The FTC’s Sept. 3 alert: crooks are gluing fake QR codes over the real ones on parking meters. You “pay” $2, the meter never hears about it, and a $39.99-a-month subscription shows up weeks later. The one tell, and why a credit card beats debit at the curb.
CMS set the 2027 Part D base premium at $41.33, up 6% — and that number prices the permanent late enrollment penalty. If you’re 65 and still on a work or retiree drug plan, the creditable-coverage letter due by Oct. 15 is what proves you don’t owe it.
A six-month Treasury bill and a top online savings account both pay about 4% this month. Only one owes state income tax — and only one keeps its rate if the Fed cuts on Sept. 16. Here’s the math, state by state.
Deed theft is real — a 92-year-old Brooklyn homeowner lost a $950,000 house to a forged deed. But the $19.95-a-month “title lock” ad isn’t the fix: the FTC says it’s not a lock and not insurance. Your county recorder likely sends the same alert for $0, and Arizona just built one that warns you before a sale closes.
Federal inspectors found Medicare Advantage plans reversed 95% of appealed nursing-home denials, yet only 18% were ever appealed. The 65-day window, the 72-hour fast track, and the noon deadline that decide the outcome.
Every Series E bond and every EE bond issued before September 1996 has stopped earning interest. The free search moved to your state, the tax clock didn’t, and nobody legitimate will charge you to look.
A Long Island widow mailed three checks from the post office parking lot; thieves rewrote and cashed about $20,000 of them. The law usually puts the loss on the bank — but only if you report it inside your bank’s window, which can be as short as two weeks. Here’s how washing works, the clock, and the five fixes that cost about $3.
The “$2,400 back in your Social Security check” ads start October 1. It’s a real benefit — but KFF’s numbers show the typical enrollee who has it gets less than $10 a month. Here’s the math, and the four lines to check before you call.
Thieves who file a fake return in your name can tie up your refund for nearly two years. A free six-digit number from the IRS stops them cold — and the best time to set it up is before the January rush.
The uninvested cash sitting in your brokerage or IRA has a default setting, and most people never chose it. Federal regulators found that setting trailing the alternative by nearly four percentage points. Here’s the five-minute way to find out what yours pays.