Lifestyle & Mindset
March Comes in Like a Lion: Embracing Change in Every Season
From weather patterns to life transitions, March reminds us that change is constant and something to embrace rather than fear.
Retirement Income
What to Do Financially When Your Spouse Dies: The First 90 Days
She started over from zero and built a seven-figure retirement on her own. Most survivors never need to do that, because most of what goes wrong in the year after a loss is preventable with a calm list and the right order. The finale of The Widow's Penalty: the first 90 days, what can wait, and what
Medicare & Healthcare
Widowed at 75: How to Appeal a Medicare IRMAA Surcharge After the Death of a Spouse
Two years after a loss, a letter from Social Security can raise a widow's Medicare premium based on income from a life that no longer exists. There is a one-page form built for exactly this moment, and most people have never heard its name. Part three of The Widow's Penalty: the surcharge with a two
Retirement Income
Widowed in Your 60s: The Qualifying Surviving Spouse Tax Status and the Social Security Choice Almost Everyone Gets to Make
The sixties are when the widow's penalty does most of its quiet work. A tax filing status with a two-year clock. A first April filing alone. And a Social Security decision with two checks on the table, where the order you claim them in can be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Part two of The Widow
Retirement Income
Widowed at 55: What Happens to Social Security, Health Coverage, and the Plan You Built Together
Losing a spouse in your fifties comes with a rulebook most people never open until they need it. Survivor benefits that cannot start until 60. A remarriage rule with a hard birthday attached. A ten-year wait for Medicare. This week we walk the ages of widowhood, and we start with the hardest decade.
Retirement Income
The Tax Bill Hiding in Your House: Capital Gains on a Home Sale After 65
Many sellers still believe there is a special capital gains break once you turn 65. There is not, and the rule that replaced it has not grown in almost thirty years while home values have. Part two of The Fourth Color: what the sale really costs, and the Medicare surprise that follows it.