Insights

Tax tips, options trading ideas, and market takes — updated regularly.

Market Commentary Retirement & Income
The 30-Year Treasury Yield Just Hit a 19-Year High — Here's What's Actually Driving It

The 30-year Treasury yield touched its highest level since 2007 this week. No single cause explains it — deficits, sticky inflation, a new Fed chair, an AI borrowing boom, and a pullback by traditional buyers are all in the mix. Here's how each piece works.

August 19, 2026 ET

Tax Planning Retirement & Income
Your Charitable Deduction Just Got Smaller. Your QCD Didn't.

New 2026 rules trim the tax value of itemized charitable deductions for high earners. Qualified Charitable Distributions sidestep the change entirely — here's the mechanical reason why, plus this year's $111,000 QCD limit.

August 19, 2026 ET

Tax Planning Retirement & Income
The IRS Just Introduced Standardized 401(k) Rollover Forms — Here's Why That's a Bigger Deal Than It Sounds

A new IRS notice creates the first standardized forms for moving money between retirement plans. It targets a genuinely annoying, decades-old problem — but adoption is optional, so the fix isn't automatic yet.

August 16, 2026 ET

Tax Planning Retirement & Income
The Saver's Match Is Coming in 2027 — Here's What the New IRS Notice Says

The IRS just outlined how the government's new retirement-savings match will work starting in 2027. It doesn't touch your 2026 taxes, but the account-type rule behind it is worth understanding well before then.

August 11, 2026 ET

Retirement & Income Investing Basics
A Weak Jobs Report Has Markets Rethinking the Fed — Here's What a Rate Cut Would Mean for Your Cash and Bonds

A surprisingly weak jobs report has reopened the debate over the Fed's next move. If a cut does come, it would affect your cash and your bonds in opposite ways — here's the mechanic worth understanding either way.

August 9, 2026 ET

Tax Planning Retirement & Income
The New $6,000 Senior Deduction Phases Out Gradually — And Your Mid-Year Income Decisions Decide Where You Land

The OBBBA senior deduction gives filers 65+ up to $6,000, but it phases out 6 cents per dollar above $75,000 MAGI. With Q3 estimated taxes approaching, here's how the mechanics actually work and what confuses people.

July 30, 2026 ET

Tax Planning Retirement & Income
Student Loan Forgiveness Is Taxable Again in 2026 — And It Could Also Wipe Out an ACA Health Subsidy

A pandemic-era tax break on forgiven student debt expired at the end of 2025. A new repayment plan ties monthly payments directly to income. A separate law change means a big forgiveness year could also disrupt an ACA health subsidy, with no repayment cap. Here's how the pieces connect.

July 26, 2026 ET

Tax Planning Retirement & Income
The 2027 Social Security Raise Estimate Just Dropped. The Real Story Is a Tax Trap That Never Adjusts

Forecasters now peg the 2027 Social Security COLA at 3.6%–3.8%. A bigger check sounds like good news, but the income thresholds that decide how much of it gets taxed haven't moved since the 1980s. Here's how that math works.

July 25, 2026 ET

Options Strategies Retirement & Income
Covered-Call ETFs Are Pulling In Billions for Their Yield. Here's What That Check Actually Costs You.

JPMorgan's JEPI and JEPQ have added billions in new assets in 2026 on the strength of high headline yields, even as both funds have trailed a rallying stock market. Here's how covered-call income ETFs actually generate that payout, and what it costs you.

July 24, 2026 ET