In 2025, the OBBBA made permanent the gift and estate tax basic exclusion and GST exemption amount established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017. Beginning in 2026, that amount is $15,000,000 for both (indexed annually for inflation starting in 2027).
If you’re a decade or so away from retirement, you’ve probably spent at least some time thinking about this major life change. How will you manage the transition? Will you travel, take up a new sport or hobby, or spend more time with friends and family? Should you consider relocating? Will you continue to work in some capacity? Will changes in your income sources affect your standard of living?
At their December meeting, Federal Reserve officials estimated that the U.S. economy grew 1.7% in 2025, a year plagued by uncertainty around costly new tariffs. The forecast for 2026 growth was raised to 2.3% — a significant jump from the 1.8% rate previously forecasted in September.
Many IRA and retirement plan limits are indexed for inflation each year. Several of these key numbers have increased once again for 2026.
You may donate money to charitable organizations throughout the year, simply because you wish to support causes that you care about. However, beginning in 2026, a new set of tax rules will determine the deductibility of your donations and might affect how much you can afford to give — for better or worse.
The holiday season is a time for celebrating with those closest to you, but it’s also prime time for holiday scams. Unfortunately, fraudsters ramp up their efforts at this time of year to exploit holiday cheer for financial gain, so it’s important to stay alert and protect yourself from falling victim to a scam.
With the enactment of the OBBBA in July 2025, a new deduction for tips is effective for tax years 2025 through 2028. Here is a summary of the new provision and the occupations that will be affected.
On September 17, 2025, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) lowered the target range for the benchmark federal funds rate by one-quarter percentage point — the first rate cut in nine months. This brought the range to 4.0%–4.25% and resumed the process of lowering it from a high of 5.25%–5.5%, where it stood from July 2023 to September 2024.
College graduates looking to join the workforce this year encountered the most discouraging labor market in recent memory. The class of 2025 saw the number of job postings on Handshake (a career platform used to recruit college graduates) decline 15% from the previous year. The number of applications per job increased by 30%.
If you bypass probate, your estate will go to your beneficiaries without any court proceeding, and you may save a certain amount of time and expenses. However, there is usually little reason for most people to avoid probate today. States continue to revise their probate laws, making them more consumer friendly, particularly for small estates.