Over the past several weeks, a fast food chain with its origins right here in the metro made national headlines and went viral online, though not necessarily in the way it intended. Hawaiian Bros, founded in 2018 in Belton, recently launched its “Plates for Plates” promotion, offering a free classic [...]
With the tax filing deadline one week away, many taxpayers are focused on what they owe the IRS. But for retirees, the income reported on that return may also determine whether their Medicare premiums jump dramatically as well. Most people have a general understanding of income tax brackets and know [...]
When I was a kid, time always seemed to move at a snail’s pace, except in the weeks before Christmas when it did not seem to move at all. The older I get, however, the more I realize the future arrives faster than I think it will. In psychology and [...]
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the historical impact major international conflicts can have on the stock market. My argument was that the recent military actions in Iran did not necessarily mean that an imminent market collapse was likely. With that said, the market has certainly been expressing [...]
On January 5th of this year, with bipartisan congressional support, President Biden signed into law the Social Security Fairness Act. Some workers (including certain state or local government employees, and teachers) are now entitled to higher Social Security payments. This means a retired Missouri public school teacher who never paid [...]
In the past few days, MSN published a story by Ana T. Sola’ reporting a survey by Empower, a 401k provider, that most Americans now think age 58 should be the appropriate time to retire. I would say that the 1,001 responders undoubtedly included a high percentage of younger workers. [...]
Have you ever had a serious medical procedure and asked what it would cost you out-of-pocket only to be told by the provider that they have no idea and you’ll “just have to wait for the bill”? In virtually no other industry is this kind of opaque pricing acceptable. Imagine [...]
A while back, my parents and I had a conversation about long-term care (LTC) insurance. Talking about the possibility of one or both of them needing this kind of care wasn’t fun for any of us, but that made it no less important. It’s one of those decisions many people [...]
This past Thursday, the United States House of Representatives narrowly passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” (Yes, that’s its actual name.) This sweeping piece of legislation covers a broad range of policy areas, including tax reforms, spending adjustments, and major program overhauls. Key provisions include making the 2017 tax [...]
There’s no denying it. We are in the midst tax season once again. That time of year when we’re all reminded of how much of our hard-earned money is going to those who govern us. If you’re anything like me, it’s also the time when you start thinking about ways [...]
