Posts by Steve Pollock

The United States just turned 250 — and the story reads surprisingly well as a series of 50-year check-ins. Founding-era population the size of San Diego County, two presidents with impeccable dramatic timing, a telephone demo in Philadelphia, quarters you’re still finding in your change — and one compounding machine that started counting in 1926.

Long-term care keeps coming up in client conversations, usually when someone is helping a parent through it and starts thinking about their own plan. The good news is that the use-it-or-lose-it policy most people remember is no longer the only choice: asset-based coverage repositions an old annuity or idle cash into care benefits worth a multiple of what you put in, and a Pension Protection Act rule lets an annuity’s gains fund qualified care income-tax-free instead of coming out as ordinary income. We walk through how it works, a worked example, and who it fits (and doesn’t).

If you locked in a mortgage at 7% or higher in 2023 or 2024, you’ve probably been watching rates with one eye open for a while now. Thirty-year fixed rates have settled into the low 6% range. Freddie Mac’s weekly average hit 6.23% as of April 23, 2026, down from 6.30% the prior week. That’s…

By Team Reason | Reason Financial & Tax If you’ve watched a baseball game this season you’ve noticed something new. A batter freezes on a called third strike, pauses for a beat, then reaches up and taps his helmet. The stadium screen flashes an animated pitch trajectory. The crowd holds its breath. And then: ball…

Executive Summary Trump Accounts (IRC §530A) are a new federal, tax-advantaged investment account for children, structured as a special kind of traditional IRA that is owned by the child but managed by an authorized adult while the child is a minor. They are not a social media platform or consumer subscription service. The IRS describes…