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The Trump administration on Wednesday sent Congress a long-awaited supplemental funding package to help cover the cost of the Iran war. The administration is asking for about $87.6 billion to address "urgent needs" related to the Iran war, as well as other funding to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa and provide support for American farmers. The request will face an uphill battle and puts vulnerable Republicans in a politically tricky position, since backing it could be seen as support for the unpopular war. It's all but certain to face stiff opposition from Democrats, putting its passage in...

For decades, “The Millionaire Next Door” wasn’t just a book title; it was the ultimate retirement goal. If you could hit seven figures in your 401(k), you were set. You had “made it.” But as we move through June 2026, that legendary $1 million milestone is starting to look less like a finish line and more like a checkpoint.According to the latest Northwestern Mutual 2026 Planning & Progress Study, the average American now believes they need $1.46 million to retire comfortably. That’s a significant jump from just a few years ago, and it signals a massive shift in how we...

Time is officially running out for the crown jewel of America's safety net. Recent projections have determined that the Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund is steadily trending towards its insolvency deadline in 2032. If the clock does in fact run out and Congress stalls to act, federal law mandates an immediate 22% reduction in monthly benefits for nearly 70 million Americans.The average middle-class retiree receives a single $1,900 check each month, meaning this looming statutory trigger represents an overnight loss of more than $400 a month, depleting crucial funds for groceries, utility bills, and prescription medications. Touching...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — After being told her Social Security funds were supporting terrorism, a widow was directed to buy $700,000 in gold — but an alert store owner intervened before crooks could make off with her money, records show. A young man, who was reportedly sent to Michigan from Illinois to fetch the gold, ended up with a bag of chocolate coins and a pair of 20-year felonies instead. “They didn’t know they were getting chocolate gold coins,” said Ben Soldaat, owner of Grand Rapids Coins, who alerted authorities to the suspected scam in early May. “It just...

Social Security is barreling toward a 24% across-the-board benefit cut in 2032 that would slash roughly $500 a month from the average retiree's check — a hit that totals about $345 billion a year nationwide, according to a first-of-its-kind report from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a Washington fiscal watchdog. Yet as that fiscal cliff draws closer, the Trump administration is simultaneously pushing Wall Street-style Trump Accounts and quietly reshaping the Social Security Administration in ways that already make it harder for millions to access disability benefits. The group warns that without congressional action, "no state would be...

The Trump administration planned to place 2.7 million living people in a so-called death file that would have cut off their ability to work, receive benefits or use banking services as part of an immigration-enforcement push, a former Social Security executive said in a whistleblower lawsuit. Jeremiah Schofield, who worked at Social Security for 25 years before leaving the agency in October, refused to help with the plan after government lawyers warned that falsely marking living people as dead could violate federal law. The latest whistleblower lawsuit comes after the Trump administration entity known as the Department of Government Efficiency...

Social Security’s finances may be in worse shape than thought. The Social Security Trustees — who release a report each year on the health of the program that supports about 70 million retirees and people with disabilities — have been relying on overly optimistic forecasts for future fertility rates, according to a blog report from the Cato Institute. Those forecasts are at odds with projections from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — the nonpartisan federal agency that provides Congress with independent analysis of budgetary and economic issues — which both have much more sober forecasts...

A senior citizens group has forecast that the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security payments will increase by 3.9 percent next year, more than 1 percentage point higher than last month’s prediction.The Senior Citizens League, which issues monthly projections on the COLA for Social Security, said in a statement Tuesday the 3.9 percent for 2027 is already higher than the 2.8 percent increase that went into effect in 2026. The group in April had forecast a 2.8 percent increase for next year’s payments.“Fast-rising oil prices could have downstream effects on the economy and push inflation even higher,” potentially leading to...

Six months before Election Day, America’s $39 trillion national debt has moved from an abstract fiscal concern to a dinner-table anxiety… A new national survey released Thursday by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation found that 92% of registered voters are concerned that the national debt is fueling inflation and driving up their personal cost of living, including prices for groceries, energy, housing, and transportation. The figure includes 94% of Democrats, 92% of independents, and 89% of Republicans — a degree of bipartisan alignment rarely seen in today’s fractured political environment… The concern extends beyond deficits in the abstract. Eighty-eight percent...

