Global Wealth Compass

As of October 2026, the rule that catches most retirees off guard is not how much they have to withdraw. It is when . Required minimum distributions run on two different deadlines that look similar on paper and behave very differently in practice: one is a one-time grace period, the other is a hard annual cutoff. Mixing them up is how people end up reporting two years of withdrawals on a single tax return, or paying an excise tax on money they fully intended to take out. This is a calendar problem more than a math problem. Below is what the IRS actually requires, which accounts can be lumped together and which cannot, and what to do if a deadline has already slipped past. Contents Two deadlines, not one The first-year trap: two RMDs in one tax year What you can add together — and what you cannot Accounts with no lifetime RMD The still-working exception How the number is calculated If you already missed one A December checklist FA...

As of September 2026, Medicare Open Enrollment runs from October 15 to December 7, and any change you make takes effect on January 1, 2027. This guide covers what you can switch, what is changing in 2027, and six things to check before the December 7 deadline. Most people skip Open Enrollment because their plan "worked fine this year." That is a risky habit for 2027. Part D costs are going up, a federal subsidy that held down drug plan premiums is ending, and your plan's network or drug list can change without you doing anything. A 30-minute review in October can save you a year of surprises. Contents When Is Medicare Open Enrollment? What You Can Change During Open Enrollment What Is Changing for 2027 6 Things to Check Before December 7 Missed It? The Other Enrollment Windows FAQ When Is Medicare Open Enrollment? Medicare Open Enrollment happens every year from October 15 through December 7 . The dates do not move. Whate...

As of September 2026, the standard Medicare Part B premium is $202.90 a month and the annual Part B deductible is $283 . CMS published both figures on November 14, 2025. If that is what comes out of your Social Security check, you are paying the standard amount and there is nothing to fix. Plenty of people are not. Some pay $284.10. Some pay $689.90. Some pay $243.50 for a reason that has nothing to do with income at all. This article explains the three things that move your Part B premium off the standard number — the income adjustment, the two-year lookback that sets it, and the late enrollment penalty — and what you can actually do about each one. Contents The 2026 standard premium, and who pays it IRMAA: the six income brackets for 2026 The two-year lookback nobody warns you about The late enrollment penalty never goes away If your income dropped, file Form SSA-44 FAQ The 2026 standard premium, and who pays it The stand...

As of September 2026, nobody knows the 2027 Social Security COLA — including the Social Security Administration. That is not a hedge. The law ties the number to a three-month average, and one of those three months has not been published yet. What you can know today is everything else: the exact formula, the base figure the 2027 adjustment will be measured against, and how much of the 2026 data is already on the books. This article walks through the SSA's own calculation, with the real CPI-W numbers it used for 2026, so you can do the arithmetic yourself the moment the last data point lands. It does not give you a forecast, and there is a section below explaining why the forecasts you have seen keep moving. Contents The formula, in the law's own words The 2026 COLA, worked out with real numbers What that makes the 2027 base: 317.265 The 2026 CPI-W data published so far Two rules that break naive estimates The month BLS never published ...

As of September 2026, a Social Security spousal benefit can pay up to half of what your husband or wife receives — but the word "up to" is doing an enormous amount of work in that sentence. Most people who look it up walk away with the 50% figure and none of the five conditions that decide whether they ever see it. This guide walks through the rules that actually determine your number: who qualifies, what the 50% ceiling really means, exactly how much claiming early costs you (with the formula the Social Security Administration publishes), how deemed filing removes a choice people think they have, and the separate track divorced spouses follow. Contents Who actually qualifies for a spousal benefit The 50% figure is a ceiling, not a bonus What claiming early really costs Deemed filing takes the choice away Divorced spouses follow different rules FAQ Who actually qualifies for a spousal benefit Two people have to clear conditio...