Sets the wage base and cost-of-living adjustment that move payroll tax and benefits each year.
September 19, 2026 at 11:36 PM PDT
A new push to remove Social Security’s wage cap would extend the 6.2% payroll tax above $184,500 in 2026, raising costs for top earners while only partly narrowing the program’s funding gap.
A first required minimum distribution of about $37,700 at age 73 can push a retiree with a $40,000 Social Security benefit into the 85% taxable-benefit zone under long-frozen federal thresholds.
A new look at the Texas Senate race shows sharply different tax agendas, from new household deductions under Ken Paxton to higher taxes on billionaires and corporations under James Talarico.
A first required minimum distribution can raise taxable income twice: once through the IRA withdrawal itself and again by pulling more Social Security benefits over long-frozen taxability thresholds.
A growing bipartisan discussion in Washington about raising or removing Social Security’s payroll tax cap could shift more of the program’s funding burden to top earners while helping reduce future benefit cuts.
A growing retirement playbook for higher-asset couples is to use the low-income years after work ends for Roth conversions, then delay Social Security to 70 to raise lifetime and survivor benefits.
Fidelity's record count of 769,000 401(k) millionaires puts a spotlight on pretax balances that required distributions will force out at 73 or 75, often alongside taxed Social Security and higher Medicare premiums.
The 2026 Trustees Report pulls the retirement trust fund's depletion forward a year and widens the 75-year gap by 16%, partly because the 2025 tax law cut revenue from taxing benefits.
High earners will pay Social Security tax on $8,400 more of wages next year, costing up to $521 each for employee and employer. Retirees get a 2.8% raise that can nudge more benefits into taxable income.
A newly created position puts one person atop both the IRS and Social Security Administration heading into the 2026 filing season, alongside a leadership change over IRS enforcement.
The Social Security Administration told beneficiaries the new tax bill ends tax on benefits for most. It does not, and the new senior deduction disappears for couples earning $250,000.