grows by about 8%, up to age 70. Someone whose full retirement age is…
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A lower-earning spouse can collect up to half of a partner’s Social Security benefit
If one spouse earned far more than the other over a working lifetime, Social Security has a rule that can lift the lower earner’s check considerably. A spouse can collect a benefit worth up to half of the higher earner’s full retirement amount, even with little or no earnings record of their own. For a…
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Moffitt, Florida’s top cancer hospital, is now out of network for Humana and Aetna Medicare Advantage plans
For a Florida retiree fighting cancer, the name of the hospital on the insurance card can matter as much as the diagnosis. Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer hospital, is now out of network for several of the biggest Medicare Advantage plans in the market. If you or a…
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A 2025 law requires many Medicaid adults to work or volunteer 80 hours a month, with states enforcing it by 2027
Millions of adults on Medicaid are about to face a requirement their coverage has never carried before. Starting soon, keeping your health insurance through Medicaid may depend on logging a set number of hours each month, and just as importantly, on proving it. For roughly 20 million people, a missed form could matter as much…
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Medicare’s fall open enrollment, October 15 to December 7, is the one window most seniors can switch plans
Once a year, Medicare opens a door that stays shut most of the rest of the time. From October 15 to December 7, nearly everyone on Medicare can change their coverage, and whatever you choose kicks in at the start of the new year. With insurers reshaping their plans for 2027, this is the window…
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Retired teachers, police and firefighters are collecting up to $587 more a month after Congress repealed two Social Security cuts
For decades, a lot of retired teachers, police officers, and firefighters watched their Social Security checks come in far smaller than they expected, or not at all, because of two rules most people had never heard of. Congress repealed both of those rules, and the result has been real money landing in real bank accounts.…
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UnitedHealthcare may drop Medicare Advantage plans in 34 counties across 12 states
Millions of seniors on a UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plan could get a letter this fall that they do not want to ignore. The insurer is weighing whether to pull out of Medicare Advantage in dozens of counties for 2027, and if your county is on the list, your coverage would not simply continue. The good…
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The new work rule for food stamps now reaches adults 55 to 64, and more than a million could lose their benefits
If you are somewhere between 55 and 64 and food stamps help you reach the end of the month, a rule that never used to apply to you now does. As of this spring, adults in that age range have to show they are working, training, or volunteering to keep their benefits beyond a few…
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Social Security’s full retirement age is now 67 for those born after 1959
The single date that most shapes how much your Social Security check is worth is your full retirement age, and for a large group of Americans that age has finished its long climb to 67. If you were born in 1960 or later, 67 is now the age at which you can collect your full…
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Medicare’s out-of-pocket drug cap rises to $2,400 in 2027
For older adults who take expensive medications, one of the most important numbers in Medicare is the yearly ceiling on what they can be forced to pay out of pocket for prescriptions. That cap is set to rise to $2,400 in 2027, up from $2,100 in 2026. It is worth understanding not as a scary…