When someone says a retiree is "living off Social Security," it's not usually $100,000 a year. But some U.S. retired couples will be receiving that much in a few years - and a proposal to cap their benefit at that amount has started a painful and much-needed conversation about who should get government benefits and how much.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said it's "not possible" for the federal government to fund Medicare, Medicaid and child care costs, arguing that it should be up to the states to "take care" of those programs while the federal government focuses on military spending.

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Tuesday cracking down on mail-in voting across the country, the Daily Caller learned first. The executive order will require the Secretary of Homeland Security to create a list of verified U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote in each state with the Social Security Administration’s help, according to a fact sheet shared with the Caller. The presidential action will also require that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) only send absentee ballots to those on each state’s approved mail-in ballot list. Ballots will now have specific secure envelopes, with unique barcodes...

A new proposal to cap Social Security benefits for high-income retirees is gaining attention as Washington searches for ways to prevent the program from running out of money. While the plan targets only the wealthiest Americans today, its long-term implications could ripple far beyond that small group. With the Social Security trust fund projected to face depletion within the next decade, policymakers and fiscal watchdog groups are increasingly putting forward solutions that were once considered politically untouchable.This latest proposal could be one of the most aggressive yet.Social Security Is Running Out of TimeThe core issue is simple. Social Security is...

Choosing when to collect Social Security retirement benefits is a consequential decision. It will affect your finances for the rest of your life. You’ll be able to claim reduced retirement benefits as early as 62.In fact, in 2022, nearly 30 percent of new Social Security beneficiaries began receiving benefits at age 62, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The full retirement age (FRA) for those born in 1960 or later is 67, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Although you can claim the benefits early, there are drawbacks. And one of them relates to any continued employment.Social Security Earnings...

Oil prices have risen to more than $100 a barrel amid escalating conflict with Iran, pushing fuel prices up by more than 20% in just one month. Of course, this is bad news for U.S. consumers. But could it be good news for retirees? The latest estimates from the Senior Citizens League call for a 2.8% Social Security COLA in 2027 — the exact same raise beneficiaries received this year. But this estimate was made before the Iran situation disrupted global oil supplies. And there’s a chance it could make the 2027 COLA much higher.

I’m old enough to remember when Al Gore coined the term “lockbox” as a euphemism for how he was going to protect the Social Security surplus. The year was 2000, and Gore was the incumbent Vice President, campaigning for the presidency. His administration had just recorded a budget surplus of $236 billion, the largest in American history still to this day. More than two-thirds of the surplus, or $160 billion, was created by the revenue from Social Security taxes exceeding payments to Social Security recipients. Vice President Gore wanted to save that Social Security surplus for the future, while his...

How's this for a somber retirement forecast: The typical American worker has less than $1,000 saved for retirement, according to a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS). "The data are clear: Outside of high earners, Americans are choosing survival over savings and hoping to catch up later," NIRS executive director Dan Doonan told Yahoo Finance. "Even for those approaching retirement age — 55-to-64-year-olds — the median amount saved for retirement is only $30,000. We're looking at a looming crisis. These aren't just statistics — they represent millions of families who are doing everything right but still...

America’s largest retirement safety net is facing renewed financial pressure, and the timeline is tightening. A new projection suggests Social Security’s core retirement fund could run out of full funding sooner than previously expected, raising fresh questions about benefit cuts, tax changes, and what this means for millions of Americans planning their financial future. According to the latest analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, the Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund is now projected to be depleted in 2032. That is one year earlier than previous estimates and highlights the growing urgency for policymakers to address the program’s long...

The Trump Administration has told states to stop the long-standing practice of taking Social Security benefit checks from some children and youth in foster care. In a letter to governors, sent in early December, Alex Adams, an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told states to end what he calls "the orphan tax." Adams, who oversees federal child welfare policy, told states to quit taking Social Security survivor benefits from children in foster care. The monthly benefit is paid to a child whose mother or father has died but had worked and paid Social Security...

A $6,000 deduction is now law for some older Americans who receive Social Security benefits, a centerpiece of a major new bill signed by President Donald Trump. Promoted as historic relief, the reality is more complex, less generous, and comes with a significant long-term price tag that could undermine the very system it purports to help.