You have 60 days to put the money back, and you may only do it once in any twelve months across all your IRAs. The exceptions that do not count, and why a direct transfer avoids the whole problem.
The age moved to 73 and the penalty dropped sharply, but the rules that catch people did not change. How the amount is worked out, the two-in-one-year trap, and which accounts are exempt.
If the marriage lasted ten years you may be able to claim on an ex-spouse's record. It costs them nothing, they are not told, and one rule lets you claim before they have even filed.
Waiting earns about 8% a year, guaranteed, which is unusual. The break-even arithmetic, why it is the wrong question for married couples, and the two situations where claiming at 62 is right.
Three steps turn a working life into a monthly cheque — 35 years of indexed earnings, a weighted formula, then an adjustment for when you claim. Where the zeros come from and what you can still change.
Up to half your spouse's benefit, but only at your own full retirement age, and only once they have filed. The rules, the one thing waiting past 67 will not buy you, and how it interacts with your own record.
It covers your belongings anywhere in the world, your legal liability, and a hotel if the building becomes unlivable. It does not cover flood, earthquake, or your roommate's laptop.
One is pure insurance with an end date. The other bundles insurance with a savings account and costs many times more. Why the expensive one gets sold harder, and when it is genuinely the right answer.
One ignores compounding and one includes it, which is why lenders quote APR and savings accounts quote APY. The difference, when it matters, and the number each one hides.
Overdraft on debit card purchases is opt-in, and many people opted in years ago without registering it. How the charges stack, why order of processing matters, and what to switch off.
A 0% offer is not free. There is a transfer fee, a deadline, and a rule about new purchases that turns a good deal into an expensive one. The calculation, and the three traps.
Interest is charged daily, not monthly, and carrying any balance quietly switches off the grace period on everything you buy afterwards. The mechanics, and the rule that costs people the most.
Raising your deductible lowers the premium, and whether that is a good trade is arithmetic rather than opinion. The break-even calculation, done properly, plus the part most people get wrong.
Four numbers on a health plan that people routinely mix up, explained in the sequence a real bill moves through them — and the two things that never count toward the limit.
The names describe nothing useful. One covers hitting things, the other covers almost everything else, and neither pays for your injuries or the other driver's car. The dividing line, with the edge cases.
Insurers price risk from a specific list of factors, and several of the ones people assume matter most do not. What goes into the number, what is banned in your state, and what you can actually change.
They hold the same things and differ in how you buy them, what they cost and how they are taxed. For most people one is clearly better, and it is not the one their bank offers.
Two methods compete, one is mathematically better and the other works more often. Which to pick, why the order of payments matters more than the amount, and the trap that undoes most progress.
Cashback, points and miles are real money, but only for people who pay in full. Here is how to work out what a card is actually worth to you, and the maths that makes rewards a losing game.
Most beginner investing advice is either terrifying or a sales pitch. Here is the small number of things that decide your outcome, and the much longer list that does not.
Most credit score advice is folklore. Here is what the scoring factors really are, ranked by weight, and the common "tips" that do nothing or actively hurt.
A simple way to split your income between needs, wants and saving — worked through on three income levels, and what to do when the numbers do not fit.
Inflation is not just prices rising — it is your money losing value. Here is what it does to savings over ten years, and how to work out your own real return.
Compound interest is simple arithmetic that produces results most people find hard to believe. Here is the formula, worked examples, and why starting ten years earlier beats saving three times as much.
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